Cup Half Empty When I reflect on the 2020 Breeders’ Cup, I definitely won’t see a Cup that’s ‘half full.’ This year count me firmly in the ‘half empty’ section. Better yet, if you’ve got a ‘Cup is half empty, cracked and leaking’ division, I’m there. The only saving grace from my 2020 BC experience […]
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VENUE: Keeneland on Nov. 6-7. Main Track: dirt, fast Friday and Saturday; Turf Course: good Friday and for Saturday’s BC Turf Sprint, firm for Saturday’s BC Filly & Mare Turf, BC Mile and BC Turf. $6 MILLION CLASSIC (NOV. 7) Results: (1) Authentic, who paid $10.40, (2) Improbable, (3) Global Campaign. Winner: Owned by Spendthrift […]
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Horse-by-Horse Classic & Complete BC Analysis The depth of talent is in this year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic is impressive. We’ve got two of the best 3-year-olds–Derby and Belmont winners—matched against three of the top-ranked older horses in the nation. In short, everyone who’s anyone is in here. That rarely happens. Knock on wood that this […]
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BREEDERS’ CUP SELECTIONS Xpressbet.com Column It’s Post Time by Jon White (Nov. 4, 2020) $1 MILLION JUVENILE TURF SPRINT (FRIDAY) 1. GOLDEN PAL (8-5 on the morning line) Believe he wins despite post 14; Ward praises him 2. BODENHEIMER (8-1) Lone loss by WA-bred came on soft ground 3. AFTER FIVE (6-1) Maiden by The […]
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One Week Out, Del Mar Pick 4 Analysis We’re approximately one week out from the 2020 Breeders’ Cup. And that’s not much time. Especially when you consider the amount of preparation required to analyze 201 pre-entered worldwide runners sandwiched into 14 races. So, what’s the best way to dig into early BC data for insight […]
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REVISITING KEENELAND’S PREVIOUS BC CLASSIC Xpressbet.com Column It’s Post Time by Jon White (Oct. 28, 2020) This year will be the 11th time that the Breeders’ Cup has been held in Kentucky. Prior to 2020, there have been nine Breeders’ Cups at Churchill Downs (1988, 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2006, 2010, 2011 and 2018) and […]
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Thankfully, in this year of Our Lord two thousand and twenty, or whatever else you want to call what we’ve experienced since Jan. 1 (expletives permitted), some things remain relatively undisturbed. It’s mid-October, trees have turned or are completely undressed and Breeders’ Cup is on the horizon. Two of racing’s biggest days are scheduled for […]
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The Southern California racing community received a one-two punch of bad news in recent days when learning that retired trainers Gary Jones and Barry Abrams had died. Jones was 76. Abrams was 66. In recent years, Jones’ failing health included the onset of dementia. He died Sunday at his home in Del Mar, where he […]
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The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked considerable havoc throughout the world this year. But in a year in which it seems there have been so many more lowlights than highlights, a ferocious equine tussle all the way down the stretch in the 145th Preakness Stakes became a welcome diversion for Thoroughbred racing fans during these troubled […]
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It’s nice to know that throughout this pandemic-infested, dumpster fire of a year one thing remains constant: Bob Baffert has the horse to beat in the Preakness. It’s been that way often over the last two and one-half decades and it’s that way again as he saddles Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness favorite Authentic and […]
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Trends or angles sometimes can grab one’s attention when it comes to sports in general or horse racing in particular. How about this trend? Prior to last Saturday’s game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggetts, whenever the Lakers had the lead going into the fourth quarter in a playoff game, their win-loss record […]
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Smoke has cleared, literally, and racing at The Great Race Place returns this weekend with gusto. The 11-race Saturday card features 7 stakes races–4 graded and 5 that carry ‘Win and You’re In’ Breeders’ Cup fees-paid berths to respective championship races at Keeneland Nov. 6 & 7. Saturday afternoon’s gem figures to be the Grade […]
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The sun will come up tomorrow morning. I’m guessing this does not come as a surprise to you. Nearly just as predictably, Tiz the Law is not running in the Grade I Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on Oct. 3. Consequently, Tiz the Law has exited my Preakness Top 10 this week. He ranked […]
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As Santa Anita connections await clear skies and the cessation of damaging fires in the nearby areas, Belmont and Churchill carry the late-September banners as the most popular tracks operating in the US this weekend. However, Saturday, north of the border in Toronto, Canada, Woodbine has an outstanding card highlighted by the Grade 1, $1 […]
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Is Belmont Stakes winner Tiz the Law going to run in the Grade I, $1 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on Oct. 3? Or will he bypass the final leg of this year’s coronavirus-related revamped Triple Crown series and start next in the Grade I, $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland on […]
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