Wonder Wheel, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2022, is set to make her 2023 debut in in the $150,000 Suncoast Stakes Feb. 11 against eight other females, including Triple Crown nominee Julia Shining, at Tampa Bay Downs. Source
Category: Racing News
France Lowers Number of Permitted Whip Strikes to Four
France Galop has announced that the permitted number of strikes with the whip in both flat and jumps races will be reduced from five to four. It is the third reduction in a little more than six years. Source
Take Two for Arctic Arrogance in Withers
In Hollywood terms, take two for the $250,000 Withers Stakes (G3) will unfold Feb. 11 at Aqueduct Racetrack, where the temperatures are expected to be about 40 degrees higher than they were a week earlier. Source
Palm Meadows to Reopen Main Track for Training Feb. 9
Training will resume on the dirt track at Palm Meadows Training Center Feb. 9 following longer-than-anticipated repairs to the track surface, 1/ST Racing’s executive director of Florida racing operations Billy Badgett said Feb. 8. Source
HISA Enforcement Recommends No Action in Lukas Classic
Kentucky “stewards had a reasonable basis to find that the horseshoes worn by Hot Rod Charlie during the 2022 Lukas Classic (G2) did not violate” HISA rules, the HISA enforcement team wrote in a Feb. 8 recommendation to its board of directors. Source
TAA Raises More Than $56K in Recent Auctions
Due to the generosity of their donors, the TAA raised more than $56,000 from the 17 offered VIP experience packages and no guarantee season to Lexitonian. Source
O’Neill Detours Around Baffert Traffic on Derby Road
California-based trainer Doug O’Neill detours Tall Boy to the U.A.E. Two Thousand Guineas (G3) Feb. 10, looking for a way around the logjam of Bob Baffert trainees back home and a clear shot to the Kentucky Derby (G1). Source
Netflix Documentary to Focus on Road to Kentucky Derby
Horse racing is set to join Netflix’s stable of sports documentaries as the Racing Post understands the streaming service has commissioned a series based on this year’s Kentucky Derby (G1). Source
Barajas Returns to Canterbury as Track Superintendent
Barajas will oversee a track crew that often maintains and reconditions the dirt track 18 hours each day using tractors and harrows to fine-tune the track for the racing programs as well as daily training of the horses. Source
KEEP Announces 3 New Board Members
KEEP announces three new board members. Source