The champ is back. Good Magic, who was voted a 2017 Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old male, returns to the racing wars this Saturday in the Grade II Xpressbet.com Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park. The 1 1/16-mile affair has drawn a field of 10. Trained by two-time Eclipse Award winner Chad Brown, Good […]
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As a four decades-plus horseplayer, former jockey agent, broadcaster, writer, racing official, etc., I’m often asked about the jockey factor–specifically, how important is the rider? It’s an interesting question. As you will discover, over the years, my response has changed. Two years ago, in the company of Hall-of-Fame jockey Javier Castellano among others, I was […]
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‘Another one bites the dust,’ is the usual saying. However, this weekend more than ‘one’ sampled dust or, more appropriately, ‘mud.’ In a pair of Road to the Kentucky Derby starting gate qualifying point races–Risen Star at Fair Grounds and Southwest at Oaklawn Park–two strong favorites, Instilled Regard at 7/5 and Mourinho at 6/5, failed. […]
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What two former Quarter Horse trainers — D. Wayne Lukas and Bob Baffert — have managed to accomplish in Thoroughbred racing is truly phenomenal. Lukas has won the Kentucky Derby, the most coveted American race in Thoroughbred racing, four times (Winning Colors in 1988, Thunder Gulch in 1995, Grindstone in 1996 and Charismatic in 1999). […]
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Last weekend, Chris Littlemore finished first in the National Horseplayers Championship in Las Vegas to bag $800,000 and a 2018 Eclipse Award as the nation’s top equine prognosticator. He outplayed 567 foes, representing 701 total entries, to earn $384.30 from 53 mythical $2 win/place bets over the three-day extravaganza. Littlemore also earned spots in the […]
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Instilled Regard, who has the look of a rising 3-year-old star, has been installed as the 8-5 morning-line favorite in this Saturday’s Grade II Risen Star at New Orleans’ Fair Grounds. A $1,050,000 auction purchase, Instilled Regard returns to Louisiana from his Southern California base after winning the Grade III Lecomte at the Fair Grounds […]
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Ever hear that nothing’s over until the fat lady sings? Apparently, the phrase has more to do with operatic structure than it does with overeating. And that’s good because when it comes to weight–or an excess of it–yours truly has little room to joke. Residual holiday girth, you see. (BTW, for how long into the […]
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How quickly the Kentucky Derby picture can change. Fans of the sport each year certainly are entertained by the many twists and turns on the Derby trail. There were three races on the Road to the Kentucky Derby last Saturday. They were Gulfstream Park’s Grade II Holy Bull at 1 1/16 miles, Santa Anita’s Grade […]
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Three-year-olds with Kentucky Derby ambitions will do battle this Saturday in a trio of graded stakes races in Florida, California and New York. These three races on the Road to the Kentucky Derby are Gulfstream Park’s Grade II Holy Bull at 1 1/16 miles, Santa Anita Park’s Grade III Robert B. Lewis at 1 1/16 […]
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Near the conclusion of Saturday’s Pegasus World Championship, 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner and jockey Florent Geroux thundered home through a warm, windy Gulfstream stretch and then rode off into the sunset. Gun Runner exited on a high note. Bid adios, amigos. Dropped the mic. He’s gone, now. Off to stud. No doubt, […]
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The 2017 Eclipse Award finalists were revealed earlier this month. The winners in each category will be announced at the 47th annual Eclipse Awards dinner at Gulfstream Park on Thursday, Jan. 25. The first year that I made Eclipse Award predictions in this column was for the racing that was conducted in 2011. Through the […]
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Worldwide horse racing fans aren’t salivating at the prospect of seeing Gun Runner contest the $16 million Pegasus World Cup Saturday at Gulfstream Park. The 5-year-old, expected to be named 2017 Horse of the Year Thursday night, lacks a following commensurate with his accomplishments. Why? Stay tuned for a theory because, based on ‘just the […]
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The evidence is mounting that the Southern California-based 3-year-olds are strong in 2018. This brings to mind what happened during a recent three-year period in the Triple Crown races. SoCal based 3-year-olds enjoyed considerable success in these historic races from 2014 through 2016, winning seven of the nine. SoCal-based California Chrome won the Kentucky Derby […]
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Pardon me. I Have some catching up to do. Yours truly missed live racing action Saturday because he was busy at Lincoln Financial Field rooting hard for the hometown 11. The Philadelphia Eagles—a team I have spent a lifetime supporting through thick and thin (BTW, it’s been way more ‘thin’ than ‘thick’)—met the Atlanta Falcons […]
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At this writing, it’s freezing outside. Technically, I suppose, it’s below freezing. Way below. Been that way for a while, too. What’s that line, ‘everyone complains about the weather but nobody ever does anything about it.’ Word! In times like these there’s temptation to look past the current climate and ahead, toward spring and what […]
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