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

DEL MAR, Calif. — There was Mike Smith, all 58-years and 116 pounds of him, slugging it out with the kids again. He's been doing this jockey thing since Ronald Reagan ruled the Oval Office, winning since he guided Future Man to the wire first at Santa Fe Downs on June 12, 1982.

At a time when many dip into the nest egg and plan an Alaskan ...Read more

Horse racing, already under intense scrutiny over horse deaths, suffered yet another very public display of the sport's troubling side.

New York Thunder was far in front toward winning the Grade 1 $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes at Saratoga when he fell in the homestretch, suffering a fracture of the left front fetlock, and ...Read more

Horse racing, already under intense scrutiny over equine fatalities, suffered yet another very public display about the side of the sport that all acknowledge but few want to talk about.

New York Thunder was far in front toward winning the Grade 1 $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes at Saratoga when he fell in the homestretch, suffering a...Read more

Winner of the 2020 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, Art Collector was euthanized Thursday after being diagnosed with laminitis.

The six-year horse by Bernadini won 11 of his 23 career starts, including victories in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup in January, the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic last year, the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes and Grade 2 ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Stronach Group said “there is a possibility” that it will keep Golden Gate Fields open another six months past its planned closing date in mid-December.

“We will do everything we can to keep it open for a short period,” Aidan Butler, chief executive of racing, told a California Horse Racing Board subcommittee ...Read more

BALTIMORE — The Preakness Stakes would be run four weeks after the Kentucky Derby, instead of the traditional two, under a plan being floated by the CEO of 1/ST Racing, which owns and operates Pimlico Race Course, home to the second jewel in the Triple Crown series.

Aidan Butler told Thoroughbred Daily News on Wednesday that the proposed ...Read more

The spotlight on horse-racing fatalities, which is chipping away at the sport's long-term viability, has now shifted to New York's signature summer meeting at Saratoga Race Course, where two more horses died over the weekend, bringing the toll to seven in less than a month.

Undefeated 3-year-old filly Maple Leaf Mel fell yards from the finish ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Stronach Group, which has been decidedly silent about how its closure of Golden Gate Fields will change California racing, laid out its plans to upgrade Santa Anita with a projected $30 million in improvements both in infrastructure and other services, some as soon as the opening of its winter season on Dec. 26.

Among the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Stronach Group announced Sunday that it was closing Golden Gate Fields at the end of the year. Its news release tried to portray the sense of over-the-top optimism while those affected viewed it with end-of-the-world pessimism.

Since then, there have been only questions and no answers as the Stronach Group has made no public...Read more

DEL MAR, Calif. — As CEO of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, Lisa Lazarus is playing the role of lion tamer in an industry once splintered by a tangle of multi-state rules, mismatched standards, spotty enforcement and old-fashioned stubbornness.

Lazarus has been tasked with shoulder-shaking the nation's racetracks into ...Read more

In a major move that will change California horse racing, The Stronach Group is slated to announce Monday that it will cease racing at Golden Gate Fields in the Bay Area at the end of its meeting on Dec. 18.

The move is being made to help prop up racing at Santa Anita by increasing field sizes and the possibility of adding a fourth day of ...Read more

Imagine having your driver’s license suspended, serving that suspension, and then being told the suspension has been extended because you haven’t admitted that you committed those driving offenses you were charged with two years ago.

Imagine heading into court and being offered a plea deal that will greatly reduce your sentence but you have...Read more

If Bob Baffert would just say he’s sorry.

That’s what Churchill Downs wants. Some contrition. Some acceptance of responsibility. Some degree of admittance from the six-time Kentucky Derby-winning horse racing trainer that he was in the wrong when Medina Spirit tested positive for a banned substance after finishing first in the 2021 Run for ...Read more

Churchill Downs Inc. announced Monday that it is extending its track suspension of trainer Bob Baffert through the calendar year 2024.

After Medina Spirit tested positive for a banned substance following finishing first in the 2021 Kentucky Derby, the track suspended the six-time Derby winning trainer for two years, through the 2023 Derby.

In ...Read more