August Dawn Farm's undefeated Maple Leaf Mel returned victoriously from a seven-month layoff with a 7 3/4-length romp in Friday's $100,000 East View for New York-bred sophomore fillies sprinting six furlongs at Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, N.Y. Trained by Jeremiah Englehart, Maple Leaf Mel is now 3-for-3 and notched the second stakes win of her career, entering from a victory in the state-bred Seeking the Ante over a sloppy and sealed main track on August 26 at Saratoga Race Course. The daughter of Cross Traffic was an impressive five-length winner on debut going the East View dista ..read more

The 20-cent Rainbow 6 gross jackpot pool will be guaranteed at $700,000 for Saturday's 11-race program at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla. The popular multi-race wager went unsolved for the 13th consecutive racing day following a mandatory payout of $40,357.56 March 5. Multiple tickets with all six winners Friday each returned $78.72. The Rainbow 6 jackpot is paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 70 percent of that day's pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners, while 30 percent is ..read more

About 30 years from now, when a bunch of retired jockeys gather to talk about freak injuries, Pablo Morales will have a story to top all of them. The 34-year-old Tampa resident was awaiting the start of Sunday's first race aboard 4-year-old Florida-bred filly Nicolino when all heck broke loose in the starting gate. In a matter of milliseconds, the horse to his outside flipped in the gate, and Morales felt a burning sensation shoot through his right hand. While the outside horse, 4-year-old Florida-bred Azulene, was scratched as a precaution, Morales quickly realized he was going nowhere. His p ..read more

Longtime turf writer Jim Freer, who covered Florida horse racing for several decades, passed away March 17 of complications from Parkinson's Disease. He was 74. Freer, who was passionate about the sport and business of racing, particularly Florida Thoroughbred racing, wrote for The BloodHorse, Miami Herald, South Florida Business Journal and, most recently, was founder of HorseRacingFLA.com. Jim loved attending the races, meeting owners, trainers, jockeys and executives, and was always thinking of ways to publicize the sport. Freer grew up in upstate New York. He received a bachelor's degree i ..read more

Santa Anita will soon be receiving some high-priced horseflesh following this week's conclusion of the three-day OBS March Sale of 2-year-olds in Training in Ocala, Fla. The sale-topper was a colt by Good Magic out of the winning Uncle Mo mare Hoppa, who commanded a final bid of $2 million on Tuesday. Agent Donato Lanni signed the ticket for the flashy chestnut on behalf of owner Amr Zedan. He will be sent to trainer Bob Baffert. Baffert, who was on hand for the sale, was back at Santa Anita on Thursday. “It was good to see some trainers from California there buying horses, that was important ..read more

Graded stakes winner Elm Drive looms a major threat for trainer Phil D'Amato when she returns from a six-month layoff in Saturday's Grade 3 Desert Stormer going six furlongs on the main track. Installed as the 6-5 morning-line favorite for her comeback, Elm Drive has been sidelined since Sept. 24 when she finished sixth in the Weather Vane Stakes at Pimlico going six furlongs. The Weather Vane was the anchor leg of a two-race eastern excursion for Elm Drive that ended her 2022 campaign. Prior to the Weather Vane, she was sent to New York and transferred to trainer Michelle Nevin where she trie ..read more

Attached to a bulletin board outside his Oaklawn barn office is a drawing of a wet bulb thermometer Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas uses to track his victories at the 2022-2023 meeting. Lukas, 87, is going to need a bigger bulb. Major Blue's victory in Thursday's eighth race, a $103,000 entry-level allowance sprint for 3-year-olds, marked the 15th at the meeting for Lukas. His victory tracker, already filled in with bright red ink, stops at 14. “We're getting the ones that can run to run,” Lukas said Thursday morning. “That's what we're getting paid to do. They pay us to make them better ..read more

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU) has announced the individuals who will comprise their Internal Adjudication Panel (IAP), which will hear Controlled Medication Rule Violation Cases under HISA's Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program. Controlled Medication Rule Violations are defined in the Rule Series 3000: Equine Anti-Doping and Controlled Medication Protocol. IAP members are appointed by mutual agreement of HISA and HIWU for four-year terms and serve as independent contractors to both entities. The individual ..read more

The Federal Trade Commission has made updates to its Rules of Practice, establishing a formal process by which the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority can submit its budget to the FTC for review and an approval decision. Under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020, the FTC is required to provide oversight of the Authority, including over its budget. The new procedural rules establish requirements applicable to the Authority for its submission of proposed budgets to the Commission for review. The new procedural rules identify what the Authority must submit to the Co ..read more

Apprentice rider Walter Rodriguez has been nothing short of dominant throughout Turfway Park's Winter/Spring Meet tallying 44 victories through 42 days of racing. Now, the El Salvador native not only has his sights on Saturday's $700,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks (Grade 3), but the future beyond his stellar meet at Turfway. Rodriguez confidently rose through the Turfway Park rider standings this meet, tabbing victories in the $125,000 Dust Commander Stakes and $125,000 Wishing Well Stakes. Now, with five days remaining at the meet, Rodriguez looks ahead and will ride at Keeneland and Churchill Downs ..read more