by Ray Paulick|09.28.202309.28.2023|10:08pm11:17pm Potential New Buyer Of Turf Paradise Emerges, Sets Lofty Goal; OTBs To Remain Open Through Nov. 12 Turf Paradise isn’t dead yet, and neither are the dozens of off-track betting sites throughout Arizona that were set to close on Oct. 1 when a contract between the Phoenix racetrack and the Arizona Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association expires. In a span of less than 24 hours, the Arizona HBPA said it had extended […]
by Ray Paulick|09.27.202309.27.2023|10:15pm10:57pm Baffert Sues Social Media Personalities Swift Hitter, Barshoelife For Extortion, Defamation Trainer Bob Baffert has sued two horseplayers for defamation and extortion in connection with what his attorneys said were damaging social media comments and threats to publish a video one of them said would “end Baffert.” The suit was filed on Wednesday in U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, by Baffert and Bob Baffert […]
by Ray Paulick|09.20.202309.20.2023|4:38pm5:47pm View From The Eighth Pole: Sprinting To The Breeding Shed The American Graded Stakes Committee is not doing the Thoroughbred breed any favors. As I’ve written before, when the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association in the early 1970s undertook the worthwhile mission of ranking the best races with a Grade 1, Grade 2, or Grade 3 designation, there was not a single race at less […]
by Ray Paulick|09.08.202309.08.2023|5:23pm5:41pm Del Mar Summer: For Andie Biancone, The Horses Are Everything “I don’t know what I would do without these horses.” Andie Biancone wasn’t kidding when she made that confession to a visitor who stopped by Barn LL in the Del Mar stable area earlier this week. Biancone, 26, is the daughter of Patrick Biancone, a native of France who was training in Hong Kong when […]
by Ray Paulick|09.03.202309.03.2023|1:10pm2:20pm One Stroke Over The Line: Fresu To Sit At Least 16 Days For Repeated HISA Whip Violations Jockey Antonio Fresu, who has been making a run at Juan Hernandez for the leading rider title at Del Mar, will miss the final three days of the seaside track’s summer meet and another 13 race days at Los Alamitos and Santa Anita for repeated violations of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority’s riding crop […]
by Ray Paulick|09.01.202309.01.2023|1:45pm2:22pm Del Mar Summer: Will Pacific Classic Be Coming-Out Party For 3-Year-Olds? Saturday’s 11-race program at Del Mar is as good as it gets for the racing fan and horseplayer, with full fields top to bottom and concluding with five graded stakes, three of them part of the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In Challenge Series. The big one, of course, is the 33rd running of the […]
by Ray Paulick|08.30.202308.30.2023|5:04pm5:21pm Stacie Clark-Rogers On The Powerful Impact Horses Can Have On Society: Difference Makers Presented By Avion Law Stacie Clark-Rogers started thinking about second careers for Thoroughbreds in the mid-1990s when she was a jockey at Fort Erie in Canada. “I started to wonder, ‘Hmmm, where do these horses go from here?’” she said. A decade later, after she retired from race riding and had worked as a simulcast host at Woodbine, she […]
by Ray Paulick|08.26.202308.26.2023|2:56pm3:11pm Del Mar Summer: For Top Jockey Agent Craig O’Bryan, Retirement Can Wait Second generation jockey agent Craig O’Bryan called it a career a few years back after representing some of the game’s top riders for nearly a half century, including four Hall of Famers: Eddie Delahoussaye, Gary Stevens, Alex Solis, and Corey Nakatani. He grew up in the game as the son of the late George O’Bryan, […]
by Ray Paulick|08.23.202308.23.2023|4:57pm5:11pm Rob Whiteley Doing His Part To Make World A Better Place: Difference Makers Presented By Avion Law “Do something each day to make the world a better place.” That’s been Rob Whiteley’s mantra for as long as I’ve known him, from his days as general manager of Carl Icahn’s Foxfield breeding operation to running his own Liberation Farm, and now living in semi-retirement on his New Jersey farm. That phrase is a […]
by Ray Paulick|08.20.202308.20.2023|6:55pm8:13pm Paramount Prince Gives Casse, Husbands Third Victory In King’s Plate Just as he did in the Plate Trial on July 23, Michael J. Langlois and Gary Barber’s Paramount Prince went straight to the front and was never seriously threatened en route to a 1 1/2-length victory in the 164th running of the CAN$1-million King’s Plate at Woodbine in Toronto, Canada, on Sunday. Previously run as […]