Without even trying, trainer Kenny McPeek inherited Classic Causeway, getting the Kentucky Derby runner and two-time stakes winner from Brian Lynch’s barn. The Daily Racing Form reported that Kentucky West Racing and the Clarke M. Cooper Family Living Trust, which bred and owns Classic Causeway, moved him to McPeek’s barn. […]
Colt Sells for Record $3.55 Million at Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale
A colt from the late sire Bernardini shattered several records on Tuesday when he brought $3.55 million at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale at Timonium, Maryland. The colt, a product of Bernardini out of the Medaglia d’Oro mare G Note, went to Gary Young, the respected West […]
Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series Brings New Twist to US Races
The Breeders’ Cup announced its 2022 list of Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series races, known as the “Win and You’re In” events. The premise is simple: win one of these 82 races in 11 countries and you have a starting spot in one of the 14 Breeders’ Cup races. That brings […]
Tahoma Follows Triple Crown-Winning Sire Justify Into Winner’s Circle
At first glance, Sunday’s second race at Santa Anita Park looked to be a nondescript maiden special weight — even down to the 4/5 favorite, Tahoma. But even putting aside his two-length victory in the 4 1/2-furlong race, Tahoma is far from nondescript. The 2-year-old is the first foal from […]
Derby Winner Rich Strike Returns to the Track — For a Workout
As he watched his biggest meal ticket work out Saturday, Rich Strike trainer Eric Reed cast a figurative eye East toward Pimlico Race Course. Then, he answered the question of many fans wondering why he wasn’t there, running the second jewel of the Triple Crown — the Preakness Stakes. “Skipping […]
Preakness Winner Early Voting, No. 2 Epicenter Early Belmont Defections
You won’t see the top two horses from Saturday’s Preakness Stakes in Queens, New York, next month, as trainer Chad Brown said Preakness winner Early Voting won’t run the June 11 Belmont Stakes. Nor will Kentucky Derby and Preakness runner-up Epicenter. But Creative Minister, the third-place Preakness finisher, is likely […]
Epicenter’s Second Triple Crown Runner-Up Frustrates Asmussen
After Epicenter finished second in the Kentucky Derby, trainer Steve Asmussen was stunned. After Epicenter finished second in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes, Asmussen was more than surprised. He was upset. Upset that his 6/5 favorite – who came into the 147th Preakness Stakes as the best all-around horse in the field […]
Early Voting Finds Target, Punches a Winning Ballot in Preakness Stakes
Chad Brown wanted Early Voting to have “a target†in the 147th Preakness Stakes. He wanted the lightly raced, but fast colt to go out fast – but he wanted someone else to go out faster. And Armagnac obliged. The California colt wasted no time taking the lead, providing Early […]
Breaking Down the 2022 Preakness Stakes: More Filly Follies?
The 2022 Preakness Stakes comes to you with a paradox, a wagering quandary that pits one 21st century trend against one 2020s trend. The trend this century is the friend to chalk. Since 2000, 10 favorites found the Pimlico Race Course winner’s circle. Oxbow at 15.40/1 in 2013 is the […]
Louisville Stakes Anchors this Week’s Cross Country Pick 5
If you need to take a break from handicapping the Preakness Stakes, this week’s New York Racing Association’s Cross Country Pick 5 offers an all-turf series from Belmont Park and Churchill Downs. The lone stakes race in the weekly wager is the Grade 3 Louisville Stakes from Churchill Downs. The 11th […]
Creative Minister Provides an Expensive Preakness Wild Card
There wasn’t a lot of creativity involved in putting Creative Minister in the 147th Preakness Stakes. Not unless you consider cutting a check for $150,000 to supplement his entry to be a creative act. It cost 150 large to put Creative Minister into the Pimlico Race Course starting gate because […]
Ethereal Road Remains Off the Triple Crown Path — For Now
The last time we heard the name Ethereal Road mentioned was on May 6, the day before the 148th Kentucky Derby. We heard it mentioned in passing when trainer D. Wayne Lukas scratched the colt five minutes before the entry deadline. This became the Scratch Heard ‘Round the World 30 […]
Epicenter Ready to Turn the Page at Preakness
If going 4-2-0 in his first seven races is merely a warm-up for Epicenter, as trainer Steve Asmussen alluded to on Tuesday, we are apparently in for some kind of blockbuster main event at Saturday’s 147th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course. “I think it’s a very unique opportunity and […]
Pesky Bone Bruise Knocks Un Ojo Out of Preakness Stakes
The same foot bruise that kept Un Ojo out of the Kentucky Derby will keep him out of the 147th Preakness Stakes, his connections told turf publicist Jennie Rees. Ricky Courville, the one-eyed gelding’s trainer, told Rees by phone that something wasn’t right after Un Ojo’s Saturday workout. Un Ojo […]
Epicenter Named Decisive Favorite for 2022 Preakness Stakes
Kentucky Derby favorite Epicenter will reprise his role as a Triple Crown race favorite for the second time in as many races, coming into the 148th Preakness Stakes as the 6/5 morning-line favorite. Pimlico Race Course’s morning-line author, David Feustle, tabbed the Derby runner-up as the definitive favorite during Monday […]
Like His Sire, Happy Jack Searching for Preakness Glory
After explaining all the concrete reasons he’s running Happy Jack in the 147th Preakness Stakes, Doug O’Neill threw this little aside out as the cherry on top. “Oh, by the way, his sire, Oxbow, won this race and that is kind of a cool thing,†O’Neill told Santa Anita Park’s […]
Kentucky Derby Taught Tim Yakteen Plenty About Messier, Taiba
With both Messier and Taiba back at his Santa Anita Park barn, trainer Tim Yakteen took a look back at last Saturday’s Kentucky Derby shocker by 80/1 Rich Strike and came up with one inescapable conclusion many people overlooked. “Horses that show a fondness for Churchill Downs have a tendency […]
Can Champion Yibir Regain His Stellar American Form in Man o’ War?
Last fall, Yibir used Belmont Park as his American test stage for what became a marvelous score in the Breeders’ Cup Turf. And the British colt returns to the scene of his first American victory as the favorite for Saturday’s Grade 1 Man o’ War Stakes. The 1 3/8-mile Man […]
Belmont Park Holds a Monopoly on Cross Country Pick 5
The New York Racing Association keeps its Cross Country Pick 5 in-house this week, including races exclusively on Belmont Park’s Man o’ War Day card. All five races are graded stakes events, the five on Belmont Park’s Saturday card. That card features 11 races total and is the center of […]
No Triple Crown This Year; Rich Strike Out of Preakness
Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike had the plug pulled on a possible Triple Crown run when his connections decided Thursday to bow out of the 147th Preakness Stakes. Instead, they will follow their original playbook and wait for the Belmont Stakes. Rich Strike’s trainer, Eric Reed, said all along the […]