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Mike Pence says Triple Crown winner American Pharoah bit him. Did the horse do it?
WASHINGTON -- Vice President Mike Pence says Triple Crown winner American Pharoah bit him hard enough on the arm during a 2018 visit to Kentucky that he nearly collapsed.
But farm manager Dermot Ryan, who was there as Pence was presented with an American Pharoah halter, said Friday it would be out of character for a horse he described as "sweet...Read more
Maryland Jockey Club says Justify tested clean before and after 2018 Preakness
BALTIMORE -- A day after the New York Times reported that 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify tested positive for a banned substance in the run-up to the Kentucky Derby, the Maryland Jockey Club said that the Bob Baffert-trained colt was clean in pre- and post-race drug tests for the 143rd Preakness.
Earlier Thursday, Churchill Downs Racetrack ...Read more
Justify failed drug test because of contaminated feed, California racing board says
LOS ANGELES -- Justify, who dominated the equine world last year when he became the 13th winner of the Triple Crown, has thrust horse racing back into an unwelcome spotlight after it was reported that the colt failed a drug test following his victory in the Santa Anita Derby.
Justify tested positive for scopolamine, a compound commonly found in...Read more
Bob Baffert denies drugging Justify: 'I am proud to stand by his record, and my own'
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Two-time Triple Crown-winning trainer Bob Baffert on Thursday denied giving Justify a banned medication.
"I unequivocally reject any implication that scopolamine was ever intentionally administered to Justify, or any of my horses," Baffert said in a statement. "Justify is one of the finest horses I've had the privilege of ...Read more
Triple Crown winner American Pharoah gets a new record: His highest-priced foal yet
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- A filly by Triple Crown winner American Pharoah hasn't even set foot on a racetrack but she's already setting records.
On Wednesday, the yearling filly, who is known only as Hip No. 498 for now, sold for a record $8.2 million at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale in Lexington.
It's the highest price yet for offspring by ...Read more
'Shocked' Turfway Park plans to fight Churchill Downs dates takeover
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Turfway Park, which is in the middle of changing hands, plans to fight moves by Churchill Downs Inc. to take away the northern Kentucky's track's racing dates.
"We are shocked and thoroughly disappointed by Churchill Downs' recent attack on Turfway Park, which has been a significant part of the northern Kentucky community for ...Read more
Churchill Downs Inc. proposes new track for 'neglected' northern Kentucky
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The corporate parent of the Kentucky Derby announced Thursday that it wants to build a $200 million racetrack and gambling parlor in northern Kentucky.
The track, which would be called New Latonia, would usurp the winter Thoroughbred racing dates of Turfway Park in Florence.
Churchill Downs Inc. said it plans to request those...Read more
Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer was under scrutiny before most recent horse deaths
LOS ANGELES -- As Jerry Hollendorfer waits until next Friday to find out if he will be able to race at Golden Gate Fields, a picture is starting to emerge as to some factors that the Stronach Group weighed before banning the hall of fame trainer from its facilities.
The Stronach Group has offered little insight into the reasons for its decision...Read more
Horse racing, with its problems, returns to Bay Area
ALBANY, Calif. -- Early Thursday morning, Steve Sherman leaned on a rail with a stopwatch in his hand and watched Rebel At Heart and Koa Cat gallop five-eighths of a mile down the charcoal-colored track at Golden Gate Fields.
Thursday marked the beginning of the fall racing season at the track, on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay. Sherman...Read more
Dale Earnhardt Jr., wife involved in plane crash in Tennessee
Retired NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his wife, Amy, were involved in a plane crash in Tennessee on Thursday afternoon, multiple media outlets reported.
Neither were hurt, Elizabethton Fire Chief Barry Carrier told station WJHL.
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Filly suffers fatal breakdown in training at Del Mar
A horse suffered a catastrophic injury Monday morning in training at Del Mar and had to be euthanized.
Trainer Jim Cassidy said the unraced 3-year-old filly, Bri Bri, suffered a broken pelvis during a scheduled three-furlong workout out of the starting gate under exercise rider Abel Hernandez (who was not injured). Bri Bri was prepping for an ...Read more
Third horse dies in training at Del Mar
A third thoroughbred race horse has died during training at California's Del Mar, which opened its summer meet less than two weeks ago.
Bowl Of Soul, a 3-year-old filly trained by Bob Baffert, broke down Monday with an injury to her right hind fetlock, which is similar to an ankle. The horse was euthanized, according to Dr. Rick Arthur, equine ...Read more
Myracehorse website allows average people to own a piece of action
DEL MAR, Calif. -- If not for Myracehorse.com, Robin Hoffos wouldn't have taken off on a 31-hour round trip odyssey from his home in Ramona to Indiana.
He wouldn't have boarded a plane early in the morning of July 17 at Lindbergh Field, flown to Indianapolis and paid a ride-share driver to haul him 36 miles to Shelbyville.
There, in the middle...Read more
Judge: Del Mar must allow Hollendorfer to train, race horses at track
SAN DIEGO -- Jerry Hollendorfer will be allowed to train horses at Del Mar after a ruling by a San Diego Superior Court judge was affirmed in a hearing Friday morning.
In a three-page tentative ruling filed Thursday, Judge Ronald Frazier concluded the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club should not deny Hollendorfer's stall application or his ability to ...Read more
Hearing for trainer Hollendorfer's case against Del Mar pushed back
SAN DIEGO -- A San Diego Superior Court judge on Thursday pushed back a ruling on a complaint by horse racing trainer Jerry Hollendorfer against the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club and 22nd Agricultural District.
Judge Ronald Frazier said in a court hearing that the arguments filed by both sides in the case this week were too voluminous for him to ...Read more
Two horses killed at Del Mar in freak training accident
DEL MAR, Calif. -- Two horses died Thursday morning in a freak training accident at Del Mar, track officials confirmed.
Mac McBride, director of media for Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, said one of the horses, Carson Valley, was an unraced 3-year-old trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert. The other horse, a 2-year-old named Charge a Bunch, was ...Read more
After Santa Anita horse deaths, uncertainty clouds the Del Mar summer racing season
LOS ANGELES -- To understand how this year has been like no other in California horse racing, look at the cover of the Del Mar Owners-Trainers-Jockeys 2019 source book.
There in the bottom left corner is a picture of trainer Jerry Hollendorfer giving instructions to a jockey, something he can no longer do since he is currently not allowed to ...Read more
Horsemen looking for fresh start at Del Mar after Santa Anita crisis
DEL MAR, Calif. -- In the six years that David Jerkens has been the racing secretary for the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, he hadn't quite seen such a traffic jam of horses.
Not on the track, but at the entrance to stables on the backstretch as Del Mar officially opened for business late on Thursday night. By early Friday morning, the long-legged ...Read more
Hollendorfer assistant to train horses at Del Mar in his place?
SAN DIEGO -- Five days before its summer meet opens, the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club remained mostly silent on the access to racing for Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. There was, however, an indication of which way the track officials are leaning.
As the first group of horses began to settle into their stalls on Friday, DMTC CEO Joe ...Read more
Santa Anita numbers say reforms were successful, but foes question the figures
LOS ANGELES -- There's an expression popularized by Mark Twain that there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.
It's upon that premise that the public should be cautiously viewing one of the battle fronts on the future of horse racing: the counting of the equine dead. On the surface, it should be simple. But, with so much ...Read more
Popular Stories
- Mike Pence says Triple Crown winner American Pharoah bit him. Did the horse do it?
- Myracehorse website allows average people to own a piece of action
- Del Mar strengthens safety standards following Santa Anita horse deaths
- After Santa Anita horse deaths, uncertainty clouds the Del Mar summer racing season
- Santa Anita numbers say reforms were successful, but foes question the figures
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