The Breeders' Cup, one of Thoroughbred racing's most prestigious international events, today announced that tickets for the 2020 Breeders' Cup World Championship will go on sale to the public on March 9 at 9:00 a.m. EST.

Speaking during a Jan. 16 teleconference to discuss his report to study the catastrophic breakdown of Mongolian Groom in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) Nov. 2, Dr. Larry Bramlage reiterated challenges vets had in assessing the gelding.

Racing was dark at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots Jan. 15, but the track commanded the Wednesday morning spotlight with a couple of workouts from grade 1 winners Midnight Bisou and Basin.

Champion Monomoy Girl, unraced since winning the 2018 Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) after a couple of physical setbacks in 2019, arrived Jan. 15 at the barn of trainer Brad Cox at Fair Grounds in preparation for racing in 2020.

Vardy and Queen Supreme, both utilizing late rallies, captured the dual group 1 events Jan. 11 at Kenilworth in Cape Town, South Africa, earning Breeders' Cup Challenge spots in November at Keeneland.

The Breeders' Cup Challenge series stops in South Africa Jan. 11 and there is a flicker of hope that the offer of paid Breeders' Cup berths at Keeneland in November could be more meaningful than in the recent past.

The 2019 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1T) winner Arklow is being aimed this year for the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Presented by Runhappy (G1T) Jan. 25 at Gulfstream Park and the $6 million Longines Dubai Sheema Classic (G1) March 28 at Meydan.

Breeders' Cup has announced the appointment of two new executive team members: John Keitt as chief operating officer and Rogers Beasley as chief strategy officer.

As a race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, the Mucho Macho Man Stakes is the headliner of five stakes for 3-year-olds at Gulfstream Park Jan. 4, though it is the $100,000 Kitten's Joy Stakes (G3T) that carries the graded weight.

By the $5.3 million in purses his stable earned, Tom Amoss enjoyed the third best season of his 33-year career in 2019, but according to the New Orleans native, numbers do not tell the entire story. 

Before the ball drops in Times Square New Year's Eve and the final seconds of the year are collectively announced, here is another countdown as the decade winds down: the top 10 horses of the past 10 years—in the humble view of this turf writer.

Fourteen of the most memorable, significant and reflective events from the last 12 months of Thoroughbred racing are up for the 2019 NTRA Moment of the Year, a distinction determined by fan voting and recognized at The Eclipse Awards.

Back in town following a Christmas visit in New Mexico, Mike Smith addressed Omaha Beach and the state of racing with Santa Anita Park publicity in a question-and-answer session released just prior to Saturday's opening day.

Most everyone loves a slam dunk in basketball. In voting, not so much. Drama is king in such contests, the annual Eclipse Awards honoring excellence in Thoroughbred racing being no exception.

Rather than having Come Dancing's career end with a fizzle, in which she finished sixth in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) at Santa Anita, her connections aim to race her in 2020, hoping to end next year with a more satisfying result.

Kaleem Shah's Bellafina, second last time out in the Nov. 2 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1), appears to be in the right spot to get her first stakes score since April in the Dec. 28 La Brea Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita Park.

Storm the Court, winner of the $2 million TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) Nov. 1, is scheduled to breeze Dec. 22, his first workout since the Juvenile, in which he thrust himself firmly in the mix for an Eclipse Award as outstanding 2-year-old male.

A group of nine individuals have created the Randy Romero Pure Courage Award to honor a North American jockey, who, like Hall of Fame Jockey Randy Romero, battled back from injury and adversity to achieve success.

At a time of year when many top-class grass horses are laying low, Arklow is revving up. Winner of the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Stakes (G1T) at Belmont Park in October, he breezed a half-mile Dec. 17 over a fast track at Churchill Downs in :50.60.

Led by multiple group 1-winning 3-year-old Mirinaque,  and the talented 3-year-old filly Joy Canela, an accomplished field of 24 runners has been entered for Saturday's Gran Premio International Carlos Pellegrini (G1) at San Isidro Racecourse.