The $3 million Kentucky Derby looms. Delayed from its traditional date on the first Saturday in May due to the coronavirus nightmare, this year’s 146th running of the 1 1/4-mile classic is scheduled to be held at Churchill Downs a week from Saturday on Sept. 5. This will be the first time in the storied […]
Read more
Go ahead. You have permission. Feel free to create a Kentucky Derby Top 10 list. Today. With less than 20 days until the race it’s reasonably clear who’s in and who’s out. Rank them in order of preference. We’ll help: Number 1 is Tiz the Law. There, now you only need to come up with […]
Read more
As it stands right now, Tiz the Law undoubtedly is going to be a strong favorite in this year’s 1 1/4-mile Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs when he resumes his quest to become a Triple Crown winner on Sept. 5. So much has changed this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. This includes the order […]
Read more
Last weekend, in this space, yours truly suggested that Uncle Chuck could make Tiz the Law cry ‘Uncle’ in the Travers. We were half-right. Although there was plenty of ‘Uncle’ crying, unfortunately, most of it was done by Uncle Chuck instead of Tiz the Law. The weeping actually began long before the million-dollar featured race. […]
Read moreTurning for home in last Saturday’s 151st running of the Grade I Travers Stakes at Saratoga, it was odds-on favorite Tiz the Law who made Uncle Chuck “say uncle.” Tiz the Law put away Uncle Chuck at that stage of the race. Indeed, for all intents and purposes, the 2020 Travers then was over in […]
Read more
Last Saturday, at Del Mar, the Bob Baffert-trained Thousand Words took control of the Shared Belief Stakes and never let go. In his wake was the highly regarded and heavily favored Honor A. P. This Saturday, on the opposite coast, at Saratoga, a similar scenario could play out when Baffert saddles talented-but-untested Uncle Chuck against […]
Read more
Tiz the Law, who won the 1 1/8-mile Belmont Stakes with authority last time out, tiz the one to beat in the 1 1/4-mile Runhappy Travers Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday. There is no doubt about that. The Travers has attracted a field of eight. Tiz the Law drew post 6. Saratoga oddsmaker David Aragona […]
Read more
The $100,000 Shared Belief, to be contested Saturday at Del Mar, has never been a prep for the Kentucky Derby. Makes sense. Del Mar’s meet normally extends from late-July through Labor Day and the Kentucky Derby is run on the first Saturday in May. However, in case you haven’t noticed, nothing’s ‘normal’ this year. Not […]
Read more
In Seattle Slew’s career debut on Sept. 20, 1976, he won a six-furlong maiden race by five lengths at Saratoga, a major-league track. On July 28, 2020, David Peterson won his major-league debut when the left-hander led the New York Mets to an 8-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox. David’s father, Doug Peterson, trained […]
Read more
Calling Kentucky Derby winner Maximum Security’s career ‘interesting’ is like saying Babe Ruth hit some home runs. Both would be accurate but grossly inadequate descriptions. Maximum Security and Ruth actually have something in common. Both came from humble beginnings—Ruth was raised in an orphanage/reform school and Maximum Security’s parents were once discounted. Max’s sire New […]
Read more
Bob Baffert is probably best known for training two Triple Crown winners. He won the three races in 2015 with American Pharoah, who ended an excruciatingly long 37-year Triple Crown drought, and again in 2018 with Justify. The legendary “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons is the only other trainer to have won the Triple Crown twice. His […]
Read more
Del Mar racing is cancelled this weekend because of a rash of jockey COVID 19-positives and a spectator-less Saratoga season is underway. So, what else is new? It’s just another crazy weekend in a pandemic world. No worries. There are numerous opportunities nationwide for players to cash Saturday and Monmouth’s Haskell-day card looms as most […]
Read more
Coming off his first defeat when second in the Grade I Santa Anita Derby on June 6, Authentic seeks to regain his winning ways in Saturday’s Grade I Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park. The 1 1/8-mile affair has attracted a field of seven. Monmouth oddsmaker Brad Thomas has installed Authentic as the Haskell morning-line favorite […]
Read more
Wait a minute. This can’t be right. Keeneland and Del Mar racing in the same afternoon? Oh, that be right, alright. We’re in the COVID 19 twilight zone where anything’s possible. Experience racing ‘As it was meant to be’ while playing ‘Where the Turf Meets the Surf’ all in the same afternoon. Thought you’d never […]
Read more
Breaking with alacrity to seize the lead at once, Vekoma dared his seven opponents to overtake him during last Saturday’s Grade I Met Mile at Belmont Park. Not one of the seven ever could. George Weaver trains Vekoma. As an assistant, Weaver in 1996 saddled Honor and Glory for trainer D. Wayne Lukas when the […]
Read more