Javier Castellano

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. Among this week's rulings, trainer Adolfo Macias has been suspended 18-months and fined $12,500 for the possession of levothyroxine, a banned substance under HISA. Levothyroxine is a synthetic thyroid hormone used to treat ailments like hypothyroidism. Due to its metabolic properties, levothyroxine is believed to aid recovery in performance horses and help weight loss. There is also a possible link between levothyroxine and equine sudden cardiac death. There is currently no detailed...

Juddmonte homebred SCYLLA (f, 4, Tapit--Close Hatches, by First Defence) gave notice she'll be one to watch in the older mare division this year with a facile score in Churchill's GIII Shawnee S. Saturday. It marked the first stakes victory for the 'TDN Rising Star' following a seven-length blowout and 93 Beyer figure in a one-mile optional allowance over the surface on GI Kentucky Derby day. Last year's GII Mother Goose S. and GIII Falls City S. winner Xigera (Nyquist), fifth behind Juddmonte's champion Idiomatic (Curlin) in the May 3...

The $400,000 GIII Penn Mile, the lone graded stakes annually on the Penn National stakes schedule, has attracted a competitive field of 10 and, adding further intrigue to an already challenging handicapping puzzle Friday evening, is the presence of some of this country's top reinsmen, making a rare appearance at the Central Pennsylvania oval. A good many were pushing for an Amerman Racing-owned son of Oscar Performance to contest the GII American Turf S. at Churchill Downs May 4, but GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks winner Endlessly opted for the GI...

Debuted at Gulfstream in January, Corporate Power has continued to be on the improve for Shug McGaughey, breaking his maiden in his second start Feb. 24. Shipped to New York, he came up 1 1/4-length short of Unique Insight (Gun Runner) as the favorite facing allowance horses over a sloppy/sealed track Apr. 12 but still posted a career-best 90 Beyer Speed Figure. Stepped up in class and racing with the addition of blinkers Saturday in his stakes debut, Corporate Power flashed early speed but was outrun and had to race...

Bet down from a 9-2 morning line into a 'they-knew' 7-5 at the off, Donegal Racing's Donegal Momentum (c, 3, Uncle Mo--Moon Dash, by Malibu Moon) never truly looked like losing his racetrack debut Thursday afternoon, kicking on full of run into the final furlong and a half to score by 8 1/4 lengths to become the latest 'TDN Rising Star' for his exceptional Coolmore-based stallion. Having flashed a fair bit of ability as far back as March when training at Tom Morley's winter base at the Fair Grounds, he...

The top bid during the 2024 Fasig-Tipton February Digital Sale was made by John Stewart's Resolute Bloodstock, who parted with $370,000 for Pounce (Lookin At Lucky), a maiden winner at first asking for Quintessential Racing Florida LLC and Hat Creek Racing and this trainer on the dirt at Churchill Nov. 19, an even sixth from a difficult high draw in a one-mile allowance over the Turfway synthetic Dec. 13 and the front-running winner of her turf debut from an equally awkward draw Feb. 11. Returning just 11 days after changing...

Godolphin's First Mission (Street Sense) continued preparations for the Jan. 27 GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational with a bullet five-furlong work in 1:00.00 (1/51) at Fair Grounds Saturday. "He's a great work horse," trainer Brad Cox said Sunday. "He's continued to do the same here at the Fair Grounds in preparing for the Pegasus. He looked fantastic this morning. We actually took him to the track today [jogging a mile Sunday] because we're due some cold weather in the next few days and we may miss a day of training....

The New York Gaming Commission issued a statement Friday regarding the controversial disqualification of Brick Ambush (Laoban) in the Dec. 16 Great White Way S. at Aqueduct that was meant to bolster the argument that the stewards made the right call, but it included a photo that could be construed as doing the exact opposite. The TDN and other news outlets received an email from New York Gaming Commission Director of Communications Brad Maione that included six screen shots from the race taken at the point where there was contact...

ARCADIA, CA - As Javier Castellano gets ready to ride three mounts on Breeders' Cup Saturday, the recently turned 46-year-old is amidst one of the best years of his career. And it almost never happened. A pair of Breeders' Cup wins at the 2019 Championships put an exclamation point on the Hall of Famer's eighth straight season with more than $20 million in earnings. But, the year 2020, like it was for so many, was more about overcoming adversity for the native of Venezuela. Castellano was the first jockey to...

It's not often one is surprised when a 1-2 favorite wins, but Liam's Map had such a tumultuous trip in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile after a history of front-running scores that he had every right to lose. "I like the way he did it," said Javier Castellano, who also had won the GI Woodward with the horse the month before. "He had missed the break. [Todd] Pletcher told me, 'Make sure he breaks good and get a good position,' but when the gate opened, he missed the break....

Horses aren't supposed to be able to do what Ghostzapper did. The Hall of Famer was so dazzling that the 128 Beyer Speed Figure he registered in the GIII Philip H. Iselin H.--still the highest figure in the history of American racing at a route--isn't even remembered as one of his top races. Some people might count his GI Vosburgh sprinting at three against older horses as one of his best, others might prefer his GI Woodward battle over eventual Horse of the Year Saint Liam, and still others might...

The trip might have been unusual, but rider Javier Castellano knew what he had under him as Fev Rover (Ire) (m, 5, Gutaifan {Ire}--Laurelita {Ire}, by High Chaparral {Ire}) captured Sunday's GI E.P. Taylor S. at Woodbine. The bay showed the way early from the rail, but was quickly under pressure as 50-1 Rocky Sky (Ire) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}) dogged her from the outside through fractions of :25.66 and :50.29. The rest of the field was strung out and just after the half-mile mark, Fev Rover yielded to let...