Horse racing notes: Emma-Jane Wilson chasing down legendary jockey Julie Krone for all-time record

The rider is about to be passed by Emma-Jane Wilson for all-time purse earnings by a female jockey.

Krone, who retired in 2004 with earnings in excess of $90 million, has Wilson right on her heels. The Canadian rider has earnings of just slightly less than $90 million.

Wilson started her career in 2004 and immediately drew the spotlight, becoming the leading rider as an apprentice the next year at Woodbine Racecourse near Toronto. She won an Eclipse Award in 2005 as the top apprentice jockey.

The 42-year-old is in her 20th season at Woodbine and is closing in on 1,900 victories.

Krone was the first female rider to win a Triple Crown race when she captured the Belmont Stakes aboard Colonial Affair in 1993. She also was the first female jockey to win a Breeders Cup race.

Krone also won the richest race at Omaha’s Ak-Sar-Ben, capturing the 1988 Cornhusker Handicap aboard Palace March.

Tale of the Cat, a prolific stud at Coolmore Farm in Kentucky, recently died at age 30.

The senior statesman on the farm, the horse was responsible for over 100 stakes winners worldwide. That includes three-time Eclipse Award winner Gio Ponti, who won more than $6 million and was voted the Champion Turf Horse in 2009 and 2010.

Gio Ponti also ran second to the late-closing Zenyatta in the 2009 Breeders Cup Classic.

Three racing days at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico recently had to be canceled due to nearby wildfires that led to the evacuation of half the horses stabled on the backside.

Horses that remained at the track were considered safe though there was heavy smoke in the area.

Ruidoso is the home of several stakes races for quarter horses, including the Rainbow Futurity.

Fans of horse racing and game shows might have noticed a recent appearance by Santa Anita track announcer Frank Mirahmadi on The Price Is Right.

He was among the first four contestants from the audience and made it up on stage with the winning bid on the show’s second item.

Mirahmadi won a trip to Hawaii playing the game “Flip Flop” but fell short in his quest to reach the showcase showdown after spinning the big wheel.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently announced that it would not review a decision by the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that found the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) is a constitutional exercise of Congressional power and authority.

The justices did not rule in favor of HISA but their decision not to hear an appeal in the case of Oklahoma v. United States is a signal they are comfortable with the lower court’s decision in favor of the new racing law.

The states of Oklahoma, West Virginia and Louisiana were involved and cost the parties millions in attorneys fees.

Santa Anita in suburban Los Angeles recently ended its six-month season and produced a 99.97% safety record, making it the safest racetrack in North America for those with a comparable volume of racing.

The track’s record is highlighted by a 90% improvement in racing facilities over the past five years when historic reforms were passed to modernize the sport and make it safer.

A stakes race at Remington Park in Oklahoma City has been renamed for former country singer Toby Keith.

The longtime horse owner died in February at age 62 of stomach cancer.

The Trapeze Stakes now will be known as the Toby Keith Stakes to honor the Oklahoma native. Horses that raced for Keith’s Dream Walkin Farms earned more than $18 million.

Keith’s top horse was Smack Smack, a multiple stakes winner who captured the 2016 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap in suburban Des Moines. The horse was trained by Ak-Sar-Ben regular Don Von Hemel.

Trainer Danny Gargan said Dornoch, which won the Belmont Stakes, has been doing well since the victory.

The son of Good Magic will be pointed toward the $500,000 Jim Dandy Stakes at New York’s Saratoga racetrack July 27. The colt then possibly would run in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 24.