There it sits, like a glaring black mark on No Parole’s otherwise pristine record. The “8†under “results†standing out among the five “1s.†The horse racing definition of a burp in No Parole’s otherwise stellar universe, which he’ll put to the test in Saturday’s H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes […]
Tag: horse racing
Midnight Bisou Takes Owners and Racing Fans on the Ride of Their Lives
In his previous life, Jeff Bloom was a jockey. But at no time during his riding career did Bloom enjoy a ride like the one he’s on with Midnight Bisou. Bloom owns the 5-year-old mare in a partnership with Madaket Stables and Allen Racing, and the ride has been so […]
By My Standards Seeking to Do It His Way at Whitney Stakes
By My Standards ran his last race – June’s Grade 2 Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs — exactly by his standards. He chalked a 102 Beyer Speed Figure, tying his career-best mark. He raced exactly out of trainer Bret Calhoun’s playbook, even down to the strong gallop-out afterward. This should […]
Maximum Security Passes His First Test Back By a Nose
All the pieces were in place to beat Maximum Security. He had a new jockey, a new trainer, a new track he hadn’t seen before — one that some of the best horses of their generations couldn’t figure out. And yet, while Saturday’s San Diego Handicap was the best opportunity […]
McKinzie Goes on the Road to the Crosby, Improbable off to Whitney
Go long and far, or go short and stay home. When it came to deciding where prize colt McKinzie would run next, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert opted for the six-furlong Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar over the 1 1/8-mile Whitney Stakes at Saratoga. Instead, Baffert sends Improbable […]
Starship Jubilee Flies Off With Adventurous Upset at Ballston Spa Stakes
While the horse racing world was focused on Maximum Security’s return on Saturday (spoiler alert: he won), the other end of the country produced one of the more surprising upsets in the graded stakes world. That, courtesy of Starship Jubilee, who took down 2/5 favorite Sistercharlie in the Grade 2 […]
Vanderbilt Handicap Short on Entries, Long on Volatile Speed
The secret is already out. But you can confirm exactly how volatile a sprinter Volatile is in Saturday’s Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap. The featured race on Saratoga’s Saturday card gives you a glimpse of some of the best sprinting talent in the country. Only five horses are entered […]
Enable Running for History in King George VI and Queen Elizabeth
Horseplayers, your handicapping homework for Saturday’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes is minimal. No need to crunch volumes of numbers, because trainers for the Ascot race crunched them for you. They crunched them down to four horses for the Group 1, 1 ½-mile race at Ascot. Despite its […]
July’s Kentucky Derby Preps Introduce New Contenders, Old Favorites
If we get a Kentucky Derby finish like the Haskell Stakes finish, they’ll be talking about that Derby for years to come. And after that Haskell, and the rest of July’s Derby preps, it’s a good time to see where the Derby contenders are at mid-summer – weird as that […]
Making Up for Lost Time, Del Mar Adds Extra Day of Racing This Weekend
After taking last weekend off due to the coronavirus, Del Mar resumes racing this weekend with an extra day tacked on. The California Horse Racing Board approved the track’s request for Monday racing, giving the San Diego area track four days of racing this weekend. Normally in this summer of […]
Can the Jersey Shore’s Haskell Be an Authentic Playground for Baffert?
When you’re Bob Baffert and you’ve got a murderer’s row of 3-year-olds looking for marquee races to run in this coronavirus era, the Grade 1 Haskell Stakes almost seems like a gimme. And that’s the scenario Baffert seeks with 4/5 favorite Authentic in Saturday’s marquee race from Monmouth Park. Yet, […]
Ny Traffic Seeking to Break Out of Pack at Haskell Stakes
Unlike his namesake, Ny Traffic sits under the radar, repeatedly yielding the spotlight to sexier horses and sexier-named trainers. This version of Ny Traffic doesn’t make you late for dinner. And Saturday’s Grade 1 Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park falls right into Ny Traffic’s lane. There’s Bob Baffert’s Authentic as […]
Florent Geroux Latest High-Profile Jockey Testing Positive for COVID-19
Florent Geroux joined the lengthening list of prominent jockeys testing positive for COVID-19 over the past week, revealing his positive test results on Twitter Tuesday morning. Unlike Martin Garcia, Luis Saez, Victor Espinoza, and Flavien Prat – all of whom tested positive in the last week — Geroux didn’t ride […]
Art Collector Becomes Hottest Object on Kentucky Derby Futures Board
Winning the Blue Grass Stakes made Art Collector the latest shiny object for Kentucky Derby bettors to focus on as his odds to win the Sept. 5 Run for Roses plunged across the board. On Circa Sports’ Kentucky Derby Futures Board, Art Collector sits at 7/1. He’s now the fourth […]
Flavien Prat is Fifth Los Alamitos Rider Testing Positive for COVID-19
The COVID-19 outbreak from Los Alamitos’ July 4 card claimed another jockey Sunday when Flavien Prat tested positive for the coronavirus. Prat, the West Coast’s leading rider, just captured the Santa Anita Park riding title. He’s also the fourth jockey from Los Alamitos’ Independence Day card to test positive, joining […]
Rushing Fall Tumbles Into Elite Company With Jenny Wiley Victory
As the 4/5 favorite, Rushing Fall brought no rush of value to bettors in Saturday’s Grade 1 Jenny Wiley Stakes at Keeneland. But when the chalky favorite defended her Jenny Wiley title, she brought a record rush to what is already a glittering resume. Rushing Fall became only the third […]
Spendthrift Farm Adds Sizzling Vekoma to Already Deep Stud Stable
Spendthrift Farm acquired the breeding rights to its third Met Mile winner in the last four years when it secured stud privileges to multiple Grade 1 winner Vekoma. Spendthrift, the famous Kentucky breeding farm owned by billionaire B. Wayne Hughes, the founder and chairman of Public Storage, adds perhaps the […]
Derby Trail Now Runs Through Indiana, with Major Fed Taking Center Stage
When looking at, and understanding, the Indiana Derby and its place on the Kentucky Derby Trail, it’s important to take a page from one of the favorites – Major Fed. Don’t look away at the wrong time. Major Fed brought us this lesson through his misadventures at March’s Grade 2 […]
Swiss Skydiver Looking to Leap into Blue Grass Stakes
Will Swiss Skydiver run with the boys? Will the talented filly who doesn’t need Kentucky Oaks points enter Saturday’s Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland – a Kentucky Derby prep? Or will Swiss Skydiver enter the Grade 1 Ashland Oaks and tangle with her usual fellow filly suspects? These […]
What Can Chad Brown Do for Instilled Regard? Make Him a Turf Terror
That Instilled Regard snatched and grabbed victory in Saturday’s Grade 1 Manhattan Stakes at Belmont Park isn’t surprising, coming from a horse with nearly $1 million in career earnings. That the Chad Brown-trainee took Manhattan wasn’t surprising either, considering this was Brown’s sixth Manhattan title in nine years. It was […]