LEXINGTON, Ky. — Churchill Downs Inc. announced Wednesday that its signature racetrack in Louisville will undergo an $80-$90 million renovation of the grandstand that will begin in August and be completed in time for the 151st Kentucky Derby next May.

According to a press release from CDI, the renovation of the Grandstand Club and Pavilion ...Read more

It took three years to resolve, but finally the country's most famous trainer can once again run in the world's most famous race.

The standoff that gave a lot of attorneys a lot of billable hours ended Friday when Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert accepted responsibility for Medina Spirit's positive test after winning the 2021 Kentucky Derby, ...Read more

It took three years to resolve, but finally the country's most famous trainer can once again run in the world's most famous race.

The standoff that gave a lot of attorneys a lot of billable hours ended Friday when Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert accepted responsibility for Medina Spirit's positive test after winning the 2021 Kentucky Derby, ...Read more

DEL MAR, Calif. — Jumping into Southern California horse racing stirrups-deep is like stepping into a monsoon in a bathrobe for those unaccustomed to that type of competition and spotlight.

It’s where the only two Triple Crown winners since Affirmed were trained and blazed historic trails: American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018, ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Horse racing in Maryland will soon get a $400 million infusion of public funds, and officials hope efforts to renovate Pimlico Race Course will coincide with a resurgence of its marquee event, the Preakness Stakes. Next year’s race, the 150th installment, will be preceded by a festival aimed at elevating the storied event’s ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Pimlico Race Course will close to training, racing and simulcast wagering Sept. 1 as preparations begin to raze and redevelop the home of the Preakness Stakes, part of a $400 million plan to overhaul Maryland’s racing industry.

The state took ownership of the track from The Stronach Group on July 1 as part of the redevelopment ...Read more

The Triple Crown season is over. Three races, three different winners. No clear star in the making.

Or maybe three of them.

Dornoch etched his name into thoroughbred history by winning the 156th Belmont Stakes, a race run for the first time at Saratoga Race Course in mid-state New York.

At 17-1, not much was thought of the 3-year-old colt who...Read more

Dornoch won the 156th running of the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, holding off a late challenge from Mindframe down the final stretch.

Dornoch, which entered the race at 17-1 odds, gave trainer Danny Gargan his first win in the Belmont Stakes. Sierra Leone finished third and Honor Marie fourth.

Clearly there was no Triple Crown on ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — The Belmont Stakes is the oldest leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown, having first been run in 1867.

Two of the biggest long shots to ever win the event, a traditional 1 1/2-mile race known as the “test of the champion,” cashed tickets in the 21st century.

Here are the five biggest long-shot winners in Belmont Stakes history...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Michael Kipness, aka “The Wizard,” has been a professional horse racing handicapper since 1986.

Here is his analysis on the 10-horse field for Saturday’s 156th Belmont Stakes, including whether each horse is a contender or a pretender to win the final leg of the Triple Crown.

Visit wizardraceandsports.com for his full card ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The 2024 Belmont Stakes has some big changes this year.

The final leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown will feature a different venue, and a different distance, compared to normal.

With Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., out of action due to ongoing renovations, this year’s Grade 1, $2 million Belmont Stakes will instead be run...Read more

Did D. Wayne Lukas sleep in the morning after Seize the Grey glided away from the competition to give him his seventh Preakness Stakes win?

Come on, now.

The 88-year-old trainer was awake before 3 a.m., worrying about a sesamoid fracture suffered by his other Preakness horse, Just Steel (with a pin inserted, he’ll be fine, Lukas said). He ...Read more

BALTIMORE — He’ll never stop coming as long as he has a horse with any chance.

It had been 11 years since 88-year-old trainer D. Wayne Lukas won the Preakness Stakes with Oxbow. Many assumed the man who had dominated thoroughbred racing in the 1990s would never return to the winner’s circle in a Triple Crown race. But Lukas’ optimism ...Read more

BALTIMORE — One truism in horse racing is never count out Hall of Fame trainer Wayne Lukas. At 88, he walks with a cane but still climbs about his pony and supervises morning workouts.

On Saturday, in the 149th running of the Preakness Stakes, Lukas won this race for the seventh time with Seize the Grey in a wire-to-wire effort. It ended ...Read more

BALTIMORE — He’ll never stop coming as long as he has a horse with any chance.

The last of 88-year-old trainer D. Wayne Lukas’ six Preakness Stakes wins, with Oxbow, came in 2013. But Lukas’ optimism blooms anew each spring. He doesn’t feel right if he’s not part of the big races.

Lukas was absent in 2023 but brought two contenders...Read more

BALTIMORE — Gun Song had her owner, R. Lee Lewis, a touch worried after she finished fourth in the March 30 Gulfstream Park Oaks.

Mark Hennig, whom Lewis considers his best friend as much as his trainer of choice, reassured him the filly looked “better than ever” going into Friday’s George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico ...Read more

BALTIMORE — The week started with the highly unusual situation where the winner of the Kentucky Derby was not the favorite to win the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of horse racing's Triple Crown.

Mystik Dan won the 150th running of the race two weeks ago by a nose and that came after a near perfect trip along the rail. Can't happen like ...Read more