Gary West

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame's Executive Committee has approved changes regarding the institution's Historic Review committee process based on feedback received from the chair and members, the institution said in a Friday release. Beginning this year, the Historic Review Committee will start an annual rotation to examine a specific era of American racing history. Only candidates from within the designated era will be considered for Hall of Fame induction during that year's review process. Previously, the Historic Review Committee met three out of every four years...

Gary and Mary West have released a statement saying that they will support a redistribution of the purse of the $20 million Saudi Cup. The statement was made via the Twitter account of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, of which the Wests are longtime clients. Maximum Security won the $20 million Saudi Cup in 2020, just days before Jason Servis was named in a criminal indictment along with 26 others for a "widespread, corrupt scheme by racehorse trainers, veterinarians, PED distributors and others to manufacture, distribute, and receive adulterated and misbranded PEDs...

The National HBPA and its affiliates got their wish Friday. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) is unconstitutional. As a result, HISA is on life support and very well could be finished. Within hours of the decision being announced, the National HBPA was taking a victory lap, declaring that this was a win for horsemen across the country. "Today's ruling shows the HISA regulations are not in the best interest of thoroughbred racing's participants and, as...

I don't think I've ever witnessed such runaway adulation. It was as though the commentators and analysts joined in a competition to see who could erect the highest pile of praise, and when somebody said Flightline might be the greatest horse of all-time--well, it was then that my head struck my desk under the avalanche of hyperbolic plaudits. And a day later, when his owners announced he would be retired, I immediately realized I couldn't vote for Flightline as Horse of the Year. That's why I'm writing: to explain my...

Keeneland concluded a record-breaking fall meet Saturday with all-sources handle of $208.9 million, a season record for the Lexington track. The 17-day fall meet ran from Oct. 7-29 with Kentucky racing scheduled to switch over to Churchill Downs Sunday prior to returning to Keeneland for the Breeders' Cup Nov. 4-5. The all-sources wagering of $208,907,655 was a 15.41% increase over the 2021 fall meet record of $181,009,626. It was the fourth consecutive season of record handle at the track. The numbers do not include whole-card simulcasting at Keeneland. "This fall...

Zedan Racing's Medina Spirit (Protonico) exited his win in Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby in fine shape, according to trainer Bob Baffert, who said he would wait a week before committing the colt to the May 15 GI Preakness S. "He came out of it well," Baffert said Sunday morning. "It takes about a week to determine, so I'm going to come back next weekend and see. But I don't see anything discouraging right now." Baffert continued, "Can he win the Triple Crown? I don't know. But he's the Derby winner,...

They used to say that when you think you have two Epsom colts in your stable, you don't have any. The axiom has long since been decommissioned, however, by the skills of Aidan O'Brien and his patrons, albeit with the inane complicity of a commercial market that is disastrously diluting competition. And it looks as though it no longer transfers to the GI Kentucky Derby, either. Having (eventually) landed running with champion Essential Quality (Tapit), and with Caddo River (Hard Spun) and Mandaloun (Into Mischief) testing their own credentials over...

Champion Game Winner (Candy Ride {Arg}--Indyan Giving, by A.P. Indy) has been retired from racing and will stand the 2021 season at Lane's End in Versailles, Kentucky. A stud fee will be forthcoming. During his championship juvenile season, 'TDN Rising Star' Game Winner was undefeated in four starts--a 5 3/4-length score in his career unveiling at Del Mar followed by the GI Del Mar Futurity, GI American Pharoah S. and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs. After earning the champion 2-year-old title for the 2018 season, he returned at...

After a federal appeals court on Friday upheld a district court's decision to dismiss a lawsuit that sought to reverse the disqualification of Maximum Security (New Year's Day) from first place in the 2019 GI Kentucky Derby, co-owner Gary West told TDN that even though he disagreed with the ruling, "it is time to move on and the decision will not be appealed." Country House (Lookin At Lucky), of course, has been considered the winner of the 2019 Derby ever since he was elevated from second to first via the...

Two days after the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia (JCSA) announced that it was withholding payment of the winner's share of the purse for the $20-million Saudi Cup won by Maximum Security (New Year's Day), the colt's owners issued a statement which called the Saudi's actions something that was unprecedented in the annals of racing. The statement was signed by Gary West and Coolmore. Just nine days after Maximum Security won the Saudi Cup, his trainer Jason Servis was indicted on federal charges involving horse doping. The Servis indictment led...

Unraced since crossing the wire first in the Feb. 29 Saudi Cup, Maximum Security (New Year's Day) will make his next start on July 18 GII San Diego H. at Del Mar. The story was first reported by the Daily Racing Form. "He's doing fantastic," trainer Bob Baffert said. "We're pointing for the San Diego and I couldn't be happier with him." The San Diego, a mile-and-a-sixteenth race with a purse of $150,000, is a prep for the GI Pacific Classic on Aug. 13 at Del Mar and Baffert confirmed...

An attorney for Gary and Mary West argued in a federal appeals court teleconference Tuesday that a 2019 dismissal of their civil rights lawsuit pertaining to the disqualification of Maximum Security (New Year's Day) in the GI Kentucky Derby should be overturned on the basis that a Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) regulation should not pre-empt a state statute that gives power to courts to review final orders of agency determinations. "If this decision of the district court is not reversed, what it means is that the stewards' decision to...