Now is the time for all good men (and women) to prepare for Breeders’ Cup. I hear you, BC Friday is two weeks away. What’s the rush? Well, you go right ahead and procrastinate. Wait until the night before to crack open Friday BC past performances. Then spend the day playing the races. And then […]
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Winx obviously takes the first three letters of her name very seriously. In Australia last Saturday, Winx cruised to a facile 6 1/2-length triumph over a half-dozen overmatched opponents in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes. A crowd of 20,822 at Melbourne’s lovely Flemington Racecourse watched the 6-year-old wonder mare extend her winning streak to 21. […]
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Horseplayers with sights set on cashing lucrative tickets during Breeders’ Cup—Friday, Nov. 3 & Saturday, Nov. 4 at Del Mar—now have seen just about all expected starters compete in final afternoon action. In other words, with most precincts reporting we can attempt to predict Breeders’ Cup race results. However, as we all learned on an […]
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Bolt d’Oro is said to have been named after the great sprinter Usain Bolt. But in last Saturday’s FrontRunner Stakes at Santa Anita, Bolt d’Oro showed everyone he certainly is not just a sprinter. Going farther than seven furlongs for the first time, Bolt d’Oro kept his unblemished record intact by registering a 7 3/4-length […]
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That old saw about how mice frolic when felines are on holiday would be a partially accurate description of what occurred (or didn’t occur) this past weekend in coast-to-coast graded stakes races. It’s also a coming attraction of what will happen this weekend, too, in major races nationwide. You see, this season, much more so […]
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A year after Arrogate, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has another big-time late-blooming 3-year-old. Arrogate began 2016 as an unraced maiden and put together a strong campaign during the second half of 2016 in a meteoric rise to superstardom. In his stakes debut, he won the Grade I Travers Stakes by 13 1/2 lengths […]
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Have you heard? Racing finished first! The longest shot on the board came in and everyone had it. Boxcar payoffs. Drinks on the house! And it wasn’t even a photo finish. Race was over at the quarter pole. What an exacta! Racing on top of the Internal Revenue Service. For once, it came the right […]
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“Look at Mrs. Tweedy! She is having the time of her life!” Chic Anderson said that to a vast CBS television audience as viewers watched an exuberant Penny Tweedy waving her arms wildly in celebration moments after Secretariat’s 31-length victory in the 1973 Belmont Stakes, a spectacular triumph that brought an end to a 25-year […]
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In his fifth decade in the sport, this writer gratefully lists some of sport’s most dedicated, talented and accomplished as friends, associates and acquaintances–trainers, jockeys, owners, breeders, grooms, exercise riders, agents, ushers and hot dog sellers. Unfortunately, many of them are no longer with us. And I miss them. Saturday, we lost Penny Chenery—crowned queen […]
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To be fair, I’m not a Hi 5 player. In fact, you can count the number of times I’ve actually made the wager on one finger. Why? I don’t know. Maybe I’m too busy trying to pick the first TWO finishers in a race to attempt to figure the first FIVE across the line? Also, […]
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The three top-ranked Thoroughbreds in the land are headed for a dramatic showdown in this year’s $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar on Nov. 4. No wonder racing enthusiasts are eagerly looking forward to that particular Grade I event, which will be decided at 1 1/4 miles on the dirt. Gun Runner, Arrogate […]
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Fun in the Sun, Xpressbet’s fun and profitable $100,000 Saratoga/Del Mar Handicapping Challenge, concluded Saturday with Darelene Wolfson capturing the lucrative $12,000 Seasonal First Prize. Wolfson’s final competition earnings totaled $1,084–just $9 better than runner-up Barbara Georgette and merely $71 ahead of John Sampiere in fifth. Richard Bombik finished third with $1,046 and Randy Murphey […]
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Reversing the maxim ‘Go West young man,’ West Coast shipped East and dominated Travers foes. Agreed, the performance wasn’t nearly as astonishing as the one delivered a season ago by barn-mate Arrogate in the same event. Still, message delivered: There’s a new star in the nighttime sky! During winter and spring, as sophomores mature and […]
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Travers is one of my favorite times of the year. It’s right up there alongside Thanksgiving, Kentucky Derby, Preakness and whenever the wife and I go on holiday. That’s because for roughly the last 15 years during Travers Week my pal Will and I have visited Saratoga for racing and to hit, chase and replace […]
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Will Arrogate regain his top form and crush his foes, just as he did in the Travers, Pegasus World Cup and Dubai World Cup? Is Arrogate going to get the victory, but have to battle for it? Will Arrogate get beat again, but at least run decently in defeat this time? Is Arrogate going to […]
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