US RACING: Belmont Park backstretch worker succumbs to COVID-19
Racing has been suspended in New York since Aqueduct was shut down on March 19 following the first positive test of a backstretch worker. Last week, the New York Racing Association announced the remainder of the Aqueduct winter meet and the spring meet, which was scheduled to run through April 19, was cancelled. According to […]
US RACING: New York Racing Association delays track opening, but Saratoga's meet on for now
The New York Racing Association has delayed the opening of the Oklahoma Training Track and stabling area at Saratoga Race Course because of the coronavirus pandemic, it was announced Wednesday. The Oklahoma facility originally was set to open April 15, when training traditionally gets underway in advance of the Saratoga meet, according to a news release. NYRA […]
US RACING: After testing positive for COVID-19 – jockey Javier Castellano could return on May 1
Jockey Javier Castellano plans on returning to race riding on May 1 at Oaklawn Park, 37 days after testing positive for coronavirus, per a report from Daily Racing Form’s David Grening. The Hall of Fame rider has not ridden in a race since March 15, nine days before testing positive for the COVID-19 virus on […]
US RACING: Jockey Tyler Gaffalione continues good form at Gulfstream Park in Florida
Tyler Gaffalione continued his hot start for the spring/summer meet at Gulfstream Park on Sunday last by riding three winners, giving the 25-year-old rising star a total of 13 victories for the first four days. Gaffalione, who finished fourth in the standings during the recently concluded 2019-2020 championship meet with 67 winners, had visited the […]
US RACING: Massive dip in horse racing wagering in United States
Perhaps the most surprising number in the Thoroughbred Racing Economic Indicators, released April 3 by Equibase, is that pari-mutuel handle is down only one per cent for the first quarter of 2020. In March, many tracks throughout the United States were forced to close, and others ran without spectators following the COVID-19 outbreak. The cancelled […]
AUSTRALIA RACING - ‘It’s quite eerie’: horses race on in Australia, Asia
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Punters in the UK had to make do with a Virtual Grand National last weekend, but in Australia and Asia they are still able to enjoy a flutter on the real thing, albeit only online. Sydney’s autumn racing festival burst out of the gates Saturday (April 4) to little fanfare, on […]
UK RACING: Virtual Grand National raises spirits and real cash for National Health Service
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Former Wales rugby star Jonathan Davies wanted one small matter cleared up as part-owner of the big race-winner Potters Corner at Aintree last Saturday: “So is there Virtual Grand National prize money?”. With the world’s most famous steeplechase falling victim to the coronavirus shutdown, the computer-generated edition, now in its […]
The horse that changed the world – Secretariat at 50
Like dogwoods in bloom, Secretariat arrived on the penultimate day of March in 1970. We would not know it for a few years, but America was getting a hero just when it most needed one. He has been gone longer than he lived, but can Secretariat really be 50? Big Red, as he would be […]
Bajan trainer Saffie Joseph Jr notches 38th win of Gulfstream Park season
HALLANDALE BEACH, Florida, (CMC) — Favourite Miz Chaplin produced a front-running win on Friday’s (March 27) 11-race card at Gulfstream Park to hand Barbadian trainer Saffie Joseph Jr his 38th win of the season. The three-year-old roan filly, underneath Panamanian Luis Saez, captured race two on the 11-race card, beating the three-year-old fillies by 3 […]
Santa Anita Park ceases racing on Health Department mandate
Shortly before post time Friday at Santa Anita Park, the Arcadia, Calif., track issued the following statement indicating racing is off, but with no specified timeline for its return. The decision leaves Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs in Florida, Golden Gate Fields in northern California and Oaklawn Park in Arkansas as the only Thoroughbred […]