Jesus’ Team, the plucky, one-time $35,000 claimer-turned-millionaire, returns Sunday, headlining the field for the City of Dania Stakes at Gulfstream Park. That one-mile test is for 3-year-olds and up. And should Jesus’ Team pass that test to the satisfaction of trainer Jose D’Angelo, next on his agenda is the Grade […]
Tag: horse racing
Well-Traveled Bonny South Heads East for Delaware Handicap
If Thoroughbreds had passports that required stamps at every distinct race track, Bonny South’s would already need extra pages. Well-traveled? Bonny South checks that box. Meanwhile, she’ll check off another track Saturday when she comes into Delaware Park as the 3/2 morning-line favorite in the Grade 2 Delaware Handicap. The […]
Are Glory Days Ahead for US Olympic Show Jumper Jessica Springsteen?
Her father is known for his seminal Born to Run album, so it stands to reason that Jessica Springsteen was born to run down her own path. And that path is now taking the daughter of rock-and-roll icon Bruce Springsteen down a road that leads not to the Streets of […]
Del Mar Adds Rainbow Jackpot Pick 6 to Upcoming Wagering Menu
Joining the trend set by other tracks around the country, Del Mar announced it will add a 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot bet to its arsenal of wagers for its upcoming summer meet. The seaside track north of San Diego replaced its regular $2 Pick 6 with the 20-cent jackpot version, […]
Four Grade 1s, 20 Graded Stakes Headline Belmont Park’s Fall Meet Slate
Bettors will have a veritable smorgasbord of options to choose from when Belmont Park’s Fall Meet takes to the track in September. In a schedule released by the New York Racing Association on Tuesday, organizers are featuring four, Grade 1 races and five Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In†Challenge […]
Oaklawn Park Boosts Arkansas Derby Purse, Remakes Derby Prep Trail
Oaklawn Park just shifted the landscape for the 2022 Kentucky Derby trail, boosting the purse for the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby to $1.25 million and moving the race up a week, to April 2, 2022. That moves the Arkansas Derby from its traditional spot as the last major Derby prep […]
Fulsome, Mr. Wireless Pick Up Favorite Lines for Indiana Derby
There will be no Fulsome-O Besos rematch at Wednesday’s Indiana Derby. So playing the part of Fulsome’s erstwhile rival in the Grade 3 event is one Mr. Wireless. Your 4/5 morning-line favorite, Fulsome, heads the seven-horse field in what is Indiana’s richest horse race. The $300,000 Indiana Derby at Indiana […]
Kentucky Derby Points Show the 20 Survivors of the Derby Trail
The Kentucky Derby Trail ended Saturday, which means it’s time to parse the Derby qualifying points ladder and see who’s in, who’s on the bubble, and who won’t be discussed as a Kentucky Derby starter. It took 40 points to make the top 20, the usual target number connections shoot […]
This Bourbonic Plague Caught the Biggest Upset in Wood Memorial History
It had to be a typo that Todd Pletcher’s Bourbonic entered the Wood Memorial starting gate at 72/1. Surely, the trainer with the most Kentucky Derby starters in history couldn’t have a moon shot like this in a race he’s won five times. It was no typo. Bourbonic left the […]
On Record Day, Rock Your World Rocks, Rolls His Way to Kentucky Derby
Rock Your World rocked the Santa Anita Derby, which rocked bettors into producing Santa Anita Park’s largest all-sources pari-mutuel Santa Anita Derby handle in 14 years. On a day where fans returned to the Southern California track for the first time in more than a year, the 8,246 attendees on […]
Medina Spirit, Bob Baffert Cast Their Spell in Santa Anita Derby
About the only thing faster than Life Is Good on the track was the rush of horses piling into the Santa Anita Derby the moment the Bob Baffert supercolt departed the Kentucky Derby Trail with an ankle injury. Now, all of a sudden, horses like Dream Shake, Parnelli, Law Professor […]
Wood Memorial Replaces Recent Derby History With Wide-Open Plot
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 […]
Champion Sprinter Gamine Makes 2021 Debut in a Grade 3
The monstrous shadow of Gamine will emerge from her five-month vacation on Sunday when the Champion Female Sprinter of 2020 makes her 4-year-old debut in the Grade 3 Las Flores Stakes at Santa Anita Park. She will likely make it as the odds-on favorite for the six-furlong Las Flores. The […]
Data Shows Equine Injuries Drop to Lowest Recorded Marks
Less than a week after the grotesque image of Zenden breaking down after winning the Golden Shaheen in Dubai went on worldwide display, The Jockey Club announced that the rate of fatal injuries to Thoroughbreds reached the lowest number since the Equine Injury Database was created in 2009. The EID […]
When it Comes to Derby Threats, Jeff Ruby Steaks is Tough to Chew
In its nearly 50-year existence, the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park went under 11 different names. It opened as the Spiral Stakes in 1972 and meandered through a myriad of monikers until arriving at its current name in 2018. But whatever you call the Grade 3 Jeff […]
Preakness Gets Some of Its Fans Back, Pimlico Opens Doors for 10,000
The Maryland Jockey Club announced Tuesday it will allow 10,000 fans into the 2021 Preakness Stakes when that second jewel of the Triple Crowns runs on Saturday, May 15 at Pimlico Race Course. This decision came after The Stronach Group officials met with Baltimore-area and Maryland state health officials, who […]
Dean’s List: British Bettor’s Smart Cash-Out Brings Him £250,000
Almost immediately after favorite Envoi Allen crashed out of the Marsh Novices’ Chase, punters and journalists around the world were calling Paul Dean’s decision the greatest cash-out in the history of wagering. Dean, who stood to win £511,225 if Envoi Allen won the Cheltenham Festival’s Thursday opener, instead took a […]
It’s Clairiere and Travel Column 3.0 in Fair Grounds Oaks
Clairiere and Travel Column. Travel Column and Clairiere. The two 3-year-old fillies are becoming linked in many ways as they prepare for Saturday’s Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks. The two staked their grounds as the top 3-year-olds this spring, seizing attention from last year’s Champion 2-Year-Old, Vequist, along with contenders […]
Del Mar Officials Plan for Fans at 2021 Summer Meet
Del Mar officials announced Tuesday they will allow a limited number of fans into the seaside track when its summer meet opens in mid-July. Track officials didn’t specify an allotted number of tickets it plans to sell when its 82nd summer meet opens on Friday, July 16. Nor did it […]
Weekend Stakes: Third Time Should be Oaklawn Park’s Charm
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 […]