He’s back and he’s back as the even-money – for now — favorite. And lest you think Tiz the Law can’t handle the 1 ¼-mile distance he faces for the first time in Saturday’s Grade 1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga, trainer Barclay Tagg is here to disabuse you of that […]
While tracks throughout North America were able to reschedule races in the coronavirus era, Parx Racing in Pennsylvania announced Wednesday it canceled the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby and Grade 1 Cotillion Stakes. Both $1 million races, along with the Turf Amazon Stakes, the Parx Dirt Mile, and the Grade 2 […]
Thousand Words is now out of the Kentucky Derby futures shadow. And Cezanne is now out of the Derby futures picture. Those are the oddsmakers’ takeaways from last weekend’s Derby Prep – the Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar. Thousand Words, who spent the spring disappointing and the summer disappearing […]
In their latest response to the coronavirus pandemic, Churchill Downs officials issued a mandate on Monday to jockeys at both the Saratoga and Del Mar colonies. They need to be in Kentucky no later than Aug. 24 if they want to ride in the Kentucky Derby or Kentucky Oaks. That’s […]
Javier Castellano owns more Travers Stakes victories – six – than any other jockey in the history of that prestigious race. But in the summer of 2015, Castellano and Keen Ice had a tough problem awaiting them in the Travers Stakes starting gate. His name was American Pharoah and he […]
Thanks to the coronavirus, this was not a typical Whitney Day crowd at Saratoga, because there was no Whitney Day crowd. Even so, that didn’t prevent the track from setting an all-sources handle record of $35,796,435. That bested the previous record of $31,835,863, set last year when Saratoga welcomed 40,791 […]
It’s generally accepted wisdom that Donald Trump captured the 2016 presidential election by drawing to the Electoral College version of an inside straight. Trump won Electoral College delegates in every key battleground state he needed from Florida to Wisconsin, despite losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton. Ladbrokes took that […]
Honor A.P. is safely in the Kentucky Derby. So safe, he’s one of the favorites. Thousand Words is not-so-safely on the Derby bubble. And Cezanne is nowhere near the Churchill Downs gate, nor the bubble. That’s the scenario all three would-be Derby contenders face entering Saturday’s Shared Belief Stakes at […]
It’s appropriate that in a race named after one of America’s most prominent families, the field consists of five millionaires. Yes, Saturday’s $1,200,000 Grade 1 1 1/8-mile Whitney Stakes at Saratoga, one of the most prestigious races for older horses in North America, features only five horses. But quality abounds. […]
The people who run Claiborne Farm expect this to be another case of like father, like son. The large Kentucky breeding farm purchased the breeding rights to War of Will, who will join his sire, War Front, upon his retirement. That gives Claiborne a true rarity that will appeal greatly […]
Put yourself in Motion Emotion’s hooves for the moment. You’ve held off the entire Fleur de Lis Stakes field coming around Churchill Downs’ far turn, and a quarter-mile remains between you and your first stakes victory. Then, all of a sudden, you get passed like you’re standing still. Courtesy of […]
There it sits, like a glaring black mark on No Parole’s otherwise pristine record. The “8†under “results†standing out among the five “1s.†The horse racing definition of a burp in No Parole’s otherwise stellar universe, which he’ll put to the test in Saturday’s H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes […]
Curious about 3-year-old colts? Saratoga has a stakes for that. How about fillies and mares? It has a race for them as well, including the best mare in the world. Older, accomplished horses? Well, they have not one, but two stakes races for them, too. Saturday at Saratoga is Mecca […]
In his previous life, Jeff Bloom was a jockey. But at no time during his riding career did Bloom enjoy a ride like the one he’s on with Midnight Bisou. Bloom owns the 5-year-old mare in a partnership with Madaket Stables and Allen Racing, and the ride has been so […]
One of trainer Patrick Biancone’s two Kentucky Derby hopefuls, Ete Indien, is safely in the Derby. The other, Sole Volante, is literally on the points bubble. But Biancone said both remain on the Derby trail, despite a “setback†that puts Ete Indien’s path to Churchill Downs in jeopardy. That setback, […]
By My Standards ran his last race – June’s Grade 2 Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs — exactly by his standards. He chalked a 102 Beyer Speed Figure, tying his career-best mark. He raced exactly out of trainer Bret Calhoun’s playbook, even down to the strong gallop-out afterward. This should […]
You won’t have to wait until the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby to see Uncle Chuck take on Tiz the Law. Not after trainer Bob Baffert confirmed he will send Uncle Chuck to New York for the Aug. 8 Grade 1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga. With Belmont Stakes champion Tiz the […]
He once set odds on where a tracking-device-enabled shark would be in a given body of water. So while David Strauss was playing with numbers in the water, the chief oddsmaker for MyBookie indulged his passion for creating real-life odds markets on a global scale. Make that a global warming […]
All the pieces were in place to beat Maximum Security. He had a new jockey, a new trainer, a new track he hadn’t seen before — one that some of the best horses of their generations couldn’t figure out. And yet, while Saturday’s San Diego Handicap was the best opportunity […]
Go long and far, or go short and stay home. When it came to deciding where prize colt McKinzie would run next, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert opted for the six-furlong Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar over the 1 1/8-mile Whitney Stakes at Saratoga. Instead, Baffert sends Improbable […]
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