Star filly Rachel Alexandra is finished racing for the year, co-owner Jess Jackson announced Oct. 9.

Jackson, who said Rachel Alexandra would not run in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 7 at Santa Anita because he did not want to run his horses on a synthetic surface, indicated the 3-year-old daughter of Medaglia d’Oro would return to racing in 2010.

Rachel Alexandra completed her yea

Darley stallion Shamardal has injured his withers and will be rested for the remainder of the Southern Hemisphere breeding season at the outfit’s Australian farm. The English champion is expected to make a full recovery before the end of the year.

Shamardal will return to Europe with the other shuttle stallions in time for the Northern Hemisphere breeding season and is expected to

Goulash, dam of two-time champion Ashado and two other graded stakes winners, was euthanized Sept. 30 because of founder. The 16-year-old daughter of Mari’s Book was owned by Aaron and Marie Jones and boarded at the Taylor family’s Taylor Made Farm near Nicholasville, Ky.

It earlier was reported that chronic arthritis caused

Scenes from the Walt Disney Studio’s forthcoming motion picture “Secretariat,” starring Diane Lane as Penny Chenery and John Malkovich as Lucien Laurin, will be filmed at Churchill Downs starting Oct. 5. Officials said filming at the track is expected to last five days.

Transformation of the Churchill Downs grounds is underway. Areas that will be used in scenes include the paddock,

Cryptoclearance, one of the top runners of his generation and a top sire of more than 40 stakes winners, died at Rood and Riddle Equine Clinic in Lexington, Ky., Sept. 24. The 25-year-old horse died from a heart attack stemming from complications following colic surgery.

A son of Fappiano out of the Hoist the Flag mare Naval Orange, Cryptoclearnace was owned by Phil Teinowitz and was

Classic winner and successful sire Summer Squall was euthanized Tuesday, Sept. 22, at William S. Farish’s Lane’s End Farm near Versailles, Ky., because of complications from the infirmities of old age. He was 22 years old.

“He was an important part of one of Lane’s End’s great families,” Farish said about the half-brother to two-time leading sire and current Lane’s End stallion A.P. Indy

Fairplex canceled the first two races of its Sept. 17 card when it was discovered that more than three-quarters of the entries for both mule races had been given medication within 24 hours of the races.

The California Horse Racing Board, the Fairplex stewards, and track management canceled the first two races program when they received documentation that 11 of the 14 mules in those two

Hoosier Park Racing and Casino took precautionary measures Sept. 12 when symptoms of a case of Streptococcus equi (strangles), a contagious bacterial disease, was suspected in a Thoroughbred racehorse on the backstretch at the facility.

All 59 horses stabled in the barn with the horse have been quarantined until test results are returned from the lab.

Hoosier Park officials

Gone West, who carved out a successful branch of the Mr. Prospector sire line all his own as the sire of 98 stakes winners, was euthanized the night of Sept. 7 because of complications following colic surgery. The 25-year-old stallion, who was pensioned after this year’s breeding season because of declining fertility, had been taken two days earlier to Hagyard Equine Medical Institute near

California freshman stallion Our New Recruit died Sept. 1 of colic, a dozen days after he was represented by his first winner. The 10-year-old son of Alphabet Soup stood at Pete and Evelyn Parrella’s Legacy Ranch, near Clements, Calif.
 
Campaigned by C RK Stable, Our New Recruit earned $1.2 million of his career total of $1,470,915 when he won the 2004 Gulf News Dubai Golden

Following a brief procedure to correct a breathing problem, Mine That Bird, winner of the Kentucky Derby, departed the Ruffian Equine Medical Center shortly after noon Tuesday Aug. 18 to return to Saratoga and continue preparations for the 140th running of the $1-million Shadwell Travers Stakes Aug. 29.

“It was as smooth as silk,” trainer Chip Woolley said of the procedure performed by

Breeders’ Cup has added to its medication and testing policy and increased penalties for violators for 2009.

Trainers whose horses test positive for anabolic steroids, which were banned last year, or Class 1 or Class 2 drugs will be banned from participating in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup World Championships. Three violations will result in a lifetime ban from the event, Breeders’ Cup

Drilling for Oil, a U.S. Thoroughbred graded stakes winner who was sent to Peru in July for stallion duty, was found dead after being butchered for his meat, according to the Turf Diario.  

The stallion was reportedly stolen from Hamide Stable Aug. 6 after thieves set other horses free t

The New York State Racing and Wagering Board clarified July 28 that horses are banned from being entered in races if they have received hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatment within one week of post time. The therapy is permitted otherwise.

The directive, explained in a release, clarifies existing state rules and is endorsed by the New York Racing Association, the Wagering Board said.

After discussions with industry participants and a review of all scientific research available on the use of toe grabs on the front shoes of Thoroughbreds, The Jockey Club Thoroughbred Safety Committee recommends adjusting the current RCI Model Rule on horse shoes to allow toe grabs up to four millimeters in height on front shoes on dirt racing surfaces only.

The committee’s