#Saratoga Springs

For most people, the name King Ranch brings to mind images of a sprawling western ranch filled with cattle and cowboys. But for fans of Thoroughbred racing, King Ranch brings to mind a different image - the image of one of the most influential and successful racing and breeding operations in the history of the sport. King Ranch had existed for many…

Belmont Stakes winner Tiz the Law will try to win one of the signature races on the horse racing calendar when he leaves the starting gate on Saturday in the 2020 Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. Nicknamed the Mid-Summer Derby, the Travers ranks alongside the Triple Crown races as the most prestigious three-year-old events of the year.…

Dr. J. David "Doc" Richardson, the distinguished Louisville surgeon who was an owner, breeder and widely-respected leader in the horse racing industry, died Tuesday at the age of 76. According to the Daily Racing Form, Dr. Richardson had been admitted to a hospital in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. with pneumonia following a COVID-19 diagnosis, then…

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Turf racing for 2-year-old fillies and a stakes race for horses that are novices over the jumps headline the Saratoga card on Thursday. The $150000 P.G. Johnson has drawn eight entries to run 1 1/16 miles on the Mellon Turf Course, plus one who will run only if the race is moved from the turf to the main track. Be Your Best, who…

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Wit, who races for the Repole, St. Elias and Gainsway Stables, followed his usual racing pattern of coming from off the pace when he took the trophy in the Spa's $135000 Better Talk Now Sunday afternoon at Saratoga Race Course. With Jose Ortiz in the saddle for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, the colt by Practical Joke…

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - There is a full field of 14 entered for the 147th running of the Travers Stakes on Saturday, including the Preakness victor Exaggerator and the Belmont champion Creator. Still, the Midsummer Derby, as the race is known, is a wide-open affair in a year in which the crop of male 3-year-olds seems evenly matched. The…

Today is Day 6 of the Saratoga Race Course meet. Racing starts at 1:05 p.m. RECENT STORIES FROM THE DAILY GAZETTE AT THE TRACK Eddie Fazzone could barely speak, his vocal chords shot from rooting for his filly Dream Central. But he had plenty to say. The Schenectady native and Mont Pleasant High school graduate, who runs the popular Eddie F's…

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Winchell Thoroughbreds' Epicenter, who came up just shy of Grade 1 glory twice this spring in the Triple Crown, secured both his first top-level victory and a place at the top of the sophomore division with an emphatic 5 1/4-length victory under Joel Rosario in the 153rd renewal of the 10-furlong Grade 1, $1.25 million…

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The New York Racing Association Inc. (NYRA) will host a special cross breed Cross Country Pick 5 on Saturday, featuring Grade 1 thoroughbred action from Whitney Day at Saratoga Race Course and standardbred racing from the Hambletonian card at Meadowlands Racetrack. Free Equibase past performances for the Cross Country Pick…

When the Turkish Jockey Club announced the death of classic winner and stallion Sea Hero in mid-July, the statue of the horse that resides in the Saratoga Race Course paddock was adorned with a blanket of flowers in the colors of owner and breeder Paul Mellon's Rokeby Stables. Social media was filled with pictures of the statue, along with glowing…

Simply put, the Jockey Club Gold Cup on the final weekend of the 2022 Saratoga meet this Saturday is trainer Todd Pletcher's to lose. The all-star trainer has four of the race's eight runners, meaning that just by mere arithmetic, Pletcher has a 50-50 chance of standing in the winner's circle with one of his horses moments after the 10-furlong…

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Eddie Fazzone could barely speak, his vocal chords shot from rooting for his filly Dream Central. But he had plenty to say. The Schenectady native and Mont Pleasant High school graduate, who runs the popular Eddie F's seafood restaurant in Saratoga Springs with his wife, Lisa, a Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons grad, first owned…

The 2022 Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) at Saratoga offers a purse of $600000. It is the premier local prep for the Travers Stakes (G1), The Spa's flagship race for three-year-old dirt routers. Though the 2022 Jim Dandy only drew a field of five horses, the group is long on talent. The second- and third-place finishers in the Kentucky Derby (G1), Epicenter…

SARATOGA SPRINGS - After trying two turns, Jack Christopher returned on Saturday to what he is - an exceptional 3-year-old sprinter. In his first start since a third-place finish in the nine-furlong Haskell at Monmouth Park last month, Jack Christopher cut back in distance impressively with a 1 1/4-length victory in the Grade I Allen Jerkens run at…

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - He was a big colt - gangly, hardheaded and not particularly well behaved. Arrogate required patience and often tried the patience of those charged with transforming him into a racehorse. Every now and then in the mornings, however, Arrogate would flash at what might come, pumping those long gray legs like pistons and…

There may not be as much fanfare for the 2021 Belmont Stakes with no Triple Crown up for grabs, but there will be a crowd, which will be a welcomed sight for race officials. Last year's event was held behind closed doors, but roughly 11000 spectators will be inside Belmont Park for the 6:49 p.m. ET post time on Saturday evening. The Belmont Stakes…

Editor's note: An earlier version of this report included Giacomo among the Kentucky Derby winners who never had another win. Giacomo won the San Diego Handicap in 2006. The Kentucky Derby is the Holy Grail of racing, and this is the time of year when the frenzy peaks. The preps are over, the future bets are down, and the obsessive overanalyzing is…

The oldest stakes race in the country for three-year-olds will have its 153rd running on Saturday when the 2022 Travers Stakes will take place at Saratoga Race Course. First held in 1864, this 1 1/4 miles race is nicknamed the Midsummer Derby and offers a $1.25 million prize to the winner. The 2022 Travers Stakes field is stacked with multiple…

After last year's Preakness Stakes was postponed to October due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2021 Preakness Stakes will return to its rightful spot on the third Saturday in May. Another change from last year will be the presence of spectators at Pimlico Race Course, with 10000 fans being admitted. That's still a far cry from the 51838 who…

A spot in the Kentucky Derby 2022 will be on the line when 11 three-year-olds leave the starting gate in the 2022 Rebel Stakes on Saturday at Oaklawn Park. The winner of the $1 million Rebel Stakes 2022 will receive 50 qualifying points towards the Kentucky Derby, all but guaranteeing himself a spot in the Run for the Roses on May 7. Trainer Bob…

Trainer Chad Brown will try to win the Pennine Ridge Stakes for a record third time when he sends out two horses -- the favored Unanimous Consent and Napoleonic War -- in the 2022 Pennine Ridge Stakes on Saturday at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. The race, a nine-furlong turf race, has been around since 2014, and Brown won it in'16 with Camelot…

Saturday marks the 147th edition of the Run for the Roses, and there is plenty of history that could be made in the 2021 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Louisville-born trainer Brad Cox will send out Essential Quality and Mandaloun in his first Derby appearance, as he seeks to become the first local trainer to win horse racing's biggest prize.…

A field of nine lightly raced three-year-old horses will try to take a step towards the 2022 Kentucky Derby when the starting gate opens on Saturday in the 2022 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park. The Todd Pletcher-trained Mo Donegal is the 5-2 favorite in the 2022 Holy Bull Stakes odds. The Dale Romans-trained Giant Game is getting 7-2 in the…

The Chad Brown-trained Shantisara begins what her trainer hopes will be an Eclipse Award-winning season when she leaves the starting gate in the 2022 Jenny Wiley Stakes on Saturday at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky. A winner of five races in nine career starts, Shantisara makes the first start of her 4-year-old year. Brown says she's…

French-born and Japan-based jockey Christophe Lemaire will try to transfer his international success to the United States when he leaves the starting gate aboard Crown Pride in the 2022 Kentucky Derby on Saturday at Churchill Downs. The 42-year-old Lemaire has led all Japan Racing Association jockeys in wins for five straight years. On Saturday, he…

Two Hall of Fame trainers -- D. Wayne Lukas and Todd Pletcher -- can tie the record for most Kentucky Oaks wins by a trainer when the starting gate opens in the 2022 Kentucky Oaks on Friday at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Both Lukas and Pletcher have won the Run for the Lilies four times, one shy of the record held by the great Woody…

Longshot Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike will try to match the feat of his father, Keen Ice, when he leaves the starting gate in the 2022 Travers Stakes on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course. In the 2015 Travers, Keen Ice, a 16-1 longshot, rallied past Triple Crown hero American Pharoah to post one of the most shocking upsets in the history of the…

Arguably the most exciting horse in training returns to the track on Saturday when Flightline leaves the starting gate in the 2022 Metropolitan Handicap, also known as the Met Mile, in Elmont, N.Y. A $1 million purchase three years ago, Flightline is undefeated in three career starts and has won by more than 37 combined lengths. He is the 3-5…

A spot in the Breeders' Cup Classic will be on the line when six of the best older horses in the country leave the starting gate in the 2022 Whitney Stakes on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The race has attracted five horses who have won at least $988000, topped by the $5.2 million earned by Hot Rod Charlie. However, the…

Jockey Flavien Prat has one Kentucky Derby victory and one Preakness Stakes win on his resume, but he remains in search of a triumph in the third leg of the Triple Crown. The 29-year-old Frenchman came close to completing the hat trick last year with Hot Rod Charlie, who was 1 1/4 lengths behind Essential Quality for a runner-up finish. Prat will…

A strong contingent of European horses meets some of the best turf 3-year-olds from the United States when the starting gate opens in the 2022 Belmont Derby on Saturday at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. The European group is led by Stone Age and Nations Pride. Trained by Aidan O'Brien, Stone Age is the 9-2 morning-line favorite in the 2022 Belmont…

Trainer Todd Pletcher will try to set the all-time record for wins by a trainer in the Mother Goose Stakes when he sends out Shahama in the 2022 Mother Goose Stakes on Saturday at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. The 54-year-old Pletcher has won the race six times and is tied with his mentor, D. Wayne Lukas, for the most Mother Goose wins ever.…

A berth in the 2022 Kentucky Derby will be on the line when 12 horses leave the starting gate in the 2022 Tampa Bay Derby on Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs. The signature race of the 2021-22 season at Tampa Bay Downs, the Tampa Bay Derby 2022 awards 85 Derby qualification points to the top four finishers on a 50-20-10-5 basis, virtually guaranteeing…

Steve Asmussen can tie the record for most Louisiana Derby wins by a trainer when he sends out the favored Epicenter in the 2022 Louisiana Derby on Saturday. The 56-year-old Asmussen, the all-time winningest trainer in North American racing, has won the Louisiana Derby three times, one shy of Todd Pletcher's record of four. Asmussen has a strong…

The Christophe Clement-trained Gufo will try to win the race that barely eluded him last year when he leaves the starting gate in the 2022 Man o' War Stakes on Saturday at Belmont Park. A winner of more than $1.3 million in his career, Gufo lost by a nose to Channel Cat in last year's Man o' War. That defeat came after a four-month layoff. On…

A field of 11 three-year-olds will try to take the final step towards the Kentucky Derby when they leave the starting gate in the 2022 Florida Derby on Saturday at Gulfstream Park. Since the inaugural Florida Derby in 1952, 24 horses have won both the Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby, including Spectacular Bid in 1979. The Florida Derby 2022 has…

Trainer Aidan O'Brien can win the Belmont Oaks for the second straight year and the third time overall when he sends out the favored Concert Hall in the 2022 Belmont Oaks on Saturday at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. The 52-year-old O'Brien won the race last year with Santa Barbara and in 2018 with Athena. This year O'Brien goes for No. 3 with…

SARATOGA SPRINGS - How much of a future is there for Mo Strike? That's the question facing Brad Cox, the trainer of the 3 1/2-length winner of the 107th running of Saratoga's Grade II Sanford Stakes. The contest for 2-year-olds drew a field 12, with most of them making their second career starts. Mo Strike, fresh from a maiden win at Churchill…

As we count down to the winter holidays, the world shifts into gift-giving mode. Whether you light a menorah, gather around a nativity scene, or simply look forward to quiet time with loved ones, the focus is on finding and sharing something special with those on your list. As you plan your holiday gifts, consider the ultimate consumable for the…

There is good reason the memory of Hall of Fame mare Gallorette bubbles to the surface at this time each year. It's not because she was a champion, with 21 wins and 20 seconds in a career of 72 starts, or that she retired in the autumn of 1948 with record earnings and a collection of victories over first-class male competition. It's because she was…

Friday at Churchill Downs is dedicated to the fillies, and the marquee race on the card is the 2021 Kentucky Oaks. Thirteen fillies will leave the starting gate after a 14th, Ava's Grace, scratched from the race. The Kentucky Oaks 2021 features an evenly-matched field with the top three favorites tightly grouped. The Todd Pletcher-trained Malathaat…

SARATOGA SPRINGS - To have the best chance of beating Jackie's Warrior, you probably want to try him in the Breeders' Cup or at a track not named Saratoga. In non-Breeders' Cup races, the reigning sprint champion has won 11 of 13 starts and was second (by a neck) and third in the other two. At Saratoga, he is a perfect 4-for-4, all in graded…

In his latest column, Charles Hayward reflects on Keeneland's two-day championships - which he watched avidly from his couch at home in Saratoga Springs Like everybody else in the racing world, I was transfixed by Flightline's astonishing display in the Breeders' Cup Classic, which came as a triumphant climax to two wonderful days in front of the…

It's been 39 years since a filly competed in the Travers Stakes, but trainer Mark Casse believes the time is right for Wonder Gadot. "We think she's special," Casse said, "and we're going to try and prove it." Wonder Gadot will face 10 male 3-year-olds in Saturday's Travers, also known as the "Mid-Summer Derby." Post time for the $1.25 million,…

The Grade 1 Ballerina Handicap is a Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" race, which offers entry into the F&M Sprint (G1). Analysis of the race below...

Eddie F's Racing's Dream Central will look to double up on stakes scores in the inaugural $125000 Suzie O'Cain, a 1 1/16-mile turf test for New York-bred sophomore fillies on Wednesday at Saratoga Race Course. Previously run as the Stillwater, the race is named in honor of Suzie O'Cain, who passed away in January following a battle with breast…

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Damon's Mound, who logged his first career win five weeks ago at Churchill Downs, stepped up the racing ladder to Grade II company and pulled off a handy win in Saturday's co-feature, the $200000 Saratoga Special. The race was a rare visit to Saratoga for jockey Gabriel Saez and the first for the colt's trainer, Michelle Lovell.…

Churchill Downs has one of its final prep races before the 2022 Breeders Cup season with the G3 Dogwood Stakes on Saturday, with Echo Zulu opening the program as the favorite at 1-1 odds. But the three-year-old filly will have a competitive field of six other horses ready to try and steal a win in the Dogwood. So here's a look at your best bets for…

A spot in the Breeders' Cup Classic will be on the line when nine horses leave the starting gate in the 2021 Stephen Foster Stakes on Saturday at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. The winner of Saturday's $600000 race will earn a place in the $6 million Classic on Nov. 6 at Del Mar. For Saturday, the Brendan Walsh-trained Maxfield is listed as the…

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Charlie Appleby opted to keep both Nations Pride (IRE) and With The Moonlight (IRE) in the Empire State after they each finished second in the opening legs of the Caesars Turf Triple Series in July at Belmont Park. That decision paid off when both returned to win their respective next starts as Nations Pride…