Monmouth Park

It's been nearly a year-and-a-half since Chantal Sutherland last rode. Her career was sidelined May 6, 2023 after a freak accident at Gulfstream when she pulled her mount up when the horse was frightened by geese crossing the track. Sutherland was thrown from the saddle and suffered a very serious injury. She snapped the humerus bone right off the shoulder and with her arm hanging grotesquely it was no longer attached to any part of her body. At time, the 48-year old rider grew so despondent that she feared that...

Owner Mike Repole believes he might have the best 4-year-old in the country in his barn at the start of the new year, and that horse isn't necessarily Fierceness (City of Light). Mindframe (Constitution) has been out of sight, out of mind since finishing second in the July 20 GI Haskell S. at Monmouth. In his prior start, he was second in the GI Belmont S. While he didn't win either race, he overcame the fact that he had only two lifetime starts before the Belmont and was an inexperienced,...

Bill Knauf, a long-time executive at Monmouth Park, has been named the president and general manager of the non-profit entity the Maryland Jockey Club Inc. that is set to take control of Maryland's two major Thoroughbred tracks starting Jan. 1. The announcement of his hiring was made by the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Authority (MTRA), a non-profit group modeled after the New York Racing Association, which operates racing at Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga. The Maryland tracks were transferred to the MTRA by The Stronach Group, which donated them to the state...

For the past two weeks, we have been telling you how some of racing's biggest names fell in love with the sport. Now it's our turn. Here are some of the stories behind the bylines you see every day in the TDN. Marguerite Henry's King of the Wind was my hook. My dog-eared copy of the acclaimed children's novel about the Godolphin Arabian made my young imagination run wild. As an adult, I can still see Wesley Dennis's vibrant illustrations in my mind's eye. If reading King of the Wind...

How did we get hooked on this sport? We all have stories about how our love affair developed and blossomed. The TDN reached out to numerous notable people in the industry to get their stories to find out how they got hooked and stayed hooked on the sport. Rocco Landesman, Broadway Producer and former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts I've always been an excitement junkie. I love the risk, love the adrenaline you get from that. I've had a career in the Broadway Theater and there's nothing...

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...

Bright Future (Curlin), the winner of the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup at the Spa, has been retired to Claiborne Farm with a stud fee of $12,500 LFSN for the 2025 breeding season, the farm said via a press release on Wednesday. Currently available for inspection at Claiborne, the 5-year-old son of Curlin won five of 11 career starts and earned $947,940 for owners Repole Stable and St. Elias Stables. The Todd Pletcher trainee won the Gold Cup at four and took home the GIII Salvator Mile Stakes at Monmouth...

Jairo Rendon was enjoying one of the best years of his career. He finished the Monmouth meet with 66 winners, just 10 winners behind perennial Monmouth riding champion Paco Lopez. He stuck around a few more days to ride some at the all-turf meet at the Meadowlands, but after riding there Sept. 21, he was ready to go home. After the short Meadowlands meet ended, Rendon would have no problem heading to Aqueduct or maybe Gulfstream Park, two places where he could make a lot of money and ride a...

Dual Grade I-winner Dornoch (Good Magic) has been on downtime at Saratoga in the weeks after finishing fourth in the GI DraftKings Travers Aug. 24. Trained by Danny Gargan, the colt is gearing up for what is expected to be his final career start in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar Nov. 2 before retiring to stud at Spendthrift Farm. "He's doing good, and we gave him some time off and are just starting back," Gargan said. "He'll work three times before the Classic. He's not a horse...

Monmouth Park sits on 310 acres of land in Oceanport, NJ, but, as is the case with most tracks in a modern era where on-track crowds have dwindled, much of the property includes empty stands and parking lots. But that is about to change as real estate developer and horse owner Morris Bailey has unveiled plans to develop 80 acres of the property that will be used to for a 298-unit residential building, a 200-room hotel, a youth sports center and, perhaps, a concert venue. Dennis Drazin said it has...

Bill Knauf, who has served Monmouth Park in a variety of roles--most recently its vice president of business development--for over a quarter-century, will take up the position of president and general manager of The Maryland Jockey Club Inc., a new 501(c) (4) organization to manage and operate Thoroughbred horse racing in the state. "We have found the perfect person to lead Maryland's groundbreaking efforts to reimagine and renew the racing experience," said Greg Cross, chairman of the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority (MTROA). "Bill not only has operating experience, but...

Spurred in part by a record handle on NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes Day, Monmouth Park continued its upward trend with increases in both total and on-track handle for the fourth straight year, while jockey Paco Lopez and trainer Claudio Gonzalez were repeat winners of their respective titles as the 50-day meet came to an end on Sunday. Total average handle was $4,251,965, a 5.4% increase over last year's average of $4,032,648 during a 51-day meet. On-track handle averaged $352,939, a 3.7% increase over last year's average of $340,257. In addition,...