Los Alamitos

California horse racing again experienced a significant decline in the number of horses that died from injuries suffered during racing and training at the state's facilities during the 2022-23 fiscal year that ended June 30, the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) said in a press release on Saturday. A total of 26 died last year as a result of musculoskeletal injuries that occurred while racing or training, compared with 39 the previous year. For context, approximately 30,000 race starts and far in excess of 100,000 workouts occur each year from...

Every week, the TDN publishes a roundup of key official rulings from the primary tracks within the four major racing jurisdictions of California, New York, Florida and Kentucky. Here's a primer on how each of these jurisdictions adjudicates different offenses, what they make public (or not) and where. The TDN will also post a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from the same week. These will include decisions from around the country. Kentucky Track: Churchill Downs at Ellis Park Date: 06/18/2023 Licensee: Reyluis Gutierrez,...

7th-LRC, $45K, Msw, 3yo/up, 6 1/2f, 7:05 p.m. Trainer John Sadler debuts LEVON (Practical Joke) for Talla Racing and Central Dispatch (Arrogate) for Hronis Racing. The stablemates both worked a bullet five furlongs from the gate in :59 1/5 (1/12) at Los Alamitos June 10. The former is a $750,000 KEESEP buy whose dam Gal Factor (The Factor) counts GI Arkansas Derby hero Super Stock (Dialed In) as a half brother. Trainer Bob Baffert will saddle first-time starter Confucius (Candy Ride {Arg}) whose dam Mumtaazah (Tapit) is a half-sister to...

Some two years ago, Randall Lane, the chief content officer for Forbes, and Bob Daugherty, an investor and educator, met for dinner and the conversation turned to horse racing. Both are fans of racing and they started to talk about why the sport isn't nearly as popular as the four major sports. The answer, they concluded, is that in baseball, basketball, football and hockey, the sports center around teams, leagues and standings. People fall in love with their teams, they root for them, they pay to see them play, they...

8th-Santa Anita, $78,316, Alw, 4-28, 4yo/up, f/m, 6 1/2f, 1:16.16, ft, head. EDA (f, 4, Munnings--Show Me, by Lemon Drop Kid) came into this contest riding a three race win streak, though it was one which began in 2021--capped by victory in the GI Starlet S.--and continued via her lone 2022 start where she held on to win the GIII Santa Ysabel S. by a half-length before going on the sidelines. Gone for almost fourteen months, she came back here against an allowance group and the betting public made their...

A trio of stakes, headed by the $200,000 GII Great Lady M S., highlight the upcoming Los Angeles County Fair meet at Los Alamitos. The nine-day season is scheduled to begin Friday, June 23 and continue through Sunday, July 9. Racing will be conducted Friday-Sunday opening week (June 23-25), Saturday-Tuesday (July 1-4) the middle week and Saturday-Sunday (July 8-9) the final weekend. Post time will be 1 p.m. Highlighting the stakes schedule with $425,000 in guaranteed purses, the six-furlong Great Lady M. S. will be offered Tuesday, July 4. The...

The main takeaway from last year's California purse and handle numbers is one of stasis, with no significant movement in any one direction compared to 2021. A roughly 2.5% increase in the number of California races run in 2022 over 2021 is framed against a half-percentage point decrease in purses and an even smaller fraction of a percentage decrease in all-source handle. "It was like holding serve in 2022," said Bill Nader, newly minted president and chief executive officer of the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC), which once again put...

As the field crossed the wire in Saturday's GII Los Alamitos Futurity, Sol Kumin experienced the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat all at once. Kumin is the co-owner of second-place finisher Carmel Road (Quality Road) and third-place finisher Fort Bragg (Tapit). They ran well but couldn't outrun Practical Move (Practical Joke). Along with Chad Brown, Kumin bred, but does not own, the race winner. "It was cool because I always loved the winner's dam, Ack Naughty (Afleet Alex)," he said. "Would I have loved to see one...

In each of his four previous trips to the post, Practical Move (Practical Joke) had finished behind Bob Baffert-trained runners, but the bay colt--conditioned by former Baffert assistant Tim Yakteen--exacted his revenge in a big spot Saturday afternoon, outfinishing pacesetting Carmel Road (Quality Road) to upset the GII Los Alamitos Futurity as the 10-1 second-longest price on the board. Fort Bragg (Tapit), who was demoted from an apparent victory over Practical Move two starts back, completed the trifecta, while hot favorite 'TDN Rising Star' Arabian Lion (Justify) was a spent...

The Kentucky Derby points are back on the table in December. Well, for trainers Leandro Mora and Tim Yakteen that is, as it is once again time for the GII Los Alamitos Futurity. In prior contests, it would have been 10-4-2 or 1 to the top four finishers, but since we only have a five-horse field, and with Bob Baffert currently forced to abrogate his Derby egg hunt despite yet another re-christening of his legal stab at Churchill Downs, it is just Mora and Yakteen that are eligible. Out of...

Every week, the TDN publishes a roundup of key official rulings from the primary tracks within the four major racing jurisdictions of California, New York, Florida and Kentucky. Here's a primer on how each of these jurisdictions adjudicates different offenses, what they make public (or not) and where. With the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) having gone into effect on July 1, the TDN will also post a roundup of the relevant HISA-related rulings from the same week. California Track: Los Alamitos Date: 12/11/2022 Licensee: Francisco Orduna-Rojas, jockey Penalty:...

First-crop leading earner Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro) continues to stride forward. Atop TDN's board, the sire had a half-dozen chances on Friday to extend his lead over chasers Good Magic (Curlin) and Justify (Scat Daddy). Named for a Spanish golfing legend, 2-year-old colt Olazabal ratcheted up the pressure with a tee-to-green victory in the fifth race at Turfway Park. Looking to move up in the standings, Justify found the rough when his filly Prove My Love did not make the cut in the race prior as an also-eligible. Across the...