Ridenjac Racing’s 2-year-old filly Insightful wired a 5 1/2-furlong race at Tampa Bay Downs Dec. 30 to award freshman sire Barbados with his first winner.

Jockey agent Fred Aime, who worked with a number of top riders including a 10-year stint with Racing Hall of Famer Pat Day, died Dec. 30.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin on Dec. 30 announced the closure of non-essential retail, including betting shops, for a month from Jan. 1 as part of tougher Level 5 restrictions in Ireland.

The meet that runs through May 1 will offer 15 Thoroughbred stakes. The average daily purse is expected to be $110,000, up from $80,000.

The son of Goldencents won four consecutive graded stakes in 2019 and just missing winning the Pennsylvania Derby (G1) by a neck. He retires with $1,360,430 in earnings.

Dave Kassen, a lifelong horseman who was first a jockey and later became a successful trainer, died Dec. 27 at his home in Lake Placid, N.Y. He was 81.

Racing’s brief spell of welcoming limited numbers of spectators back on course came to an end Dec. 30 after health secretary Matt Hancock announced 23 additions to the areas of England placed under the most severe Tier 3 and 4 restrictions.

Tiz the Law, the flashy New York-bred who thrilled the world earlier this season with his dominant score in the Belmont Stakes (G1), has been retired to stand at Ashford Stud for the 2021 season, according to a Dec. 30 release.

There were will be a nice birthday present awaiting one of five newly turned 3-year-olds Jan. 1 in the Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Long Lake Stable’s Stan the Man will commence his 7-year-old campaign as part of an experienced five-horse field Jan. 2 in the $100,000 Gravesend Stakes, a 6 1/2-furlong test for 4-year-olds and up at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Hot Rod Charlie and Get Her Number, grade 1-caliber colts who sat out the final stages of their 2-year-old seasons, have resumed training toward their returns as 3-year-olds, according to their trainers.

The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) honored a tireless advocate for equine veterinary practice and the welfare of horses when presenting the 2020 Distinguished Service Award to its director of industry relations, Keith Kleine.

Penn National Race Course, its business impacted by the COVID-19-related closure of its casino, has agreed to continue racing through January if sufficient pari-mutuel handle is achieved, according to a Pennsylvania horsemen representative.

The start of the new year also marks a new medication era in some racing jurisdictions, in which many stakes races, not just those for 2-year-olds, will be contested without Lasix, a diuretic used in U.S. racing to prevent respiratory bleeding.

The Minnesota Thoroughbred Association will conduct its 2021 Stallion Season Auction Jan. 3-11, featuring more than 50 stallions from Kentucky, Florida, Oklahoma, and Minnesota.

Northern California based writer Jeanie Esajian recently completed the following feature on Nichols and submitted it to BloodHorse.

Owners will no longer be permitted to attend English racecourses in Tier 4 from Jan. 1 after the British Horseracing Authority adjusted its coronavirus protocols on Dec. 29.

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission has suspended owner/trainer Carol Cobb for 180 days for a positive drug test from one of her horses dating back to January 2011.

Omega Perfume closed stoutly through the final 100 meters Dec. 29 at Oi Racecourse to land the Tokyo Daishoten for the third straight year.