VENUE: Del Mar on Nov. 3 and Nov. 4 Main Track: dirt, fast Friday and Saturday; Turf Course: firm Friday and Saturday. $6 MILLION CLASSIC (NOV. 4) Results: (1) Gun Runner, who paid $6.80, (2) Collected, (3) West Coast. Winner: Owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds & Three Chimneys Farm; trained by Steve Asmussen; ridden by Florent […]
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Stellar Wind (#2, 5/2) is tough as they come and should be right there on the wire in this year’s Distaff after a disastrous start last year. Prior to last year’s Breeders’ Cup, she beat Beholder twice and contrary to the belief of many, I think she is just as good this year as last. She […]
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Europe has dominated the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf in recent years and 2017 should be no exception. The improving Masar (#6, 9/2) looks to be the best of a large contingent of Euros in this year’s race. He is proven to be effective going one mile and appears to favor firm turf, which he will […]
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This year’s Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile has more questions than answers. Is Mor Spirit (#6, 3-1) in the same form he was in when winning the Met Mile following a layoff and sketchy work pattern? Are Sharp Azteca (#3, 9/2), Practical Joke (#10, 6-1) and Awesome Slew (#5, 12-1) capable of winning a major race around two […]
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The biggest question in this year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf is which Aidan O’Brien filly will win? September (#10, 6-1) is the less heralded of O’Brien’s two stars, but she may prove to be just as efficient in America as Happily (#2, 9/2). I urge everyone the take a look at September‘s last race. The chart comment of lacked room […]
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For the last few weeks, this space has been dedicated to handicapping discussions regarding the fast approaching Breeders’ Cup. Well, that train has just about reached the station. And, if you haven’t already attempted to unravel any of the 13 mysteries masquerading as Breeders’ Cup events, what are you waiting for? While we don’t know […]
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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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Below is the late Pick 4 ticket for an great card at Santa Anita Park on September 30th, 2017. As always, the ticket is $20 or less. Race 8: Front Runner Stakes Bolt d’Oro (#4, 2-1) is a star in the making and his win in the Del Mar Futurity was even better than it looks on paper. […]
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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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