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The Kentucky Derby, the oldest continuously held major sporting event in the United States, is celebrating its 150th anniversary on Saturday with a new $200 million paddock and a host of safety initiatives meant to curb the horse deaths that marred last year’s event. Revelers at Churchill Downs will be wearing colorful hats and sipping $22 mint juleps from souvenir glasses under the twin spires that stand sentry over this cathedral of horse racing. From the first Derby, won by Aristides in 1875, to this year’s race, one constant has remained. When the announcer declares, “And they’re off,” all involved with getting the top 3-year-old thoroughbreds in the country into the starting gate, from the owners to the trainers to the grooms, hold their breath and hope their horse will cross the finish line first.

Persons: Aristides, ” Organizations: Kentucky Derby, Derby Locations: United States, Churchill

We were cleared as we knew we would be.”HISA investigated the deaths at Churchill and Saratoga and concluded that several factors, including frequency of high-intensity exercise, likely contributed. Some of the horses who died received corticosteroid injections in their joints within 30 days of racing. At its center was a veterinarian and drug compounder named Dr. Seth Fishman, who bragged on wiretaps about “having a relationship with top trainers and top owners” in the horse racing world. “What I’m trying to say is anytime you give something to a horse, that’s doping. agent posing as a New Jersey racing official pulled samples from a group of horses and sent them to a Hong Kong laboratory considered one of the finest in the world.

Persons: ” Mr, Joseph, “, ” HISA, HISA, compounder, Seth Fishman, Dr, Fishman Locations: Churchill, Saratoga, Florida, New Jersey, Hong Kong

At the end of the day, unquestionably, you undermined the integrity of horse racing.”Mr. Servis, who was also ordered to pay $163,932 in restitution and a $30,000 fine, is to report to prison on Nov. 1. He addressed the court briefly during the hearing, which lasted more than two hours. He was sentenced to three years in prison for the felony charge and one year for the misdemeanor, to be served consecutively. Four years was the maximum sentence that Judge Vyskocil could have levied against Mr. Servis, 66, for the guilty pleas on the two counts. Before entering into the plea agreement, Mr. Servis could have faced up to 25 years in prison had he been convicted on charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

Persons: Mr, Servis, Rita Glavin, I’ve, ”, Glavin, ” Mr, Vyskocil Organizations: Mr

☆ Live Updates: Another Death Adds to Triple Crown Cloud as Mage Looks to Continue Run
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Melissa Hoppert | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

The death on Saturday added to the recent toll of horse fatalities surrounding the Triple Crown races, after seven horses died at Churchill Downs in the days leading up to the Kentucky Derby earlier this month. His colt National Treasure is a 3-1 morning line choice in the Preakness and could provide the stiffest challenge to Mage, this year’s Kentucky Derby winner. Baffert was suspended after Medina Spirit failed a drug test after winning the 2021 Kentucky Derby. Last year, Baffert was serving his Kentucky suspension during the Triple Crown, so the racing commissions in Maryland and New York kept him from the Preakness and the Belmont. After the seven deaths at Churchill Downs ahead of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes officials were taking a cautious approach to pre-race examinations.

☆ What to Watch for in the 2023 Preakness Stakes
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Joe Drape | Melissa Hoppert | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Another challenge for the Delgados when they came to the United States was finding good horses and owners who believed in them. They liked that the horse was a near replica of his sire, Good Magic, who finished second in the Derby and fourth in the Preakness. And so that melting pot of a group rode Mage straight into the winner’s circle on the first Saturday in May, leading to perhaps the biggest winner’s circle party in Derby history — even Mage looked small in the middle of it. About 70 of the 382 people who invested in Mage through Commonwealth were there. When her wheelchair got stuck on the track, Gerardo Corrales and Jose Ortiz, who had just rode in the Derby, carried her the rest of the way.

☆ Expert Picks: Who Will Win the Preakness?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Joe Drape | Melissa Hoppert | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mage, ridden by Javier Castellano, executed a frantic stretch run to capture an unpredictable Kentucky Derby that saw five contenders, including the favorite, scratched ahead of the race. Now, in only his fifth race, Mage moves on to Baltimore and the 148th Preakness Stakes, where he will be a Triple Crown contender and the only Derby horse in what is considered a weak field. First Mission, considered to be his biggest challenger, was scratched on Friday morning with a left hind ankle injury. Below, the Preakness horses are listed in order of post position, with comments by Joe Drape and Melissa Hoppert of The New York Times. The morning-line odds, set by Keith Feustle of Pimlico Race Course, were revised to reflect the scratch.

☆ Here’s something most racing fans agree on: 50 years later, Secretariat is still the GOAT.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Melissa Hoppert | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Coming off a stunning loss in the Wood Memorial, Secretariat, who was named the 2-year-old champion, was suddenly the beneficiary of doubt among the horse racing faithful, despite having won 10 of 11 races going into the derby. Rumors swirled: he was injured, he lost a step during his 3-year-old season, he just wasn’t the superhorse everyone thought he was, his Wood rival Sham would be the true king of 1973. He broke a step slow, a Secretariat trademark, and settled in behind his 12 challengers. His rival Sham sat near the lead and made his move to catch the leader, Shecky Greene, at the top of the homestretch. Then, and only then, did Turcotte ask his horse for more, and Secretariat, like the finest of racecars, found another gear.

☆ Kentucky Derby Live Updates: Scratch of Favorite Forte Shakes Up Already Chaotic Derby
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Melissa Hoppert | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Secretariat, with jockey Ron Turcotte up, passed his rival, Sham, in the homestrech and ran away with the 99th Kentucky Derby in record time on May 5, 1973. Rumors swirled: he was injured, he lost a step during his 3-year-old season, he just wasn’t the superhorse everyone thought he was, his Wood rival Sham would be the true king of 1973. His rival Sham sat near the lead and made his move to catch the leader, Shecky Greene, at the top of the homestretch. Then, and only then, did Turcotte ask his horse for more, and Secretariat, like the finest of racecars, found another gear. Nearly half of the horses in Saturday’s Derby have Secretariat in their bloodlines.

☆ What to Watch for in the 2023 Kentucky Derby
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Joe Drape | Melissa Hoppert | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Forte, who was named last year’s 2-year-old champion, has won six of his seven races. So no wonder Forte is the 3-1 morning-line favorite for the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. In 2011, Repole had to scratch another 2-year-old champion, Uncle Mo, the day before America’s greatest race. “I’m 0 for 7 in the Derby,” Repole said. Four other Derby horses were scratched, the first time that many horses were taken out of the field since 2015.

☆ Expert Picks: Who Will Win the 2023 Kentucky Derby
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Joe Drape | Melissa Hoppert | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The horses in the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby are listed in order of post position, with comments by Joe Drape and Melissa Hoppert of The New York Times. The morning-line odds were set by Mike Battaglia of Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., where the race will be held. Skinner was scratched Friday, and the morning-line favorite, Forte, was scratched Saturday, reducing the field to 18 horses. The last time four entrants were scratched from the Derby was 2015. Because of the scratches, more than half the horses in the field will break from post positions that don’t match their program numbers.

☆ On the Eve of the Derby, Four Horse Deaths Renew Safety Concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Joe Drape | Melissa Hoppert | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Only days before horse racing’s signature event, the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs is looking into the recent deaths during training of four horses, including a colt who was scheduled to run in Saturday’s Derby. Wild on Ice, a 3-year-old who had three wins in five career starts and was in the Derby field, was euthanized after he was injured while training on the dirt track on Thursday, Churchill Downs said in a statement. Two horses trained by Saffie Joseph Jr. died suddenly for unknown reasons, the track said. “This is something that doesn’t happen,” Joseph said on Wednesday morning at his Churchill Downs barn. I run almost 4,000 horses and it’s never happened.

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