Archive

With the July Cup now safely in his clutches, the stable star Oxted (GB) (Mayson {GB}) is relaxing in the shade of his box, occasionally poking his head out to flatten his ears at his full-brother Chipstead (GB) next door. Quite right, too. The 2-year-old may look uncannily like his older brother but he has a long way to go to earn his respect. The siblings are named for nearby villages to Cheval Court Stud in Surrey, where they were bred by the Homecroft Wealth Racing team of Stephen Piper,...

Hill 'n' Dale Farm President John Sikura joined this week's TDN Writers' Room to talk hot sire Violence, his thoughts on the Jockey Club's decision to impose a 140-mare cap, and more.

We visited Breeders' Cup champion Dayatthespa at her home at Stonestreet Farm and we relived some of her greatest moments in racing, particularly her many achievements at the Saratoga. We also met her new foal, a filly by Medaglia d'Oro.

Campanelle became the second winner of the G2 Queen Mary S. at Ascot for Stonestreet Stables. TDN Rising Star Lady Aurelia won the same race four years ago. We checked in with both Stonestreet stars back in Kentucky. Bred by Tally-Ho Stud, Campanelle is the last known foal out of Janina (GB) {Namid {GB}), who won the Listed Marygate S. and is a daughter of G3 Dubai International Airport World Trophy winner Lady Dominatrix (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}). After her purchase, the yearling filly caught a flight to Ocala, Florida...

Belmont Park has seen the ups and downs of modern history and weathered every storm. The anti-gambling laws that shut it down for two years soon after it opened. The Great Depression. World War II. But nothing could prepare Belmont, or New York City, for what was visited upon it this spring. Joe Bianca pays homage to the track, and to his city. "We stared down the greatest existential threat to a city that's faced far too many of them. The devastation has been incomprehensible. I personally lost a friend....

Linda Rice hopes to get her first win in a Triple Crown race with Max Player in Saturday's Belmont S. We visit the duo at their home barn at Belmont. Rice is as meticulous as they come in preparing her horses. The conditioner knows every detail about each and every horse in her care and maps out very specific plans for them. But, as organized as Rice is, she is equally as adaptable, as every horse trainer must be, and those qualities have served her well as she prepares Max...

Keeneland's Bill Thomason talks about Keeneland's upcoming Summer Meet happening July 8 through 12. The change in the race calendar disrupted the game plan for many trainers, especially those based in Kentucky, but Keeneland's President and CEO Bill Thomason said that the horsemen with whom he spoke remained optimistic throughout the period of uncertainty for Kentucky racing. On May 27, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission's race dates committee approved a plan for a Keeneland Summer Meet. The five-day meet, happening Wednesday, July 8 though Sunday, July 12, will feature 10 graded stakes....

Win an extra $100k bonus when your Runhappy 2yo wins a Maiden Special Weight at Belmont Summer Meet, Saratoga, Del Mar or Kentucky Downs! Runhappy, standing at Claiborne Farm.

Under The Stars (Ire) (Night of Thunder {Ire}) is one of 15 fillies lining up for the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket on Sunday. Her trainer, James Tate, speaks to TDN's Alayna Cullen about her preparation. Tate provided an update on GSW Under The Stars who will take her chances at a mile in her stride when she gets her chance in the G1 QIPCO 1000 Guineas. The Newmarket handler reports Under The Stars to be in top form and to have strengthened up over the winter. With her sire-2014 Guineas...

Ahead of the four day QIPCO Guineas Festival at Newmarket Amy Starkey, of Newmarket Racecourses, speaks to us about the protocols in place for the safe resumption of racing at The Rowley Mile. Amy Starkey is the regional director for the east region of the Jockey Club Racecourses portfolio, meaning she is in charge of jumps tracks Huntingdon and Market Rasen as well as Nottingham and Newmarket, which is home to two racecourses and to Starkey herself. "We are doing everything we can to be ready when we do return...

William Knight has recently made the move from West Sussex to Rathmoy Stables in Newmarket. Here he tells us how the move went. William Knight is responsible for over 300 winners from Angmering Park in Sussex. Rathmoy Stables in Newmarket is a location already familiar to him and with the facility recently vacated by David Lanigan he took the plunge to move his operation to Newmarket. "At time when there isn't a lot of great news about, this is incredibly good news for my training operation," said Knight, who won...

The undefeated Maxfield will take his next step on the road to the Kentucky Derby in Saturday's Matt Winn S. at Churchill Downs. A promising juvenile with no losses on his record, the colt was scratched days before the Breeders' Cup Juvenile due to a chip. But now he is ready for his sophomore debut. While a Kentucky Derby moved to September may have been problematic for other three-year-olds primed and ready for spring, the biggest beneficiary may have been Maxfield. "I think it worked to our advantage, for sure,"...