Each year, at about this time, I’m accosted by a band of hooligans. Originally, it used to happen once a year, perpetrated by a mob of seven. Over time, perhaps embolden by impunity and encouraged by plunder, they now attack on back-to-back days—always Friday and Saturday around the first weekend in November. Also, their legion […]
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Talk about a Breeders’ Cup record that has stood the test of time. Thirty-five years ago, Precisionist won the second running of the six-furlong Breeders’ Cup Sprint by three-quarters of length at Aqueduct. He was credited with a 125 Beyer Speed Figure. It remains the highest Beyer ever posted by the winner of a Breeders’ […]
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Saturday at Santa Anita, 3-year-old Omaha Beach won the Grade 1 Santa Anita Sprint Championship in thrilling fashion, closing along the inside under Hall-of-Fame jockey Mike Smith to nail speedy and heavily-favored Shancelot on the money in 1:08 3/5. The victory was made even more exciting because Omaha Beach had been the Kentucky Derby morning […]
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The distance from the last turn to the finish on the main track at Santa Anita measures 990 feet. It’s the standard length of the stretch run in terms of a typical one-mile oval. It turned out that Omaha Beach and Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith needed every bit of that 990 feet of […]
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A mere 30 days separate this writing and one of racing’s most popular afternoons– Breeders’ Cup Championship Saturday at Santa Anita. It’s a bit frightening to realize that this will be the BC’s 36th renewal. Present at Hollywood Park on a sunny Saturday afternoon when 7 races worth a total of $10 million played out […]
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The NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll each week gives everyone an indication as to where the race for Horse of the Years stands if Eclipse Award votes were cast that particular week instead of at the end of the year. The Breeders’ Cup races at Santa Anita Park on Nov. 1-2 no doubt will, as usual, […]
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The Stronach Five sometimes gets lost in the handicapping shuffle. That’s understandable. With a plethora of jackpot pick sixes and garden-variety early and late pick five wagers available nowadays it’s easy for the quintet to slip through the cracks. Don’t let that happen today—Friday, September 27! There’s a $107k Stronach Five carryover in play with […]
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Yours truly will visit Parx Saturday for a fun-filled afternoon at the races. It’s a short drive—about 45 minutes east on the PA Turnpike—but a special one because it will be Pennsylvania Derby Day, a golden opportunity to meet with out of town friends, acquaintances and to enjoy some outstanding racing in my own backyard. […]
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With the Breeders’ Cup returning to Santa Anita Park this year on Nov. 1-2, it’s perfectly understandable if some folks might think back to a Breeders’ Cup performance at that Southern California track in 2009. It’s hard to believe that 10 years have passed since Zenyatta’s thriller of a victory in the BC Classic at […]
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This is an interesting renewal of the Ricoh Woodbine Mile that’s attracted talented locals, a pair of fillies and a duo of contenders from ‘down south.’ Strange to think of Saratoga as being ‘down south,’ but when you’re talking Toronto, Canada, that’s the case. Woodbine’s racing product is solid and a fantastic diversion for US-based […]
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Now that the 2019 Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita Park on Nov. 1-2 is on the horizon, I have formulated my own early odds for what currently is shaping up to be a pretty wide-open Breeders’ Cup Classic. The Grade I event, which has a purse of $6 million, will be contested at 1 1/4 […]
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Last weekend, as the sun set on two horseplayer summer favorites–Saratoga and Del Mar–Xpressbet served up a farewell of its own toward Fun in the Sun–the fascinating and challenging 8 week handicapping tournament that boasted $8,500 in weekly prizes as well as four seats to the Pegasus World Cup Handicapping Championship to seasonal leaders! After […]
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No trainer has dominated any of this country’s current Grade I races as much as Bob Baffert’s 14 victories in the Del Mar Futurity. According to my research, the next most wins by a trainer in any of this country’s current Grade I races is nine. D. Wayne Lukas has won the Del Mar Debutante […]
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Yours truly is fresh off four days in Saratoga and the trip was…Spa-tacular! It was the 17th time side-kick Will and I have made the trek northward to Saratoga for Travers week. At the conclusion of this year’s sojourn, we both agreed that this was the best ever. It’s difficult to put a finger on […]
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In the days leading up to the Travers, Shug McGaughey expressed his confidence that Code of Honor was going to run a biggie in this important 1 1/4-mile event. And the chestnut colt did not let his Hall of Fame trainer down. Ninth early in the field of 12, Code of Honor charged to the […]
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