Hall of Fame

Four-for-six Decorated Invader (Declaration of War) appears awful tough to beat in Saturday's GII National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame S. at Saratoga. Second to subsequent MGSW Field Pass (Lemon Drop Kid) on local debut here a year ago, he broke through convincingly next out before notching a big win in Woodbine's GI Summer S. in September. He could only manage fourth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf after a tough trip that had many arguing that he might've been best, and he's lent support to that claim...

The mantle passes. Now that he is himself such a model for young Californian trainers, it is touching to think of Richard Mandella back in the days when he, too, would look up to those who set the standards in the previous generation. "I remember sitting in my box seat, with my horse going to the post, and I could feel my heartbeat all the way through my body," he recalls. "People used to think I was taking it well, but I wasn't inside. I could feel the pounding. And...

When it comes to training racehorses, Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott has pretty much seen it all over the past half a century. In 2019, however, Churchill Downs served as a backdrop for a rare first for the Hall of Famer, who captured his first GI Kentucky Derby with 'TDN Rising Star' Country House (Lookin At Lucky). Fast forward a year and Mott closes in on another personal first, namely his 5,000th career win, which places him seventh overall, and fourth among leading active trainers. "I am proud of...

His thoughts, on Wednesday, turned naturally to his late father. How could they not? Mark Casse was only 11 or 12 when he toured the Hall of Fame in Saratoga with the man whose passion for the Thoroughbred was already lighting a path for his whole future. "I'm going to be in here someday," the boy announced. Most fathers think they know how to respond to a remark like that. "Sure you will. You'll be the janitor." But Norman E. Casse was different. As usual, they were camping in their...

Edited Release, courtesy Gulfstream Park Calling it "the biggest challenge of my life," popular Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano has overcome being diagnosed with the coronavirus. Castellano, 42, spent 14 days in quarantine at the South Florida home of his 64-year-old mother, where Gulfstream's five-time Championship Meet leading rider had been since testing positive upon his arrival from New York to ride over GI Curlin Florida Derby weekend in late March. As part of strict protocols put into place by Gulfstream management, all riders who came in from out...

Tired of all the bad news? So were we. So, in our new series, we focus on the positive, asking people from non-horse racing families two questions: how they get hooked, and how they'll hook someone else on horse racing this year. TOM DURKIN What was the experience that made you fall in love with horse racing? I really had no particular interest in horse racing in my early childhood. My dad would go to the track and that was about it, I never really went with him a lot....

Moon Colony (Uncle Mo) and Casa Creed (Jimmy Creed), one-two across the line in the GII Penn Mile S. June 1, lock horns again in Friday's GII National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame S. at Saratoga. Moon Colony turns back to a mile after setting a pressured pace and tiring to ninth in the GI Belmont Derby Invitational S. going 1 1/4 miles July 6. "I think the cut back to a mile will be good for him," trainer Mark Casse said. "He's already well proven at a mile,...