There’s no Triple Crown on the line Saturday in what appears to be a lackluster Belmont Stakes. However, don’t sleep on this race. There’s a chance we could witness a breakout performance from a developing star. Tacitus has many positives going for him both in the Belmont Stakes and for the future. He could emerge […]
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Do you have a pen nearby? Go ahead and grab it. Next, get yourself a set of past performances for Saturday’s 151st running of the Grade I Belmont Stakes, the demanding 1 1/2-mile event that has drawn a field of 10. Okay, now take a look at the past performances for those 10 horses. Focus […]
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To say that this has been one of the most trying seasons in the history of beautiful Santa Anita Park would be accurate. This winter, beneath a persistent dark cloud, the place I fell in love with as a teenager and where I spent early mornings, afternoons and evenings for 30 years, has struggled. Friends, […]
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Showing once again that she truly was a fantastic claim, the equine ATM named Vasilika surged to a one-length victory in the Grade I Gamely Stakes at Santa Anita this past Monday. Sent off as the 11-10 favorite, Vasilika raced fifth early in the 1 1/8-mile grass affair. When the 5-year-old mare still was fifth […]
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A number of Preakness Stakes traditions continued last Saturday. Keeping with tradition, when the horses came onto the track for the Preakness Stakes post parade, the folks on hand at Pimlico Race Course sang “Maryland, My Maryland.” Also in keeping with tradition, after the 1 3/16-mile Preakness was declared official, the silks of the winning […]
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Redemption. That’s what winning the 144th Preakness meant to War of Will’s trainer Mark Casse. Forget that in a post-race interview Casse said he wouldn’t use that word to describe his feelings. It sure seemed that way to me. And not just redemption for the trainer. Young jockey Tyler Gaffalione and colt War of Will […]
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The dust has settled on Kentucky Derby 145. The lawsuits haven’t. If you’re either a Country House or Maximum Security fan there hasn’t been much time to celebrate or to cry over spilled milk. Two weeks between first and second legs of the Triple Crown provide little recovery time for man and beast. The ship […]
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It is a Preakness Stakes tradition that when the horses come onto the track for the post parade, the folks on hand at Pimlico Race Course are invited to sing “Maryland, My Maryland,” the official state song. It’s also a Preakness tradition that after the 1 3/16-mile race is declared official, the colors of the […]
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There is no question that the 2 019 Kentucky Derby is going to be discussed and debated for a very long time. I had hoped this week to be writing about Omaha Beach heading to the Preakness Stakes following his victory in the 1 1/4-mile Kentucky Derby. But after Omaha Beach had been installed as […]
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Maximum Security–starting as the 9/2 second choice to favored Improbable at 4-1–had the lead turning into the stretch of the 145th running of our nation’s most important horse race. He then drifted out suddenly into the path of… What am I doing? You don’t need a blow-by-blow rehashing of the event. Unless you’ve been training […]
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When I found out the news via a text message from a friend, I had trouble breathing. No, I did not have an entrapped epiglottis. But I did have trouble breathing because I felt as if somebody had just punched me in the gut really, really hard. I was so much looking forward to Omaha […]
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1. War of Will 20-1 M. Casse/Gafflione A misstep just after the start of the late-March Louisiana Derby resulted in a ninth-place finish at less than even-money. That darkened the form of this otherwise attractive runner. He was sore for a day or two after the race, but soon returned to training. Following 4 reasonable […]
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The field for the upcoming $3 million Kentucky Derby has taken shape. With that in mind, it seemed this would be an appropriate time to calculate projected odds for the 20 horses to have earned enough points and are currently listed as intended starters in the 1 1/4-mile classic Ever since Churchill Downs instituted the […]
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In case you didn’t notice, the Kentucky Derby is a bit over a week away. That means now is the time to begin searching for a winner, exacta, tri or super combination. Of course, you could wait until after post positions are drawn and final entries revealed. But, in that case, you would have waisted […]
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It was 10 weeks ago that Omaha Beach debuted on my Kentucky Derby Top 10. All he had done at that point was win a maiden race. But his Feb. 2 maiden performance impressed me to such an extent that, even though he had not even run in a stakes race yet, I decided to […]
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