Tag: By My Standards

Leave Knicks Go and Joel Rosario along and they wire the field, as they did in last year's Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. The 5-year-old is the 6/5 favorite to beat a small but deep field in Saturday's Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga. (Image: Coady Photography)

The Whitney: Quality Over Quantity Makes This the Year’s Best Race

The cliché “quality over quantity” washes over this year’s Grade 1 Whitney Stakes at Saratoga like the wake from Knicks Go’s last race. It floods the zone like Maxfield’s last two outings and Silver State’s last trip around Belmont Park. If you’re going to send only five horses around Saratoga’s […]

By My Standards won the Grade 2 New Orleans Classic Stakes last year at Fair Grounds. However, a Grade 1 eludes a horse who won more than $1 million in 2020. He opens his 2021 season at Oaklawn Park in the Listed Stakes Oaklawn Mile. (Image: Hodges Photography/Lou Hodges Jr.)

Oaklawn Mile Brings Three Familiar Names With Familiar Stories

The field for Saturday’s Listed Stakes Oaklawn Mile brings three familiar candidates with eclectic stories of redemption to a race that punches far above its weight class. There’s By My Standards, who makes his 2021 debut as the 5/2 favorite at the site of one of his 2020 victories. Hard […]

By My Standards seeks his first Grade 1 victory in the $500,000 Clark Stakes. He is the 4/1 second favorite. (Image: Coady Photography/Churchill Downs)

Recognizable Names, Deep Field: The Clark Stakes Has it All

Together, the $500,000 Clark Stakes field owns 22 stakes victories, 60 overall wins, and more than $12.6 million in earnings. And even in this topsy-turvy, runaway-roller coaster year, the traditional Black Friday headliner at Churchill Downs remains one of the most popular races on the late-season schedule. For the first […]

Improbable was nothing short of awesome in the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes. The 5/2 favorite rides into the Breeders' Cup Classic on a three-race win streak. (Image: Alex Evers)

Breeders’ Cup Classic: Picking a Winner in this All-Star Field is a Puzzle

If you’re grasping to understand how good the field is for this year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic truly is, it’s easiest to picture what an All-Star horse race would look like. The Mid-fall Classic, as it were. If the Mid-fall Classic offered a $6 million purse, two Triple Crown race winners, […]

Maximum Security didn't even run his best Beyer Speed Figure in this Pacific Classic victory from August. But he owns the fastest Beyer and Equibase speed figures in the Breeders' Cup Classic field. (Image: Coolmore America)

Breeders’ Cup Speed Figures: Looking at an Instant Classic

As you parse the speed figures for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, you understand there is truth in advertising to this year’s edition of the Breeders’ Cup’s flagship race. Putting aside the eight Grade 1 winners in the 10-horse field, these speed figures should make this Classic well … an instant […]

Irad Ortiz Jr. rode Improbable to his second of three Grade 
wins at August's The Whitney. His current form makes him the favorite in Circa Sports' Breeders' Cup Classic futures betting. (Image: Daily Gazette)

Circa Sports Makes Improbable the Breeders’ Cup Classic Futures Favorite

One day after opening the first domestic Breeders’ Cup Classic futures board, Circa Sports puts Improbable as the favorite to capture the $6 million Breeders’ Cup’s marquee event on Nov. 7 at Keeneland. Improbable opened at +380, then moved up slightly to +410. His best odds overseas are 4/1. The […]

Monomoy Girl makes racing look so effortless, that she seems to glide through the air. The 5-year-old mare goes for her third 2020 victory in the Sept. 4 La Troienne Stakes at Churchill Downs. (Image: Michael Reaves/Getty)

Kentucky Oaks Card Comes Loaded with Big Names, Great Resumes

If the clash of the filly titans at the Kentucky Oaks isn’t enough to grab your attention, then consider this; this year’s card is in serious danger of upstaging Churchill Downs’ Derby Week. And that’s including the marquee event of Derby Week, the 146th Kentucky Derby. It’s OK to pay […]

Even in the mud, Tom's d'Etat finds Saratoga to his liking. He's 3-for-4 at the Spa, seeking his fifth consecutive win in Saturday's Whitney Stakes. (Image: Elsa Loreul/NYRA)

The Whitney: Where History and Horse Racing Meet

It’s appropriate that in a race named after one of America’s most prominent families, the field consists of five millionaires. Yes, Saturday’s $1,200,000 Grade 1 1 1/8-mile Whitney Stakes at Saratoga, one of the most prestigious races for older horses in North America, features only five horses. But quality abounds. […]

The 2019 Louisiana Derby was one of By My Standards five wins in 10 career races. He shoots for No. 6 in Saturday's Whitney Stakes at Saratoga. (Image: Scott Serio/Eclipse Sportswire

By My Standards Seeking to Do It His Way at Whitney Stakes

By My Standards ran his last race – June’s Grade 2 Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs — exactly by his standards. He chalked a 102 Beyer Speed Figure, tying his career-best mark. He raced exactly out of trainer Bret Calhoun’s playbook, even down to the strong gallop-out afterward. This should […]

By My Standards won his first stakes race, last year's Louisiana Derby. He faces his biggest challenge to date against tough, seasoned Tom's d'Etat in the Stephen Foster. (Image: Eclipse Sportswire)

Stephen Foster Composes Beautiful Front Line of Contenders

As marquee races go, this isn’t the Kentucky Derby. But you could do a lot worse than the Stephen Foster as the headline race of your meet, abbreviated and all. The Grade 2 Stephen Foster not only headlines Saturday’s strong 11-race, four-stakes card at Churchill Downs, it provides an enviable […]

Combatant pulled off a mild upset in winning March's Santa Anita Handicap. The 5-year-old is a 4/1 favorite to win the Oaklawn Handicap. (Image: Benoit Photo for AP)

Older Horses Show Off Newest Tricks in Deep Oaklawn Handicap Field

This is scheduling as brilliant as the race its talent promises. In between the split Arkansas Derby divisions on Oaklawn Park’s dynamic closing day card rests the $600,000 Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap – a race punching far above its Grade 2 status. Put the grade aside. Far aside. This year’s […]