Triple Crown

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. Stefanie Grimm, Staff Writer For me, racing was a natural continuation born from a love of all things horses and athletics. Growing up as the only horse person in a very much non-horse family, my only exposure to racing was when I joined millions of viewers each year...

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame is seeking auction items from the Thoroughbred industry, as well as businesses around Saratoga Springs ahead of its third annual "Countdown to the Triple Crown" fundraising event, scheduled for Feb. 1. Businesses who donate an item, experience, or gift card will be  promoted leading up to the event through the museum's social media channels and through database distribution. The museum will also provide contributing businesses with two complimentary tickets to the event. Guests can attend the event in person at the...

Stakes-winning Stage Raider (Pioneerof the Nile--Stage Magic, by Ghostzapper), a half-brother to Triple Crown winner Justify (Scat Daddy), has been retired from racing and will take up stud duties next year at Pope McLean's Crestwood Farm. Bred and campaigned by John Gunther, Stage Raider won last year's R.A. Cowboy Jones Stakes at Ellis Park and was third in the GIII Ack Ack Stakes at Churchill Downs. "My dad and I really believe in this horse and we are excited to start him on his new stallion career," said Tanya Gunther....

Expectations were high for the three Grade I preps for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile run Saturday as the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity, the GI Champagne Stakes and the GI American Pharoah Stakes all included horses who seemed to have vast potential. And most came through. Chancer McPatrick (McKinzie) was the star performer in the Champagne, staying undefeated and adding a second Grade I to win to his resume. In the American Pharoah it all came down, as it so often does, to which Bob Baffert would win, and the...

When he came to Europe, and rode them all to sleep, everyone said that Steve Cauthen had a clock in his head. If a Swiss watchmaker wanted to check his work, he could just ask Cauthen to go five-eighths in a minute flat. But all that precision seemingly ran askew when it came to counting his years, each of which might have compressed a decade. As Laz Barrera said, when the press asked him about keeping "The Kid" on his Derby horse: "Stevie Cauthen doesn't come from this planet. He's...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.- When Joel Rosario arrived in California as a virtually unknown jockey from the Dominican Republic in 2006, his mission was simple: survive. Eighteen years after his first races at Fairplex and Golden Gate Fields, Rosario will be inducted Friday into the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame. He was elected in his first year of eligibility. "I never thought I was going to be where I am today," Rosario said. "I thought I would come here and try to make a living. Riding horses and trying...

Dornoch (Good Magic) didn't get much respect heading into the GI Belmont Stakes, and his bandwagon wasn't exactly overburdened with supporters after his 17-1 victory over 'TDN Rising Star' Mindframe (Constitution), either. On Saturday at Monmouth Park, bettors let the winner of the third leg of the Triple Crown go as the tepid 3.4-1 third choice in the seven-horse GI Haskell Stakes, believing with 4-5 certainty that a now-more-experienced Mindframe wouldn't, for a second straight race, allow Dornoch to claw back the lead in deep stretch like he did six...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.-With the mighty successful prelim--the GI Belmont Stakes--now part of Saratoga's storied history, it is time to move on to the main event. The 40-day racing season, the 156th since the first meet was staged in 1863, commences Thursday with an 11-race program at Saratoga Race Course, America's oldest sporting venue. The listed six-furlong $175,000 Schuylerville S., a graded stakes for 2-year-old fillies through last year, is the traditional opening-day feature. The first post is at 1:10 p.m. By the time the meet concludes on Labor Day, Sept....

Betfred will be the new sponsor of Newmarket's 2,000 Guineas and 1,000 Guineas from 2025 onwards, it was announced on Thursday. The multi-year agreement means the bookmaker will become the first brand to sponsor all five of Britain's Classics--the others being the Betfred Oaks and Betfred Derby at Epsom and Doncaster's Betfred St Leger--at the same time. To mark their sponsorship of the prestigious contests, Betfred have also announced that a £2-million bonus will be on offer to connections of any horse who completes the 'Betfred Triple Crown' by winning...

As witnessed at this year's GI Preakness S., partnerships and syndicates are reaching the winner's circle at the highest levels. MyRacehorse scored the victory with Seize the Grey (Arrogate) and over 2,500 people now can claim they were part of a Triple Crown victory. MyRacehorse may be getting all the press, but the reality of the situation is it only provides a small fraction of the horses needed to fill races at the racetracks in the United States. When you zoom out and look at all the managed partnerships and...

For the second year running, the G1 Epsom Derby winner was bred from one of Coolmore's countless Galileo (Ire) mares outcrossed to an American sire line. But whereas Sunday Silence's son Deep Impact (Jpn) gave Auguste Rodin (Ire) further turf genes from his mother's European family, City Of Troy's sire is a conduit for virtually unadulterated dirt blood. Justify's first four dams are, respectively, by grandsons of Deputy Minister, Seattle Slew, Northern Dancer and Bold Ruler. The third of those names, of course, transformed the European breed, albeit alongside other...