This weekend’s stakes lineup features one of the most iconic races in American horse racing, the Santa Anita Handicap. But even that event, technically Santa Anita Park’s Saturday headliner, may get overshadowed on its own card by a Grade 2 Kentucky Derby prep, the San Felipe Stakes. Featuring two of […]
Tag: Freedom Fighter
Baffert’s Next Move: One Derby Prospect Stays Home, One Hits Road
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert began plotting his next moves for his deep bench of Kentucky Derby prospects, with the first move sending top prospect Life Is Good to the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita Park. Baffert’s second move sends Freedom Fighter across the country for […]
New Entries, Same Favorites in Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 3
Nine new offerings entered the Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 3 picture, but two familiar names continue holding court as the KDFW favorites. Essential Quality and Life Is Good opened as individual 8/1 morning-line favorites in the third of five KDFW pools. As expected, however, the overall favorite is “All […]
Kentucky Derby Futures: What Goes Down, Can Go Up
One Bob Baffert charge watched his Kentucky Derby futures odds fall further this weekend, while another watched his rise to semi-realistic territory. Those were the two biggest takeaways coming out of a weekend that further defined the Derby picture across the odds food chain. The prime beneficiary was Baffert’s Concert […]
The San Vicente: No Derby Points Awarded, Plenty of Derby Points Made
The Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita Park may not be a Kentucky Derby prep in the strictest sense of the term. There are no Derby qualifying points on the table and the winner gets no closer to a gate date at Churchill Downs the first Saturday of […]
Weekend Stakes: Not Every Good 3-Year-Old Race is a Derby Prep
We’ll see several Kentucky Derby hopefuls return this weekend when two East Coast Grade 3 Derby preps headline the stakes races. And, we’ll meet some Kentucky Oaks contenders in two Oaks preps – one on each coast. At the same time, we’ll see a Grade 2 for 3-year-olds that isn’t […]
Jackie’s Warrior the One to Watch in Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Futures
Jackie’s Warrior made himself the juvenile to watch with his victories in the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes and two other races. The overseas bookmakers paid enough attention to make the 2-year-old star the 4/1 favorite to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Oddschecker put Breeders’ Cup Juvenile future lines on 26 […]
Get to Know These 2-Year-Old Future Kentucky Derby Hopefuls
Say “hello†to Jackie’s Warrior, Dr. Schivel, Freedom Fighter, and Sittin on Go. You may not know much about them right now, but you’ll be hearing a lot more about these four — and other 2-year-olds — over the next seven months. Ignore for the moment the 2020 Kentucky Derby […]