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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Tiz the Law’s luck finally ran out. Rabbit’s foot rubbed raw. Held the wrong end of the wishbone. Drew the short straw. Too bad, Tiz the Law was on quite a roll. Held the dice all year; pass after pass, point after point. Finally, Saturday, in the Kentucky Derby ‘Tiz rolled a seven. During an […]

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“He’s the real deal.” That’s what Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert wrote in response to my text congratulating him for his record-tying sixth Kentucky Derby victory last Saturday with Authentic. Come to think of it, how could a horse with the name Authentic be anything but the “real” deal, right? Baffert has now won […]

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KENTUCKY DERBY SELECTIONS AND ANALYSIS Xpressbet.com Column It’s Post Time by Jon White (Sept. 2, 2020) The 156th running of the $3 million Kentucky Derby will be contested Saturday at Churchill Downs. Tiz the Law no doubt will be an odds-on favorite in the field of 18 entered in the 1 1/4-mile classic. This is […]

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It figures. As soon as the package from Amazon hits the doorstep you realize you don’t need the product after all. At least not right now. That’s sort of how the folks at Churchill Downs feel. They ordered a brand-spanking new 20-stall starting gate, custom made especially for them, only to find out that this […]

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Saturday Saratoga Late Pick 4 Analysis The final four Saturday Spa races provide a challenging sequence. Two Grade 1 stakes races—a loaded 7-furlong sprint and a collection of familiar faces going a mile and one-half—offer plenty of options to horseplayers. A maiden 2-year-old heat and a first level, state-bred allowance race, with 9 and 12 […]

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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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Last Saturday, at Del Mar, the Bob Baffert-trained Thousand Words took control of the Shared Belief Stakes and never let go. In his wake was the highly regarded and heavily favored Honor A. P. This Saturday, on the opposite coast, at Saratoga, a similar scenario could play out when Baffert saddles talented-but-untested Uncle Chuck against […]

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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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The $100,000 Shared Belief, to be contested Saturday at Del Mar, has never been a prep for the Kentucky Derby. Makes sense. Del Mar’s meet normally extends from late-July through Labor Day and the Kentucky Derby is run on the first Saturday in May. However, in case you haven’t noticed, nothing’s ‘normal’ this year. Not […]

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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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Calling Kentucky Derby winner Maximum Security’s career ‘interesting’ is like saying Babe Ruth hit some home runs. Both would be accurate but grossly inadequate descriptions. Maximum Security and Ruth actually have something in common. Both came from humble beginnings—Ruth was raised in an orphanage/reform school and Maximum Security’s parents were once discounted. Max’s sire New […]

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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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Del Mar racing is cancelled this weekend because of a rash of jockey COVID 19-positives and a spectator-less Saratoga season is underway. So, what else is new? It’s just another crazy weekend in a pandemic world. No worries. There are numerous opportunities nationwide for players to cash Saturday and Monmouth’s Haskell-day card looms as most […]

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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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