Joe Saumarez Smith is stepping down as the British Horseracing Authority chair with immediate effect due to a deterioration in his health, British racing’s governing body said Jan. 30.

The New York Race Track Chaplaincy will honor Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez and his wife Leona with the newly renamed John Hendrickson and Marylou Whitney Award for their longstanding support of the New York backstretch community.

At the close of Book 2, New Zealand Bloodstock reported that 270 horses sold for NZ$9,759,000 (US$5,520,325) at a clearance rate of 76%. Last year’s sale closed with 265 yearlings selling for an aggregate of NZ$11,444,000 (US$6,473,470).

In this second edition of the blog for the 2025 Run for the Roses, the focus is on the changing landscape of the 3-year-old male division over the last three weeks.

Letters to the Editor

Summer fair racing in Northern California faces a precarious future following a Jan. 28 announcement from the California Authority of Racing Fairs that it would not submit a future race meet application.

There’s no horse with better form than Paradise Farm’s Paros heading into the Feb. 1 $175,000 Tampa Bay Stakes (G3T). The spunky Cairo Prince gelding has captured his last six starts, each time stepping up in class.

In recognition of Black History Month, the Maryland Horse Library and Education Center, at 321 Main Street in Historic Reisterstown, will host the traveling exhibit, “The Heart of the Turf: Racing’s Black Pioneers.”

The first couple of performances by a young horse can be deceiving. One mediocre effort followed by a strong race can raise a question as to which one reflects the horse’s true ability.

On the heels of a season that saw him win four races, earn nearly $1 million, and finish second in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1), Post Time has been named the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred/The Racing Biz Top Midlantic-bred of 2024.