The Belmont Stakes is still a week away and it’s already giving me a headache. In fact, this Triple Crown season has been one aggravation after another. The pain in my head started on the first Saturday in May and gained ferocity with the Preakness. Now, as the Belmont approaches, it’s even more intense. And […]
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Race 8: Rocko’s Wheel (#7, 5-1) looks primed for a big effort third start off a layoff. His best races have come routing and after two sprints versus open company, the four-year-old colt returns to his best distance against Cal-Breds. Trainer Phil D’Amato called him his “dark horse” of the weekend during XBTV AM. Songforjohnmichael […]
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The Triple Crown is on ice. Frozen solid. Nyquist’s defeat Saturday at Pimlico guaranteed that and I’m OK with it. Truthfully, I wasn’t emotionally prepared to witness another Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes sweep this year. Granted, if Nyquist had turned the trick I would have been suitably impressed. Winning a Triple Crown is […]
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Nyquist dominated Kentucky Derby foes two weeks ago with the kind of speed and determination top class runners often display. It was his eighth win in as many starts and he became just the second 3-year-old, along with Street Sense, to parlay a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile victory into a Kentucky Derby triumph. He will be […]
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Is it Safe? On the first Saturday in May 2016, at Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY, in the 12th race, 3-year-old colt Nyquist won for the eighth time in as many tries. In the process he definitively defeated the most outstanding collection of sophomore equines gathered anywhere on this spinning blue marble this year. With […]
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Race 9- Shakhimat (#8, 5-1) was very impressive in the Transylvania Stakes last time out and could sneak away from this field on the front end. He has never been better and catches a field without much early speed. Airoforce (#1, 4-1) is a tricky read. His two-year-old form is good enough to win this […]
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Race 7: Hotsy Dotsy (#2, 6-1) ran well in her debut before catching a freak in Enola Gray in her second start. The daughter of Unusual Heat offers upside trying a route and grass for the first time. Her trainer, Scott Hansen, strikes at 30% when stretching horses out to route. Stipend (#7, 2-1) is […]
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This year’s Kentucky Derby is so close you could walk to it. It’s right around the corner, next door to the Kentucky Oaks. And, if you plan on visiting the big race on the first Saturday in May, you’d better bring along a copy of Xpressbet’s Kentucky Derby Wager Guide. Why? Good question. Because you’re […]
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The Kentucky Derby is a bit more than two weeks away and that means it’s time to review what we’ve seen at coast-to-coast tracks in preparation for an all-out assault on Derby mutuel payoffs. Loyal readers will recall that this horseplayer annually sets his sights on the Kentucky Derby superfecta bulls-eye. Sometimes we hit it; […]
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Three major Kentucky Derby prep races were contested Saturday and what we learned about this season’s crop could fill a…well…could fill a Kentucky Derby superfecta ticket. The Wood Memorial at Aqueduct featured an unbeaten favorite in the Chad Brown-trained Shagaf against seven foes, including second choice Outwork–a Todd Pletcher student and mere one-time loser […]
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Following his demolition of nine Xpressbet Florida Derby foes Saturday, Reddam Racing’s Nyquist now is unbeaten in seven lifetime starts and finally has vaulted to the head of the 2016 Kentucky Derby class. At this point, he is expected to be the favorite for that prestigious race on the first Saturday in May. That this […]
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Dave Joseph’s crack publicity staff at Gulfstream Park immediately followed Wednesday’s $1 million Xpressbet.com Florida Derby post-position draw with a press release featuring quotes from several trainers with runners in the main event. As usual, horseplayers and fans alike ought to digest such hors d’oeuvres with a proverbial grain of salt. No trainer’s ever attempted […]
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I hate Dubai. Not the country, mind you, nor the people. I’ve never been, but the place looks amazing on the Internet—which, by the way, is how I travel these days. Not as stimulating as actually visiting a country, but it’s cheaper and safer. Dubai is home to Burj Khalifa—either the world’s tallest building or […]
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There’s a $548,670 pick-six pot of gold carryover at the end of the St. Patrick’s Day rainbow Thursday at Santa Anita and horseplayers nationwide are going to need the luck of the Irish to earn shares of a total pool expected to kiss over $3 million. Double carryovers in California pick six pools always are […]
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Despite the thermometer’s somewhat effective protest–currently displaying a frosty 23 degrees–spring is in the air. How do I know? Because there’s no surer sign of spring’s imminent arrival than that distinctive crack when bat meets ball.
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