Horse Racing News

Macho Again had his final workout in preparation of his defense of the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap when he breezed five furlongs in 1:02.20 with regular rider Robby Albarado aboard Friday morning at Churchill Downs.

Zenyatta is unlikely to have many rivals when she seeks to extend her unbeaten streak to 17 races in the $250,000 Vanity Handicap at Hollywood Park next Sunday.

If all goes according to plan, Quality Road will make two more starts before the Breeders' Cup Classic in November, both in Grade 1 races at Saratoga this summer.

Fast workouts are uncommon for Neil Drysdale's turf workers.

Redding Colliery is an emerging player in the nation's handicap ranks, just as his owners, James and Fitriani Hay, are emerging players on the American racing scene.

The term "good-betting race" is usually a backhanded compliment about a field with modest to below-average horses with no strong favorite.

Separately, the Juddmonte Farms of Khaled Abdullah and trainer Bill Mott have won five of the first 16 runnings of the Just a Game Handicap.

Custom for Carlos, a well-traveled colt who has run triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures at four different tracks, and Bribon, last year's Met Mile winner, are top-weighted at 118 pounds and head a field of 10 in Saturday's Grade 2 True North Handicap.

Points of Grace, Canada's champion female turf horse in 2009, is slated to make her first start since last Oct. 31 in Saturday's Grade 2, $300,000 Nassau Stakes.

Jim Gaffney Sr., the regular exercise rider of champion Thoroughbreds Secretariat and Riva Ridge, died on Thursday from pneumonia. He was 75.