Horse Racing

Caddo River used his 10 1/4-length victory in the Smarty Jones to run up the Kentucky Derby futures boards. (Image: Oaklawn Park)

Kentucky Derby Futures: Big Winners Make Big Odds Leaps

The first page of this week’s Kentucky Derby futures board got tighter – partly a byproduct of two horses getting loose from their rivals last weekend. The first was Caddo River, who moved to 16/1 at Circa Sports and 15/1 at William Hill Nevada. Dropping beneath 20/1 at this point […]

Colonel Liam's victory in the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf certainly earned a thumbs-up from jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. Could he be the older American turf star that division needs? (Image: Lauren King/Coglianese Photos)

Colonel Liam Ripe for Promotion After Clutch Pegasus Turf Victory

If American Thoroughbred racing has a quality gap, it’s in the area that Colonel Liam addressed on Saturday – the older male turf division. That division needs a standout, a go-to, must-watch horse who can grab eyes every time he enters a gate. And with his neck victory over stablemate […]

Knicks Go (right) illustrated why he is one of 2021's star racing attractions, blazing past his rivals to win the $3 million Pegasus World Cup. (Image: Associated Press)

Knicks Go Dunks on His Rivals Again, Wins Pegasus Gate-to-Wire

Enjoy Knicks Go while you can. Savor every start of his 5-year-old campaign, while you understand you’re watching horseracing’s star attraction of 2021. Knicks Go brought this lesson home in gate-to-wire fashion, winning the $3 million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park on Saturday afternoon. It’s certainly understandable if Knicks […]

If Knicks Go gets an unchallenged lead like he did in blitzing the field ini the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, the Pegasus World Cup will be over in short order. The 5-year-old is the 5/2 favorite in the $3 million race. (Image: Coady Photography/Keeneland)

Without Baffert, Knicks Go’s Fast Break Makes Him Pegasus Favorite

If horses run in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational and Bob Baffert doesn’t train any of them, does it really happen? We’re about to find out what the richest dirt race for older horses in North America – non-Breeders’ Cup division – looks like without the preeminent dirt trainer of […]

Colonel Liam put on stars with this resounding Tropical Park Derby victory last month. He is the 7/2 morning-line favorite in the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf. (Image: Lauren King/Coglianese Photos)

Colonel Liam Leads Pletcher Charge in $1 Million Pegasus Turf

As strange as it is to understand, turf maestro Chad Brown doesn’t have a horse in the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf. Meanwhile, his East Coast training rival, Todd Pletcher, is bringing three charges to what is typically the best winter turf route race of the year. Before we […]

Historical Horse Racing (HHR) machines resemble slot machines, which are banned in Kentucky. They provided $2.2 billion to Kentucky's economy in 2019 and are a major economic engine for the state's key Thoroughbred industry. (Image: Canadian Thoroughbred Magazine)

Kentucky Supreme Court Rejects HHR Appeal, Lawmakers Up Next?

In the latest salvo fired in the ongoing debate about historical horse racing (HHR) machines in Kentucky, the state’s Supreme Court denied an appeal from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission requesting a second opinion on the legality of those machines. The Kentucky Supreme Court refused to reconsider its Sept. 24 […]

In three races, Caddo River hasn't finished worse than second. He won his last race before Friday's Smarty Jones Stakes by more than a nose -- 9 1/2 lengths. (Image: Robert Yates)

Caddo River, Cowan Seeking Breakout Stakes Win in Smarty Jones

One of the seven horses entered in Friday’s Smarty Jones Stakes will get his first stakes victory. It won’t be a graded stakes victory, but not one connection will throw this one back. Nor will they throw back the 17 Kentucky Derby qualifying points up for grabs to the top […]

Despite a bout with COVID, the death of his last major owner/client and a declining stable, D. Wayne Lukas remains a presence wherever he goes. He returns to Oaklawn Park for its Winter/Spring Meet, which starts Friday. (Image: Bob Bradley)

Iconic Trainer Lukas Back in the Oaklawn Park Saddle

He remains the Lion in Winter, albeit a lion overseeing a smaller pride these days. But D. Wayne Lukas is back at Oaklawn Park. He’s back to the winter jungle he ruled for most of the 1990s, and back without many of the high-profile clients who helped put him in […]

Knicks Go and Joel Rosario won the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile last November. The 5-year-old Brad Cox charge is the 5/2 favorite for Saturday's Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park. (Image: Skip Dickstein)

Knicks Go Draws Prime Pegasus Post, Tabbed as 5/2 Favorite

With three straight victories in as many 2020 starts, Knicks Go is exactly the type of horse who wins the Pegasus World Cup Invitational. Now, add a prime starting spot from Post 4 to the mix, and it’s easy to understand how Knicks Go became the 5/2 favorite when Pegasus […]

Aqueduct Racetrack served Queens as more than a sporting institution. It's first floor is now a New York COVID-19 vaccination center. (Image: NYRA)

Aqueduct Racetrack Doubles as State COVID-19 Vaccination Center

Aqueduct Racetrack once played host to a Pope and the only triple dead heat in a stakes race. Now, the New York track plays host to a state-run COVID-19 vaccination distribution center. The New York Racing Association (NYRA) opened Aqueduct’s first floor to state health officials, who began distributing the […]

Lecomte Stakes winner Midnight Bourbon opens at 30/1 in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 2. (Image: Lou Hodges Jr./Hodges Photography)

The Field is Your Favorite in Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 2

While Life Is Good yielded his favorite status in at least one Las Vegas future book, he holds down 6/1 individual favorite status in Pool 2 of Churchill Downs’ Kentucky Derby Future Wager (KDFW) pool. At the same time, the Derby field of “All Other 3-Year-Olds” is the overall 9/5 […]

Concert Tour broke his maiden in impressive fashion last weekend at Santa Anita Park. That broke in the Bob Baffert-trained colt on both Circa Sports and William Hill Nevada's Derby futures boards. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Magic Words ‘Bob Baffert’ Bring Concert Tour, Bezos to Derby Futures

Concert Tour won his debut by 3-½ lengths at Santa Anita last Friday. Other than workouts, Bezos hasn’t entered a starting gate yet. So why are both horses now among the Kentucky Derby futures favorites? Two words: Bob Baffert. Yes, the magic words for 3-year-old Derby hopefuls cast its usual […]

Last time out, Shivaree set the Tampa Bay Downs stakes record en route to winning the Marion County Florida Sire Stakes. The runner-up in last year's Florida Derby returns to action Saturday in the Fred Hooper Stakes at Gulfstream Park. (Image: SV Photography)

The Pegasus Isn’t the Only Stakes Race This Weekend

Saturday brings us the first two Grade 1 stakes races of 2021: the Pegasus World Cup Invitational and the Pegasus World Cup Turf, coming to you from Gulfstream Park. The Florida track captures this weekend’s stakes spotlight with those two high-profile races, along with five other graded stakes on its […]

Santa Anita morning line author Jon White made Justify (right) the 4/5 favorite in the 2018 Santa Anita Derby. The eventual Triple Crown winner beat Bolt d'Oro as the race favorite. White's morning line favorites become actual race favorites more than 70% of the time. (Image: Keith Birmingham/Pasadena Star News)

Writing Santa Anita’s Morning Line Requires More than Chalk for White

By this point in his lengthy career in horse racing, which covers everything from steward to TV personality, Jon White’s skin is as tough as leather. He understands that most of you don’t understand what goes into making a racing morning line. But the saying, “Everyone’s a critic” means, well, […]

Winning the Breeders' Cup Classic two months after capturing the Kentucky Derby likely made Authentic the Horse of the Year. The 50th Eclipse Awards will be announced Jan. 28. (Image: Horsephotos.com)

Authentic, Improbable, Monomoy Girl Head Eclipse Awards Finalists

Horse of the Year candidates Authentic, Improbable, and Monomoy Girl headline the finalists for the 2020 Eclipse Awards, announced Saturday by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB), and the Daily Racing Form. The Eclipse Awards get their name from the iconic 18th-century racehorse and […]

Mandaloun brings a versatile running style into the closer's haven that is the Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds. The Into Mischief offspring is the 3/1 favorite in the Kentucky Derby prep. (Image: Coady Photography)

Lecomte Stakes: Kind to Closers, Anything but to Derby Prospects

The Lecomte Stakes takes center stage this week because it’s a Kentucky Derby prep, it’s a Kentucky Derby prep run in mid-January, and because there are some interesting candidates among its 11-horse field. Eventually, the wheat separates from the chaff, and races like the Grade 3 Lecomte start the Derby […]

Front-running Wells Bayou won the Louisiana Derby last year. He returns to Fair Grounds Saturday for the Louisiana Stakes, his first race in eight months. (Image: Amanda Hodges Weir/Hodges Photography)

Ex-Derby Hopeful Wells Bayou Finds Another Trail — the Comeback

Wells Bayou put himself on last year’s Kentucky Derby Trail with an electric, front-running style comprising equal parts promise and peril. Now, the reigning Louisiana Derby winner puts himself on the comeback trail in Saturday’s Grade 3 Louisiana Stakes. The $125,000 Louisiana is one of six stakes on Saturday’s Fair […]

Maximum Security emerged victorious from this stretch drive in the 2020 Saudi Cup. More than 100 horses from nine countries were nominated to the second edition of the $20 million race. (Image: Reuters)

Charlatan, Knicks Go, and Swiss Skydiver Headline Saudi Cup Nominees

Swiss Skydiver, Charlatan and Knicks Go are three names you’d expect to find in the world’s richest race – the $20 million Saudi Cup. And those three American stars headline a lengthy nominee list for the Feb. 20 Saudi Cup. The 1 1/8-mile Saudi Cup drew 109 nominees from nine […]

Mighty Heart's 7 1/2-length victory in the 2020 Queen's Plate came with the third-largest handle in event history. The 2021 event is Aug. 22. (Image: John Watkins)

Canada’s Queen’s Plate Moves to August, Stays in Late Summer

Banking on extended time allowing the COVID-19 pandemic to subside and spectators to return, Woodbine Entertainment announced the 162nd running of the Queen’s Plate will take place Sunday, Aug. 22 at Woodbine Racetrack. The first jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown, the $1 million Queen’s Plate is typically held at […]

Saudi Prince Khalid bin Abdullah created a breeding powerhouse on both sides of the Atlantic. One of the most respected owners and breeders in the world, Prince Khalid died Tuesday at 83. (Image: Trevor Meeks)

Powerhouse Owner, Breeder Prince Khalid bin Abdullah Dies at 83

Tributes from all over the racing world poured in Tuesday, remembering Prince Khalid bin Abdullah, who died Tuesday of undisclosed causes. The Saudi prince and nine-time Eclipse Award winner as owner and breeder was 83. A member of the Saudi Royal Family, Prince Khalid owned Juddmonte Farms, which announced the […]