It clearly illustrates the betting public’s thirst for trendy Kentucky Derby picks that Prevalence seized center stage last week for winning a one-mile allowance optional claiming event at Gulfstream Park. Prevalence’s three-length win over the one-turn mile earned him an 86 Beyer Speed Figure. By contrast, Concert Tour’s 4 1/4-length […]
Horse Racing
Long Shot Carlos L Produces $108,475 Cross Country Pick 5 Win
By winning Oaklawn Park’s Temperence Hill Stakes on Saturday, 47/1 longshot Carlos L produced one single winner in Saturday’s Cross Country Pick 5. That winning ticket earned its lucky and savvy holder a healthy $108,475 payoff from the regular Saturday multi-track, multi-race wager. Saturday’s Cross Country Pick 5 incorporated three […]
A Beautiful Finish Was in Swiss Skydiver’s Eye in the Beholder
Bring the jury in on Swiss Skydiver. Throw out whatever doubts you may have held on the Champion 3-Year-Old Filly impressing as a 4-year-old. Swiss Skydiver didn’t exactly pick up in 2021 where she left off in 2020 after stumbling out of the gate at the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Her […]
Prat Ties Legendary Pincay’s Record With Six Consecutive Wins
Flavien Prat is fast making a disappearing act of the Santa Anita Park Winter/Spring Meet jockey title, which became clear when he tied a Santa Anita Park record Friday. Prat won six consecutive races Friday, finishing the feat aboard Disappearing Act in Santa Anita’s seventh race. Prat took Disappearing Act […]
Expect Rebel Stakes to Flow Caddo River’s Way
The Grade 2 Rebel Stakes, which holds court as the lone Kentucky Derby prep of consequence this weekend, has a Grade 1 winner in its field. Bob Baffert doesn’t train 8/1 Get Her Number, the lone Grade 1 winner in Saturday’s Rebel at Oaklawn Park. Nor does Brad Cox. No, […]
Preakness Meet Weekend at Pimlico Packs in 16 Stakes
The Preakness Stakes serves as the middle jewel of the Triple Crown, doubling as the crown jewel of a stacked Preakness Meet stakes weekend at Pimlico Race Course. The Baltimore race track plays host to 16 stakes – 10 of those graded – over the two-day Preakness weekend on May […]
Mishriff Takes Top Spot in Initial 2021 Longines Rankings
Led by Charlatan, American Thoroughbreds took three of the top eight spots, but it was Ireland’s Mishriff who seized the top spot in the 2021 first edition of Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings. The John Gosden-trained 4-year-old earned a 122 rating from the racing officials and handicappers compiling the rankings […]
Laurel Park Cancels Races, Continues Testing After EHV Outbreak
An equine herpesvirus (EHV) outbreak at Laurel Park in Maryland canceled Friday’s racing card and prompted travel restrictions on horses stabled at Laurel and its sister track, Pimlico Race Course. The Paulick Report identified the four barns in question as Laurel’s Barns 1, 4, 10, and 11. Those barns went […]
Concert Tour’s Next Gig on Stardom Path: Rebel Stakes
If Concert Tour was your garden-variety band embarking on a, well, concert tour, he’d be one of those hot new groups from the underground. A group people have heard of, but don’t really know about. He may not have broken through to the main stage yet, but Concert Tour is […]
Record Churchill Downs Spring Meet Purses Come Up Roses
Churchill Downs released its Spring Meet stakes schedule on Monday, led of course, by the May 1 Kentucky Derby. But, along with America’s most famous horse race, come 39 other stakes races worth a track-record $13.44 million. Churchill Downs opens its nine-week spring season on April 24. The 38-day meet […]
Kentucky Derby Futures: When is it Too Late to Jump In?
Here is your Kentucky Derby futures reminder that the typical Derby favorite opens around 5/2 or 3/1 when Mike Battaglia issues the Churchill Downs morning line come Derby Week. We issue this reminder because right now – nearly eight weeks before the May 1 Derby – Life Is Good sits […]
Life Is Good Shows He’s Eight Lengths Good in San Felipe Romp
The hardest part of analyzing Life Is Good’s dismantling of Saturday’s San Felipe Stakes field at Santa Anita Park is determining what was the most impressive element of his victory. Was it the eight-length victory? The legitimate fractions of 23.63 seconds for the first quarter-mile and 46.83 for the first […]
Maxfield Puts Maximum Attention on Santa Anita Handicap
The Santa Anita Handicap was the race that put Seabiscuit into the Depression-era public conscience. It was the first race offering a $100,000 purse, earning it the nickname “The Hundred Grander,†back when that was real money. Now, Maxfield is putting the Santa Anita Handicap back on the racing map. […]
San Felipe Stakes: Where Life Is Good to Bob Baffert
The Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes marks the point of the year where Bob Baffert’s endless 3-year-old depth finally makes him compete with himself. Yes, he’s sent out Life Is Good and Medina Spirit in the Sham. Yes, we saw Concert Tour nip Freedom Fighter in the San Vicente. But […]
Tampa Bay Derby Seeks a Sweet Path Out of Derby Prep Shadows
The Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby is one of those Kentucky Derby preps that often gets lost in the shuffle. Part of that is the giant shadow Tampa Bay Downs fights from its southern Florida neighbor, Gulfstream Park. Part of that is the fact only two horses emerged from the […]
Two Turns are a Turn Too Far for Former Derby Darling Jackie’s Warrior
At the beginning of November, Jackie’s Warrior was the favorite to win the 2021 Kentucky Derby. Now, at the beginning of March, the one-time Derby favorite is off the Derby trail. The Maclean’s Music colt will be at Churchill Downs on May 1 – Derby Day — but he’ll run […]
Del Mar Continues Purse-Boosting Binge, Announces Stakes Slate
With the Breeders’ Cup providing the year’s finishing touch for the first time since 2017, Del Mar announced a 2021 summer stakes schedule featuring a 30% purse increase over 2020. Some of the purse boost comes from two stakes returning from a 2020 hiatus – the Grade 3 Cougar II […]
Tiger Roll Won’t Chase Grand National History After Withdrawal
Tiger Roll’s date with history was canceled this week, when owners for the two-time Grand National champion pulled the 11-year-old out of this year’s April 10 event at Aintree. Gigginstown House Stud, which owns Tiger Roll, announced the horse won’t get his chance for a three-peat in the world’s most […]
Highly Motivated Finds His Motivation Returning for Gotham
While the rest of the front-page Kentucky Derby futures favorites spent the winter winning races from California to Florida – and all points in between — Highly Motivated spent his winter hanging out in New York. This was Highly Motivated’s winter: working out here and there, watching stablemate Risk Taking […]
No Surprise: Essential Quality Opens as 7/2 Favorite in KDFW Pool 4
Essential Quality turned his Southwest Stakes victory on Saturday into 7/2 favored status for the Kentucky Derby Future Wager (KDFW) Pool 4. The KDFW’s Pool 4 runs concurrently with the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager’s sole pool. Clariere opens as the 5/1 favorite for that pool. The KDFW opens Friday at […]