Even with celebrity chef Bobby Flay as an owner, Pizza Bianca doesn’t have the highest profile for a Breeders’ Cup winner. But, the winner of last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf remains formidable in Sunday’s Memories of Silver on Aqueduct’s closing day. Pizza Bianca’s low profile has nothing to […]
Canadian Champion Mighty Heart Back for More at Keeneland
Saturday’s Grade 3 Ben Ali at Keeneland will feature a champion horse who didn’t show up at February’s Eclipse Awards. Instead, Mighty Heart showed up once again at last week’s Sovereign Awards in Canada. Did he ever. The popular one-eyed horse carted off his second consecutive Sovereign for Horse of […]
Gritty Stakes-Placer Midnight Bourbon Dies Suddenly in His Stall
Midnight Bourbon, a presence in some of the biggest races of the last 17 months, died suddenly in his Churchill Downs stall due to what Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen called “an acute gastrointestinal situation.” The Tiznow colt was 4. The Daily Racing Form reported that Midnight Bourbon breezed […]
NBC Expands Triple Crown Coverage, Brings Peacock in to Live Stream
NBC expanded its Triple Crown portfolio to the streaming world, announcing that its Peacock service will live stream all three Triple Crown races. This marks a first for the streaming service, which will supplement – not replace – NBC’s Triple Crown coverage. It also brings horse racing back to Peacock, […]
After Final Kentucky Derby Prep, the Points Are Set, but Not the Field
The gate to the 2021-22 Kentucky Derby trail came down Saturday, with Tawny Port winning the final Derby prep on the trail: the Grade 3 Lexington Stakes. That brought the Brad Cox-trained colt safely in the field with 60 points, courtesy of the 20 he earned with his one-length victory […]
Due to Untimely Fever, Slow Down Andy Stops Short of Kentucky Derby
Slow Down Andy, trainer Doug O’Neill’s top Kentucky Derby prospect, spiked a fever in his Keeneland stall and will miss the Derby, O’Neill confirmed to OG News. “Andy got a cold, he’ll be fine, just won’t be ready for the Derby,†O’Neill said via text to OG News. A two-time […]
Single Bettor Solves Santa Anita Rainbow Pick Six for $436,787 Payday
A horse named Slam Dunk Sermon slammed home a single winning ticket in Santa Anita Park’s Rainbow Pick Six Jackpot pool Friday afternoon. That 20-cent solo ticket brought its owner a $436,787.25 payday. The ticket was purchased for $1,972.60 as part of a batch betting wager at the Hunt Valley […]
It’s Time: Kentucky Derby Trail Ends Here at the Lexington Stakes
Considering what’s on the line in Saturday’s Grade 3 Lexington Stakes at Keeneland, those of you who like betting horses based on their names have the perfect choice sitting there. In Due Time. This would be a fine time for In Due Time, the 3/1 second choice in the 11-colt Lexington, to win […]
Salty Kentucky Derby Prep, Ascot Winner Head Cross Country Pick 5
The last stop on the 2022 Kentucky Derby trail and a Royal Ascot winner making her season debut headline this week’s New York Racing Association Cross Country Pick 5 wager. This week’s Cross Country Pick 5 features races from Keeneland and Aqueduct. Two of the five races are stakes events. That […]
Smooth Like Strait Makes His Way East for Maker’s Mark Mile
Smooth Like Strait ventured outside his California barn once last year: for the Grade 1 Turf Classic on the Kentucky Derby undercard. He ventures forth again for Friday’s Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile at Keeneland, the featured race on that track’s Good Friday card. And according to his trainer, Mike […]
Friday Marks Bettors’ Last Shot at the Stronach 5 Cross Country Wager
Horseplayers get one more crack at the Stronach 5 Friday before The Stronach Group takes away the cross-country Pick 5 wager. Company officials announced Wednesday the Pick 5 wager featuring TSG tracks from California to Maryland will go on hiatus. Mike Rogers, acting president of the Maryland Jockey Club, said […]
Champion Sprinter Jackie’s Warrior Opens His Season at Count Fleet
The last time Jackie’s Warrior stepped into a starting gate, he did so as the 1/2 favorite in last November’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar. It was supposed to be the exclamation point on a seven-figure coronation as the country’s top male sprinter. Instead, Jackie’s Warrior lost the plot. He […]
Golden Pal Blazes His Way Past Rivals, Will Return to Royal Ascot
Golden Pal first broke into the public conscience nearly two years ago when he finished second in the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes at a near-empty Royal Ascot. You could be forgiven for not noticing, considering not even Queen Elizabeth II made a Royal Ascot appearance. You’ll probably notice when Golden […]
Colt Mo Donegal, Filly Nest Give Pletcher 1-2 Derby/Oaks Punch
As training days go, Todd Pletcher would take a lot more weekends like this. Days where he puts out a potential Kentucky Derby winner and a potential Kentucky Oaks winner. The Hall of Fame trainer’s Derby contender? Mo Donegal, who provided Pletcher with his record-tying seventh Wood Memorial title and […]
Waley-Cohen Rides Into Sunset With 50/1 Grand National Victory
Sam Waley-Cohen treated himself to the best 40th birthday present/retirement party an amateur jockey can ever dream about — a Grand National title. Waley-Cohen won Saturday’s Grand National at Aintree aboard 50/1 Noble Yeats, beating 15/2 favorite Any Second Now by 2 1/4 lengths. As farewells go, this one’s hard […]
Kentucky Derby Prep Roundups Bring You Defections, Surprises
The final weekend of major Kentucky Derby prep races resulted in two prominent casualties, validated two Eastern horses, and put a heretofore barely known West Coast horse from a familiar trainer into the Derby mix. Going into last weekend, Classic Causeway and Forbidden Kingdom were two of the top Kentucky […]
Epicenter Finishes as Final Favorite in Last KDFW Pool
With four weeks remaining until the May 7 Kentucky Derby, horseplayers stuck by Louisiana Derby winner Epicenter, making him the 9/2 favorite in the fifth and final Kentucky Derby Future Wager (KDFW) pool. That pool closed Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET, prior to the running of the final 170-point Kentucky […]
Santa Anita Derby Brings You Two of the Best Kentucky Derby Prospects
When Santa Anita Park morning line author Jon White sat down to make the morning line for the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby, he faced one of those conundrums every morning line writer faces from time to time. With two pretty equal horses, who does he give favorite status to? […]
Smile Happy, Zandon Set Themselves Apart in Blue Grass Stakes
Keeneland’s stop on the Kentucky Derby trail, the Blue Grass Stakes, headlines opening weekend at the Lexington, KY. track. But this edition of Saturday’s 1 1/8-mile Derby prep does so with a renewed prestige boost. Grade 1 status. The Blue Grass regained that status this year, putting it with the Santa Anita Derby, […]
Unbeatens Morello, Early Voting Set to Settle Matters in Wood Memorial
The Grade 2 Wood Memorial boasts a winner’s roll that any race in America would proudly sell its soul to own. There’s Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Foolish Pleasure, Genuine Risk, Count Fleet, Omaha and Gallant Fox, to name a few. Yes, with 20 Kentucky Derby winners, Aqueduct’s marquee stop on the Kentucky […]