Trainer John Sadler pulled a switch when he entered Switch in the $250,000 Lady’s Secret Stakes Presented by TVG. But two-time champion Zenyatta stands alone as she goes for her 19th consecutive win over her home track at Oak Tree’s Hollywood Park meet Oct. 2. With a small field likely, Sadler said during a national press conference Sept. 28 that he was considering keeping

Persistently lived up to her name when she wore down reigning Horse of the Year and odds-on choice Rachel Alexandra for a one-length victory in the $294,000 Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga Aug. 29. In an ironic twist, the winning 21-1 shot is trained by Shug McGaughey, who also conditioned the undefeated Personal Ensign for the Phipps family, who campaign homebred Persistently.

Top grass female Tuscan Evening collapsed after a workout on the Del Mar turf course Aug. 8 and died. Track officials suspect that the 5-year-old grade I winner suffered a cardiac event, but there was no official confirmation of that.

In what could be her final start in California, the great Zenyatta remained undefeated with her 18th consecutive win in rather routine fashion by a neck in the $300,000 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes Aug. 7 at Del Mar.

Before an admiring crowd of 32,536 at the seaside track, 6-year-old Zenyatta won the Hirsch for the third consecutive time while capturing her 12th grade I victory, this

Rachel nation breathed a little easier on the afternoon of June 12 after last year’s Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra scored her first win of 2010, drawing away from four overmatched rivals in the $200,000 Fleur de Lis Handicap (gr. II).

Making her second start at Churchill Downs since her record-breaking 20 1/4-length romp in the 2009 Kentucky Oaks (gr. I), 4-year-old Rachel Alexandra looke

The remarkable Zenyatta stands alone. Thrilling another crowd with her spine-tingling late charge, the undefeated mare nabbed a determined St Trinians by a half-length for her 17th consecutive victory in the June 13 Vanity Handicap (gr. I) at Hollywood Park.

This was the 6-year-old champion’s unprecedented third straight win in the Vanity, and by far her most exciting.

After conferring with owners Jerry and Ann Moss, a decision has been made to run the champion mare Zenyatta in 2010 rather than breed her, trainer John Shirreffs said Jan. 16.

The undefeated Zenyatta, a finalist for 2009 Horse of the Year, had been working weekly at her Hollywood Park base since becoming the first female to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic in electrifying style N

Lael Stables’ Lentenor, the full brother to 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, finished third in his career debut on closing day at Keeneland Oct. 31, a race won by the favored Positive Split.

Ridden by Julien Leparoux for trainer Michael Matz, who also conditioned Barbaro, Lentenor waited in traffic along the inside on the turn of the seven-furlong maiden special weight

A necropsy report presented to the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) Aug. 27 at Del Mar tends to support trainers who complain that synthetic tracks lead to more hind limb injuries.

In 2008, 19 Thoroughbreds from a total of 111 that died on synthetic tracks in the state succumbed to catastrophic hind limb injuries, according to a preliminary CHRB/University of California-Davis report.

Rachel Alexandra turned in yet another dominating performance in a campaign for the ages when she captured the $1.25 million Haskell Invitational on a sloppy track at Monmouth Park before a crowd of 37,009 Aug. 2.
With regular rider Calvin Borel at the controls, Rachel Alexandra raced three-wide just off the pacesetter Munnings, took charge leaving the final turn and drew off under some

Old Fashioned sustained a non-displaced slab fracture of his right knee during his second-place effort in the $1 million Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park on April 11 and will miss the Kentucky Derby.

Trainer Larry Jones said the injury was not life-threatening and was unlikely to give the horse any long-term pain, but that it could end Old Fashioned’s career. He is to go to Rood and Riddle

The morning after the scratch of pre-race favorite The Pamplemousse from the Santa Anita Derby due to a tendon flare-up, co-owner Alex Solis II said the promising colt is off the Kentucky Derby trail.

Later, Solis said The Pamplemousse would be out of action a minimum of six months.

“He has a small lesion (on the tendon in his left front leg) and we’ll do the best thing by the

Nicanor, full brother to the ill-fated Kentucky Derby hero Barbaro, will have to wait until another day to get his first victory following his runner-up showing as the odds-on choice to Glittermans Cartel in a $42,000 maiden race at Gulfstream Park March 28.

Ridden by Jose Lezcano, Nicanor fought the pacesetter Glittermans Cartel all the way to the wire but came up a half-length short in