New York lawmakers and the governor have agreed on a package of measures to give racetracks millions of dollars in tax breaks, steer funding to a new advanced equine imaging research program adjacent to Belmont Park, and end a nearly century-old system that kept horse racing bettors from putting in their wallets the exact amounts…
Following their 1-2 finish in the $5 million Kentucky Derby (G1) May 3 at Churchill Downs, Sovereignty and Journalism have joined the leaderboard in the Longines World’s Best Racehorse rankings released May 8. Completing 1 1/4 miles on a sloppy track in 2:02.31, Sovereignty’s 1 1/2-length triumph earned him a 121 rating on the international…
For 21 years, trainer Todd Pletcher helped build television ratings for the Kentucky Derby (G1) by bringing dozens of top contenders to the opening leg of the Triple Crown. In last week’s 151st edition of the Run for the Roses, Pletcher once again helped the ratings, though in a completely different and far less significant…
Their names spring to mind whenever these iconic stakes are mentioned: Col. Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr. and Col. Matt Winn, both synonymous with the Kentucky Derby, and August Belmont, father and son, the namesakes of the Belmont Stakes and its home racetrack, Belmont Park. For the middle jewel of the Triple Crown, Oden Bowie and…
Kentucky Derby week has officially come to an end, wrapping up one of the most action-packed weekends in Thoroughbred racing. Over the course of two thrilling days at Churchill Downs (May 2 and 3), fans witnessed 15 graded stakes races featuring elite fields and high-stakes competition. With a staggering $16.2 million in total purse money up…
Considering the long history of Thoroughbred racing, it’s rare to use the word “unprecedented” when it comes to any achievement. But here we are with Godolphin’s unprecedented accomplishment of winning the Kentucky Oaks (G1), Kentucky Derby (G1), One Thousand Guineas (G1), and Two Thousand Guineas (G1) in a single weekend. The biggest of Godolphin’s big racing…
In 2019, Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott gained a first Kentucky Derby (G1) with Country House , by dint of disqualification for interference. In 2025, Sovereignty , by dint of superior performance, gave him his second. By strange coincidence this pair both go back in tail-female line to the same imported mare, The Apple. Brought to…
As much as the $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes (G3) is viewed as a prep race for the June 7 Belmont Stakes (G1), trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. views it as educational for his two starters, Captain Cook and McAfee . For St Elias Stable’s Captain Cook, in particular, the May 10 1 1/8-mile stakes for 3-year-olds at…
Anarchist , a graded stakes winner at Del Mar and Woodbine and even stakes-placed in Korea, is ready for the next stop: The Big Apple. The well-traveled sprinter, third last out in the April 12 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) at Oaklawn Park, heads to Aqueduct Racetrack May 10 to contest the $175,000 John A. Nerud…
A few eyebrows were raised when Aidan O’Brien described Justify as potentially “the best ever” sire in an interview in Good Morning Bloodstock last year—not long after he had sent out Warm Heart , Galileo‘s 99th top-level winner, to score in the 2024 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1) at Gulfstream Park with the bravery…
