Horse Racing News

Just one day shy of the 10th anniversary on which former New York Gov. George Pataki signed a law approving racetrack casinos, Aqueduct will seek to brush aside the political and legal delays as it activates thousands of video lottery terminals.

Shane Ryan, president of Castleton Lyons, announced Oct. 27 that Gio Ponti will run in the Breeders' Cup Mile rather than the Classic at Churchill Downs Nov. 5.

The only thing that has been consistent about North America's top 3-year-old pacing colts is their inconsistency.

If the long-range forecast for Louisville, Ky. is any indication, those attending the Nov. 4-5 Breeders' Cup World Championships should be prepared for precipitation.

Saturday's $150,000 Fayette Stakes is the closing-day feature at Keeneland and a well-matched field of 12 will line up for the Grade 2 event over Keeneland's Polytrack.

With the Grade 3 Turnback the Alarm Handicap not a part of the program as originally scheduled, the Grade 3, $100,000 Bold Ruler Handicap stands alone as the feature on the final Saturday of the fall meet at Belmont Park.

A tantalizing matchup in the Breeders' Cup Classic featuring Havre de Grace, the best filly in the United States, and Uncle Mo, the nation's most compelling 3-year-old.

Conditioner Tony O'Sullivan will send out 11 starters on the 12-race card, five of them in the $300,000 Open Mare Pace, and he sends out the buzz horse, Alsace Hanover, with his final bullet in the $500,000 sophomore pace for colts and geldings.

Tizway will not get a chance to state his case for those accolades in the Breeders' Cup Classic as he will miss that race due to a strain in the suspensory ligament of his left foreleg, trainer James Bond said Tuesday.

Twirling Candy, one of the top older horses in California this year, is out of the Breeders' Cup with an injury and will be retired to stud at Lane's End farm in Kentucky in 2012, trainer John Sadler said Saturday.