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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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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Now that it is July, it’s time for this column’s ranking of the Top 10 performances by a Thoroughbred in the United States during the first half of the year. A Thoroughbred’s performance can make my list for a variety of reasons, such as: –A win by a big margin while showing brilliance. –Recording a […]
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“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” –William Shakespeare Hate to disagree with “The Bard” but, as kids say…Not! If you’re gonna name a 2-year-old Thoroughbred filly Diamondsandpearls you had better be positive she can run. Otherwise, why saddle a filly with a handle she can’t possibly match? ‘Diamondsandpearls’ suggests beauty, refinement […]
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Santa Anita Park is called the Great Race Place. And one of the greatest performances by a first-time starter ever seen there occurred in the eighth race on March 19, 2011, when Maclean’s Music was so fast that he seemed to make the palm trees sway. Yes, that’s the same Maclean’s Music whose son Cloud […]
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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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The eyes of the racing world will be on Gulfstream Park when the Pegasus World Cup Invitational is run for the first time this Saturday. Its opulence in horse racing is unprecedented. The $12 million purse makes it the richest horse race that has ever been contested on the planet (or in the universe, for […]
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The 2016 Eclipse Award finalists recently were revealed. The winners in each category will be announced this Saturday at the 46th annual Eclipse Awards dinner in Florida at Gulfstream Park. The first year I made Eclipse Award predictions in this column was for racing in 2011. My Eclipse Award predictions have been correct 91.7% of […]
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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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Nothing like a new beginning. A fresh start. Clean slate. That’s what landed on our doorsteps less than two weeks ago. The gift of the New Year. Hope. Opportunity. The future. An empty canvas beckoning a masterpiece. A blank Word doc anticipating the Great American Novel. A zero win/loss Xpressbet balance. ‘Now’ represents a golden […]
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Merry Christmas to all! Below is the late Pick 4 ticket for December 26th, 2016 at Santa Anita Park. The Opening Day pool is guaranteed at $1 million. As always, the ticket is $20 or less. Race 6: Drummer (#4, 12-1) offers tremendous value in a wide-open edition of the San Simeon. He made a nice middle […]
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While Lady Eli (#8, 5-2) is everyone’s sentimental pick, Seventh Heaven, (#3, 3-1) appears to be the horse to bet in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf. She loves a firm turf and has thrived on left-handed courses. She defeated the mighty Found with ease two starts back and only a horrendous trip in […]
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Noted and Quoted (#10, 9-2) looked like a brand new horse in the morning after traveling from Del Mar to Santa Anita Park prior to Chandelier Stakes. She transferred her strong morning workouts over Santa Anita’s dirt to afternoon success when winning the Chandelier. She has worked very well since, further proving the notion that […]
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While Songbird (#1, 6-5) has never run as fast as Stellar Wind or Beholder, it would be foolish to discount the chances of an undefeated filly whose never been asked for her best. She will need her best to beat two outstanding horses and this should be the most exciting race on the Breeders’ Cup […]
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