Horse Racing

8:04 PM ET Associated Press WASHINGTON — A key House committee on Wednesday gave bipartisan approval to legislation to create national standards for the horse racing industry to prevent fatalities and discourage illegal medication practices. The Senate’s top Republican said he would press to pass the bill before the year is out. The 46-5 vote

1:34 PM ET Associated Press WASHINGTON — The Senate’s top Republican and a handful of senior lawmakers in both parties are making a late-session push for legislation to create national standards for the horse racing industry to prevent fatalities and discourage illegal medication practices. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., whose state is home to the

9:53 PM ET Associated Press SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Saratoga Race Course completed its 40-day meet, and its all-sources handle topped $700 million for the second consecutive year despite being conducted without fans. Total handle was $702.5 million, just off last year’s mark of $705.3 million, with average daily handle of $17.5 million. Only a

11:54 AM ET Betting on the 146th Kentucky Derby was down sharply over the weekend, dropping 52% from last year’s record amount wagered. With no fans allowed at the track due to the coronavirus pandemic, Churchill Downs reported that $79.4 million was bet in the parimutuel pool on this year’s Kentucky Derby. Last year’s Derby

7:14 PM ET Authentic dueled with Tiz the Law in the final turn and upset the heavy favorite to win the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. Ridden by John Velazquez, Authentic led from start to finish and gave trainer Bob Baffert his record-tying sixth Derby champion. Authentic covered 1¼ mile in 2:00.61, the seventh-fastest time ever

5:00 AM ET LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A friendly security guard checked my temperature and pointed toward an opening in an unmarked green fence, and just like that, I was alone in Churchill Downs. It was Derby week, and yet everything was so quiet I could hear the cicadas. That’s what the world’s most famous racetrack

6:38 PM ET Associated Press LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Long shot Shedaresthedevil won the Kentucky Oaks in record time, overtaking favorite Gamine at the top of the stretch and holding off Swiss Skydiver for a 1½-length victory Friday in the 146th Kentucky Oaks for fillies at Churchill Downs. Shedaresthedevil was fresh off a Grade 3 stakes

12:25 PM ET Associated Press LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The field for the Kentucky Derby has been reduced to 16 after Finnick the Fierce was scratched on Friday. The one-eyed gelding may have an issue with his foot. He’s missing his right eye because of a congenital cataract. The Derby on Saturday will have its fewest

5:00 AM ET Between July 2018 and June 2019, 49 horses died at the Santa Anita racetrack in Southern California. Some broke down in training — a snapped leg bone, an irreversible injury. Others died publicly during a race. These incidents confirmed what horse racing people already knew: Sometimes … horses die. But when the

5:41 PM ET King Guillermo, the colt owned by former major league All-Star Victor Martinez, is a scratch for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby. The horse came down with a fever Wednesday, leading to Thursday’s announcement. “To race in a race like the Derby we need him at 100 percent,” Avila said in a statement. “We aren’t

6:00 PM ET Associated Press SOUTHWELL, England — Jump racing was suspended at a British racecourse on Thursday following the death of eight horses at the venue since July 1. The British Horseracing Authority already was working with the owners of Southwell racecourse to look into the circumstances behind six equine fatalities there from July

8:15 AM ET Postponed from its traditional running on the first Saturday in May for the first time since 1945 because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Kentucky Derby will take place on the first Saturday of September. Tiz the Law is the morning-line favorite (3-5) and is unbeaten in four starts this year. That includes

11:07 AM ET Nevada bookmakers are locked in a dispute with Churchill Downs that, barring a last-minute resolution, will prevent the state’s sportsbooks from offering pari-mutuel wagering on the Kentucky Derby. The dispute is centered on a price increase requested by Churchill Downs for data from the track, which bookmakers use to take pari-mutuel wagers,

5:15 PM ET Associated Press BALTIMORE — The Preakness Stakes will be run at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore Oct. 3 without fans, making it a spectator-free sweep of the three Triple Crown races this year because of the global pandemic. The Maryland Jockey Club and Stronach Group that owns and manages Pimlico made the

6:37 PM ET Associated Press FRANKFORT, Ky. — For Kentucky governors, it’s a coveted perk — presenting the trophy to the Kentucky Derby winner as a huge national television audience watches. But Gov. Andy Beshear says he won’t be in the winner’s circle Saturday with the triumphant owners at Churchill Downs. Instead, the Democratic governor

1:22 PM ET Associated Press LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Tiz the Law is the 3-5 morning-line favorite for the 146th Kentucky Derby and will attempt to become the first winner from the No. 17 post position drawn for Saturday’s rescheduled marquee race for 3-year-olds. All the race favorites will break from the outside. Second choice Honor

11:31 AM ET ESPN.com staff The 146th running of the Kentucky Derby will take place Saturday at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentcuky, sans fans. Usually the first race of the Triple Crown, the Derby was rescheduled from May 2 to Sept. 5 due to the pandemic. Tiz the Law took the first leg of the

1:39 PM ET Associated Press LOUISVILLE, Ky. — D. Wayne Lukas, a four-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer, is back at his Churchill Downs barn after recovering from COVID-19. Lukas, who turns 85 on Wednesday, said he got “really sick.” “I couldn’t get any air and I felt like I was drifting away,” he said. “You just