Raging Bull, one of North America’s leading male turf runners, will retire after the Breeders’ Cup Mile and head to his breeding career at Gainesway Farm in Kentucky. He will open his breeding career in 2022 for $10,000. The 6-year-old horse, a product of standout European sire Dark Angel, owns […]
When it comes to his Irish-bred filly Empress Josephine, the concept of “load management†is a foreign one to Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien. It’s apparently also a foreign concept to Keeneland’s morning-line author, who made Empress Josephine the 3/1 favorite for Saturday’s Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup. This, […]
The Grade 1 Champagne Stakes predates the Kentucky Derby by eight years. In fact, the one mile juvenile test that sets the early bar for Derby prospects appeared only two years after the Civil War ended. Derby preps have to get their momentum somewhere, which is where the Champagne pours forth. Saturday’s test […]
Saratoga cracked $800 million in all-sources wagering handle for the first time in its storied history, ending its most successful summer meet with $815,508,063 in all-sources handle. That represented a 15.6% increase over the track’s previous record of $705,343,949 set in 2019. Saratoga set its new record last Wednesday, with […]
As is his MO, Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott brought War Like Goddess along slowly, guiding the 4-year-old filly through the class pyramid with care and an eye toward building confidence. So when War Like Goddess won three consecutive races – and 5-of-her-first-6 – Mott realized she is ready […]
Vequist and Search Results, two of the top 3-year-old fillies in the country, will both sit out the rest of 2021, with both of their trainers telling the Daily Racing Form nothing is seriously off with either horse. The Champion 2-Year-Old Filly of 2020, Vequist was going to run in […]
The Mr. D. Stakes is the race made famous by another name – the Arlington Million. When you’re the first horse race offering a seven-figure purse, you want that “Million†in the title. At this point in what is a bittersweet, likely final running of the race formerly known as […]
Familiar names such as Jolie Olimpica, Split Then Double and Merveilleux, along with promising newcomers like Chileno, Watasha and Volcanic play their parts in Saturday’s Cross Country Pick 5 wager. This week’s New York Racing Association’s Cross Country Pick 5 comes with international flavor. The wager encompasses races from Saratoga, […]
The main storyline coming to you from this year’s Grade 1 Diana Stakes at Saratoga is what Chad Brown can do for an encore – times five. Yes, Brown owns the last five Diana titles and six overall. You expect Saratoga’s premier turf trainer to win Saratoga’s premier filly and […]
Belmont Park continues to be Chad Brown’s world and the rest of the New York horse racing community is merely living in it. Brown clinched the Belmont Park Spring/Summer Meet training title for the sixth consecutive year, racking up 32 victories over the 48-day meet that ended Sunday. Jose Ortiz […]
The fallout from Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s suspension from New York Racing Association tracks manifested itself again Thursday when WinStar Farm president and CEO Elliott Walden said he will send star 3-year-old Life is Good to Todd Pletcher once the horse is ready to return. That return may […]
The last time Raging Bull didn’t face Grade 1 competition came more than two years and nine months ago. It came in the Grade 2 Hill Prince Stakes at Belmont Park, and it came with a fifth-place finish – albeit by only 1 ¾ lengths. That was 13 races ago. […]
The last time Domestic Spending and Colonel Liam tried determining who was the best older male turf horse in the country, they decided nothing but what a dead-heat looks like. That came at the Grade 1 Turf Classic, on the Kentucky Derby undercard. There, Domestic Spending made the most of […]
The Grade 1 Man o’ War Stakes draws its name from one of the most iconic horses in American racing history. Yet, it’s an Irish import who’s stealing all of the attention in the New York Racing Association’s first Grade 1 turf race of 2021. That would be Sovereign, who […]
Calling an audible with an aptly named horse, trainer Chad Brown said Risk Taking will run in the Preakness Stakes instead of the Grade 3 Peter Pan Stakes – his original destination. Risk Taking was the morning-line favorite for the Peter Pan, a one-turn, 1 1/8-mile race on Saturday at […]
Welcome to the 2021 Kentucky Derby. And welcome back to what a normal Kentucky Derby looks like. Almost. The crowds? Well, they’re back – about 40,000. That’s a quarter of what normally turns Churchill Downs into a sporting bacchanalia. But there’s people in the stands. We’ll take it. The horses? […]
Malathaat and her undefeated record earned 5/2 morning-line favorite status for Friday’s 147th Kentucky Oaks at Monday morning’s post-position draw and morning-line announcement. The 1 1/8-mile Oaks anchors Churchill Downs’ 13-race, six-stakes Friday card. The 14-filly field of 3-year-olds runs for a $767,250 first-prize check out of the $1.25 million […]
The Kentucky Derby dominoes continued to fall on Wednesday as we head toward the May 1 Run for the Roses, with Chad Brown saying he intends on running only one of his two Derby prospects — Highly Motivated or Crowded Trade — in the race. Brown told Blood-Horse that Highly […]
Hit the Road allows Dan Blacker to call himself a Grade 1-winning trainer. He also allows Blacker the luxury of having “the right horse†for a course, like in the Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile. And, Hit the Road allows Blacker the luxury of hitting the road – taking his […]
Let’s dispense with the Wood Memorial history out of the gate. There are 13 Triple Crown winners, and this Grade 2 Kentucky Derby prep claims four of them: Gallant Fox, Count Fleet, Seattle Slew, and Secretariat. Eleven horses pulled off the Wood Memorial/Kentucky Derby double. You’ve probably heard of a […]
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