News

John “Shark” Hanlon laughed when asked about what he saw in a 2-year-old Hewick at the Goresbridge Sales in Ireland in 2017. “I bought him at the local sale at home, five minutes down the road from me and he grew into a nice horse,” the trainer said Friday. “He was a very good horse … Read more

If you call Jack Fisher and tell him you want to talk about his favorite horse, be prepared for an Aaron Nola-level curveball. “Footpad?” the trainer asked Wednesday afternoon. “I’m taking him to the hunter thing today, so he’s the one I’m thinking about at the moment.” The hunter “thing” was a schooling event as … Read more

Edited NYRA Press Release America’s Day at the Races, the acclaimed national television show produced by the New York Racing Association, Inc. in partnership with Fox Sports, will once again present live coverage and on-site analysis of the Far Hills Race Meeting, the storied one-day steeplechase event that highlights the American steeplechase calendar.  The 101st … Read more

Virginia Fall? Already? Genesee Valley? Already? Autumn jump racing in the United States goes by in a hurry, as the calendar turns to October and race meets bring action to the various corners of the schedule. This weekend it’s historic Glenwood Park outside Middleburg, Va. for the Virginia Fall Races and the historic Genesee Valley … Read more

Everybody in the van to Charlottesville. The Foxfield Races, spring and fall, are a fixture on the steeplechase circuit – home to signature performances by Victorian Hill, an Eclipse Award-winning photograph by Douglas Lees (Master’s Degree and Buzz Hannum wiping out over timber) and even a few runnings of the American Grand National. Ask an oldtimer … Read more

Edited Press Release The National Turf Writers And Broadcasters will present lifelong horseman Kiaran McLaughlin, a former leading trainer who has quietly battled multiple sclerosis for more than two decades, with the Bill Mooney Award for displaying courage in the face of tremendous adversity. Born and raised in Lexington, Ky., McLaughlin was introduced to racing … Read more

Let’s get back to work. After more than three months of jump racing at Saratoga, Colonial Downs and Aqueduct, the schedule turns to its more traditional stops with a full schedule of autumn race meets through Nov. 13. The action starts Saturday at Shawan Downs outside Baltimore, where eight races fill the card. The horses … Read more

As hard as it is to believe we’re almost two weeks removed from the end of the 2022 Saratoga meet, that’s where we find ourselves just past the halfway point of September. Kentucky Downs and Colonial Downs wrapped up, too, and racing made the shift to Aqueduct for the Belmont at the Big A meet, … Read more

Retired trainer Peter Howe, one of just four people to train an American champion over jumps and on the flat, and the father of Colonial Downs vice president of racing Jill Byrne, died Thursday night in Charlottesville, Va. He was 83. Howe was born in Hartford, Conn., and became an accomplished rider of show horses … Read more

Of all the things to come out of a night on Caroline Street in Saratoga, Noah And The Ark might be one of the most unlikely – and now most successful – after Thursday’s Grade 1 upset in the Lonesome Glory Handicap at Aqueduct Racetrack. English jump jockey Harrison Beswick takes an annual holiday with … Read more