LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Churchill Downs is still hosting the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5 and even planning for fans, but it is becoming clear that the Louisville track won't see anything close to even reduced attendance projections.

On Thursday, Churchill Downs Inc. CEO Bill Carstanjen said in a conference call that as the coronavirus spiked in ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- The California Horse Racing Board has agreed to file a complaint and schedule a hearing in regard to Justify's win in the 2018 Santa Anita Derby as part of a lawsuit settlement with Mick Ruis, owner and trainer of second-place finisher Bolt d'Oro.

Justify was one of seven horses at the track, including a second thoroughbred in ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The first poll is out, and there's a clear early favorite to win this year's edition of one of Thoroughbred racing's premier contests.

Tom's d'Etat, who last month pulled off a dominant 4 \-length victory in the Grade 2 Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill Downs, was voted the top contender for the $7 million Longines Breeders' ...Read more

The California Horse Racing Board is allowing Los Alamitos Race Course to continue racing at the conclusion of a 10-day probationary period after the track submitted a new equine and rider safety plan last week. In a special teleconference meeting Monday, the commissioners voted unanimously in favor of Los Alamitos' plan.

This was the first use...Read more

A top Kentucky Derby contender headlines a field of seven talented Thoroughbreds who will compete this weekend for a major payday and a free pass into another marquee race.

Bob Baffert-trained Authentic is the 4-5 morning-line favorite in the $1 million, Grade I Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park in New Jersey on Saturday. The winner of the ...Read more

A second horse has died at Los Alamitos Race Course since the track was placed on 10 days probation by the California Horse Racing Board because of a marked increase in fatalities. It was the fourth racing death this month in only five programs. There have been 10 horses which have died either racing or training since May 26 and 22 since the ...Read more

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has been ordered to serve a 15-day suspension by the Arkansas Racing Commission after two of his horses tested positive for an analgesic after running at Oaklawn Park on May 2. Suspensions are honored in all jurisdictions, so he would not be able to run in California or anywhere else between Aug. 1 and 15.

The ...Read more

Santa Anita, which finished its meeting June 21, has had a surge of people with COVID-19, according to statistics released by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

The agency report, issued Monday, noted that the track had 38 people confirmed as having had the coronavirus infection and 10 more are symptomatic and awaiting test ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- Southern California's leading jockey, Flavien Prat, has tested positive for the coronavirus, becoming the fifth jockey who raced at Los Alamitos on the Fourth of July weekend to contract the virus.

Prat, who raced Saturday at Keeneland in Kentucky, returned to Del Mar and underwent a test Sunday morning to confirm his eligibility...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- If this year's Kentucky Derby had been run on its accustomed date -- the first Saturday in May -- there wouldn't have been a whisper about a 3-year-old colt named Art Collector.

There will be plenty of talk about him over the next couple of months. And he'll be bringing a band of horsemen with Louisville connections with him ...Read more

Del Mar had the first horse fatality of its summer season when an unraced 3-year-old filly suffered a catastrophic injury after completing a four-furlong work on Saturday morning.

Lovely Lilia was pulled up at the completion of the workout on the main track and vanned off. Veterinarians determined that she could not recover from the unspecified...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Jockey Luis Saez was pulled from his mounts at Keeneland on Friday after testing positive for COVID-19, the Daily Racing Form reported and the track confirmed.

According to DRF, Saez's agent, former trainer and Lexington native Kiaran McLaughlin, said Saez had provided Keeneland officials a testing swab on Thursday that came ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- The California Horse Racing Board, in an emergency meeting Friday, has given Los Alamitos Race Course 10 days to come up with plan to address an increase in equine fatalities at the track. There have been 20 racing and training deaths at Los Alamitos since Dec. 27, including eight since May 26.

The two-hour teleconference was ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Three months late is better than never, and while Saturday's Toyota Blue Grass Stakes field might lack for top Kentucky Derby contenders -- as of now -- it won't lack for intrigue.

Originally scheduled for the April Spring Meet, which was scrapped due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year's edition of the Blue Grass drew 13 ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The Thoroughbred racing industry moved swiftly this week to condemn racist social media posts circulating under the name of a prominent Thoroughbred breeder in Lexington, Tom VanMeter.

VanMeter, a veterinarian, is a well-known figure in the horse industry and in Central Kentucky. His brother is Laurance VanMeter, a justice on ...Read more

Bob Baffert's seemingly endless string of Kentucky Derby hopefuls grew by one Saturday when Uncle Chuck won the Grade 3 $150,000 Los Alamitos Derby by an easy four lengths.

Uncle Chuck took the lead on the far turn and cruised through the home stretch in the diminished four-horse race. It was worth 20 points toward qualifying for the Kentucky ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- There will be fans at Kentucky's premiere horse racing event this year after all.

After months of uncertainty prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, Churchill Downs announced Thursday that spectators will be allowed at the track for the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5 under a set of strict guidelines.

"We truly appreciate the ...Read more