Horse Racing

6:41 PM ET Associated Press LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Churchill Downs has announced that jockey Miguel Mena, who won nearly 2,100 thoroughbred races in North America and earned $72.4 million in prize money, has died following a pedestrian accident. He was 34. The track stated in a release that Mena was killed Sunday night on westbound

9:24 PM ET Associated Press Knicks Go is the early 5-2 favorite for the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic this weekend at Del Mar. The two-day world championships drew 169 horses from eight countries, including 46 foreign horses to the seaside track north of San Diego. Del Mar is hosting for the second time in

11:43 PM ET Associated Press EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Rebuff won the Colt & Gelding Trot to kick off Breeders Crown weekend at the Meadowlands Racetrack. The track presented four stakes, each worth $600,000, for 2-year-olds on a rainy, windy Friday night. The eight Crowns for older horses take place Saturday afternoon. The Breeders Crowns

4:51 PM ET Associated Press Medina Spirit, the controversial winner of the Kentucky Derby, and Belmont Stakes winner Essential Quality head a field of 10 horses for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, with trainer Brad Cox pre-entering two horses for the $6 million race that also includes Hot Rod Charlie. Hot Rod Charlie finished third in

8:59 PM ET Associated Press LOS ANGELES — UCLA coach Mick Cronin is a winner even before the college basketball season starts next month. A 3-year-old filly co-owned by Cronin won the $63,000 feature at Santa Anita by three-quarters of a length on Friday. Sent off at 6-1 odds, So Very Smart paid $14.40, $6.40

11:42 AM ET Associated Press LEXINGTON, Ky. — Bob Baffert can enter horses in the Breeders’ Cup next month at Del Mar, but the event’s all-time money-leading trainer has to meet certain conditions, including stricter out-of-competition testing of his horses and greater security at his barn. The conditions are the result of a review by

9:42 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Irad Ortiz Jr. rode his 3,000th career winner Thursday in the fifth race at Belmont Park. The 29-year-old jockey from Puerto Rico rode Saratoga Kisses to an 8 1/4-length victory for trainer and co-owner Rudy Rodriguez. Ortiz is 15th on the career earnings list, totaling over $220

7:26 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Embattled thoroughbred horse trainer Bob Baffert will have to face an administrative hearing scheduled for Monday by the New York Racing Association to address his suspension. Brooklyn Judge Carol Bagley Amon of the Eastern District of New York ruled Tuesday that a hearing was required for Baffert

11:38 PM ET Associated Press ARCADIA, Calif. — Medina Spirit, the Kentucky Derby winner who failed a postrace drug test, romped to a five-length victory in the $300,000 Awesome Again Stakes on Saturday for embattled Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert at Santa Anita. Medina Spirit took command out of the starting gate and built

12:07 AM ET Associated Press ARCADIA, Calif. — A 2-year-old gelding was euthanized Friday at Santa Anita after sustaining a racing injury on opening day of the track’s fall meet. It was the second death in two days at the Arcadia track. Fight On Ron suffered a musculoskeletal injury in the third race. The gelding

12:53 AM ET Associated Press BENSALEM, Pa. — Medina Spirit, the Kentucky Derby winner who failed a postrace drug test, won’t run in Saturday’s $1 million Pennsylvania Derby. Embattled Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert said Tuesday he is going to keep the colt in California and run in the $300,000 Awesome Again Stakes against

1:31 PM ET Associated Press OCEANPORT, N.J. — Jockey Tomas Mejia has been been banned 10 years for using an electronic device to win a race at Monmouth Park earlier this month. In a ruling announced Thursday, the stewards at Monmouth Park also fined the 26-year-old Panamanian $5,000 and recommended that the New Jersey Racing

12:39 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — The New York Racing Association has charged Bob Baffert with detrimental conduct and scheduled a hearing for the two-time Triple Crown-winning trainer to respond to those allegations. NYRA announced the beginning of the hearing process Friday, adding the organization believes Baffert’s conduct warrants suspension or revocation of

10:22 PM ET Associated Press DEL MAR, Calif. — Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit held off Rock Your World in the stretch to win the $100,000 Shared Belief by 1¼ lengths on Sunday at Del Mar for embattled trainer Bob Baffert. Medina Spirit raced for the first time since finishing third as the 9-5 favorite

7:32 PM ET Associated Press SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Essential Quality just keeps on winning, displaying a grit that his handlers simply marvel at. The Belmont Stakes winner added the $1.25 million Travers Stakes to his resume Saturday, holding off Midnight Bourbon in a stirring stretch duel at Saratoga Race Course for his eighth victory

6:17 PM ET Associated Press HENDERSON, Ky. — Fire destroyed a barn at Ellis Park race track in Kentucky early Sunday, with officials saying the horses inside were rescued. Sunday’s racing program was canceled after the fire in the receiving barn, where horses are supervised and examined before running in a race. The barn can

9:57 PM ET Associated Press HENDERSON, Ky. — A 2-year-old filly got loose before a race at a Kentucky track and ran onto a highway alongside cars before being apprehended Saturday. The filly named Bold and Bossy got loose on her way to the starting gate at Ellis Park. Jockey Miguel Mena was thrown off.

1:13 AM ET Associated Press LOS ANGELES — B. Wayne Hughes, the founder and chairman of Public Storage whose passion for horse racing culminated with a victory by Authentic in the 2020 Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic, died Wednesday. He was 87. Hughes died at home at Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, according to