January, 2023 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Keeneland Announces Record Spring Stakes Schedule

Keeneland will award a season record $8.05 million for 19 stakes to be run during its 2023 Spring Meet, which will cover 15 days from Apr. 7-28.

Two focal points on the schedule will be the 99th running of the $1 million GI Toyota Blue Grass and 86th running of the $600,000 GI Central Bank Ashland, both major targets of the nation's top 3-year-olds.

Keeneland has increased the purses of two Grade I stakes for older females–the GI Madison and the GI Jenny Wiley–by $100,000 apiece to $600,000 and has raised the purses of three listed stakes–the FanDuel Limestone, the Giant's Causeway and the Palisades–by $50,000 each to $250,000. Fifteen stakes are graded, with the GII Beaumont Presented by Keeneland Select featuring an upgrade for 2023.

Contributing to the Spring Meet stakes purses is a total of $1.5 million available from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF), pending approval from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.

“Keeneland enjoyed arguably its most successful racing year ever in 2022, thanks to a stellar lineup of equine stars and racing stables competing for record purses and the historic wagering that followed at the Spring and Fall Meets and the popularity of hosting our third Breeders' Cup World Championships,” Keeneland Vice President of Racing Gatewood Bell said.

“We are grateful for the interest in Keeneland racing from our horsemen, horseplayers and fans, and their enthusiasm creates momentum for the future. We are excited to further strengthen this year's Spring Meet stakes schedule so purses of all Grade I races are at least $600,000, while all Grade II races are a minimum of $350,000 and all Grade III events are a minimum of $300,000.”

For information on Keeneland's 2023 Spring Meet, click here.

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Betting on Speed in the 2023 Sham Stakes

The Road to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve continues on Sunday with the running of the $100,000, Grade 3 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita Park.

MSW Kudos Passes Away at Old Friends

Kudos, a MSW gelding, died on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023, at Old Friends Thoroughbred retirement farm in Georgetown, Ky., announced president and founder Michael Blowen.

The 26-year-old bay Thoroughbred (Kris S.–Souq, by Damascus) was found dead in his paddock during late-afternoon feeding. A reason for his death is unknown at this time. Necropsy results are pending to get an accurate cause of death. Bred and owned by longtime Old Friends supporters, Jerry and Ann Moss, Kudos was foaled in Kentucky on Apr. 17, 1997.

Trained by Richard Mandella his entire career, Kudos began racing in 1999, but did not win his first race until his eighth career start as a 4-year-old in a maiden special weight race at Santa Anita on Mar. 17, 2001. He then won his next three consecutive races, two allowance races and the Jim Murray Memorial H. at Hollywood Park for his first stakes victory.

In 2002, he won two more stakes races–the San Marino H. at Santa Anita, and the GI Oaklawn H., which was his first-graded stakes win and the biggest win of his career. In that race, he came back from 15 lengths to win by 4 3/4 lengths.

As a 6-year-old in 2003, he won the GII Californian S., while finishing second in the GII San Pasqual H., and third in the GI Santa Anita H., the GI Oaklawn H., the race he won the previous year, and the GI Hollywood Gold Cup, his final race.

Kudos retired with seven wins, five seconds, four thirds, and $1,238,935 in earnings in 24 career starts. In 2006, the Mosses donated Kudos to Old Friends for his retirement. He was the second horse they retired to Old Friends; the first was Ruhlmann.

“Kudos was one of our first stars and enchanted us for nearly 17 years,” said Blowen. “He was a great symbol of our growth. I can't thank Jerry and Ann and (racing manager) Dottie Ingordo-Shirreffs enough for allowing us to spend all this time with their treasure.”

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Buy a Hat, Help a Horse: After the Finish Line’s Breeders’ Cup Hat Auction Returns Jan. 8

If you walk around the host venue for any Breeders’ Cup, you will see a collection of purple hats adorning a lucky few. These hats featuring the Breeders’ Cup logo and a horse’s name are distributed to the connections, with everyone from the groom to the owner getting one to commemorate their participation in that year’s event. These are coveted collectibles which also have become a fundraising driver for After the Finish Line.