The first instinct when looking at Saturday’s Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar is to see who’s not here for California’s richest sprint race ($400,000). There’s no Brickyard Ride. No Cezanne. No Dr. Schivel, the defending Bing Crosby champion, who finished second by an eyelash in the Breeders’ […]
Since Jackie’s Warrior is understandably attracting all the attention in Saturday’s Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Stakes, trainer Steve Asmussen is searching for more superlatives to describe his star sprinter. He’s officially out of superlatives. And even after looking at Jackie’s Warrior’s resume, Asmussen realizes simple is best. “He’s 4-for-4 […]
Both Willy Boi and Drain the Clock left the Gulfstream Park gate at 4/5 for Saturday’s Grade 3 Smile Sprint Stakes, the first-among-equals undercard race to the Grade 2 Princess Rooney Invitational on Gulfstream’s Summit of Speed program. And in this battle of chalk-vs.-chalk, Drain the Clock blinked first. Actually, […]
The Grade 3 Smile Sprint is a race Drain the Clock needs right about now. A nice, low-pressure graded stakes race that should allow him to rebuild his confidence in familiar surroundings. Those surroundings are Gulfstream Park, where the six-furlong Smile Sprint is one of the featured races on Gulfstream’s Summit […]
The Jack Christopher Comeback Tour makes its next stop at the Grade 1 Woody Stephens, setting down once again on a Triple Crown undercard race. The seven-furlong Woody Stephens will be one of the eight Grade 1s on Saturday’s Belmont Stakes undercard. It’s not to be confused with the Grade […]
Get ready to welcome back two familiar names from the Saffie Joseph Jr. barn: Drain the Clock and Ny Traffic, both who return in the next month for campaign-beginning races. And after those two warm-up starts, the pair could meet in the April 9 Grade 1 Carter Handicap at Aqueduct. […]
Stud fees for two-time Horse of the Year Curlin remain unchanged at $175,000 as Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm in Xalapa, Kentucky, released its 2022 stallion roster and fees on Wednesday. Hill ‘n’ Dale was one of several breeding farms unveiling its roster and breeding fees. Among other farms announcing their […]
The H. Allen Jerkens Memorial draws its name from the legendary New York trainer who earned a well-deserved reputation for springing massive upsets. Among Jerkens’ victims were the distinguished likes of Kelso, Buckpasser, Cougar II, and Forego. Then, there was Secretariat. Two Jerkens also-rans defeated the 20th century’s greatest Thoroughbred: […]
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 […]
It takes a lot to upstage the Grade 1 Travers Stakes, but undefeated Life Is Good facing standout one-turn artist Jackie’s Warrior in the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Handicap could be the best race on the Aug. 28 Travers Day card at Saratoga. According to the Daily Racing […]
The only race Drain the Clock lost this year came the only time he went two turns. You may have noticed this hiccup, since it came in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth on the Kentucky Derby trail last winter. But while you paid attention to Triple Crown trail stalwarts […]
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 […]
Looking at the familiar names lining up for Saturday’s Grade 1 Woody Stephens at Belmont Park, it’s tempting to dismiss the seven-furlong sprint as a race for Triple Crown washouts, has-beens, and never-weres. Don’t. Instead, understand that not every horse is bred to go two turns. Understand that the Woody […]
Essential Quality and Greatest Honour came out of their weekend Kentucky Derby prep victories none the worse for their victorious efforts. And, their respective trainers have already plotted their next stops on the Derby trail. Essential Quality, who splashed through the Oaklawn Park slop for a 4 ¼-length victory over […]
Once you get past the obvious, that Greatest Honour is clearly the favorite to add the Fountain of Youth to his Gulfstream Park Kentucky Derby prep resume, this race opens up a wealth of other storylines. Can Fire At Will handle dirt as well as he handled turf? Is Prime […]
This weekend’s stakes card gives us another shot at seeing the 2021 debuts of Essential Quality, Jackie’s Warrior, and Monomoy Girl. After two weather postponements over the past two weekends, Oaklawn Park finally gets a thumbs-up from Mother Nature. That means the Arkansas track finally gets to turn loose its […]
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