Let’s be frank. There’s nothing simple about picking winners. That’s especially true during ultra-competitive Saratoga and Del Mar meetings. Saturday cards at the Spa and Where the Turf Meets the Surf are great examples of how players can find solid horses with real chances to win at great odds. But it’s not easy. Putting 5 […]
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It’s hard for me to believe that 31 years have passed since I called the official race chart for the inaugural running of the Pacific Classic at Del Mar. Best Pal won the 1 1/4-mile event by one length in 1:59 4/5. The California-bred gelding not only defeated his elders that day, he broke […]
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Week 2 of Xpressbet’s entertaining and profitable Fun in the Sun competition is Saturday and it’s your chance to make hay while the sun shines on racing at Saratoga and Del Mar. The competition is limited to Xpressbet account holders only and awards cash and Final Table seats to top players each Saturday. There’s […]
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There certainly is a lot to unpack regarding last Saturday’s $1 million Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park. Jockey Paco Lopez was abruptly unseated from Midnight Bourbon during the stretch drive. Hot Rod Charlie and Mandaloun then proceeded to battle furiously all the way to a head-bobbing finish. Hot Rod Charlie beat Mandaloun by a […]
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Summer fun in the sun begins Saturday when weekends start to include racing from Saratoga and Del Mar. One look at entries for either track will trigger a horseplayer’s mouth to water. Fields are thick and contention runs deep. Through Labor Day weekend, the action will be entertaining and challenging to all players and particularly […]
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Saturday Saratoga Late Pick 4 Analysis The final four Saturday Spa races provide a challenging sequence. Two Grade 1 stakes races—a loaded 7-furlong sprint and a collection of familiar faces going a mile and one-half—offer plenty of options to horseplayers. A maiden 2-year-old heat and a first level, state-bred allowance race, with 9 and 12 […]
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Last weekend, in this space, yours truly suggested that Uncle Chuck could make Tiz the Law cry ‘Uncle’ in the Travers. We were half-right. Although there was plenty of ‘Uncle’ crying, unfortunately, most of it was done by Uncle Chuck instead of Tiz the Law. The weeping actually began long before the million-dollar featured race. […]
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Last Saturday, at Del Mar, the Bob Baffert-trained Thousand Words took control of the Shared Belief Stakes and never let go. In his wake was the highly regarded and heavily favored Honor A. P. This Saturday, on the opposite coast, at Saratoga, a similar scenario could play out when Baffert saddles talented-but-untested Uncle Chuck against […]
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Tiz the Law, who won the 1 1/8-mile Belmont Stakes with authority last time out, tiz the one to beat in the 1 1/4-mile Runhappy Travers Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday. There is no doubt about that. The Travers has attracted a field of eight. Tiz the Law drew post 6. Saratoga oddsmaker David Aragona […]
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Coming off his first defeat when second in the Grade I Santa Anita Derby on June 6, Authentic seeks to regain his winning ways in Saturday’s Grade I Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park. The 1 1/8-mile affair has attracted a field of seven. Monmouth oddsmaker Brad Thomas has installed Authentic as the Haskell morning-line favorite […]
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Breaking with alacrity to seize the lead at once, Vekoma dared his seven opponents to overtake him during last Saturday’s Grade I Met Mile at Belmont Park. Not one of the seven ever could. George Weaver trains Vekoma. As an assistant, Weaver in 1996 saddled Honor and Glory for trainer D. Wayne Lukas when the […]
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Last weekend, as the sun set on two horseplayer summer favorites–Saratoga and Del Mar–Xpressbet served up a farewell of its own toward Fun in the Sun–the fascinating and challenging 8 week handicapping tournament that boasted $8,500 in weekly prizes as well as four seats to the Pegasus World Cup Handicapping Championship to seasonal leaders! After […]
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No trainer has dominated any of this country’s current Grade I races as much as Bob Baffert’s 14 victories in the Del Mar Futurity. According to my research, the next most wins by a trainer in any of this country’s current Grade I races is nine. D. Wayne Lukas has won the Del Mar Debutante […]
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Yours truly is fresh off four days in Saratoga and the trip was…Spa-tacular! It was the 17th time side-kick Will and I have made the trek northward to Saratoga for Travers week. At the conclusion of this year’s sojourn, we both agreed that this was the best ever. It’s difficult to put a finger on […]
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In the days leading up to the Travers, Shug McGaughey expressed his confidence that Code of Honor was going to run a biggie in this important 1 1/4-mile event. And the chestnut colt did not let his Hall of Fame trainer down. Ninth early in the field of 12, Code of Honor charged to the […]
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