Popular and petulant sprinter Whitmore was retired from racing on Saturday, ending a remarkable career culminating in his naming as 2020 Champion Sprinter of the Year. Whitmore finished fifth of eight in Saturday’s Grade 1 Forego Stakes at Saratoga. Sensing something was wrong with the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Sprint champion, […]
Tag: Whitmore
Saturday at Saratoga: One of Racing’s Biggest Days of 2021
The names of those racing on Saturday’s Travers Day at Saratoga sound like a Thoroughbred all-star team: Essential Quality, Gamine, Letruska, Tribhuvan, Jackie’s Warrior, Life Is Good, Whitmore, Swiss Skydiver. All of them – and others you may have heard of – are set to run in one of Saratoga’s […]
Cross Country Pick 5 Takes to the Stakes This Week
Four stakes races up and down the graded-stakes ladder highlight this week’s New York Racing Association Cross Country Pick 5. The horizontal exotic once again brings you races from Monmouth Park, Saratoga, and Canada’s Woodbine. The minimum bet for the three-track, five-race wager is 50 cents. The Cross Country Pick […]
Watch the Blue-Blooded Sprinting Talent Clash in the Vanderbilt
The Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Stakes gives you the venerable Whitmore, the ubiquitous Firenze Fire, and the dynamic Mischevious Alex. Enough sprinting talent to throw in a trifecta box at, say, the Breeders’ Cup Sprint this fall at Del Mar. Except that, a few hours after Saratoga turns that […]
Temperamental, Cranky Champion Whitmore Returns to Saratoga
Whitmore is the equine version of your cranky uncle; the one who tells the great stories when he’s not telling the neighborhood kids to get off his lawn. And while this creates a special brand of headache for trainer Ron Moquett, it also comes with built-in aspirin for those headaches. […]
Authentic Runs Away With 2020 Horse of the Year Eclipse Award
Authentic rarely won his big races by big margins. But, he won his final “race†– the Eclipse Award for 2020 Horse of the Year – by a Secretariat at the Belmont-esque 31 lengths on the track. The Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic champion garnered 224 out of a […]
Authentic, Improbable, Monomoy Girl Head Eclipse Awards Finalists
Horse of the Year candidates Authentic, Improbable, and Monomoy Girl headline the finalists for the 2020 Eclipse Awards, announced Saturday by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB), and the Daily Racing Form. The Eclipse Awards get their name from the iconic 18th-century racehorse and […]
On Record-Setting Day, Breeders’ Cup Handle Takes Mild Dip
With Kentucky Derby champion Authentic, standout filly Gamine, and Knicks Go all winning Breeders’ Cup races in record time – and without general public tickets available – the Breeders’ Cup World Championships managed its sixth-highest all-sources handle since 2007. That was the year the Breeders’ Cup expanded to two days. […]
Whitmore Returns to Take On High-Grade Field in Forego Stakes
Do you go with the crafty veteran, Whitmore, he of the 14 wins in 35 races? Or do you forego that lukewarm favorite in the Grade 1 Forego Stakes and bet on Funny Guy? What about foregoing Funny Guy and playing betting brain games with Mind Control or Complexity? The […]
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 […]
Whitmore Shows the Youngsters How This Sprinting Game Works
Usually, horses of Whitmore’s age are working in the breeding shed or are retired. They’re not doing morning workouts. Usually, horses with 14 career wins are … well, rarely do horses with this portfolio get to 14 career wins. But here is Whitmore, a 7-year-old gelding, seeking career win No. […]