Horse Racing News

The Grade 3, $1 million race at Delta Downs in Vinton, La., will have a Grade 1 winner in the field for the first time Saturday after trainer Bob Baffert on Monday committed Drill, the Del Mar Futurity winner, to the 1 1/16-mile race.

Neil Drysdale sent out Bourbon Bay and Miss Match to work in company Sunday morning at Hollywood Park and was so encouraged by the way both traveled over the grass that he decided to run both this Saturday in the $250,000 Hollywood Turf Cup.

TwinSpires.com, the official advance-deposit wagering service for Churchill Downs Incorporated, will hold the TwinSpires.com Online Handicapping Championship this Saturday, Nov. 19.

Glen Hill Farm's Marketing Mix boasted the strongest resume in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,550 Mrs. Revere at Churchill Downs, and her class duly told as the 8-5 favorite brushed aside her rivals with disdainful authority.

One of only three horses to contest every leg of this year's Triple Crown, Mucho Macho Man returned to the races with a sharp front-running performance at Aqueduct on Wednesday, winning a one-mile optional claimer by a widening 5 3/4-length margin.

Ladies' Classic winner Royal Delta came from Churchill Downs to Keeneland's auction ring Tuesday and blew the roof off the market, selling for $8.5 million to Benjamin Leon's Besilu Stables.

Three-time champion Gio Ponti, an earner of more than $6.1 million during five seasons of racing, has been retired to his owners' Castleton Lyons.

Florida breeder/owner Harold Queen has retired his homebred Eclipse Award winner and Breeders' Cup winner Big Drama. Breeding plans are undecided.

While the majority of high-profile horses are headed for a vacation, one significant player from earlier in the year is heading back to the races.

Two floral blankets hanging on a blue and white sawhorses outside his barn Sunday morning were vivid and colorful proof that trainer Steve Asmussen had a very good Breeders' Cup weekend.