Justin Mustari will remember the name Rose’s Crystal every day for the rest of his life. He’ll remember it every time he walks into his new house and looks at the Eclipse Award on the mantle. And he’ll remember the name of the filly who made him the youngest champion […]
Popular Champion Sprinter Whitmore Retired from Racing
Popular and petulant sprinter Whitmore was retired from racing on Saturday, ending a remarkable career culminating in his naming as 2020 Champion Sprinter of the Year. Whitmore finished fifth of eight in Saturday’s Grade 1 Forego Stakes at Saratoga. Sensing something was wrong with the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Sprint champion, […]
Essential Quality Leads Chalk Parade to Travers Day Winner’s Circle
On a chalky betting day where favorites beat a path to the Saratoga winner’s circle, the New York Racing Association announced an all-sources Travers Day handle of $51,381,515. That came from a paid crowd of 44,507, which generated an on-track handle of $9,406,526. This provided an obvious boost from last […]
The Travers: Can Anyone Catch History-Making Essential Quality?
Brad Cox and Essential Quality are simultaneously chasing Travers Stakes history and running from it at the same time. This counterintuitive feat illustrates Cox’s training prowess, Essential Quality’s running prowess, and the Travers’ recent prowess as a destroyer of favorites. Cox, who trains the prohibitive 4/5 favorite for Saturday’s headline […]
Letruska Brings Formidable Form Into a Deep Personal Ensign Field
Say this for the 2021 Personal Ensign; Letruska may be the clubhouse leader as Champion Older Filly of the Year, but her rivals for that title don’t scare easily. That explains why the Grade 1 Personal Ensign – one of Saratoga’s six Grade 1s on Saturday — features a deep, […]
Jackie’s Warrior, Life Is Good, Drain the Clock: This Jerkens is Wide Open
The H. Allen Jerkens Memorial draws its name from the legendary New York trainer who earned a well-deserved reputation for springing massive upsets. Among Jerkens’ victims were the distinguished likes of Kelso, Buckpasser, Cougar II, and Forego. Then, there was Secretariat. Two Jerkens also-rans defeated the 20th century’s greatest Thoroughbred: […]
Art Collector Leads the Redemption Brigade into Charles Town Classic
Art Collector is the 5/2 morning-line favorite for Friday’s Grade 2 Charles Town Classic at Hollywood Casino at Charles Races. And yes, it’s strange to read one of 2020’s top 3-year-olds is running in West Virginia and not in Saratoga this weekend. Art Collector’s path to the starting gate for […]
Gamine Dances into Saratoga for the Ballerina Stakes
You’ve got an in-form Gamine running a seven-furlong sprint on an Eastern track with a Breeders’ Cup berth on the line. Given what this combination has created in the past, it’s no wonder you’ll find the Champion Female Sprinter of 2020 in a race called the Ballerina. After all, almost […]
Handicapping’s Best of the Best Ride Into Las Vegas for 2021 NHC
The National Horseplayers Championship begins Friday at Bally’s in Las Vegas with a different vibe, new tracks, and fewer competitors. Changes aside, the biggest handicapping tournament in North America is moving forward 18 months after the 2020 NHC got in just under the COVID wire. Sponsored by the National Thoroughbred […]
Florida Derby Champ Known Agenda Retired to Stud at Spendthrift Farm
Known Agenda, the talented, but temperamental colt, was retired from racing Wednesday. He’ll begin stud duty at Spendthrift Farm in 2022. The farm announced this year’s Florida Derby winner will stand for an initial fee of $10,000. No reason was given for his sudden retirement, but Known Agenda hasn’t run […]
FanDuel to Become Title Sponsor of Kentucky Downs Meet
Kentucky Downs and FanDuel announced a three-year partnership this week that will put the betting platform’s name on the track’s boutique late-summer meet. The six-day meet, which runs Sept. 5-6, 8-9, and 11-12, now goes by the name FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs. FanDuel is the parent company of the […]
New Grade 1 Champ Lexitonian Seeking Validation in the Forego Stakes
After a career-best, out-of-the-clouds performance, what does Lexitonian do for an encore? How will the enigmatic sprinter follow up his Vanderbilt victory in Saturday’s Grade 1 Forego Stakes at Saratoga? And is it possible? Can the 5-year-old sprinter go one better than his best? The Forego is one of six […]
Saturday at Saratoga: One of Racing’s Biggest Days of 2021
The names of those racing on Saturday’s Travers Day at Saratoga sound like a Thoroughbred all-star team: Essential Quality, Gamine, Letruska, Tribhuvan, Jackie’s Warrior, Life Is Good, Whitmore, Swiss Skydiver. All of them – and others you may have heard of – are set to run in one of Saratoga’s […]
Grade 1 Winning Fillies Vequist, Search Results Benched for Rest of 2021
Vequist and Search Results, two of the top 3-year-old fillies in the country, will both sit out the rest of 2021, with both of their trainers telling the Daily Racing Form nothing is seriously off with either horse. The Champion 2-Year-Old Filly of 2020, Vequist was going to run in […]
Derby Champion Medina Spirit May Return Saturday for Shared Belief
Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit, who hasn’t run since finishing third in the May 15 Preakness Stakes, could be back this Saturday for the Grade 3 Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar. According to the Daily Racing Form, the Bob Baffert-trainee’s return is contingent on a Monday workout for the […]
Woodbine Rides Safe Conduct’s Queen’s Plate Win to Strong Handle
Spurred by Safe Conduct’s Queen’s Plate victory, Woodbine Racetrack registered the second-highest wagering handle for Queen’s Plate Day in event history. Bettors wagered $16,122,170 on Sunday’s 13-race card at the suburban Toronto, Ontario, Canada track. That ranked second only to 2018’s Queen’s Plate Day handle of $18,005,973. Meanwhile, it surpassed […]
Del Mar Breaks Previous Daily Handle Record With $36 Million Windfall
Fueled by an eight-figure Jackpot Pick 6 pool, Del Mar set a single-day handle record Saturday, drawing $36,005,613 in wagers. The windfall washed down on Del Mar’s 11-race Pacific Classic card. In doing so, it destroyed the previous record of $25,870,431 set on Pacific Classic day in 2018. Much of […]
The Attards Set a Family Table for This Year’s Queen’s Plate
There’s something of a Kevin Attard feel to this year’s Queen’s Plate, the opening jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown. A Kevin Attard feel that defines flooding the zone. The trainer sends out four horses – nearly a third of the 13-horse field – for Sunday’s Queen’s Plate on Woodbine’s […]
Runaway Filly Escapes Ellis Park for an Impromptu Highway Joyride
Bold and Bossy, an unraced 2-year-old filly, turned U.S. 41 North and Interstate 69 into an impromptu workout track after she broke out of Ellis Park and went for a joyride down the various highways and byways of northern Kentucky. The filly bolted from Ellis Park during the post parade, […]
Pacific Classic Comes In With a Tide of Legitimate Contenders
There isn’t a lot of star power in this year’s Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar. What there is, however, is one of Jon White’s more challenging morning-line puzzles. Del Mar’s morning-line author, White found himself staring at one of the most competitive fields he’s faced this summer. Yes, […]