ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Francine Villeneuve, a popular former jockey in Ontario, passed away June 5 after a long battle with cancer at age 61.
Born in Ottawa, Ontario, Villeneuve won 1,000 races in Canada and the United States and her mounts earned nearly $15.5 million (U.S.). Among her stakes-winning rides were Bison City winner Wilderness Song, the runner-up to Dance Smartly in the 1991 Queen’s Plate, Twist the Snow, Moon Mist, Copper Trail, and Wholelottabourbon.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Chad Brown already has a top filly in the 3-year-old division in Always a Runner, the undefeated winner of the Kentucky Oaks.
Brown has another top-level 3-year-old filly in Directive, who, once she figures things out, could be a factor in Grade 1 stakes as well.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Katie Davis, who hit her head on the side of the gate prior to the start of Thursday’s fourth race, which required her to be removed from the track on a stretcher and taken to Albany Medical Center, was back in the saddle Friday where she rode 54-1 shot Luz de Guia to a third-place finish in the first race.
“I think it might have knocked some sense in me a little bit,” Davis joked after the race. “I felt strong riding him.”
Davis said after she got released from the hospital Thursday evening, her mother put poultice on the back of her head.
Tommy Jo, a two-time Grade 1 winning 2-year-old filly of 2025, is getting closer to her 3-year-old debut, which, provided all goes well, will take place in the Grade 3, $225,000 Victory Ride Stakes here on July 10.
On Friday, Tommy Jo worked a half-mile in 47.90 seconds, the second-fastest of 52 works at the distance and her third breeze since returning to trainer Todd Pletcher’s barn earlier this year.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – While the connections of Tawny Port ponder a start in the Melbourne Cup in November, there are plenty of domestic races on the agenda for the 7-year-old who won Thursday’s Belmont Gold Cup by 2 1/2 lengths.
Trainer Miguel Clement said the Grade 1, $750,000 Christophe Clement, previously known as the Sword Dancer, on Aug. 15, is an obviously target. The race was renamed in honor of Miguel Clement’s father who passed away in May 2025.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The two-time Grade 1 winner Scottish Lassie returns to the races Sunday in a second-level allowance race going seven furlongs at Saratoga.
At 2, Scottish Lassie won the Grade 1 Frizette at Aqueduct by nine lengths as a second-time starter. At 3, Scottish Lassie won the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks by 15 1/2 lengths here, a race that changed greatly when La Cara, the Acorn winner, was scratched the morning of the race.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Jockeys Manny Franco and Flavien Prat had four-win days at Saratoga on Thursday, accounting for eight of the 11 races.
Franco, 31, won the fifth race on Medici Road ($23.58), the sixth race on Careless Whisper ($4.62), the seventh on Right to Vote ($7.34), and the ninth on Magnanimous Max ($7.90).
Thursday’s program was the third time this year he has won at least four races in a day. He won four races at Aqueduct on March 20 and six races there on Feb. 12.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Jockey Katie Davis was taken to a hospital on Thursday afternoon after an incident in the starting gate prior to the fourth race at Saratoga.
Davis’s mount, Bernieandtherose, became upset in the gate and was eventually scratched. Davis was taken from the track in a stretcher and transported to Albany Medical Center, according to New York Racing Association officials. The incident led to a 10-minute delay to the fourth race, which was won by Directive.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – In a career that will soon eclipse 6,000 wins, it could be hard to single out an individual highlight. For Todd Pletcher, not so much.
It is 19 years since the filly Rags to Riches overcame a stumble at the start and outfinished Preakness winner Curlin, a subsequent two-time Horse of the Year, with a 23.83-second final quarter-mile that propelled her to win the 2007 Belmont Stakes by a head. It was the first win in a Triple Crown race for Pletcher, who has since won three more Belmonts and two Kentucky Derbies.
Nathan Klein began his first week as the track announcer at Penn National on Tuesday, calling six races on the evening card. It was a historic moment for the 21-year-old, but he would rather see it as one among many.
“I am the youngest [track announcer] in North America, and for now, I get to appreciate that,” Klein said. “But it’s also a good reminder that you’re not going to be like this forever. This is just one point in my life, so I better enjoy it while I can.”
