Los Alamitos

According to a posting on the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) website, top California trainer Phil D'Amato has had a horse test positive for the banned substance methamphetamine. The 4-year-old filly Thebestisyettobe (Ire) (Elzaam {Aus}) tested positive following an Aug. 1 workout at Los Alamitos. Before HIWU/HISA made changes to its rules regarding its Anti-Doping Medication and Control program, D'Amato would have been facing a suspension of up two years. Over time and in the face of criticism that it was charging trainers who had horses test positive for...

Following news less than two weeks ago that seven Quarter Horses testing positive for Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA) at Los Alamitos were euthanized, the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) issued a grim update Wednesday evening. The infectious disease necessitated the euthanization of an additional five horses Oct. 16. Like the original seven, all five were Quarter Horses trained by Heath Taylor. A full listing of the 12 can be seen here. The full advisory issued by the CHRB follows: "Under the supervision of the California Department of Food and Agriculture...

Power Connection (Authentic) strolled home in the Manzano Stakes at Albuquerque on Saturday evening and in the process hand-delivered the first stakes winner to his freshman sire (by Into Mischief). The dark bay was sent by his New Mexico-based trainer Todd Fincher to Southern California where she was the runner-up in her debut at Los Alamitos June 30. At Del Mar, the filly was a well-beaten third Aug. 10 and finished a distant fourth Aug. 25. Shipping back to the capitol of her home state and off as the 3-2...

A Quarter Horse stabled at Los Alamitos, which will hold its next Thoroughbred meet in December, was discovered to be suffering from Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA) in late September and has been euthanized. An additional six horses, all Quarter Horses who also tested positive for EIA, were euthanized at the California track Wednesday and Thursday. The California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) issued the following advisory late Thursday afternoon: "The California Horse Racing Board was notified on September 24 that Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA) was identified in a Quarter Horse at...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. NEW HISA/HIWU STEWARDS RULINGS The following rulings were reported on HISA's "rulings" portal and through the HIWU "pending" and "resolved" cases portals. Resolved ADMC Violations Date: 09/26/2024 Licensee: Miguel Hernandez, trainer Penalty: 7-day period of Ineligibility for Covered Person, beginning on Sept. 27, 2024; Disqualification of Covered Horses' Race results, including forfeiture of all purses and other compensation, prizes, trophies, points, and rankings and repayment or surrender (as...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. Following a full hearing in Cleveland between April 23 and April 25 before HISA's anti-doping and medication control program arbitration panel, Ohio veterinarian Scott Shell has been suspended for 21 months and fined $20,000 for possessing four banned substances on Sept. 28 last year at Thistledown Racetrack. The four substances in question were two jars of Carolina Gold/GABA (an amino acid that can be used as a calming...

Four stakes for 2-year-olds--including a pair of graded races--highlight the upcoming Winter Thoroughbred meet at Los Alamitos. The six-day season is scheduled to begin Friday, Dec. 6 and continue through Sunday, Dec. 15. Racing will be conducted on a Friday-Sunday basis (Dec. 8-10 and 15-17) both weeks. Post time will be 12:30 p.m. The $200,000-guaranteed GII Starlet Stakes, for 2-year-old fillies, will be renewed for the 11th time at Los Alamitos Saturday, Dec. 7 one week before the $200,000-guaranteed GII Los Alamitos Futurity, which was captured by Wynstock in 2023. Won...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country.   NEW HISA/HIWU STEWARDS RULINGS The following rulings were reported on HISA's "rulings" portal and through the HIWU "pending" and "resolved" cases portals. Resolved ADMC Violations Date: 09/12/2024 Licensee: Robert James Gherardi, trainer Penalty: A fine of $500; imposition of 1.5 Penalty Points. Admission. Explainer: Vet list medication violation for the presence of Firocoxib--controlled medication (Class C)--in a sample taken from Kell's Kiss on 8/6/24. Date: 09/12/2024 Licensee:...

The surest sign that autumn is upon us is that we are already beginning to look ahead to next spring. In the racing world, that means the release of the 2025 Road to the GI Kentucky Derby qualifying schedule, and the list of points-awarding prep races that came out Friday contained a few tweaks. Two stood out--a schedule addition and a rule change. Churchill Downs Inc., the gaming company that controls the Derby and the points system that determines which horses get into the race, locked up a prime piece...

Sometimes a prohibitive 3-5 favorite doesn't run his or her race, but sometimes one runs just as hoped and adds a cherry on top. Last-out GI Beholder Mile Stakes winner and Pamela C. Ziebarth homebred Sweet Azteca (f, 4, Sharp Azteca--So Sweetitiz, by Grand Slam) not only made it three in a row with a facile win in Saturday's GII Great Lady M Stakes at Los Alamitos, but also set a new track record at Los Al for the distance, getting the 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:14.33. At the Great...

8th-Los Alamitos, $43,000, Msw, 6-30, 2yo, f, 5f, :57.48, ft, 1 3/4 lengths A. Z. WILDCAT (f, 2, Munnings--Lucky Long, by Lookin At Lucky) prevailed in a good pari-mutuel battle and then backed it up on the track in professional style to open her account as the narrow 2-1 favorite. The $200,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase brike a bit inward, but was up to press the early issue before sitting the pocket trip from third around the hairpin turn. Produced three wide into the stretch, the filly went to the...

The Boiling Springs Stakes at Monmouth, scheduled to be run Sunday, is contested annually at a mile-and-one-sixteenth on the turf and is for 3-year-old fillies. With those conditions, it should be an easy race to fill. Not this year. The racing office did not get enough entries and the race was scrapped. Not that any of this should come as a surprise. There is a glut of racing in the Mid-Atlantic states. When Colonial Downs opens on July 11, there will be eight Mid-Atlantic tracks running within a range of...