Racing

Multiple stakes-winning jockey Guillermo Rodriguez rode his 1,000th North American winner Aug. 1 when Mother Volga won the seventh race at Belterra Park.

On the Aug. 3 episode of BloodHorse Monday: D. J. Stable's Jonathan Green on running Nitrogen against the boys in the Whitney Stakes (G1), Todd Pletcher speaks about Renegade's Jim Dandy (G2) win, and we react to the Thoroughbred Championship Series.

In outlining a lucrative six-race series for 3-year-olds that will include the Kentucky Derby (G1), Belmont Stakes (G1), and a new championship race, executives from CDI and NYRA express hope that the new series will draw more attention to racing.

Nysos, winner of this year's Metropolitan Handicap (G1), has been retired from racing and will stand at Coolmore's Ashford Stud.

Tickets for Santa Anita Park's 2026 Autumn Meet will go on sale starting at 11 a.m. PT, Aug. 7. The 19-day Autumn Meet at Santa Anita opens Sept. 25.

Churchill Downs Inc. and NYRA today announced the creation of the "Thoroughbred Championship Series." The new six-race competition will begin in 2027 and establish a season-long championship for America's leading 3-year-old Thoroughbreds.

Following a dominant debut win at Churchill Downs, Stress Relief again proved much the best when facing winners in the $225,000 Adirondack Stakes (G3) Aug. 2 at Saratoga Race Course, giving trainer Kinnon LaRose his first graded winner.

When the mile fraction in a mile-and-a-half race on firm turf is posted as 1:44.55, it does not bode well for the closers in the field. But frigid fractions in the $250,000 Glens Falls Stakes (G2T) could not stop 2-1 favorite Survie.

Flanagan Racing's Sea Strike dominated the Aug. 2 Curlin Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, drawing off by 8 1/4 lengths to secure his first career stakes victory in brilliant fashion. Favorite Chief Wallabee was second.

With the goal still to defend her title in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T), Shisospicy recorded her first breeze Aug. 2 after being sidelined with an illness in May.