Are you ready for 2019? You’d better be. It’s coming. Like it or not. And, as they say, ‘Time, like the subway, waits for no one.’ This past season was a good one. We had Justify, a Triple Crown winner, only the 13th in history. What’s that you say? Not a big deal? OK. […]
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Is Maximus Mischief another Smarty Jones? Smarty Jones won his first two career starts as a 2-year-old in 2003, both at Philadelphia Park, the track now known as Parx Racing. He won those races by 7 3/4 and 15 lengths. Smarty Jones then made it three for three with a victory at Aqueduct. He took […]
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Can you answer the following trivia question? From the first Daily Racing Form poll in 1936 and continuing on through the Eclipse Awards era that began in 1971, just one 3-year-old male champion has not been sent away as the favorite in at least one of his races at 3. Who was it? It’s […]
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VENUE: Churchill Downs on Nov. 2-3. Main Track: dirt, fast Friday and Saturday; Turf Course listed as yielding by Equibase on Friday; Turf Course listed as yielding by Equibase for Saturday’s Turf Sprint; Turf Course listed as good by Equibase for Saturday’s Filly & Mare Turf, Saturday’s Mile and Saturday’s Turf. $6 MILLION CLASSIC (NOV. […]
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This was a weird Breeders’ Cup. For me, the strangest ever. I’ve been around for all 35 of them–including in person at Hollywood Park in 1984 for the event’s maiden voyage. That sunny and 70 afternoon I stood this close to Elizabeth Taylor. Yep, that Liz Taylor. Our eyes met, briefly. Violet. Sparkling. Mesmerizing. Hers. […]
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If you think now is too early to begin handicapping Breeders’ Cup races then you’re horribly mistaken. While post positions haven’t been drawn yet, we’ve got a decent idea about which horses will be in what races. And if you’ve scanned that starting roster at all, you know how challenging picking winners Nov. 2 & […]
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Don’t look now but Breeders’ Cup is approaching faster than Winx in the stretch. Those two wonderful watch-and-wager days are less than a month away. That means now is the time to make like a squirrel and gather nuts. Not actual nuts. We’re talking Breeders’ Cup notes, gems, tidbits. They’ll come in handy in less […]
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It certainly was fitting that a grandson of Awesome Again won the Awesome Again Stakes. That’s what happened last Saturday at Santa Anita when Accelerate proved a punctual favorite for owner Hronis Racing and trainer John Sadler. Accelerate wowed observers with his record 12 1/4-length victory in Del Mar’s Pacific Classic on Aug. 18, but […]
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Last Saturday at Parx near Philadelphia, McKinzie won the 1 1/8-mile Pennsylvania Derby while making his first start since March 10. He thus became Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s latest 3-year-old to win a race worth $1 million or more during the second half of the year after not competing in any of the […]
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Saturday, the circus comes to town and I’m going. I’m as excited as a 10-year-old, too. Barnum & Bailey in Bensalem, PA. Sort of. It’s not the real circus, of course. After 146 years that show’s been cancelled. But it’s close because it includes a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows. Plus, […]
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The 2018 Horse of the Year is going to be either Justify or Accelerate. This is indicated by the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll this week in which these two horses received 39 of the 41 first-place votes. Justify received 30 first-place votes this week, compared to 9 for Accelerate. However, because the NTRA Top Thoroughbred […]
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Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s record in the Del Mar Futurity is ridiculous. Baffert on Monday won the Grade I race for the 14th time when 8-5 Game Runner came from off the pace and ran down 7-1 pacesetter Rowayton to prevail by 1 1/2 lengths. Roadster, also conditioned by Baffert, finished third in […]
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One definition of ‘showstopper’ is: A performance receiving prolonged applause from the audience. Saturday, we clapped so often and for so long our palms ached. At Arlington Park, in the Grade 1 Beverly D. Stakes, Chad Brown-trained horses finished first, second and third. Sistercharlie (Ire), Fourstar Crook and Thais (Fr), came home less than two […]
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Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer sent out Kentucky Derby starters in 2017 and 2018 who both outran their odds. In 2017, Hollendorfer was represented by 40-1 Battle of Midway, who finished third behind Always Dreaming and Lookin At Lee. In 2018, Hollendorfer-trained Instilled Regard, virtually ignored in the wagering at 85-1, finished fourth behind […]
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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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