Last Saturday’s San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita Park turned out to be a real humdinger. McKinzie, favored at even money in the Grade II affair, and Bolt d’Oro, sent off at 6-5, put on quite a show. They staged a furious battle from the quarter pole all the way to a photo finish. The […]
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Below is the late Pick 4 ticket at Santa Anita Park on ‘Big Cap’ Day, March 10th, 2018. As always the ticket is $20 or less. Race 8 Lexington Grace (#8, 6-1) fell hopelessly out of it in her U.S. debut before closing nicely to be fourth against tougher. She adds blinkers, which should put her […]
Read moreThis Saturday’s San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita Park should be a lot of fun to watch. The Grade II affair features an early season clash between McKinzie, who has been No. 1 on my Kentucky Derby Top 10 all year up to this point, and Bolt d’Oro, who currently is No. 2 on my […]
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The champ is back. Good Magic, who was voted a 2017 Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old male, returns to the racing wars this Saturday in the Grade II Xpressbet.com Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park. The 1 1/16-mile affair has drawn a field of 10. Trained by two-time Eclipse Award winner Chad Brown, Good […]
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As a four decades-plus horseplayer, former jockey agent, broadcaster, writer, racing official, etc., I’m often asked about the jockey factor–specifically, how important is the rider? It’s an interesting question. As you will discover, over the years, my response has changed. Two years ago, in the company of Hall-of-Fame jockey Javier Castellano among others, I was […]
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Below is the late Pick 4 ticket at Santa Anita Park on February 24th, 2018. As always the ticket is $20 or less. Race 7 Conquest Sabre Cat (#1, 5-1) ran poorly last time out, but that was against tougher at a distance further than his best. He now shortens up to a mile and drops […]
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‘Another one bites the dust,’ is the usual saying. However, this weekend more than ‘one’ sampled dust or, more appropriately, ‘mud.’ In a pair of Road to the Kentucky Derby starting gate qualifying point races–Risen Star at Fair Grounds and Southwest at Oaklawn Park–two strong favorites, Instilled Regard at 7/5 and Mourinho at 6/5, failed. […]
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What two former Quarter Horse trainers — D. Wayne Lukas and Bob Baffert — have managed to accomplish in Thoroughbred racing is truly phenomenal. Lukas has won the Kentucky Derby, the most coveted American race in Thoroughbred racing, four times (Winning Colors in 1988, Thunder Gulch in 1995, Grindstone in 1996 and Charismatic in 1999). […]
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Last weekend, Chris Littlemore finished first in the National Horseplayers Championship in Las Vegas to bag $800,000 and a 2018 Eclipse Award as the nation’s top equine prognosticator. He outplayed 567 foes, representing 701 total entries, to earn $384.30 from 53 mythical $2 win/place bets over the three-day extravaganza. Littlemore also earned spots in the […]
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Below is the late Pick 4 ticket at Santa Anita Park on February 17th, 2018. As always the ticket is $20 or less. Race 7 Madame Stripes (#4, 3-1) has an affinity for the Santa Anita Turf Course and beat a couple of her main rivals on the square last time out after breaking poorly. She […]
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Instilled Regard, who has the look of a rising 3-year-old star, has been installed as the 8-5 morning-line favorite in this Saturday’s Grade II Risen Star at New Orleans’ Fair Grounds. A $1,050,000 auction purchase, Instilled Regard returns to Louisiana from his Southern California base after winning the Grade III Lecomte at the Fair Grounds […]
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Below is the early Pick 5 ticket at Santa Anita Park for February 10th, 2018. As always the ticket is $20 or less. Race 1 Celebrate Life (#8, 5-2) drops in class after being used from the rail in a speed duel last time out. He is drawn outside today and still has room to improve after making […]
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Ever hear that nothing’s over until the fat lady sings? Apparently, the phrase has more to do with operatic structure than it does with overeating. And that’s good because when it comes to weight–or an excess of it–yours truly has little room to joke. Residual holiday girth, you see. (BTW, for how long into the […]
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Below is the late Pick 4 ticket at Santa Anita Park on February 3rd, 2018. As always the ticket is $20 or less. Race 6 Roosevelt (#6, 8-1) runs his best races when he is able to be close to the pace. He was marooned from a wide spot throughout his last race and was never […]
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Three-year-olds with Kentucky Derby ambitions will do battle this Saturday in a trio of graded stakes races in Florida, California and New York. These three races on the Road to the Kentucky Derby are Gulfstream Park’s Grade II Holy Bull at 1 1/16 miles, Santa Anita Park’s Grade III Robert B. Lewis at 1 1/16 […]
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