Yet another important 2018 race was contested on a wet track. Accelerate won the Grade I Santa Anita Handicap by 5 1/2 lengths on a sloppy track last March 10. Justify splish-splashed his way to a 2 1/2-length triumph on a sloppy surface in the Grade I Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs last May 5. […]
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Serving notice that he will have to be dealt with during the second half of 2018, Good Magic proved a punctual 1-2 favorite in last Sunday’s $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park. According to Bob Baffert, following Justify’s 1 3/4-length victory in the Grade I Belmont Stakes on June 9, the Hall of Fame […]
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More than halfway through the 2018 Thoroughbred season, the entire picture has changed. Wonder horse Justify is stopped in his tracks. Out of the race. On ‘E’. Done. Gone. Retired. His departure abandons an assortment of rich and prestigious Grade 1 races, ripe and juicy for others to ‘carpe diem.’ Justify, apparent cinch 2018 Top […]
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I usually write about the early Pick 5 or late Pick 4, but there is a particular sequence at Del Mar that caught my eye on Saturday, July 20th. Bold Fantasy is my best bet of the day and runs in Race 6. I will start a $1 Pick 3 by singling this runner at […]
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The other shoe finally fell. It’s official. Unbeaten 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify is through racing. Done. Kaput. Retired. The unlucky 13th Triple Crown winner and earner of nearly $3.8 million will parade for fans Saturday at Del Mar, Where the Turf Meets the Surf, and then ship to Kentucky to begin a second and […]
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On June 9 at 6:50 p.m. Eastern Time at Belmont Park, the 2018 Belmont Stakes began. Ten 3-year-olds, including Justify, broke from the starting gate. That would be the final time Justify will ever leave a starting gate. Exactly 2:28.18 later, Justify crossed the finish line, a winner by 1 3/4 lengths to become the […]
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How does that popular Martha and the Vandellas ’64 hit go? ‘…Summer’s here and the time is right for dancing in the streets.’ Sounds fun! On second thought, let’s pass on the street dancing. Don’t want anyone hit by a car. Instead, how about a little ‘Fun in the Sun’ online with Xpressbet? To be […]
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Turns out the real reason Bob Baffert ‘backed off’ on Triple Crown winner Justify’s recent training had little to do with searing SoCal heat and more to do with a possibly elevated temperature in the Triple Crown winner’s ankle. According to a Tuesday press release from Winstar Farm, reported by Daily Racing Form’s Jay Privman, […]
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We find out things in oh so many different ways these days. I learned about Justify’s current plight via a BloodHorse “News Alert” email. When I read the following in the subject line of the email, I immediately thought, “Oh no.” Subject: Justify to Undergo Evaluation, Racing Plans on Hold The BloodHorse in the email […]
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Here’s an idea: How about we encourage the Commander in Chief to rustle up one of those handy ‘Executive Orders’ to restrict July 4th from ever falling on a Wednesday again? Why? Because having this holiday stuck in the middle of the week just won’t do. Oh, sure, you can make it work—use ‘vacay’ time […]
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Now that calendars have been flipped over to July, it is time for this column’s rankings of the Top 10 performances by a Thoroughbred in the United States during the first half of the year. A Thoroughbred’s performance can make my list for a variety of reasons, such as: –A win by a big margin […]
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Yours truly was present for the birth of the Pick Six. In the delivery room, alongside doctors, nurses, painters, carpenters, bartenders, cab drivers and…thousands of other horseplayers. It was June 7, 1980, and I was a fresh-out-of-college, wet-behind-the-ears member of the Hollywood Park publicity staff welcoming a newborn to US racing. Truthfully, I don’t remember […]
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The Los Angeles area is well known for bad traffic, good weather and earthquakes. It’s also become a hotbed for Triple Crown winners. There have been only two Triple Crown winners in the last 40 years, American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018. Both horses have been based in Southern California with Hall of […]
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Racing at Royal Ascot in 2018 resumed Tuesday…again. They’ve been picking them up and laying them down there since 1711, when Queen Anne drove from Windsor Castle with her entourage for a day’s sport. That’s 65 years before the signing of Declaration of Independence! But, who’s counting? As usual, this season’s opening-day Royal Procession was […]
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Below is the early Pick 5 ticket for June 16th, 2018 at Santa Anita Park. As always the ticket is $20 or less. Race 1 Young Hendrick (#2, 4-1) debuts for a barn (Phil D’Amato) and a sire (Square Eddie) that are very dangerous down the hill. He has worked very well coming into this race and […]
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