Horse Racing

After a hearing before the Board of Stewards, jockey Luan Machado was suspended for three days and fined $2,500 for his ride aboard Ultimate Strike (Mineshaft) in Wednesday's eighth race at Keeneland. Keeneland uses two finish lines, one for mile-and-sixteenth races and the other for mile-and-an-eighth races. Ultimate Strike was five lengths in front as he hit the first finish line and was clearly on his way to victory. But Machado apparently believed the race was over at that point and began to pull up his horse prior to the...

The National Thoroughbred League (NTL), a new series of races meant to bring the team concept to the sport and to attract new fans, will put on its second 2024 event Saturday at Parx. It is called Oktober-Fast and is hosted by NBA Hall of Famer and Philadelphia icon Julius (Dr. J) Erving. When the NTL was in the planning stages last year the focus was on purchasing horses and then having them divvied up between the teams. There are currently 10 teams in the league and they would own...

The live foal crop of 2024 is down 2.4 percent from 2023, from 18,143 lives foals in 2023 to a current reported foal crop of 17,700 for 2024, according to statistics compiled through Oct. 13 of this year, The Jockey Club reported in a press release on Friday. The organization estimates that the number of live foals reported so far is 85-95 percent complete. In 2023, 1,181 stallions covered 28,104 mares in North America which yielded 17,700 live foals in 2024. The Jockey Club also received 1,979 No Foal Reports...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY--Even though Incurable Optimist (Cure the Blues) does not appear anywhere in Edict's (Arg) (Il Campione (Chi)) pedigree, think of her as a direct descendent of the precocious 1998 New York-bred Horse of the Year, who became a top sire in Argentina. Family ties notwithstanding, there is a straight line between Incurable Optimist and Edict, who will make her first start in the U.S. in the listed $150,000 Athenia Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack on Saturday. Their connections, stretching across decades, are rock solid: from owner John Behrendt, through...

The John Forbes Memorial, a two-mile flat race to be run Saturday at the Far Hills, New Jersey hunt meet isn't for every horse. The horse needs to be able to handle the grueling distance of two miles and carry as much as 148 pounds. But there are plenty of trainers who believe their horses can handle the test. A race that is getting better every year, the $150,000 race attracted 14 entries, including Thoroughbreds from the stables of Mike Maker, Christophe Clement, Graham Motion and Peter Eurton. The Forbes...

April Vintage, a stakes-placed mare who is pregnant to Justify on Southern Hemisphere time, will be on offer by WinStar Farm in the Inglis Digital USA October Sale, taking place Tuesday, Oct. 29, the online auction company said in a press release on Friday. The 3-year-old daughter of Vino Rosso was a stakes-placed juvenile in 2023, winning a Del Mar maiden special weight, and following up with a third-place effort in the Speakeasy Stakes, both going five furlongs on the turf. After her racing career came to a close, April...

Ramatuelle (Justify--Raven's Lady {GB}, by Raven's Pass), a 'TDN Rising Star' and recent winner of the G1 Prix de la Foret Stakes at ParisLongchamp, headlines the latest group of supplemental entries to Fasig-Tipton's November Sale which will take place on Monday, Nov. 4 beginning at 2 p.m. ET in Lexington, Kentucky, the auction company said in a release early Friday morning. The 3-year-old daughter of the Triple Crown winner and top sire will be offered as hip 310, and is consigned as a racing/broodmare prospect by Bedouin Bloodstock, agent. Winner...

7th-KEE, $100K, Msw, 2yo, f, 7f, 4:12 p.m. ET. SERAPHIA (Gun Runner) makes her first start for owners Twin Creeks, Jackpot, Whispering Oaks and Rick Ortyl. Initially, the filly was taken home for $675,000 at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Fall Mixed Sale before going for $1 million at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale. Trained by Steve Asmussen, the juvenile is out of Temptress (Tapit), who was acquired for $400,000 by Avenue Bloodstock at the Keeneland November Sale while Seraphia was in-utero. A half-sister to GSW Donegal Moon (Malibu Moon), Temptress...

When it comes to winning Breeders' Cup races, no rider does it better than "Big Money" Mike Smith. His 27 wins leads all jockeys and is seven wins better than runner-up John Velazquez. With the Breeders' Cup quickly approaching, Smith sat down with the team at the TDN Writers' Room Podcast presented by Keeneland and took us on a trip down memory lane. The Hall of Famer was the Guest of the Week. Of the 27 wins, is one his favorite? "It would have to be Zenyatta [in the 2009...

Three Chimneys's Gun Pilot will take up stud duty alongside his sire, Gun Runner, for the 2025 breeding season, the farm said in Wednesday press release. A five-time stakes entrant, Gun Pilot's highest achievement came this year on the Derby undercard where he took home the GI Churchill Downs Stakes. The homebred will be making his final start in the GI Cygames Breeders' Cup Sprint at Del Mar, which comes off a runner-up performance in the GI Forego at Saratoga. A stud fee will be announced following the Breeders Cup. "I...

A Planning Commission Public Hearing is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 17, at 1:30 p.m. ET at City Hall in Lexington, Kentucky to discuss the completed draft of the Urban Growth Master Plan, according to a press release from the Fayette Alliance on Wednesday. Residents of Lexington-Fayette County are encouraged to provide public comment and input on the draft plan during this time. The Planning Commission will then reconvene on Thursday, October 31, at 1:30 p.m. ET at City Hall to review any proposed revisions and consider adoption as an element...

Angel of Empire (Classic Empire--Armony's Angel, by To Honor and Serve), who took home the GI Arkansas Derby, has been retired and will join the roster at Taylor Made Stallions for the upcoming breeding season, according to a press release from the farm on Wednesday. The 4-year-old, who last raced in 2023 when he finished third in the GII Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga, will stand for $7,500 LFSN. Breeders will have an opportunity to earn a lifetime breeding right to the millionaire earner of more than $1.4 million. "We're...