DEL MAR, Calif. -- From his seat beyond the finish line Saturday at Santa Anita, Josh Rubinstein was focused on the celebration in the seconds after Vino Rosso won the Breeders' Cup Classic.

It was only when the president of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club turned his gaze to the left that he saw the ambulance on the track and the 4-year-old ...Read more

It appeared that Santa Anita had a safe Breeders' Cup, but in the last race, at the top of the stretch, Mongolian Groom was pulled up in distress. He suffered a life-ending injury to his left-hind leg and was euthanized on Saturday. It was the 37th death at Santa Anita since Dec. 30 and will raise the temperature even higher on the track with ...Read more

There were 13 Breeders' Cup races run without incident over the last two days at Santa Anita Park.

But in the 14th and final race, the Classic, Vino Rosso's win was overshadowed by the breakdown of Mongolian Groom, a 4-year-old gelding who was vanned away after pulling up and not finishing.

The Breeders' Cup later announced horse had been ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- Horse racing has never experienced a year like this one. A spike of deaths at Santa Anita, Keeneland and tracks in New York, mixed with a controversial finish in the Kentucky Derby that prompted a lawsuit, have left the sport with a crisis-a-week feel.

This week, there is plenty more anxiety as attention turns to the Breeders' ...Read more

Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, who has been banned from California's two biggest tracks after six of his horses died during racing or training in the past year, will not be allowed to compete in the Breeder's Cup at Santa Anita Park, organizers of the thoroughbred championships announced Friday.

Breeder's Cup officials said in a ...Read more

BALTIMORE -- Canadian billionaire Frank Stronach said Wednesday he believes the deal to keep the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore should be amended ? and he pledged to continue trying to force out his daughter as president of the international horse racing company he founded.

"I would like to point out very strongly, that Belinda does not speak ...Read more

BALTIMORE -- While Baltimore leaders celebrate a deal to keep the Preakness Stakes in the city, tough questions await the proposal in next year's General Assembly session.

Wouldn't the money proposed to renovate the Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park tracks be better used for teachers and schools? When will lawmakers be able to see written ...Read more

BALTIMORE -- Willie Kee could not bring himself to join the chorus of acclaim for a new plan to rebuild Maryland's aged racetracks. Instead, the 60-year-old horse trainer thought about traffic, specifically the daily drive he might have to make from Pikesville to Laurel if the plan passes muster in the General Assembly.

"Have you been on the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- Santa Anita, under intense scrutiny because of 30 deaths in the winter-spring meet, had a racing fatality on Saturday during the 17th race of the current fall meeting. A horse died on Sept. 16 while training.

Emtech was in the stretch when it appeared he broke his left front leg and crashed to the dirt. It happened in full view ...Read more

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

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

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

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