While the focus at this time of the year understandably is on 3-year-olds with designs on the Kentucky Derby, it was a breathtaking victory at Santa Anita Park last Saturday by a 3-year-old filly headed to the Kentucky Oaks that had many racing enthusiasts buzzing. Irish War Cry, Irap and Gormley now head to the […]
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Having difficulty finding a horse to wager on in this year’s Kentucky Derby? Don’t feel like the Lone Ranger. With just a few weeks to go until they sing “My Old Kentucky Home,” many of us still search for a Derby horse. With magnifying glasses. This season, no one stands out in this crowd. They’re […]
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Saturday, from coast-to-coast, they’re going to run a trio of venerable stakes races—the 80th Santa Anita Derby, the 93rd Wood Memorial and 93rd Blue Grass. Unfortunately, when billed as mere Triple Crown preps these gems suffer unfairly. Do yourself a favor and don’t think of them as opening acts. Warm ups. Sideline stretches. They are […]
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Following last Saturday’s victories by Always Dreaming in the Grade I Xpressbet.com Florida Derby and by Girvin in the Grade II Louisiana Derby, I now can count up the strikes for each colt. It is not until a horse has made his or her final start before the Kentucky Derby that one can determine a […]
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The selections contained within are geared to rolling exotic players. The basic strategy is to isolate those horses that should be included in rolling daily doubles, pick-3s, pick-4s, pick-5s, and pick-6. It is recommended that Jeff’s selections be used to augment the reader’s own personal handicapping, though excellent results can be achieved by applying the exact rolling exotic […]
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Apollo. Apollo. Apollo. Apollo. Apollo. Apollo. Apollo. Apollo. Apollo. Apollo. The 1882 Kentucky Derby winner was mentioned above 10 times. You can bet he is going to be mentioned many more times than that from now through May 6, the date of this year’s Kentucky Derby. That’s because Malagacy, who did not race as a […]
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Sometimes horseplayers will come across what turns out to be a “productive” or “key” race. Generally speaking, it’s a race that produces multiple next-out winners. However, the betting value of a “productive” or “key” race has diminished in recent years as a result of so many horseplayers becoming aware of these races. The flip side […]
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Below is the late Pick 4 ticket for Fair Grounds on Risen Star Day, February 25th, 2017. As always, the ticket is $20 or less. Race 8: Honorable Duty (#7, 8-1) won the local prep for this and has a recency edge over many of his key rivals in this race. His victory in the Tenacious […]
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Those who went ‘gaga’ over the NFL’s Super Bowl halftime show probably weren’t counting on the game’s conclusion outperforming the ‘Lady’ of the same surname. Amazingly, it did! Seems a bit foolish to hope that the second half of the 2017 Triple Crown season might rival such a finish, but we can hope. The unofficial […]
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Nyquist last year became the eighth undefeated Kentucky Derby winner. Of the 142 Kentucky Derby winners, these are the eight who emerged from the Run for the Roses with an undefeated record: 1915 Regret 1922 Morvich 1969 Majestic Prince 1977 Seattle Slew 2004 Smarty Jones 2006 Barbaro 2008 Big Brown 2016 Nyquist Will there be […]
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Unbeaten, untied and un-scored upon in three starts at two, Thoroughbred racing fans were poised to see how McCraken would perform in his first start at age three. He didn’t disappoint. The bay colt by Ghostzapper, out of Ivory Empress, bred in Kentucky by owner Whitham Thoroughbreds, first popped the gate back in October at […]
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Early in 2015, I wrote that American Pharoah reminded me of Seattle Slew in terms of pure talent. Seattle Slew won the Kentucky Derby in 1977 while on his way to a sweep of the Triple Crown. American Pharoah later in 2015 would likewise succeed in the Kentucky Derby while on his way to winning […]
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A certain Hall of Fame trainer is dominating three of this nation’s Grade I races to such an extent that it is getting to be downright ridiculous. The trainer is Bob Baffert. The three races are the Haskell Invitational (for 3-year-olds), Del Mar Futurity (for 2-year-olds) and Los Alamitos CashCall Futurity (also for 2-year-olds). Although […]
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Creator eked out a narrow win over Destin in last Saturday’s 148th running of the Belmont Stakes. But the performance of the day, of the week, of the month and of the year so far was the spectacular victory by Frosted in the 123rd edition of the Metropolitan Handicap. “That race yesterday was just a […]
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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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