Top News | Horse Racing Free Tips

Angel Penna Memorial Service Saturday at Gulfstream Park

A memorial service to honor the life of Angel Penna, Jr. will be held in the winner's circle at Gulfstream Park at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 17. Penna passed away Nov. 22 after a battle with dementia. Friends, including his longtime veterinarian Dr. James C. Hunt, will say a few words. Refreshments will be served. The day's sixth race will be named for one of the fillies he trained, Via Borghese, with the trophy presented by his late father's wife, Elinor, and his widow, Ruth.

The post Angel Penna Memorial Service Saturday at Gulfstream Park appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Epsom Derby-Winning Jockey Kingscote to Ride at Gulfstream

British jockey Richard Kingscote, winner of the G1 Epsom Derby June 4 aboard favored Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), will spend part of his winter riding at Gulfstream Park's Championship Meet.

Kingscote told broadcaster Nick Luck on Nick Luck Daily Podcast Monday that he intends to ride beginning in the middle of January. Gulfstream's Championship Meet, highlighted by the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational Jan. 28 and GI Florida Derby Apr. 1, begins Dec. 26.

After winning his first Epsom Derby this year for trainer Sir Michael Stoute, Kingscote also teamed up with Stoute to win the G1 Champion S. Oct. 15 with Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}), handing six-time Group 1 winner Baaeed his first career loss in his 11th start.

“I've been lucky enough to be offered to go to Gulfstream Park for a bit,” Kingscote told Luck. “Luckily enough, I've already had a trainer message me, email me, and the guys at Gulfstream Park have been really helpful getting an agent sorted and try to get me out there, which is great. I'm really looking forward to it. It's a different style of riding, so I think it can't do me any harm to learn something new and open up a new avenue to my riding … I've been lucky enough to go to some Breeders' Cups and it's just more doors and trying to push me way through a few.”

Kingscote first rode horses as a child growing up in the seaside town of Weston-super-Mare, England. He attended the British Riding School and apprenticed with trainer Roger Charlton, riding his first winner in 2004. He became stable rider for Tom Dascombe in 2008 and has notched other notable wins in the G1 2014 Irish St. Leger and 2018 G1 Flying Five S. with Havana Grey (GB) (Havana Gold {Ire}). In 2016, Kingscote won the Dubai Gold Cup on Brown Panther (GB) (Shirocco {Ger}) just four months after a spill where he broke his elbow in five places, left wrist and collarbone and suffered two punctured lungs. Last year, he was named All-Weather Champion Jockey for the first time.

The post Epsom Derby-Winning Jockey Kingscote to Ride at Gulfstream appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Saudis Still Mulling Whether to DQ Maximum Security From 2020 Saudi Cup

Despite trainer Jason Servis having pled guilty in court last week to charges that he regularly doped horses under his care, officials from the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia (JCSA) issued a statement Monday in which they said they have yet to decide whether or not they will disqualify Maximum Security (New Year's Day) from his victory in the 2020 $20 million Saudi Cup. Just nine days after the race, Servis was indicted on a number of charges related to his use of performance-enhancing drugs, which led to the JCSA announcing that it would not pay out the $10 million due to the winner until investigating the situation.

Monday's statement read: “The Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia continues to monitor developments in the USA with the ultimate aim of concluding an investigation related to the running of the 2020 Saudi Cup. Over the coming weeks we will assess our ability to conclude the investigation, which began in March 2020, in a robust and comprehensive fashion.”

Maximum Security passed all drug tests given to him both before and after the Saudi Cup, but racing officials from JCSA maintained that it was within their power to strip him of the win if it was proven that Servis had been illegally drugging Maximum Security in the months surrounding the race.

“If the results come out where they have concrete evidence that Maximum Security received performance-enhancing drugs of any kind within the previous six months of the Saudi Cup then by our rules that would result in automatic disqualification of a horse.” Prince Bandar bin Khalid al Faisal, the chairman of the JCSA, told podcaster Nick Luck in 2020.. “We are consistent in implementing our own rules and regulations.”

Government prosecutors alleged that they intercepted phone calls made by Servis that he gave the illegal drug SGF-1000 to “almost everything” in his barn. Considering the evidence that Servis was using PEDs with Maximum Security it is unclear why the JCSA did not strip the horse of his win immediately after Servis entered a guilty plea or what other factors it still wants to look into before wrapping up its investigation and deciding the outcome of the race.

Maximum Security was owned by the partnership of Gary and Mary West and Coolmore. When contacted by Horseracingnation.com, Gary West said he would abide by what decision ultimately came out of Saudi Arabia.

“We believe in the justice system and have patiently waited for the legal prosecution to take its course,” West told the website. “Now that Jason Servis has entered a guilty plea, we want to make it clear that if the Saudi Cup purse is redistributed we would support that decision. Hopefully, that action will prevent future conduct of this nature. We believe the decision to take the Saudi Cup purse from Maximum Security and redistribute it is the correct one.”

Should Maximum Security be disqualified the win would go to Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute). She earned $3.5 million for running second, which means that her owners would receive an additional $6.5 million thanks to the disqualification.

The post Saudis Still Mulling Whether to DQ Maximum Security From 2020 Saudi Cup appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Dec. 13: Despite Big Weekend For Justify, Bolt d’Oro Holds Big Lead

by Margaret Ransom

It was a busy weekend for one of the top three stallions battling it out for the crown as the best first-crop sire of 2022 as Justify was represented by a pair of winners and another two to hit the board, leaving Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro) and Good Magic (Curlin) winless from just a single runner each.

Justify's two winners on American soil both came on Sunday and started with Don Alberto Stable's homebred Alpha Bella, who graduated with a hard-fought victory by a head at Gulfstream Park, surviving a lengthy steward's inquiry/jockey's objection. She earned $36,000 for the win, which helped her sire close some ground on the top two. Several hundred miles to the north, Prove Right picked up a $32,400 check for his one-length victory in an allowance/optional claiming event at Laurel Park for trainer James Chapman and co-owner Stuart Tsujimoto. And in addition to Lap Star's third at at Nakayama in Japan on Saturday, Justify's daughter, Dona Sweat, also contributed to her sire's totals with her runner-up finish in a maiden event at Hanshin on Sunday.

Good Magic's only runner over the weekend was Delusively, who finished fourth at Golden Gate Fields on Saturday. Chiringo, Bolt d'Oro's runner on Sunday, was fourth behind Prove Right at Laurel.

Despite Justify's big weekend, he still trails Bolt d'Oro in total progeny earnings by $196,361, with Good Magic in second and behind by $92,499 with 20 days left in 2022. All three stallions will be represented by multiple runners this week.

Note that Japanese earnings are added every Sunday night, and there may be delayed reporting from other countries, which could postpone the final results in a very tight race into early January. We will also be providing a preview of 2-year-olds entered the next day in North America and beyond.

Current Earnings Standings through racing of Dec. 7:

1st—Bolt d'Oro, $2,546,116

2nd—Good Magic, $2,446,087

3rd—Justify, $2,349,755

The TDN sire lists contain full-dollar earnings of Northern Hemisphere foals winning anywhere in the world. To view the current standings updated overnight, click here.

The post Dec. 13: Despite Big Weekend For Justify, Bolt d’Oro Holds Big Lead appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post