When he was 6 – or two years ago – Channel Maker was the 2020 Champion Turf Male. At 8, he is a nine-time stakes winner, after capturing Friday’s $150,000 Grand Couturier at Belmont Park. Even at 8, Channel Maker had no trouble covering 12 furlongs. Nor did he have […]
Tag: Channel Maker
Highland Chief Faces Tougher Trip at Shorter Odds in Manhattan
Last month, Highland Chief passed his first stateside Grade 1 test with a flourish, beating four other rivals, including Champion Turf Male Yibir, to win the Grade 1 Man o’ War at Belmont Park. A nice score to be sure, especially as the 19/1 longest shot in the field. Now, […]
Domestic Spending, United Scratched from Breeders’ Cup Turf
Domestic Spending and United, two of the primary American horses in the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf, were both scratched Thursday morning by their trainers due to inflammation. The scratches alter the dynamic of a race in which Domestic Spending was the 4/1 second favorite and considered the Great American […]
Consistent Casher Gufo Goes for Third Grade 1 Win in Joe Hirsch
There’s Gufo, who hasn’t missed the board in 12 career starts. There’s Japan, one of his rivals, who ships in from Europe for another crack at Gufo. And there’s Arklow and Channel Maker, who combined to win the last three editions of the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic. It’s […]
Saturday at Saratoga: One of Racing’s Biggest Days of 2021
The names of those racing on Saturday’s Travers Day at Saratoga sound like a Thoroughbred all-star team: Essential Quality, Gamine, Letruska, Tribhuvan, Jackie’s Warrior, Life Is Good, Whitmore, Swiss Skydiver. All of them – and others you may have heard of – are set to run in one of Saratoga’s […]
Cross Country Pick 5 Takes to the Stakes This Week
Four stakes races up and down the graded-stakes ladder highlight this week’s New York Racing Association Cross Country Pick 5. The horizontal exotic once again brings you races from Monmouth Park, Saratoga, and Canada’s Woodbine. The minimum bet for the three-track, five-race wager is 50 cents. The Cross Country Pick […]
This Set Piece Scores Yet Again, Could Wise Dan be that Breakout Race?
Hidden on the Stephen Foster undercard last weekend at Churchill Downs was a horse who probably flew below your radar: Set Piece. He didn’t fly below bettor’s radars in the Grade 2 Wise Dan Stakes, however, going off as the 8/5 favorite in the 1 1/16-mile race for older horses. […]
Authentic Runs Away With 2020 Horse of the Year Eclipse Award
Authentic rarely won his big races by big margins. But, he won his final “race†– the Eclipse Award for 2020 Horse of the Year – by a Secretariat at the Belmont-esque 31 lengths on the track. The Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic champion garnered 224 out of a […]
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 […]
Get the Geritol: Red Smith Handicap Features Three Older Favorites
Two of the contenders for Saturday’s Red Smith Handicap at Aqueduct are 7-year-olds. One of the other favorites is 6-years-old, confirming that the 60th Red Smith Handicap is the race where older horses head before heading out to pasture. Or not. There’s 7-year-old Sadler’s Joy taking on his fellow 7-year-old […]
Despite Slump, O’Brien Casts a Magical Spell Over the Breeders’ Cup Turf
Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien enjoys a wonderfully magical training career, generally free of moguls or other bumps. But as he sends Magical and Mogul out in search of his seventh Breeders’ Cup Turf title, O’Brien does so along an uncharacteristically bumpy road on this side of the Atlantic. Whatever Irish […]