Horse Racing News is the source of thoroughbred racing information with horse racing odds, betting tips, racing picks, race results, and handicapping. Latest news and articles on top horse racing contenders, jockeys, trainers, three-year-olds, race tracks, and major stakes races such as the Triple Crown races: the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes as well as the Breeders' Cup horse races.Kentucky Derby Creates New Qualifying Race, Kentucky Derby Challenge Stakes
Posted on Thursday, September 18th, 2008
Churchill Downs has partnered with Kempton Park Racecourse in England to create the $150,000 Kentucky Derby Challenge Stakes, a 1 1/8-mile race over Kempton’s synthetic surface that will guarantee the winner a spot in next year’s Kentucky Derby.
The move is a departure from the usual Triple Crown nominating process. The entrants to the Kentucky Derby have traditionally been selected on graded stakes earnings. The winner of the Kentucky Derby Challenge will get an automatic spot in the Kentucky Derby field if the owner agrees to pay the entry fee and shipping costs.
The only foreign-based horse to win the Kentucky Derby was Canonero II in 1971, and overseas challengers have been few and far between in recent years.
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Filly Eight Belles Burried At The Kentucky Derby Museum In Churchill Downs
Posted on Tuesday, August 26th, 2008
A wooden box containing the remains of filly Eight Belles was buried at the Kentucky Derby Museum in Churchill Downs during a quiet ceremony Monday.
Eight Belles was the only filly to run in the 134th Kentucky Derby in May 3, finishing second to Big Brown. She was euthanized on the track after breaking two ankles.
Kentucky Derby Museum spokeswoman Wendy Treinen says filly Eight Belles was “interred without fanfare.”
There will be a public memorial service for filly Eight Belles on September 7. A plaque will be dedicated under a magnolia tree where the thoroughbred’s remains were interred.
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2007 Breeders’ Cup Classic Winner Curlin Works For Debut on Turf
Posted on Monday, July 7th, 2008
Curlin, reigning “Horse of the Year” and 2007 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner, worked an easy half-mile over the main track at Churchill Downs on Monday in preparation for what race horse trainer Steve Asmussen plans as the colt’s debut on turf this weekend.
Regular exercise rider Carlos Rosas was in the saddle as the 4-year-old son of Smart Strike worked at 6:30 a.m. (EDT) and comfortably covered the distance over a “fast” surface in :50.80 over a “fast” surface. Race horse Curlin completed the work in fractional times of :13.20, :26.20 and :38.80 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:05.
The breeze followed last week’s seven furlong work on turf in 1:31.20 and was Curlin’s final move in preparation for his expected first outing on turf on Saturday, July 12 in either the $500,000 Man O’ War (G1) at Belmont Park or the $200,000 Arlington Park Handicap (G3) at Arlington Park. The decision on which race will be Curlin’s target hinges on the resolution of a licensing issue in both racing jurisdictions regarding the colt’s minority owner Midnight Cry Stable.
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Curlin Works On Churchill Downs Turf Course
Posted on Tuesday, July 1st, 2008
Horse of the Year Curlin worked 7 furlongs over the turf course at Churchill Downs on Tuesday, a first step to a possible run in the Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp on October 5 in Paris.
The 4-year-old son of Smart Strike, Curlin, trying to master the turf the way he has the dirt, covered the distance in 1:31.1. Race horse trainer Steve Asmussen called the work perfect.
Curlin, the winner of the 2007 Preakness Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Classic, won the Stephen Foster Handicap on June 14 at Churchill Downs in his first start since winning the Dubai World Cup in March.
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Big Brown Trainer Rick Dutrow Faces Suspension
Posted on Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
Big Brown trainer Rick Dutrow is facing suspension after one of his horses, Salute the Count, tested positive for twice the allowable level of a metabolism-accelerating medication, according to an article in the New York Times on Wednesday.
Salute the Count tested positive for clenbuterol - a medication which helps burn fat and promote muscle growth - after finishing second in the $100,000 Aegon Turf Sprint (G3) at Churchill Downs a day before Big Brown won the Kentucky Derby.
According to the New York Times, the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority (KHRA) will announce the penalty Wednesday, suspending horse trainer Rick Dutrow for 15 days and demanding the owners of Salute the Count repay the $20,000 in purse earnings. Dutrow has 10 days to appeal the decision.
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Churchill Downs Fined By Kentucky Horse Racing Authority
Posted on Monday, June 16th, 2008
Kentucky Horse Racing Authority (KHRA) fined Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) an administrative assessment fee of $15,000 for hiring an assistant starter who handled Pyro before the 2008 Kentucky Derby.
Horse trainer Steve Asmussen’s request that assistant starter Clinton Beck be used in handling the loading of Pyro in Kentucky Derby 134 was granted. Kentucky Horse Racing Authority officials determined in their investigation that it violated the rules.
According to KHRA Executive Director Lisa Underwood, said horse racing associations are supposed to assign assistant starters to entrants randomly. No specific Churchill Downs employee is named in the penalty. Underwood said more than one Churchill Downs employee, acting in their official capacity, “made a mistake” in allowing the arrangement.
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Curlin Trainer Steve Asmussen Mulls Turf For Horse Of The Year
Posted on Sunday, June 15th, 2008
After a 4 1/4-length victory by Horse of the Year Curlin in the $1 million Stephen Foster Handicap (G1), horse trainer Steve Asmussen was looking toward the future for his champion and plans include working on turf.
Horse trainer Steve Asmussen has occasionally mentioned the possibility of a trip to Paris to compete in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Group 1), Europe’s greatest race for older horses, as a possible stop in the 4-year-old campaign for the son of Smart Strike.
“We’ve talked about it since last year, since the (Breeders’ Cup) Classic and he put him back in training,” said Asmussen.
With an eye toward an Arc bid, horse trainer Steve Asmussen plans to work Curlin over Churchill Downs’ Matt Winn Turf Course, and then look for a turf race somewhere in North America on the weekend of July 12-13. He would prefer a race over an international style course, such as those at Arlington Park, Belmont Park or Woodbine.
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