Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious races including both the Santa Anita Derby and the Santa Anita Handicap as well as hosting the Breeders' Cup in 1986, 1993, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2019, and 2023. In 1984, Santa Anita was the site of equestrian events at the 1984 Olympics. Since 2011, the Stronach Group are the current owners.
Hollywood Park was a thoroughbred race course located in Inglewood, California, about 3 miles (5 km) from Los Angeles International Airport and adjacent to the Forum indoor arena. In 1994, the original Hollywood Park Casino was added to the racetrack complex. Horse racing and training were shut down in December 2013 though the casino operations continued until a new state of the art casino building, the new Hollywood Park Casino, opened in October 2016.
Robert A. Baffert is an American racehorse trainer who trained the 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. Baffert's horses have won a record six Kentucky Derbies, eight Preakness Stakes, three Belmont Stakes, and three Kentucky Oaks. He has been the subject of significant controversy regarding repeated incidents of his horses failing drug tests or dying under his care.
Gulfstream Park is a Thoroughbred horse race track, casino and outdoor entertainment and shopping destination in Hallandale Beach, Florida, United States. It is among the most important venues for horse racing in the United States, and is open 365 days a year.
Tampa Bay Downs is an American Thoroughbred horse racing facility located in Westchase in Hillsborough County in the U.S. state of Florida, just outside Tampa. It opened in 1926 under the name Tampa Downs, and has also been known as Sunshine Park and Florida Downs and Turf Club.
Fair Grounds Race Course, often known as New Orleans Fair Grounds, is a thoroughbred racetrack and racino in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is operated by Churchill Downs Louisiana Horseracing Company, LLC.
The Los Alamitos Futurity is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-olds run over a distance of one and one sixteenth miles on the dirt held annually in early December at Los Alamitos Race Course in Cypress, California. The event currently offers a purse of $300,000.
The Starlet Stakes is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-old fillies run over a distance of one and one sixteenth miles on the dirt held annually in early December at Los Alamitos Race Course in Cypress, California. The event currently offers a purse of $300,000.
The Los Alamitos Derby is a race for Thoroughbred horses run annually at Los Alamitos Race Course in Los Alamitos, California. The race is open to three-year-old horses and is contested at one and one-eighth miles on the dirt. A Listed event, it currently carries a purse of $125,000.
A graded stakes race is a thoroughbred horse race in the United States that meets the criteria of the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA). A specific grade level is then assigned to the race, based on statistical analysis of the quality of the field in previous years, provided the race meets the minimum purse criteria for the grade in question. In Canada, a similar grading system is maintained by the Jockey Club of Canada. Graded stakes races are similar to Group races in Europe but the grading is more dynamic in North America.
Michael Wrona is an announcer from Brisbane, Australia specializing in Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred horse racing. He is best known for the phrase "Racing!", which he says at the start of every race call.
Washington Park Race Track was a popular horse racing venue in the Chicago metropolitan area from 1884 until 1977. It had two locations during its existence. It was first situated in what is the current location of the Washington Park Subdivision of the Woodlawn community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. This is located immediately south of both the current Washington Park community area and Washington Park. The track was later relocated to Homewood, Illinois, which is also in Cook County.
Bally's Arapahoe Park is a horse-racing track in Arapahoe County, Colorado on the outskirts of Aurora, owned and operated by Bally's Corporation. Located at 26000 East Quincy Avenue, Arapahoe Park hosts Thoroughbred, Quarter Horse, Paint Horse and Arabian horse racing.
The Champion of Champions is a stakes race annually held at Los Alamitos Race Course in Cypress, California. It is the championship race for Quarter Horses.
Shared Belief was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. As a two-year-old, he was undefeated in three races, including the Hollywood Prevue Stakes and Los Alamitos Futurity, and was named the American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt of 2013 at the Eclipse Awards.
California Chrome is a champion US Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2014 Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and 2016 Dubai World Cup. He was the 2014 and 2016 American Horse of the Year. In 2016, he surpassed Curlin as the all-time leading North American horse in earnings won.
Dortmund was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. In 2014, he was undefeated in three races and established himself as one of the best juveniles in California with a win in the Los Alamitos Futurity. In the early part of 2015, he moved into contention for the American Triple Crown races with wins in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes, San Felipe Stakes, and Santa Anita Derby. In his return to racing in the fall of 2015, Dortmund took the Big Bear Stakes and Native Diver Handicap- his final career victories. He died in South Korea on April 18, 2022, at the age of ten, due to colic.
The 2019 Preakness Stakes was the 144th running of the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the American Triple Crown. It was held on May 18, 2019, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. The Preakness is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of 1+3⁄16 miles (1.9 km) with a record high purse of $1,650,000. The race was broadcast on NBC from 5:00 pm to 7:15 pm EDT with coverage of the undercard on NBCSN starting at 2:30 pm. The race was won by War of Will, who had finished seventh in the Kentucky Derby. The Maryland Jockey Club reported a total attendance of 131,256, the second highest attendance for American thoroughbred racing events in North America during 2019.
Drayden Van Dyke is a jockey in thoroughbred racing. At graded stakes races, Van Dyke has won 67 events ranging from Grade I to Grade III. Of these wins, Van Dyke has won both the Starlet Stakes and Yellow Ribbon Handicap four times. As a Breeders' Cup jockey, Van Dyke won the Turf Sprint event at the 2018 Breeders' Cup. He was also runner-up at the Breeders' Cup Mile event in 2018 and the Dirt Mile at the 2021 Breeders' Cup.
