Horse Racing

Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. guides Rattle N Roll to a 4 1/2-length victory in Saturday's Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity. (Image: Coady Photography)

Rattle N Roll Shakes Up Derby Prospect List With Breeders’ Futurity Win

Rattle N Roll entered the Kentucky Derby prospect picture, Saturday, doing so with a 4 ¼-length victory in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity on a busy opening weekend at Keeneland. Not only does this put Rattle N Roll into next month’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, courtesy of the Breeders’ Futurity’s “Win […]

The Dec. 4 Claiming Crown card gives horses who once ran with claiming tags their day in the Florida sun. Gulfstream Park announced its 2021-22 Championship Meet stakes schedule this weekend. (Image: Gulfstream Park)

Gulfstream Park Adds New Pegasus Race to Championship Meet

Gulfstream Park added a new Grade 3 race to its 2021-22 Championship Meet stakes schedule, introducing the $500,000 Pegasus Filly & Mare Turf to its announced stakes slate. The Florida track’s primary meet in its year-round schedule opens Dec. 3 and runs through April 3, 2022. It features 76 stakes […]

Althiqa, seen here winning the Grade 1 Just A Game at Belmont Park in June, will be a popular choice for bettors in the Grade 1 First Lady Stakes at Keeneland. (Image: Godolphin)

Breeders’ Cup Challenge Pick 6 Wager Returns With Some Familiar Names

The Breeders’ Cup Challenge Pick 6 wager returns Saturday, incorporating Keeneland’s opening weekend with Belmont Park to create an intriguing handicapping puzzle featuring familiar names. This is the second version of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Pick 6, which mandates bettors pick winners from each of six Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series […]

Order of Australia returns to the scene of his 73/1 shocker in last year's Breeders' Cup Mile. He headlines the field for Saturday's Grade 1 Keeneland Turf Mile. (Image: Coady Photography)

Is Another Upset In Store for Order of Australia’s Keeneland Return?

It took two horses dropping out to get Order of Australia into the Breeders’ Cup Mile last fall. Then, once he was in the then-3-year-old son of Australia went off at a dismissive 73/1. A tick over 93 seconds later, bettors holding Order of Australia win tickets weren’t dismissive. Not […]

Penny Saver's 9 1/2-length blowout of a Churchill Downs maiden special weight field makes her the filly to watch in Friday's Grade 1 Alcibiades Stakes at Keeneland. (Image: Coady Photography)

Deep Alcibiades Goes a Long Way Defining Who is the Top Juvenile Filly

Last year, Kenny McPeek watched Simply Ravishing and Crazy Beautiful turn in stunning performances in the Alcibiades at Keeneland. That he watched his 2-year-old duo go 1-2 in the Grade 1 race while at Pimlico was a minor annoyance. McPeek, like everyone else coping with the pandemic, could handle minor […]

Gufo (right) held off a surging Japan to win August's Grade 1 Sword Dancer at Saratoga. The two turf rivals tangle again in Saturday's Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Belmont Park. (Image: Sarah Andrew)

Consistent Casher Gufo Goes for Third Grade 1 Win in Joe Hirsch

There’s Gufo, who hasn’t missed the board in 12 career starts. There’s Japan, one of his rivals, who ships in from Europe for another crack at Gufo. And there’s Arklow and Channel Maker, who combined to win the last three editions of the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic. It’s […]

Bob Baffert's star 3-year-old filly Private Mission heads to the Breeders' Cup Distaff after Sunday's convincing victory in the Grade 2 Zenyatta Stakes at Santa Anita Park. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Baffert Makes Santa Anita Park His Personal Playground — Again

Two weeks ago, Bob Baffert made what appeared to be a head-scratching decision, keeping star 3-year-olds Medina Spirit and Private Mission home in California. That, instead of running the pair against their age group rivals in Parx Racing’s two marquee races, the Pennsylvania Derby and the Cotillion. And yet again, […]

Tripoli has two victories and a second in his last three races. This includes this win in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic. He carries value-laden 3/1 odds into the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Awesome Again Pits ‘Youngster’ Medina Spirit Against His Elders

Medina Spirit is considered one of the “kids” in the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes, a change in status from what his consideration would have been, had he run in last week’s Pennsylvania Derby. From one of the fellow 3-year-olds in that race, to one of the kids in Saturday’s […]

Art Collector and jockey Luis Saez's gutsy victory in the Charles Town Classic sets them up for Saturday's Grade 1 Woodward Stakes. Art Collector is the 3/1 third-favorite to win his first Grade 1. (Image: Coady Photography)

Woodward Stakes Returns to Belmont Park With Wide Open Field

The Grade 1 Woodward Stakes returns to Belmont Park for the first time since 2005, bringing with it a field full of intriguing characters at varying points in their careers. And all seeking validation for where they are in those varying points. One of two Grade 1s on Belmont Park’s […]

Gunite showed off his versatility winning the Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga last month. He comes with 4/1 morning-line value for Saturday's Grade 1 Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park. (Image: Sarah Andrew)

Champagne Stakes Bubbles With Four Legitimate Juvenile Contenders

The Grade 1 Champagne Stakes predates the Kentucky Derby by eight years. In fact, the one mile juvenile test that sets the early bar for Derby prospects appeared only two years after the Civil War ended. Derby preps have to get their momentum somewhere, which is where the Champagne pours forth. Saturday’s test […]

Mo Forza won back-to-back Del Mar Miles, illustrating why he is one of the best turf milers in North America. He seeks validation there as the 6/5 favorite in Saturday's City of Hope Mile at Santa Anita Park. (Image: Coolmore)

Standout Miler Mo Forza Likely the Best Turf Horse Under Your Radar

Mo Forza built himself quite the career running under your radar. One of the best turf milers in the country – or the world, according to trainer Peter Miller – is also one of the best horses you’ve probably never bet. If you have, you’re undoubtedly relishing the windfall this […]

Knicks Go's 4 1/2-length victory in August's Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga set him up to run Saturday's Grade 3 Lukas Classic as a tune-up for the Breeders' Cup Classic. (Image: NYRA)

Is the Inaugural Lukas Classic an Impromptu Knicks Go Workout?

Knicks Go is back in his Churchill Downs stall, coming in off a resounding victory in one of the biggest older-horse races in the country. And he’s running against a familiar crew of competent, but hardly imposing, rivals. As Breeders’ Cup Classic tune-ups go, this one couldn’t come on a […]

For its Fall Meet, Keeneland introduced a new Pick 3 for bettors: the Turf Pick 3. Just choose the winners of the day's last three turf races. (Image: Keeneland)

Keeneland Gets Deep in the Grass with New Pick 3 Wager

Before its Fall Meet begins next Friday, Keeneland unveiled a wagering menu that features new contests and a twist on the Pick 3 – the Keeneland Turf Pick 3. The Keeneland Turf Pick 3 requires that bettors pick the winners of Keeneland’s final three turf races each day. It comes […]

Idol (front) caught Express Train at the wire to win March's Santa Anita Handicap. He returns for the first time in seven months for Saturday's Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita Park. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Idol Worship: Big ‘Cap Winner Returns for Awesome Again Stakes

The last time we saw Idol, he was literally catching a Train – Express Train – who Idol ran down and passed just before crossing the wire of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap. That half-length victory in one of the California track’s flagship events came on March 6, nearly […]

The next time fans watch a sporting event from the former site of Arlington Park International Racecourse, it likely will be Bears instead of horses. The Chicago Bears entered an agreement with track owner Churchill Downs Incorporated to buy the race track property. (Image: Arlington Park)

Chicago Bears Enter Agreement to Buy Arlington Park From CDI

Four days after the gate went up on Arlington Park’s final race, Churchill Downs Incorporated announced it signed an agreement to sell the storied race track to the Chicago Bears. The story was first reported Tuesday evening by The Athletic. Under the Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA), the Bears will […]

Gregorian Chant (2) won three consecutive sprints earlier this season. He tackles Santa Anita Park's unique downhill turf course for the first time Friday in the Grade 2 Eddie D Stakes. (Image: Benoit Photo)

It’s All Downhill For These Sprinters in Santa Anita’s Eddie D Stakes

Unlike some of its stakes brethren on Santa Anita Park’s opening day, the Grade 2 Eddie D Stakes doesn’t offer a Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” spot. It does, however, offer something no other track in North America offers its contestants: a trip down the iconic Santa Anita Hillside […]

The Breeders' Cup takes its Challenge Series to bettors with its Breeders' Cup Challenge Pick 6 this weekend at Belmont Park and Santa Anita Park. (Image: Breeders' Cup)

Inaugural Breeders’ Cup Challenge Pick 6 Gives Bettors Their Challenge

The New York Racing Association is adding a Pick 6 with a twist this weekend, playing host to the inaugural two-day Breeders’ Cup Challenge Pick 6 that features six races from the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series. All six races coming to bettors from Belmont Park and Santa Anita Park are […]

Opening Day for Santa Anita Park's 16-day Autumn Meet brings four stakes races and plenty of ways to wager on them. The California track unveiled its wagering menu. (Image: Santa Anita Park)

Santa Anita Park’s Hot Take: Low Takeout for Win-Place-Show Bettors

Santa Anita Park unveiled the wagering menu for its 16-day Autumn Meet opening on Friday, with one of the biggest features being the lowest takeout on win-place-show bets among any major American racetrack. The suburban Los Angeles track’s takeout on the most common wager in North American racing is 15.4%. […]

Warrant, seen here splashing home in May's Texas Derby. Sunday, he added the Oklahoma Derby to his resume, coming home by 1 1/4 lengths. (Image: Dustin Orono Photography)

Cox Issues a Warrant for His Third Consecutive Oklahoma Derby Victory

Brad Cox became the first trainer to win three consecutive Oklahoma Derbies, sending out Warrant to a 1 ¾-length victory in Remington Park’s flagship race on Sunday. Not only did Cox set a new bar for Oklahoma Derby conditioners, he tied Oklahoma training mainstay Donnie Von Hemel for the most […]