turf

When a horse has never been outside of the lead at first call in any of his 11 prior races, chances are good that he'll be a contender right from the jump. In this case, despite not having raced over the turf since contesting a five-furlong sprint as a juvenile in Oct. 2021, Forbidden Kingdom (American Pharoah) continued to put that trademark early speed to use and took the field coast-to-coast in the GII Joe Hernandez S. It's been a slow 2023 for the Richard Mandella trainee with only a...

Medoro's first stakes race looked eerily similar to her Del Mar debut Dec. 1 with both resulting in narrow, hard-closing wins. Stretching out from five furlongs to one mile Friday, the Peter Eutron trainee broke from an outside gate and was content to settle off the speed while kept wide and in the clear by Antonio Fresu. Racing in the back half of the field of nine, the 2-1 favorite began to make up ground into leader Chatalas and drew alongside that rival at the head of the lane. Unleashed...

2nd-GP, $70K, Msw, 2yo, 1 1/16mT, 12:39 p.m. Returning to the track for his second start after being disqualified from second at Monmouth Aug. 6, WONDERFINN (Justify) enters off back-to-back bullet works Nov. 13 (four furlongs in :48 1/5 {1/14}) and Nov. 20 (three furlongs in :36 2/5 {1/11}). The 2-year-old is out of a full-sister to trio of prolific Galileo siblings led by G1 Tattersalls Irish Two Thousand Guineas winner Magician (Ire) along with GSW Apple Betty (Ire) and SW/GISP Outstanding (Ire), herself the dam of MGSW Masteroffoxhounds (War...

MGISW and 2020's Eclipse Champion Turf Male Channel Maker (English Channel) has been retired from racing, his connections said Saturday. The announcement came one day after the 9-year-old gelding finished next to last in the GIII Sycamore at Keeneland. "It's time," part-owner Adam Wachtel said. Channel Maker ran a record six times in the Breeders' Cup. "I've never had a horse that's run at the highest level against the toughest competition from 2 through 9," Wachtel said. "I love what Bill had to say about him after the Bowling Green;...

Del Mar marked eight weeks of increased field sizes and high-quality racing that ended Sunday. "Overall, just a tremendous summer of quality racing," Racing Secretary David Jerkens says. "Especially Pacific Classic Day. You look back and see how strong of a card that was. I think some of the winners and horses that ran well on that card have bright futures for the Breeders' Cup." The talk around the racing industry is the field sizes again this year at Del Mar. "It was a robust number that I think any...

Edited Press Release A new Track Surface Advisory Group, comprised of members who will be deployed by HISA to analyze dirt, turf and synthetic surface consistency at Thoroughbred racetracks across the U.S., was formed Thursday. "This Group is crucial to ensuring that HISA can support local experts working to make the surfaces on which Thoroughbreds compete as safe as possible," said HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus. "HISA is committed to using all resources at its disposal to help tracks under our jurisdiction meet our Racetrack Safety standards. This group of track...

At the conclusion of racing on Monday, Saratoga will have handled about $800 million for the meet, the third highest handle figure ever for the track. On-track attendance once again topped one million, and was officially at 1,055,543 after Saturday's GI Jockey Club Gold Cup Day card with two racing days to go. Yet, by just about any measure, it was not a good meet. Saratoga came into 2023 with the wind at its back. Every year the racing seemed to get bigger, the handle would grow and more and...

NYRA officials scratched a pair of horses from the third race at Saratoga Friday because their last start, the GIII Robert G. Dick Memorial S. at Delaware, has seen four horses encounter problems in their next starts back. The Daily Racing Form was the first to report the story. Both of the top two finishers, winner Sopran Basilea (Night of Thunder {Ire}) and runner up Ever Summer (Summer Front) suffered fatal injuries over the Saratoga turf in the last week. Sopran Basilea finished fourth in the GII Glens Falls S. Aug. 3...

The thoughtfully named McKulick (GB) (f, 4, Frankel {GB}--Astrelle {Ire}, by Makfi {GB}), who has always been special to the Chad Brown team, added another feather to her cap with a late-flying victory in Thursday's GII Glens Falls S. at Saratoga, denying defending two-time Glens Falls victress--as well as MGISW and 1-2 favorite--War Like Goddess (English Channel) an historic three-peat in the process. When the gates flew in the Glens Falls, 45-1 Elegant Taste (Oxbow) emerged from the early fray with the lead. McKulick raced midpack in a good spot as...

The "Quick Fix" of Synthetics is Not the Answer Horse racing has been down the path of synthetics before at Santa Anita, Del Mar, Keeneland, etc. Much time was lost, approximately a decade ago, with a focus on changing surfaces as a panacea for horse racing breakdowns. We now know there are other causes for horse breakdowns that are more prevailing. The greatest single cause of racing deaths has to do with pre-existing conditions of the horse, and only in particular instances is the surface itself the primary reason for...

After the TDN published two opinion pieces which recommended a return to synthetic surfaces, one by Earle Mack in the May 31 TDN and one by Bill Finley in this Monday's TDN, we have been inundated by comments, questions, and opinions about the relative safety of one surface versus another. Some of the questions asked for a year-by-year comparison, while other comments cited statistics that were not correct. Courtesy of The Jockey Club's Equine Injury database, here are the figures of racing fatalities per thousand starters, year by year for...

9th-BEL, $90K, Msw, 3yo/up, f, 7fT, 5:12 p.m. The first foal out of GIII Go for Wand H. heroine Indulgent, MAY FANE (Uncle Mo) dons the royal blue as a Godolphin homebred for trainer Bill Mott. Indulgent is herself a daughter of Fast Cookie, making her a half-sister to MGISW and Darley stallion Frosted (Tapit) and to the dam of GSW/GISP Caramel Swirl (Union Rags). Third dam Fleet Lady, also a graded-stakes winner herself, produced champion 2-year-old colt Midshipman (Unbridled's Song). Further down in the family are MGISP Solomini (Curlin),...