Helium last won a race on March 6, 2021. That came at 15.40/1 in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs. That was eight starts and nearly 17 months ago. It was before he ran in the 2021 Kentucky Derby and before he was gelded. And it provides […]
Beginning this Friday, horseplayers wagering on Kentucky races will get paid to the penny when the state’s long-awaited penny breakage law takes effect. The Thoroughbred Idea Foundation, a grassroots advocacy group for horseplayers and horse owners, reported the change kicks in this week at Ellis Park. “This is a welcome […]
The Grade 2 Stephen Foster is a Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In†Challenge Series race. But its importance goes beyond merely sending its winner to the flagship $6 million Classic. This year’s Stephen Foster brings us what we need in racing: a good rivalry. In this case, that’s 2/1 […]
A veritable all-star roster of eclectic talent that includes a Kentucky Derby winner, a Kentucky Oaks winner, a Breeders’ Cup Sprint victor, and a true horse for course highlight Churchill Downs’ Saturday All-Stakes Pick 5. The All-Stakes Pick 5 wager encompasses all five of the Twin Spires’ stakes races on […]
Citing more problems from its new turf course, Churchill Downs officials suspended racing on the Matt Winn Turf Course for the track’s closing weekend. The decision cancels the Grade 2 Wise Dan Stakes and sends three other stakes originally carded for the turf course to the main dirt track. Those […]
Lost in the shuffle of Bango defending his Aristides Stakes title at Churchill Downs on Saturday was the not-insignificant fact that he is truly a horse for the Twin Spires course. Bango’s 2 ½-length victory over Necker Island marked his seventh victory at Churchill Downs. That ties him with 26 […]
Peter Miller, who hasn’t raced a horse since Nov. 28, returns to the barn for the first time in six months when he sends out 3-year-old gelding Respect the Code for Sunday’s eighth race at Churchill Downs. The California-based trainer, who won nine training titles at Del Mar, took what […]
With both Messier and Taiba back at his Santa Anita Park barn, trainer Tim Yakteen took a look back at last Saturday’s Kentucky Derby shocker by 80/1 Rich Strike and came up with one inescapable conclusion many people overlooked. “Horses that show a fondness for Churchill Downs have a tendency […]
Rich Strike’s trainer, Eric Reed, nearly lost his entire stable in a barn fire. He got Rich Strike – a $30,000 claimer with one career win in seven starts — into the 148th Kentucky Derby with five minutes to spare Friday. When he left Post 21 at Churchill Downs, Rich […]
The options before Secret Oath – newly minted Kentucky Oaks winner Secret Oath – are plentiful and profitable. And Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas said the Preakness Stakes remains one of those options. “I’m going to let a few days go by and then I’ll get with (owner) […]
Jon White wants you to know this Kentucky Derby prognostication stuff can get rather tricky. He once picked Point Given to win the 2001 Derby because he simply was the best horse in the field. Point Given picked the first Saturday in May that year to run the worst race […]
Keeneland enjoyed its third consecutive year of record Spring Meet handle, bringing in an all-sources handle of $219,284,979 for its just-concluded Spring Meet. That handle was the largest total in the Kentucky track’s history. The more than $219 million from the 15-day meet that ended Friday represented a 33.16% increase […]
Golden Pal first broke into the public conscience nearly two years ago when he finished second in the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes at a near-empty Royal Ascot. You could be forgiven for not noticing, considering not even Queen Elizabeth II made a Royal Ascot appearance. You’ll probably notice when Golden […]
Keeneland’s stop on the Kentucky Derby trail, the Blue Grass Stakes, headlines opening weekend at the Lexington, KY. track. But this edition of Saturday’s 1 1/8-mile Derby prep does so with a renewed prestige boost. Grade 1 status. The Blue Grass regained that status this year, putting it with the Santa Anita Derby, […]
One of embattled trainer Bob Baffert’s last legal Hail Marys was swatted aside Friday when the Kentucky Court of Appeals denied his motion for an emergency stay of his 90-day suspension by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. According to the Thoroughbred Daily News, which first reported the story, that means […]
It went by Kentucky HB 607, an innocuous name for a bill that could put millions of dollars into horseplayers’ wallets after its Tuesday passage in the Kentucky State Senate. That bill, which heads back to the House for concurrence after sailing through the state senate 33-1, virtually eliminates breakage. […]
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert suffered another legal setback Monday in his bid to keep his considerable stable running when a Kentucky judge denied a stay of his 90-day suspension. The suspension, $7,500 fine, and forfeiture of Kentucky Derby winnings by Amr Zedan, the owner of the late Medina […]
Churchill Downs announced a 2022 stakes schedule for its spring/summer meet featuring a record 53 stakes worth a record $20.37 million. But, it’s a special stakes race Aug. 13 that drew the attention of horse racing fans. The Arlington Million. Yes, that Arlington Million, the marquee race at the now-late Arlington […]
Flavien Prat, who has had a hammerlock on the Southern California riding titles for the last several years, announced he would leave California and ride on the East Coast beginning next month. The Daily Racing Form broke the news that Prat would relocate to Kentucky for the Keeneland spring meet, […]
Traffic on the Kentucky Derby trail picks up again Saturday with a full cast of 14 entered in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club, the headlining race on Churchill Downs’ Saturday card. Up for grabs are 10-4-2-1 Derby qualifying points to the top four finishers, along with another Derby prospect […]
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