The $3 million Kentucky Derby looms. Delayed from its traditional date on the first Saturday in May due to the coronavirus nightmare, this year’s 146th running of the 1 1/4-mile classic is scheduled to be held at Churchill Downs a week from Saturday on Sept. 5. This will be the first time in the storied […]
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As it stands right now, Tiz the Law undoubtedly is going to be a strong favorite in this year’s 1 1/4-mile Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs when he resumes his quest to become a Triple Crown winner on Sept. 5. So much has changed this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. This includes the order […]
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Tiz the Law, who won the 1 1/8-mile Belmont Stakes with authority last time out, tiz the one to beat in the 1 1/4-mile Runhappy Travers Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday. There is no doubt about that. The Travers has attracted a field of eight. Tiz the Law drew post 6. Saratoga oddsmaker David Aragona […]
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In Seattle Slew’s career debut on Sept. 20, 1976, he won a six-furlong maiden race by five lengths at Saratoga, a major-league track. On July 28, 2020, David Peterson won his major-league debut when the left-hander led the New York Mets to an 8-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox. David’s father, Doug Peterson, trained […]
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Bob Baffert is probably best known for training two Triple Crown winners. He won the three races in 2015 with American Pharoah, who ended an excruciatingly long 37-year Triple Crown drought, and again in 2018 with Justify. The legendary “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons is the only other trainer to have won the Triple Crown twice. His […]
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Coming off his first defeat when second in the Grade I Santa Anita Derby on June 6, Authentic seeks to regain his winning ways in Saturday’s Grade I Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park. The 1 1/8-mile affair has attracted a field of seven. Monmouth oddsmaker Brad Thomas has installed Authentic as the Haskell morning-line favorite […]
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Breaking with alacrity to seize the lead at once, Vekoma dared his seven opponents to overtake him during last Saturday’s Grade I Met Mile at Belmont Park. Not one of the seven ever could. George Weaver trains Vekoma. As an assistant, Weaver in 1996 saddled Honor and Glory for trainer D. Wayne Lukas when the […]
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Now that the calendars have been flipped over to July, it’s time for my list of the Top 10 performances by a Thoroughbred in the United States during the first half of 2020. When there were just a handful of tracks conducting live racing for several weeks earlier this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, […]
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As a result of Tiz the Law’s emphatic triumph in last Saturday’s 152nd running of the Grade I Belmont Stakes, he solidified his position atop this week’s NTRA Top Three-Year-Old Poll. It was nearly unanimous. I think it should have been unanimous. Tiz the Law received 28 first-place votes last week, while Honor A.P. garnered […]
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This Sunday is Father’s Day. Not only that, it would have been my father’s 91st birthday if he had not passed away on June 1, 2017. I miss my dad so much. I do. My dad loved horse racing. He also loved baseball, basketball and football. But horse racing was his favorite sport. His love […]
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Many, as expected, perceived last Saturday’s Grade I Santa Anita Derby as a two-horse race between 1-2 favorite and 2-1 second betting choice Honor A.P. What happened? They did indeed run one-two. In Santa Anita’s Grade II San Felipe Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on March 7, Authentic won by 2 1/4 lengths. […]
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Is this Saturday’s Grade I Santa Anita Derby a two-horse race between Authentic and Honor A.P.? Many no doubt are going to see it that way. But viewing a race that way sometimes can backfire. CAUTION: There are times when neither horse wins what many perceive to be a two-horse race. One need only go […]
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The field is taking shape for the 1 1/8-mile Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park on June 20, which for the first time will kick off this country’s Triple Crown series. The 1 1/4-mile Kentucky Derby then will be held at Churchill Downs on Sept. 5. It will be followed by the 1 3/16-mile Preakness Stakes […]
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If a horse sweeps the Belmont Stakes, Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes this year, will the horse be a Triple Crown winner who deserves an asterisk? That question is being pondered now that we know the Triple Crown is going to be radically different this year. The three-race series has been forced to undergo a […]
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In light of the recent announcement that Wise Dan has been elected to the Hall of Fame, this seems a good time to revisit my list of the Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th and 21st Centuries to have raced in North America. Wise Dan is on the list. My Top 100, which is updated […]
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