Ron Flatter

With a new general manager chosen, Turf Paradise opened its stable area to a few horses Tuesday night as it tries to replace an autumn of chaos with racing as scheduled starting next month.

Embattled leaseholder Gary Hartunian paints an optimistic picture about the finances at Turf Paradise ahead of opening day Nov. 27. But his rosy outlook differs from concerns expressed to a state regulator this month by former assistant general manager Dave Johnson.

Lone defeat is important stop on Bacio’s road to being Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint favorite.

The cutoff of money from shuttered off-track-betting outlets and a lack of horses pose the biggest threats to beginning the upcoming racing season at Turf Paradise on time next month, horsemen were told Friday in Phoenix.

Emphatic looks like the kind of horse who should win a Breeders’ Cup. She has the breeding. She has an undefeated record. She just won over the very course and distance where the $2 million Juvenile Fillies will be run Friday.

Keeneland has hosted some of Brad Cox’s brightest moments in the Breeders’ Cup. Five of his 11 wins happened there, including the four in 2020 that clinched him his first of two Eclipse Awards as champion trainer.

Hughes, who was made the Las Vegas favorite to win Kentucky Derby 2027, is in position to galvanize that distinction while making himself the star of Breeders’ Cup Friday at Keeneland.

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert is reluctant to talk about the fact that he and Aidan O’Brien share a Breeders’ Cup record. In the 42-year history of the event, the two men who might be the most recognized faces in horse racing have 21 wins apiece.

Aidan Butler, who has been president of 1/ST Racing for nearly three years, is leaving the job Sunday after working eight years for The Stronach Group, sources told Horse Racing Nation.

Magnitude left Churchill Downs looking unbeatable in June. But that image from four months ago became old news in less than two minutes this summer.