LOS ANGELES — It appears as if Justify's Triple Crown will stand and is not in jeopardy in light of the horse's impending disqualification in the 2018 Santa Anita Derby.

L.A. County Superior Court judge Michael Beckloff ruled Friday that the California Horse Racing Board stewards should make an order to disqualify Justify some five years ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — One of the most memorable Kentucky Derby winners in history is retiring from racing.

Rich Strike, the 80-1 long shot who triumphed at the 2022 Kentucky Derby, will no longer race and will soon be offered as a stallion prospect at an upcoming Keeneland sale.

He will be offered as a stallion prospect at Keeneland’s November ...Read more

There was a time when Del Mar salivated over a chance to host the Breeders' Cup, the money-soaked, two-day racing festival that lures horses and bettors from around the globe.

Then came 2017.

And 2021.

And soon, 2024.

Now, the place where Bing Crosby crooned about the turf meeting the surf has scored the big-event version of the daily double...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Del Mar will host back-to-back Breeders' Cups, with officials set to announce this this week that the boutique race track will be the site of the year-end horse racing championships in 2025, according to three people with knowledge of the situation but not authorized to speak publicly.

The 2025 race will be held on Oct. 31 and ...Read more

Cody Dorman, whose relationship with a horse who was named after him became an inspiration to the country, died while flying from Los Angeles to Kentucky the day after Cody's Wish won his second Breeders' Cup race. He was 17.

"We are heartbroken to share the news that our beloved Cody suffered a medical event on our trip home to Kentucky [...Read more

There is little doubt that the racing career of White Abarrio has had its share of ups and downs. In March, he dropped to the allowance level after six straight losses. Then his trainer was suspended. He was then transferred to a trainer who was coming off a 10-year suspension.

On Saturday at Santa Anita, some of that fell away as he won the $6...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The richest race held annually in this country is the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic. It's been the home of some of the most memorable races in the sport. Who can forget Zenyatta's last-to-first run in 2009? Or Triple Crown winner American Pharoah's win in 2015. And then there was Arrogate running down California Chrome in the ...Read more

Seeing Bob Baffert in the winner's circle after a Breeders' Cup race is nothing unusual. In fact, it's happened 18 times.

And seeing Baffert wander around Santa Anita's Clocker's Corner in the morning, stopping for photos, chatting up old friends and people he just met for the first time, it seemed to energize the 70-year-old trainer.

The ...Read more

Geaux Rocket Ride, winner of the Haskell Stakes and one of the favorites for the Breeders' Cup Classic, was euthanized Wednesday, four days after he suffered a catastrophic injury to his right front leg during a workout. The news was confirmed by the horse's owners Pin Oak Stud.

The 3-year-old colt suffered what was described as an "open ...Read more

A professional horse rider was killed Friday while training a filly at Cypress' Los Alamitos Race Course.

Alfredo Luevano, 53, was found on the ground early Friday morning near the back of the track where he had been conducting training exercises with a 2-year-old horse, according to a release from the race course. Luevano was rushed to a Long ...Read more

Santa Anita Park has made a point of trying to be a leader when it comes to horse safety, often proactive in its enforcement of rules, even before official adjudication.

But now, it is raising some eyebrows in not taking any action against trainer Dan Blacker, who has been cited for 527 violations by the California Horse Racing Board. The ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The start of the West Coast path to the Kentucky Derby starts Saturday at Santa Anita Park with the running of the Grade 1 $300,000 American Pharoah Stakes. But, the new question facing the business is do the races for 2-year-olds mean as much as they used to?

There was a time when conditioning a horse meant getting a good ...Read more

Santa Anita opens its fall meeting Friday with higher than normal anticipation because it closes with the Breeders' Cup on Nov. 3-4. What that means is a mad dash to get in as many big races as possible in the first two weekends of its 19-day meeting. This gives the horses enough time to recover and run in the million-dollar races the first ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — Legendary thoroughbred trainer Bob Baffert, whose horses have won 17 Triple Crown races, filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday in San Diego accusing two New Jersey men of trying to extort and defame him.

The accusations revolve around doping allegations that have hung over Baffert, whose horse Medina Spirit won the 2021 Kentucky Derby...Read more

In his youth, Rodney Van Johnson had a need for speed. That ultimately led to him competing as a sprinter and high jumper at the University of Cincinnati.

Throughout his life, Van Johnson — an actor best known for having appeared in several soap operas, including “The Young and the Restless” and, most recently, “The Bold and the ...Read more

An investigation into the dramatic rise in deaths at Churchill Downs around the Kentucky Derby was released on Tuesday with a very familiar answer — we don't know what happened.

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) released its 197-page report on Churchill Downs, filled with graphs, charts and all the trappings of a thorough ...Read more

DEL MAR, Calif. — Each day horses bolt from the starting gate at Del Mar, 61-year-old Maria Perez is there at 2:30 a.m., in the chill and dark, to clean stalls, brush horses and gather riding gear.

Perez represents the track's unrelenting best bet, one of 1,000 seasonal workers on the quiet backstretch of the facility who routinely move with ...Read more