Warning: Underestimate Maximum Security at your own peril. No doubt plenty of people are going to scoff at him in the Kentucky Derby. Many will view Maximum Security’s front-running 3 1/2-length victory at 9-2 in Gulfstream Park’s Grade I Xpressbet.com Florida Derby last Saturday as something of a fluke. There will be those who will […]
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The first strikes for the May 4 Kentucky Derby can now be revealed. Back in 1999, I developed my Derby Strikes System. The system consists of nine key factors. When a horse does not qualify in one of the nine categories, the horse gets a strike. The nine key factors (or categories) are explained at […]
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Last week, we agreed with the masses that Bob Baffert’s dynamic duo of Improbable and Game Winner would be tough in respective divisions of the Rebel Stakes. We liked the former a bit more than the latter but figured both would win. We were a quarter–right. They were hickory, but both lost in close finishes. […]
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Talk about a major detour on the Kentucky Derby trail. Game Winner, who is No. 1 on my Kentucky Derby Top 10, and Improbable, ranked No. 2, were supposed to have clashed in the Grade II San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita Park on March 9. However, Santa Anita on March 5 announced that it […]
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As the once popular Billy Idol song reminds, “With a rebel yell she cried, more, more, more.” Someone with ‘weight’ at Oaklawn Park must have been listening because this year we’ve got two divisions of the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes with 19 total runners, including unbeaten 2-year-old champ Game Winner and 3-for-3 stablemate Improbable. Turns […]
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Right Church, Wrong Pew Last week, in this space, we outlined challenges facing Hidden Scroll in the Fountain of Youth at a very short price. Unfortunately, it was a case of ‘right church, wrong pew.’ Our suggested superfecta didn’t use Honor Code in the top spot. This week, in the Grade 3 Gotham at Aqueduct, […]
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The highly anticipated confrontation between undefeated Eclipse Award winner Game Winner and undefeated Grade I winner Improbable will not be taking place this Saturday. Game Winner, who is No. 1 on my Kentucky Derby Top 10, and Improbable, ranked No. 2, were scheduled to clash in Saturday’s Grade II San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita […]
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Coming up later this week is the first Saturday in March. This, of course, means we are only a couple of months away from the coveted Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May. For the past several weeks, I have been putting together a Kentucky Derby Top 10 list. Here is my current Top […]
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Gulfstream Park has a blockbuster Saturday card that includes 9 graded stakes races and an assortment of guaranteed wagering pools certain to make any horseplayer’s mouth water. Of course, top draw is an unusually deep, competitive Grade 1 $400,000 Xpressbet Fountain of Youth Stakes. Below, we’ve included a pair of suggested $1 Superfecta moves that […]
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Last Friday the wife wanted to know, “Are there any big races this weekend?” “Yes, honey-bunny,” I answered (we’re Pulp Fiction fans), “from now through the first weekend in November.” And that’s nearly completely true. In the roughly 2 months leading up to the Kentucky Oaks and Derby, there are ‘big’ 3-year-old races almost weekly […]
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“An undefeated racehorse has an aura of invincibility.” That phrase, written many years ago by the fabulous turf writer Charles Hatton, came to mind when I happened to notice that No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 on my Kentucky Derby Top 10 list this week are all undefeated…so far. Here is my […]
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With a trio of 3-year-old stakes races on tap Saturday it would have been reasonable to expect one of those to emerge as the afternoon’s highlight. ‘Reasonable,’ but incorrect. While the Grade 2 Fasig-Tipton Holy Bull at Gulfstream, the Grade 3 Bob Lewis at Santa Anita, and the Grade 3 Withers at Aqueduct, in different […]
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City of Light’s dominating Pegasus World Cup Invitational score Saturday puts him alongside previous race winners in what ultimately could become an equine pantheon. As the third winner of the fledgling event ‘Light joins previous Pegasus champs Arrogate and Gun Runner, both considered the best active dirt horses in the world when they won the […]
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Trainer Bob Baffert has done something in the sport of Thoroughbred racing that has not received anywhere close to the attention it deserves. In fact, it has not received much attention at all. If something similar had happened in the NFL, NBA or MLB, it would be a very big deal. But in horse racing, […]
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Late Saturday night, after 10 horses have competed in the inaugural running of the $7 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational and 12 others have met in the third edition of the $9 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational, and following an evening with rapper Snoop Dogg and DJ Mark Ronson in the Pegasus LIV Stretch […]
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