You can scratch one Triple Crown race winner from future 2022 races, after Belmont Stakes winner Mo Donegal suffered bone bruising coming out of that victory that will cost him a large chunk of the rest of 2022. Mo Donegal came out of his three-length Belmont Stakes victory with the […]
Tag: 148th Kentucky Derby
Champion Joel Rosario Takes Barber Road’s Reins for the Belmont Stakes
Eclipse Award-winning jockey Joel Rosario will pilot Barber Road in next Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, news his agent Ron Anderson confirmed over the weekend Anderson told the Daily Racing Form that Rosario, a two-time Belmont Stakes winner, will segue from Epicenter to Barber Road for the Belmont Stakes. Epicenter, who finished […]
Tiz the Bomb Ready to Blow Up Again on His Preferred Turf Surface
Tiz the Bomb’s long-expected move to turf was formally announced Thursday when trainer Kenny McPeek said the versatile colt will begin his grass career with the Grade 1 $1 million Belmont Derby Invitational. That July 9, 1 1/4-mile race at Belmont Park opens the New York Racing Association’s Turf Triple […]
Derby Winner Rich Strike Arrives in New York for Belmont Stakes
Rich Strike arrived at Belmont Park today, 10 days before the 154th Belmont Stakes. The surprise Kentucky Derby winner took a trot around the dirt training track before heading to the barn for a long nap. The Derby winner, along with exercise rider Gabriel Lagunes and outrider Juan Galvez and […]
Surprise! Classic Causeway Moves From Lynch to McPeek’s Barn
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
NBC Strikes Viral Gold with Replay of Rich Strike’s Kentucky Derby Win
If you watched NBC Sports’ overhead shot of Rich Strike’s remarkable ride to the 148th Kentucky Derby title, you had plenty of amazed company. The replay of that performance, with Larry Collmus’ call, has been viewed more than 38 million times across various social media platforms. When NBC released its […]
Simplification First to Arrive for Preakness, Gets Johnny V in the Irons
After finishing fourth in Saturday’s 148th Kentucky Derby, Simplification was the first horse to arrive at Pimlico Race Course for the 147th Preakness Stakes. The Grade 2 Fountain of Youth winner and third-place finisher in the Grade 1 Florida Derby arrived at Pimlico after an 11-hour van ride from Churchill […]
Derby Aftermath: Stunned Asmussen, Preakness Probables
Still trying to process how his Kentucky Derby futility streak hit 24 races, trainer Steve Asmussen was non-committal on whether Derby runner up Epicenter would run the May 21 Preakness Stakes. The two-time Preakness winner was very committal on his level of disbelief at what transpired 50 yards from his […]
Rich Strike trainer Eric Reed Hasn’t Woken Up From Derby Dream
Everything kept going back through Eric Reed’s mind like a never-ending dream, which the trainer of Rich Strike still wasn’t sure about. “I couldn’t sleep last night,†said Reed, still in shock over Rich Strike’s 80/1 shocking victory in the 148th Kentucky Derby. “At 4 this morning, I was wondering […]
Rich Strike Bowls Over Rivals in Stunning 80/1 Kentucky Derby Upset
Rich Strike’s trainer, Eric Reed, nearly lost his entire stable in a barn fire. He got Rich Strike – a $30,000 claimer with one career win in seven starts — into the 148th Kentucky Derby with five minutes to spare Friday. When he left Post 21 at Churchill Downs, Rich […]
Racing Veteran White Sees Plenty of Gray in this Kentucky Derby
Jon White wants you to know this Kentucky Derby prognostication stuff can get rather tricky. He once picked Point Given to win the 2001 Derby because he simply was the best horse in the field. Point Given picked the first Saturday in May that year to run the worst race […]
Breaking Down the 2022 Kentucky Derby: Chaos Theory Reigns
Welcome to Kentucky Derby 148, a.k.a. The Chaos Derby. And we’re not talking about the usual infield escapades that happen as the Derby returns to it’s pre-pandemic crowds north of 150,000. Unpredictability? Depth? A Derby where surprises almost wouldn’t be surprising? This edition of America’s most popular race has it […]
How Does Your Kentucky Derby Horse Measure Up Speed-Wise?
Even for the free-for-all standards of a modern Kentucky Derby, this year’s 148th edition features one of the most wide-open fields in recent memory. So in a race without a clear-cut favorite, where do you draw the line between horses who can contend and those who merely pretend? Where else? […]
Taiba Trying to Take a Shortcut to Kentucky Derby History
The path Taiba is attempting to follow started four years ago when a lightly raced colt with only three starts under his saddle went into the Kentucky Derby as the 5/2 favorite. He “Justified” those odds by winning the Derby en route to the Triple Crown. Jockey Mike Smith remembered […]