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Turfling
America · Tuesday 1 September 2026
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The lead
Hawthorne empties its backstretch as the sale closes
The final three horses left Hawthorne Race Course on a van on Monday, inside a 9am deadline that required the backstretch to be empty before the 90 million dollar bankruptcy sale could close. That sale is expected to complete today. The track at Stickney, Illinois ran what are expected to be its last races on 19 July, ending 135 years of racing at the site (Paulick Report).
A federal bankruptcy judge approved the sale on 28 July to ALLIMAC 2023 LLC, a Delaware entity and the only bidder for the property. Chicago had five racetracks at the turn of the century and now has none. The Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association attorney Kevin Morse said it is a sad day, but on to the next chapter (Daily Racing Form, Paulick Report).
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Things to know today
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The Authority has asked the Supreme Court to take up only the Fifth Circuit case out of three pending challenges to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, arguing there is no reason to await further percolation before reviewing whether HISA’s enforcement provisions facially violate the private-nondelegation doctrine. The Justice Department filed separately in support of expedited review. The justices may vote on the petitions at their long conference on 25 September (Paulick Report, Thoroughbred Daily News) |
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Churchill Downs has asked the Federal Trade Commission for an independent review of HISA. In a letter dated 28 August, the chief executive William Carstanjen wrote that recent events have highlighted troubling gaps and warning signs in HISA’s governance, and asked the commission to examine the Authority’s information-security practices and access controls. The letter was copied to HISA’s leadership and to members of Congress (Paulick Report) |
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Javier Castellano has appealed a three-day careless riding suspension imposed by the New York stewards over his winning ride on And One More Time in the Grade 2 Ballston Spa at Saratoga on 26 August. A foul claim by the runner-up was disallowed and the order of finish stood. The suspension had been set to be served at the start of the 2027 Saratoga meet. No hearing has concluded (Paulick Report) |
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Saratoga’s Grade 1 principals are heading for Keeneland. Golden Tempo, third in the Travers, and Englishman, who won the H. Allen Jerkens, left Saratoga on Monday for Cherie DeVaux’s base there, aimed at the Breeders’ Cup Classic and the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Chad Summers said Napoleon Solo, second in the Travers, will train up to the Breeders’ Cup rather than run again first, choosing between the Classic and the Dirt Mile, with the Saudi Cup in February the long-range aim (Paulick Report) |
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Inshallah will skip the Del Mar Futurity and go instead for the Grade 1 American Pharoah at Santa Anita on 3 October, a first try around two turns. John Sadler said the Flightline colt is going to be great at a distance and that it gives him a little more spacing. Inshallah cost 2.1 million dollars at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic two-year-olds in training sale in May and won his debut at Del Mar on 15 August (Paulick Report) |
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Diego Herrera won his first riding title at Gulfstream Park when the Royal Palm meet closed on Monday, with 88 winners to Samy Camacho’s 82. The 22-year-old said he is very blessed and fortunate to be in this position, that his agent has done a tremendous job, and that he took a leap of faith and trusted in him (Paulick Report) |
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A Yaupon filly out of the champion two-year-old filly Folklore beat the colts in a maiden at Chukyo in Japan on Saturday, 1800 metres in 1:54.5, by a length. Trad Lore was bred in Kentucky by Lewis Thoroughbred Breeding, cost 400,000 dollars as a weanling at Keeneland November in 2023, and is trained by Tomokazu Takano for G1 Racing (Thoroughbred Daily News) |
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International
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Europe
O’Brien takes the blame for Constitution River
Aidan O’Brien said he will not make the same mistake twice with Constitution River, who runs next in the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown. In the Juddmonte International at York a pacemaker that was not up to the job left Constitution River racing in too high a gear. O’Brien said it was just a bit of a mess the last day, and that he has to ultimately accept the responsibility for it because he put in the pacemaker that was not good enough (Thoroughbred Daily News)
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Australasia
New Zealand Bloodstock catalogues 460 for Ready to Run
New Zealand Bloodstock has catalogued 460 two-year-olds for its 2026 Ready to Run Sale, which is held at the Karaka Sales Centre on 18 and 19 November. The managing director Andrew Seabrook said that if buyers are looking for proven performance, this is the one sale they need to attend (Breednet)
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Markets overnight
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Dow 53,185.90, down 374.09 points (Associated Press via The Epoch Times) |
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S&P 500 7,686.14, down 25.62 points (Associated Press via The Epoch Times) |
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Nasdaq Composite 26,370.89, down 31.53 points (Associated Press via The Epoch Times) |
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10-year Treasury yield 4.75% (Investrade market review) |
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Gold, December futures, settled at 4,481.50 dollars (Investrade market review) |
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WTI crude 85.76 dollars, up 2.36 (Investrade market review) |
As of the Monday 31 August close, the most recent. Every figure is linked to the page it was read from and was read there this morning. Gold is the December futures contract. The US Dollar Index and Bitcoin are omitted: nothing we could reach carried a stated close for Monday’s session rather than an intraday level. Nothing here is estimated, rounded from memory or carried forward.
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The week ahead
| Wed 2 Sep |
Saratoga returns from its Monday and Tuesday dark days with the Grade 1 Jonathan Sheppard Memorial |
| Thu 3 Sep |
Kentucky Downs resumes with a shortened card of seven races at an 11am Central first post after a heat advisory, the Bowling Green Gold Cup Invitational having been moved to Wednesday 9 September, and Colonial Downs brings its 11-race card forward to a 9am first post to get ahead of forecast extreme heat |
| Sat 5 Sep |
The Grade 1 Spinaway at Saratoga, and five stakes at Kentucky Downs led by the Grade 2 Nashville Derby Invitational, worth three million dollars |
| Sun 6 Sep |
The Grade 1 Spendthrift Farm Hopeful at Saratoga, and the Grade 3 Kentucky Downs Ladies Marathon Invitational, worth 1.5 million dollars |
| Mon 7 Sep |
Labor Day closes both Saratoga and Colonial Downs, where the Grade 3 Old Dominion Derby heads six turf stakes, and Kentucky Downs runs the Grade 3 Mint Millions Invitational, worth two million dollars |
| Wed 9 Sep |
The Grade 3 Dueling Grounds Oaks Invitational, worth two million dollars, closes the Kentucky Downs meet, on a card that also carries the Pepsi Juvenile Mile and the Bowling Green Gold Cup Invitational, each worth 750,000 dollars |
| Fri 30 Oct |
The Breeders’ Cup World Championships begin at Keeneland, over two days |
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This week
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Turfling
Reported from official race-day materials, racecourse and regulator publications, and sales results, verified against trade press. Where a fact originates elsewhere, we say so. Market data as of the most recent US close, sourced separately from racing content and linked at each figure. Drafted with AI assistance. Picks are percentages, never odds. Not affiliated with any track, tote board, regulator or wagering product.
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