Saturday, Belmont serves up a graded stakes pick 4 feast racing fans and horseplayers should consume with delight. Portions aren’t overly generous—there are fields of 8-9-8-8 runners in races 8 through 11, respectively–but the quality is exceptional. Think fine dining versus all-you-can-eat buffet. Michelin stars not tires. The Grade 3 Poker pops the seal on […]
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Spanning the Globe Those of a certain age can recall hearing venerable sportscaster Jim McKay’s dramatic weekly voiceover, “Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sports…the thrill of victory…and the agony of defeat…the human drama of athletic competition. This is ABC’s Wide World of Sports.” It’s doubtful that this weekend’s Thoroughbred events […]
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A.P. Indy, a Horse of the Year on the track and one of the all-time great sires off the track, died at Lane’s End Farm in Kentucky last Friday from what was said to have been the infirmities of old age. He was 31. Lane’s End issued the following statement: “A.P. Indy passed away peacefully […]
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The first polls of 2020 conducted by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) are not far away. The NTRA early each year begins disseminating a Top Thoroughbred Poll and a Top 3-Year-Old Poll. The Top Thoroughbred Poll ends on the Monday following the Breeders’ Cup. That means this year the final poll will be on […]
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A mere 30 days separate this writing and one of racing’s most popular afternoons– Breeders’ Cup Championship Saturday at Santa Anita. It’s a bit frightening to realize that this will be the BC’s 36th renewal. Present at Hollywood Park on a sunny Saturday afternoon when 7 races worth a total of $10 million played out […]
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The NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll each week gives everyone an indication as to where the race for Horse of the Years stands if Eclipse Award votes were cast that particular week instead of at the end of the year. The Breeders’ Cup races at Santa Anita Park on Nov. 1-2 no doubt will, as usual, […]
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Now that the 2019 Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita Park on Nov. 1-2 is on the horizon, I have formulated my own early odds for what currently is shaping up to be a pretty wide-open Breeders’ Cup Classic. The Grade I event, which has a purse of $6 million, will be contested at 1 1/4 […]
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There are very few important races in this country that trainer Bob Baffert has not won. Saratoga’s Grade I Whitney Stakes had been one of them. And now the Whitney no longer is a big race that has eluded the powerful Baffert operation. Baffert sent out McKinzie to win the 2019 renewal of the 1 […]
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Now that it is July, it’s time for my list of the Top 10 performances by a Thoroughbred in the United States during the first half of 2019. A Thoroughbred’s performance can make this list for a variety of reasons, such as: –A win by a big margin while showing brilliance. –Recording a fast final […]
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We are just about halfway through 2019. With that in mind, what if there were such a thing as Mid-Year Eclipse Awards? These would be my votes, excluding the 2-year-old, human and steeplechase categories. MID-YEAR THREE-YEAR-OLD MALE: 1. War of Will, 2. Maximum Security, 3. Omaha Beach. If Maximum Security had won the Pegasus Stakes […]
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Hall of Famer Bob Baffert has become such a force these days that sometimes he manages to win a Grade I race even when he loses. For instance, in the Grade I, $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 19, Baffert sent out Arrogate, the 3-5 favorite. Arrogate lost. He finished second. But […]
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