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The first weekend of the 2026 Saratoga Race Course meeting comes to a close Sunday with a nine-race card – remember nine race cards? – topped by the inaugural running of the Grade 1 Leo O’Brien Handicap over jumps and the Grade 3 Kelso and Harvey Pack for older horses on the grass. Back to … Read more
Can you say homestretch? The National Steeplechase Association season turns to its final two weekends with a stop at Callaway Gardens in Georgia Saturday. The southernmost stop on the circuit shifted two weeks later in the calendar and offers a runway into next weekend’s South Carolina finale at Aiken (Saturday) and Camden (Sunday). Callaway’s five-race … Read more
Leaves . . . wind . . . early sunsets . . . frost on the pumpkins . . . Thanksgiving plans . . . the end of the steeplechase season . . . Things you think about in November. And you’re on to the next round of the $20,000 Pyramid or whatever the dollar … Read more
The main event. Officially the Breeders’ Cup kicked off Friday with the 2-year-olds in the spotlight, but the O.G. of North America’s biggest weekend comes Saturday. Dubbed Championship Saturday, the nine-race extravaganza figures to go a long way toward crowning the champions of 2025. Sovereignty is absent of course, knocked out of the $7 million … Read more
Racing fans will be looking toward the West Coast as the Breeders’ Cup showcases the world’s best at Del Mar Saturday. A few thousand miles to the east (and a little north), the steeplechase schedule rolls on with the Montpelier Hunt Races just outside Orange, Va. Sunday, the Pennsylvania Hunt Cup completes a jump double. … Read more
The Breeders’ Cup World Championships returns to Del Mar for the second straight year and to Southern California for the third consecutive running in 2025. Everything kicks off with Future Stars Friday, a day that puts the juveniles in focus with five Breeders’ Cup events to lead the way. Bring along a phone or tablet … Read more
Got a hangover? Too much Guinness? Don’t tell us you went for the Jameson or the Tullamore D.E.W. Last weekend’s Irish tour de force at Far Hills sent the American-based steeplechase horses home without a win on the year’s biggest day. But that’s how it goes sometimes. Irish-based horses got blanked in 2024, and they … Read more
Edited Press release The Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards marked its 10th anniversary in North America Oct. 21 in Lexington by honoring and awarding individuals who make the Thoroughbred industry the unique and special industry it is. Winners were announced in seven categories with $122,000 awarded. Scott Hazelton, FanDuel TV analyst, served as the master of … Read more
Pulling through the Oklahoma Training Track stable gate on East Avenue always feels a little different in the offseason. And different basically means quiet. Long gone are the barricades, bike rack fences, traffic cones and parking attendants that become ubiquitous with the summer race meeting. There are no tour busses lined up near the starting … Read more
Far Hills? Already. The American steeplechase calendar turns to its richest stop on the circuit with Saturday’s 104th edition of the Far Hills Races in New Jersey. Worth in excess of $795,000, the six-race card includes hurdle stakes for 4-year-olds, fillies/mares, novices, open horses, maidens and even a 2-miler on the flat. Post time for … Read more
Zero. That’s how many of American steeplechase champion Snap Decision’s seven rivals in Saturday’s Grade 1 American Grand National were alive when he made his racing debut at Belmont Park in October 2016. Nevertheless, he’s the 8-5 morning-line favorite for the $250,000 hurdle stakes which headlines a six-race card at the Far Hills Races in … Read more
