The numbers tell you how competitive Saturday’s Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap is from a wagering standpoint. Because this is a race where just about everyone can win. How competitive is the anchor stakes race on Oaklawn Park’s 12-race card? Six of the eight older horses in the 1 1/8-mile Oaklawn […]
Tag: Super Stock
Olympiad Seeking Another Gold-Medal Performance in New Orleans Classic
There’s a compelling and easy-to-understand reason why Olympiad took an 8/5 morning line favorite status into Saturday’s Grade 2 New Orleans Classic at Fair Grounds. That compelling, easy-to-understand reason doubles as a record-setting reason. That’s exactly what Olympiad did the last time he traveled to Louisiana from trainer Bill Mott’s winter […]
Lone Rock Becomes a Solid Choice in a Deep Razorback
This time last year, Lone Rock was preparing for a mid-level allowance race at Oaklawn Park. He was three months away from being claimed for $40,000 after a November race at Churchill Downs. Now, the gelding is two days away from racing for a chunk of a $600,000 purse in […]
Super Stock Throws His Millionaire Weight Around in Inaugural Poinsettia
Not three weeks after he parachuted in and came out with a resounding victory in the Zia Park Derby in New Mexico, Arkansas Derby champion Super Stock returns for Saturday’s inaugural Poinsettia Stakes at Oaklawn Park. The inaugural 1 1/16-mile Poinsettia, which gives 3-year-olds their last jaunt as sophomores, is […]
Asmussen, Ortiz Parachute Into Zia Park, Depart with Three Stakes Titles
Hall of Famer Trainer Steve Asmussen and Eclipse Award-winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. turned their Zia Park invasion into a walk in the park. The pair of Eastern invaders won three of the seven stakes on Zia Park’s Land of Enchantment Day card on Tuesday. That included the day’s biggest […]
Asmussen, Ortiz, Prat Invade Tiny Zia Park for Land of Enchantment Card
When it comes to must-see tracks, Zia Park is far off the high-profile path. The New Mexico track isn’t even located in – or near — one of the state’s two high-profile cities, Albuquerque or Santa Fe. But for Tuesday’s Land of Enchantment Stakes card, Zia Park is big enough […]
Cox Issues a Warrant for His Third Consecutive Oklahoma Derby Victory
Brad Cox became the first trainer to win three consecutive Oklahoma Derbies, sending out Warrant to a 1 ¾-length victory in Remington Park’s flagship race on Sunday. Not only did Cox set a new bar for Oklahoma Derby conditioners, he tied Oklahoma training mainstay Donnie Von Hemel for the most […]
Knicks Go Looks for His Lost Form in Iowa’s Cornhusker Handicap
Brad Cox’s reasoning for taking Knicks Go from the bright lights of New York to the cornfields of Iowa is simple, even if the idea of running a multiple-Grade 1-winning, Eclipse Award candidate in the Grade 3 Cornhusker Handicap stopped most racing fans in their tracks. “I’m hopeful he’ll get […]
Super Stock Chases Return to Form in Inaugural Texas Derby
We last saw Super Stock finishing a distant 16th in the Kentucky Derby. We’ll next see him back not in the final Triple Crown jewel – the Belmont Stakes – but in the inaugural Texas Derby. The 3-year-old Arkansas Derby winner is one of 10 expected sophomores in the $300,000 […]
Taking the Shorter Trail, Jaxon Traveler Puts the Odds in His Favor
Last November, Jaxon Traveler occupied the fast lane of Kentucky Derby prospects. At 60/1, he kept double-digit futures odds company with the likes of 45/1 Highly Motivated, 50/1 Hot Rod Charlie, 75/1 Midnight Bourbon, and 75/1 Keepmeinmind. Jaxon Traveler’s odds were lower than Hidden Stash and Super Stock (both 100/1). […]
Almost Back to Normalcy: Breaking Down the 2021 Kentucky Derby
Welcome to the 2021 Kentucky Derby. And welcome back to what a normal Kentucky Derby looks like. Almost. The crowds? Well, they’re back – about 40,000. That’s a quarter of what normally turns Churchill Downs into a sporting bacchanalia. But there’s people in the stands. We’ll take it. The horses? […]
The Derby Strike System: Does Your Horse Strike Gold or Strike Out?
That Jon White would come up with something like the Derby Strike System (DSS) makes sense when you consider its creator spent hours surreptitiously handicapping races during his high school classes. “I’d hide it from my teachers. But I’d hide it from my fellow students as well,†said White, Santa […]
Concert Tour’s Kentucky Derby Canceled, Baffert Colt Going to Preakness
Concert Tour, one of the Kentucky Derby futures darlings throughout the winter and early spring, will bypass the Derby and run in the Preakness Stakes. The news came via a Bob Baffert text to Churchill Downs, which announced the move in a Saturday morning press release. The Hall of Fame […]
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 […]