The Friday Show

The annual Paulick Report Turkey Awards, a Thanksgiving Day tradition that dates way back to 2016, are upon us once again. It’s a chance to reflect on the past season and reminisce about the good, the bad, and the absurd in our game. There are some new categories this year as we were unable to […]

Rich Perloff remembers well his first day at the races, going with his father to Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., where they saw future Hall of Famer Ack Ack suffer his lone defeat in a 1971 Horse of the Year campaign that included Eclipse Awards as champion sprinter and champion older male. Fast forward […]

Larry Collmus, the voice of the Breeders’ Cup since 2012, tries to keep his own rooting interest out of his race calls. At this year’s world championships at Santa Anita, however, Collmus made an exception to the rule. “I try to stay impartial but not today,” he posted on the X social media channel prior […]

The Breeders’ Cup presents one of the most complex puzzles of the year, in terms of handicapping and storytelling, and we’re here to untangle them ahead of the big event. On this week’s episode of The Friday Show, Ray Paulick is joined by bloodstock editor Joe Nevills and news editor Chelsea Hackbarth to discuss the […]

The fields for the 2023 Breeders’ Cup began to truly take shape on Wednesday with the release of the pre-entries for all 14 races, which means it’s time to start handicapping in earnest. The Breeders’ Cup presents some of the most lucrative betting opportunities on the calendar, with large fields full of high-quality runners over […]

Not that long ago, the injury that the champion filly Echo Zulu sustained to her left front fetlock during a pre-Breeders’ Cup workout at Santa Anita likely would have ended her life. Today, thanks to the advancements in veterinary medicine and surgical procedures, the daughter of Gun Runner has a fighting chance not only to […]

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority’s Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) program has been in effect nearly five months while its Racetrack Safety regulations began in July 2022. As we report each week in our updates on cases before HISA’s testing and enforcement arm, the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit, medication violations are being discovered, […]

“Aftercare is not an afterthought.” That’s the mantra that drives CARMA – the California Retirement Management Account – to fulfill its mission to help fund the retirement of California-raced Thoroughbreds and educate the public and racing community about aftercare. Lucinda Lovitt, executive director of CARMA, joins Ray Paulick and editor-in-chief Natalie Voss on this week’s […]

Claiming races are often called the meat and potatoes of horse racing, but the game has evolved in recent years from what many considered high-stakes poker to a more regulated and less risky endeavor for horse owners. Greater pre-race veterinary scrutiny, tighter medication restrictions, and voided claim rules have improved health and welfare conditions for […]

The announcement earlier this week from the ownership of Turf Paradise that the 67-year-old Phoenix, Ariz., racetrack would no longer conduct live racing left employees, horsepeople, and fans reeling. With no live racing, the off-track betting facilities operated by Turf Paradise owner Jerry Simms would also be forced to close, shutting down key revenue streams […]