Tag: Aqueduct

Pizza Bianca, seen here winning the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, returns for her 3-year-old season Sunday in Aqueduct's Memory of Silver. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Bobby Flay Delivers Pizza Bianca to Aqueduct’s Memories of Silver

Even with celebrity chef Bobby Flay as an owner, Pizza Bianca doesn’t have the highest profile for a Breeders’ Cup winner. But, the winner of last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf remains formidable in Sunday’s Memories of Silver on Aqueduct’s closing day. Pizza Bianca’s low profile has nothing to […]

Campanelle works out before her 4-year-old debut awaits in Saturday's Giant's Causeway Stakes at Keeneland. That is the opening leg to this week's Cross Country Pick 5. (Image: Coady Photography)

Salty Kentucky Derby Prep, Ascot Winner Head Cross Country Pick 5

The last stop on the 2022 Kentucky Derby trail and a Royal Ascot winner making her season debut headline this week’s New York Racing Association Cross Country Pick 5 wager. This week’s Cross Country Pick 5 features races from Keeneland and Aqueduct. Two of the five races are stakes events. That […]

Nest and Irad Ortiz Jr. enjoyed an 8 1/4-length romp in Saturday's Grade 1 Ashland Oaks at Keeneland. The 3-year-old will attempt to give Todd Pletcher his second consecutive Kentucky Oaks victory and fifth overall. (Image: Keeneland/Coady Photography)

Colt Mo Donegal, Filly Nest Give Pletcher 1-2 Derby/Oaks Punch

As training days go, Todd Pletcher would take a lot more weekends like this. Days where he puts out a potential Kentucky Derby winner and a potential Kentucky Oaks winner. The Hall of Fame trainer’s Derby contender? Mo Donegal, who provided Pletcher with his record-tying seventh Wood Memorial title and […]

Golden Rod winner Dream Lith is one of the favorites to win a wide-open Fantasy Stakes, the fourth leg of this week's Cross Country Pick 5. (Image: Coady Photgraphy)

Arkansas the Center of This Week’s Cross Country Pick 5

With Oaklawn Park sharing center-of-the-racing-world status with Gulfstream Park this weekend, the Arkansas track holds a near-monopoly on this week’s New York Racing Association Cross Country Pick 5. Four of this week’s five races come from Oaklawn Park, with Aqueduct providing the lone exception. Unlike last week’s Cross Country Pick […]

After this Grade 2 victory in the Adirondack last summer, Wicked Halo brings in the most impressive resume of any Cross Country Pick 5 competitor this week. (Image: NYRA Photo/Susie Raisher)

This Week’s Cross Country Pick 5 Takes on a Wicked Halo

This week’s New York Racing Association Cross Country Pick 5 doesn’t involve any graded stakes from Aqueduct, Oaklawn Park, or Tampa Bay Downs, but it does include a Steve Asmussen-trained Grade 2 winning filly and three Listed stakes filled with intriguing fields. That Asmussen filly is Wicked Halo, who, on […]

Classic Causeway's easy victory in the Sam F. Davis makes him the one bettors figure to key in the Tampa Bay Derby. That's the penultimate leg to this week's Cross Country Pick 5. (Image: Spencer Tulis/SV Photography)

Tampa Bay Derby, Azeri Cap This Week’s Cross Country Pick 5

Tampa Bay Downs’ marquee race, the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby, headlines this week’s New York Racing Association Cross Country Pick 5. This week’s Cross Country Pick 5 encompasses races from Tampa Bay Downs, Aqueduct and Oaklawn Park. The Tampa Bay Derby is the fourth leg of the five-leg pick […]

Nashua winner and California-based Rockefeller returns to Aqueduct for the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes, the fourth race on the Cross Country Pick 5. (Image: Coglianese Photos)

It’s Off to Gotham for Key to This Week’s Cross Country Pick 5

The “other” Kentucky Derby prep — the Grade 3 Gotham from Aqueduct Park — highlights this week’s New York Racing Association Cross Country Pick 5. This week’s Cross Country Pick 5 encompasses races from Aqueduct, Tampa Bay Downs and Oaklawn Park. The Gotham, which offers 50-20-10-5 Derby qualifying points to its […]

Saudi Arabia's King Abdulaziz Racetrack and the Saudi Cup open this week's Cross Country Pick 5. (Image: Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia/Neville Hopwood)

Saudi Cup Opens This Week’s International Cross Country Pick 5

The $20 million Saudi Cup, a.k.a. the world’s richest race, opens this week’s opportunity for horseplayers to get rich via the New York Racing Association’s Cross Country Pick 5. This week’s five-race sequence takes on a cross-global flavor. It features races from the home of the Saudi Cup — King Abdulaziz Racetrack […]

Courvoisier splashed home in the Jerome Stakes New Year's Day. He's trying to become the first horse in 32 years to win both the Jerome and Withers: Aqueduct's first two Kentucky Derby preps. (Image: Joe Labozzetta/NYRA Photo)

Withers Contenders Chase Glittery History Along With Derby Points

The Grade 3 Withers Stakes, Saturday’s New York stop on the Kentucky Derby trail, is one of those races that warrants the one-eye attention from Derby watchers curious to see if someone – anyone – can pick up the historical baton hanging out there. The 148-year-old race predates the Kentucky […]

Courvoisier (center) outdueled Smarten Up (left) and Cooke Creek in the Aqueduct slop to win Saturday's Jerome Stakes. Connections for all three eye Aqueduct's next Kentucky Derby prep: the Feb. 5 Grade 3 Withers, next. (Image: Chelsea Durand/Coglianese Photo)

Jerome’s Top Three Finishers Come Out Ready for Next Big A Derby Prep

Seeing enough in their charges coming out of Saturday’s Listed Jerome Stakes, all three trainers of the top three finishers, Courvoisier, Smarten Up, and Cooke Creek, plan running their colts in Aqueduct’s next Kentucky Derby prep, the Grade 3 Withers Stakes. That 1 1/8-mile prep, set for Feb. 5 at […]

Cooke Creek, seen here winning the Rocky Run Stakes at Delaware Park, is the 5/2 favorite in Saturday's Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct. (Image: Hoofprintsinc.com Photo)

The Jerome Stakes Provide a New York Fork in the Derby Road

The Listed Jerome Stakes, one of four New Year’s Day Kentucky Derby preps, generally doesn’t prove anything come Derby time. But the Aqueduct one-turn mile race for 3-year-olds that dates to 1866 does serve as a proving ground of sorts. The eight newly minted 3-year-olds competing for the 10-4-2-1 Derby […]

Brooklyn Strong, who finished 15th in this year's Kentucky Derby, returns after a six-month layoff for a New York-bred stakes race at Aqueduct. (Image: Coady Photography)

Remember Derby Prospect Brooklyn Strong? He’s Back After R&R

When last we saw Brooklyn Strong, the New York-bred gelding was finishing an uninspiring fourth in June’s Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park. But now, the Kentucky Derby contestant returns after a six-month hiatus for Saturday’s Alex M. Robb Stakes at Aqueduct. The $100,000 Robb sends its state-bred 3-year-olds and up […]

Mo Donegal and Irad Ortiz Jr . (left) nipped Zandon and John Velazquez at the wire to win the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes. Zandon's owner, Jeff Drown, filed a protest with the New York State Gaming Commission, claiming Ortiz fouled his horse with aggressive hand motions. (Image: Chelsea Durand/Coglianese Photos)

Zandon’s Owner Cries Foul, Files Protest Over Remsen Result

The sport of horse racing found itself in another legal tangle on Thursday when Jeff Drown, the owner of Grade 2 Remsen Stakes runner-up Zandon, filed a protest with the New York State Gaming Commission over a rejected post-race inquiry against race winner Mo Donegal. Drown filed the protest after […]

Kentucky Derby prospect Mo Donegal broke his maiden in his second try -- and longest race. He's the 8/5 morning-line favorite for Saturday's Grade 2 Remsen at Aqueduct. (Image: Coglianese Photos)

The Remsen Stakes Give You Derby Prospect Info — With Grains of Salt

As the latest stop on the Kentucky Derby trail, Saturday’s Grade 2 Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct introduces new faces to the Derby trail. But while you’re getting to know 8/5 favorite Mo Donegal and 5/2 second choice Zandon, re-acquaint yourself with another pertinent name. That would be Thunder Gulch. He’s […]

Following Sea's dominant victory in the Grade 2 Vosburgh sets him up as a Cigar Mile contender. The Grade 1 race is Saturday at Aqueduct. (Image: Susie Raisher/NYRA)

Following Sea Seeks Validation, Breakout Win in Cigar Mile

Following Sea spent much of his 3-year-old season as a colt seeking a breakout victory that would vault him into the front rank of his class. His last chance to garner that as a sophomore comes in Saturday’s Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct. The Cigar Mile is the signature […]

Aqueduct Racetrack spent much of 2021 as a New York State COVID vaccination center. It reverts to its regular racetrack duties starting Thursday. (Image: NYRA/Aqueduct)

Aqueduct Racetrack’s Shots Now Come on the Track, Not Off of It

After serving time as a New York State COVID vaccination center, Aqueduct Racetrack reverts back to its traditional duties as the state’s winter home for racing on Thursday. The track opens to fans on Veteran’s Day for its 18-day fall meet. That meet runs through Sunday, Dec. 5 with a […]

True Timber and Kendrick Carmouche won last year's Cigar Mile. Aqueduct's featured race during its Fall Meet is the lone Grade 1 race among its 26 stakes events. (Image: Susie Raisher/NYRA)

Cigar Mile Once Again Headlines Aqueduct’s Fall Stakes Schedule

The New York Racing Association took time out from prepping for Thursday’s Saratoga Meet opener to announce Aqueduct’s stakes schedule for its fall meet. Aqueduct’s 18-day fall meet offers 26 stakes races – 10 of those graded – along with $4.9 million in purses. That meet begins Friday, Nov. 5 […]

Don't get used to the scene of Kendrick Carmouche celebrating aboard Bourbonic. The 72/1 surprise Wood Memorial winner is best left off your Kentucky Derby tickets. (Image: Susie Raisher/Coglianese Photos)

Three Kentucky Derby Long Shots You Can Cross Off Right Now

Here’s what finding the right Kentucky Derby long shot means to your exotic tickets. Last year’s Kentucky Derby $1 trifecta paid $1,311.80, for which you can thank 46/1 Mr. Big News and his unobtrusive third-place finish. Let’s look at 2019, asterisk and all. The $1 trifecta, starring 65/1 Country House, […]

Kendrick Carmouche and Bourbonic pulled off the biggest upset on the Kentucky Derby Trail, capturing Saturday's Wood Memorial at 72/1. (Image: NYRA)

This Bourbonic Plague Caught the Biggest Upset in Wood Memorial History

It had to be a typo that Todd Pletcher’s Bourbonic entered the Wood Memorial starting gate at 72/1. Surely, the trainer with the most Kentucky Derby starters in history couldn’t have a moon shot like this in a race he’s won five times. It was no typo. Bourbonic left the […]