Arizona Thoroughbred Breeders Association

Desert Dawn (Cupid) doesn't know where she was bred, and maybe that's a good thing. Horses bred in Arizona are not supposed to win the GI Kentucky Oaks. But this year one of the country's smallest breeding programs will have a chance to make some history. Desert Dawn was bred by and is owned by H and E Ranch Inc., a 400-acre spread in Globe, Arizona owned by the mother-daughter team of Elena and Hollie Crim. "This is what dreams are made of," Elena Crim said. "This is a real...

Thursday's Arizona Racing Commission (AZRC) meeting opened with the chairman Rory Goree asking stakeholders to "refrain from discussing anything" related to a controversial appeal over who controls purse account money that is scheduled for the October meeting. And it ended with Turf Paradise owner Jerry Simms apologizing for the frustration the state's Thoroughbred community feels over his decision not to incur liability by running a 2020-21 meet during a pandemic. In between those brief, book-ended statements that define the currently closed status of racing in Arizona, commissioners heard a slew...