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The main takeaway from last year's California purse and handle numbers is one of stasis, with no significant movement in any one direction compared to 2021. A roughly 2.5% increase in the number of California races run in 2022 over 2021 is framed against a half-percentage point decrease in purses and an even smaller fraction

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Argentinian Group 1 winner Star Plus (Arg) (Alpha Plus–Nannar {Arg}), by Big Play) died Saturday following a paddock accident at Old Friends retirement facility in Georgetown. The 20-year-old had been at Old Friends for 11 years. Following a win in the 2007 G1 Joaquin S. deAnchorena, Star Plus was purchased by Earle Mack to race

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3rd-Santa Anita, $67,500, Msw, 1-29, 3yo, 6f, 1:09.52, ft, 5 3/4 lengths. GEAUX ROCKET RIDE (c, 3, Candy Ride {Arg}–Beyond Grace, by Uncle Mo), a live firster after clocking a nice work back on Dec. 30 (5 f...

Bruce Lunsford's Art Collector (Bernardini) exited his win in Saturday's GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational in fine shape, according to trainer Bill Mott. “He's happy. He was bright and alert and seemed to be feeling pretty good about himself,” Mott reported from Payson Park Sunday morning. Art Collector, winner of the 2021 GI Woodward S.,

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Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman's Havnameltdown (c, 3, Uncaptured–Ashley's Babe, by Put it Back) set all the fractions and held stablemate and co-favorite Faustin (Curlin) at bay to the wire to win the GII San Vicente S. by two lengths at Santa Anita Sunday. Havnameltdown, one of three Bob Ba...

According to an Associated Press report, 1/ST Racing, which owns Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita, intends to bring the Pegasus format to the California in 2024. “I'd really love to see that we bring it to the West Coast,” 1/ST President and CEO Belinda Stronach told the AP. “That will probably hap...

Breaking like a shot in this compact field, Bandita (3, f, Gun Runner–Tricky One, by Unbridled's Song) went straight to the front, carving out initial splits of :23.47 and :46.98. With the even-money choice moving confidently while maintaining a slight cushion over her nearest rival leaving t...

For Chuck Fipke, Saturday could have gone better. His Lady Speightspeare (Speightstown) finished fourth in the GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational S. and with a better trip might have been closer. “That's the way horse racing is,” the owner and breeder said. “I was ki...

5th-Aqueduct, $80,000, Msw, 1-29, 3yo, f, 6 1/2f, 1:19.42, ft, 8 lengths. ASSET PURCHASE (f, 3, Dialed In–Quick Hit Fever, by Dublin), just a $75,000 yearling purchase for this leading owner/trainer combo and Sunday's 3-1 third choice on debut, broke greenly but kept pace with the field, tracking f...

ARABIAN KNIGHT (c, 3, Uncle Mo–Borealis Night, by Astrology) ran to all the hype in Saturday's GIII Smarty Jones S., splashing away in the Oaklawn slop to justify 'TDN Rising Star'-dom, 2-5 odds and his $2.3-million OBS April-topping price tag. Having turned plenty of heads to kick off ...

Dismissed on the board at 15-1, ART COLLECTOR (h, 6, Bernardini–Distorted Legacy, by Distorted Humor) proved age is just a number with a going-away romp in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. Away from a middle gate, he was able to save crucial ground only three wide in the short run up into the first

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Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert will attack next Saturday's GIII Robert B. Lewis S. at Santa Anita with quality and an awful lot of quantity. The nominees for the $200,000 race were released Saturday and 14 of the 16 nominated for the race hail from the Baffert stable. This Lewis will be run just

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Trainer Mike Maker had already saddled the first three finishers in the GIII William L. McKnight as well as the winner of the GIII Fred W. Hooper S. earlier on Gulfstream Park's card, and he added his second GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational S. trophy as well-backed ATONE (g, 6, Into Mischief–Captivating Lass, by

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Positioned in the front-running group of four that broke off from the field early, Queen Goddess (Empire Maker) raced two-wide behind the moderate pace set by Sweet Enough (GB) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) as the leading quartet of fillies made their way up the backstretch. Moving widest of the four into the far turn, she

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'TDN Rising Star' FAIZA (f, 3, Girvin–Sweet Pistol, by Smart Strike) stalked and pounced and then fended off familiar foe Pride of the Nile (Pioneerof the Nile) to prevail by a half-length in Saturday's GIII Las Virgenes S. at Santa Anita. She stopped the clock in 1:38.46. The $90,000 FTKJUL ye...

A little less than five months after Emblem Road caused a massive upset in the $20-million G1 Saudi Cup last February, agents for that horse's owner HRH Prince Saud bin Salman Abdulaziz went shopping for another son of Quality Road at the Fasig-Tipton July Horses of Racing Age Sale. They landed on Scotland Yard, ...

Courtesy TDNAus/NZ Coolmore Stud's Triple Crown hero and dual-hemisphere sire Justify (Scat Daddy) is off the mark in Australia and with a smart one. Learning To Fly (Aus) found plenty at her racecourse ...

2nd-Gulfstream, $70,000, Msw, 1-28, 3yo, 7f, 1:22.54, ft, 3 3/4 lengths. MAGE (c, 3, Good Magic–Puca {SW & GSP, $299,406}, by Big Brown), dismissed by the betting public at 11-1 in his debut start despite selling for $290,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale, avoided trouble with a fo...

Pete McCormick, a longtime Keeneland bid spotter and U.S. Marine Corps veteran, passed away Thursday at the age of 75.  A native of Ontario, California,  Pete was just a boy when given his first job in the auction business from Tom Caldwell, the longtime head auctioneer at Keeneland, who took McCormick under his wing. “The

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Mary Shepardson, who spent more than 25 years at the Director of Publications at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, died last week at age 77 of natural causes. A native of California, Shepardson retired from Del Mar several years ago to pursue her other passion as a member of the city of Poway's Historical and

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