john ward

John Oxley’s homebred filly Dream Dancing scored the biggest victory of her career on Saturday, fighting down the length of the stretch to nail a blanket finish over Beau Recall and Madam Dancealot in the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks. The 3-year-old daughter of Tapit, ridden by Julien Leparoux for trainer Mark Casse, covered nine […]

A graduate of the University of Kentucky and a third generation thoroughbred trainer active in the industry for over 50 years, John T. Ward has been a persistent advocate for rational model drug rules and a confirmed proponent of compromise between industry factions at odds on the most critical issue facing the sport. In his […]

Winner of the Kentucky Derby in 2001, Monarchos passed away the morning of Oct. 22, reports bloodhorse.com. The 18-year-old displayed signs of discomfort on Friday, and underwent emergency surgery to repair a ruptured intestine. “He made it through the surgery and we were very hopeful for his recovery, however his age was not on his […]

John T. Ward has left his post as the executive director of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, marking the second major change to the organization since Matt Bevin assumed his mantle as the Kentucky Governor in December, according to the Blood Horse. A former trainer, Ward is best remembered for conditioning Monarchos to a victory […]

It’s been said that working horses is a little like being married: Sometimes you need to adapt. When trainer John Ward saw that his 3-year-old filly, Beautiful Pleasure, wasn’t living up to her potential during the 1998 racing season, he had the foresight to change things up. He handed the reins to his wife. As […]

Spent a few days at the 81st annual convention of the Association of Racing Commissioners International at Tampa, Fla. You’d think after 80 years they’d have this “regulating the horse and dog racing industries” thing figured out. Not necessarily so. But, as I learned in watching committee meetings and panel discussions of the RCI convention […]

Conrad Bandoroff grew up on Denali Stud, which was established by his parents, well-known consignors Craig and Holly. The younger Bandoroff shadowed John Ward in Ward’s days as trainer, worked for trainer Bill Mott, interned with Bradley Thoroughbreds and for John Messara at Arrowfield Stud in Australia. Bandoroff is currently completing his senior year at […]

Attorneys for Churchill Downs and Louisville, Ky., newsletter publisher Edward Musselman have signed an agreement asking U.S. District Court Judge John G. Heyburn II to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Musselman against Churchill Downs and its director of security, Robert King, alleging he was evicted from the racetrack premises without due process rights guaranteed by […]

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission’s Welfare and Safety Committee scrutinized the state’s rules on shockwave therapy on Thursday afternoon with a fact-finding session designed to help regulators prevent abuse of the practice. The treatment, which consists of sending short, high pressure pulses to select areas of the body, has been shown to aid healing for […]

Kentucky lawmakers received updates on the state of Thoroughbred racing during a Wednesday meeting of the Kentucky General Assembly Interim Joint Subcommittee on Horse Farming. Racing officials informed subcommittee members that they expect there could be better attendance/wagering numbers at next year’s edition of the Breeders’ Cup as compared to other years with different host […]