Horse Racing

Keeneland played host to the Breeders' Cup World Championships for the first time in 2015. It gets the 2022 Breeders' Cup along with this year's event Oct. 6-7. (Image: John Snell/Team Coyle)

Keeneland Gets 2022 Consolation After Breeders’ Cup Goes Fan-Free

The Breeders’ Cup became the latest major racing event going spectator-free, announcing it will go without fans for its upcoming event, Nov. 6-7 at Keeneland in Lexington, KY. At the same time, the Breeders’ Cup announced Keeneland will play host to the 2022 event. This means that all four major […]

Not only did Bing Crosby popularize Del Mar in song, he took tickets on the track's July 1937 opening day. The San Diego-area seaside track named its stakes-heavy fall season after the iconic entertainer and horse fan. (Image: Del Mar Thoroughbred Club)

Del Mar Puts Plenty of Stakes in Fall Bing Crosby Season

Del Mar’s fall season goes by the official name of the Bing Crosby Season. That’s an appropriate name honoring not only the San Diego-area’s track founder, but the amount of bling offered during its abbreviated meet. The seaside track features 16 stakes with $2,250,000 of purses during its 15-day meet, […]

Clayton, seen her prevailing by a head in the Plate Trial Stakes, is the 2/1 morning line favorite to win Canada's Queen's Plate. (Image: Michael Burns Photography)

Will Clayton Pick Up Queen’s Plate? Or Will One of the Girls Steal It?

Think of the Queen’s Plate as Canada’s Kentucky Derby. It’s got the century-and-a-half pedigree, the same 1 ¼-mile distance, and the same historical entrée and bragging rights for the 3-year-old who wins the $1 million race at Woodbine. For Canadian-breds, this is the race everyone wants on their resume. Even […]

Ghaiyyath and rider William Buick hold the top spot in the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings. (Image: Frank Sorge)

Tiz the Law Named Top American Horse in World Racehorse Rankings

Despite falling 1 ¼ lengths short to Authentic in the Kentucky Derby, Tiz the Law holds down a share of third in the just-released Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings for 2020. In the rankings compiled by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities handicappers, Tiz the Law (125 rating) is the […]

Jackie's Warrior's impressive win in the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes put him at the front of the line of 2021 Kentucky Derby contenders. (Image: Dom Napoiltano/Coglianese Photography)

Get to Know These 2-Year-Old Future Kentucky Derby Hopefuls

Say “hello” to Jackie’s Warrior, Dr. Schivel, Freedom Fighter, and Sittin on Go. You may not know much about them right now, but you’ll be hearing a lot more about these four — and other 2-year-olds — over the next seven months. Ignore for the moment the 2020 Kentucky Derby […]

Midnight Bisou's stellar career is dotted with victories, such as this one in the 2019 Grade 1 Ogden Phipps. She is one of four champion mares headed for Fasig-Tipton's November Sale. (Image: Joe Labozzetta/NYRA)

Midnight Bisou, Monomoy Girl Headline Fasig-Tipton’s November Sale

Four of the greatest distaff horses of the last five years go on the auction block this November when the owners of Monomoy Girl, Midnight Bisou, Uni, and Rushing Fall put their prize mares up for sale at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale. Held at Keeneland on Nov. 8, Fasig-Tipton’s November […]

Flavien Prat's closing-day victory aboard juvenile Dr. Schivel in the Del Mar Futurity gave the rider the Del Mar jockey title. The San Diego-area track boosted its handle 8% despite no fans and fewer race dates. (Image: Benoit Photography)

Del Mar Defies the Odds with Increased Handle, Decreased Racing Days

Del Mar’s 2020 summer meet ran with 25% fewer racing days than there were in 2019, and without spectators. Even so, the seaside San Diego-area track increased its betting handle 8% from last year. Race-starved Californians combined with action-hungry bettors outside the state to boost the track’s handle to $466.68 […]

Only a handful of essential personnel watched a geared-down Tiz the Law win the Grade 1 Travers at Saratoga Aug. 8. But despite no fans, Saratoga's handle surpassed $700 million for the second consecutive year. (Image: AP)

No Fans? No Problem as Saratoga Surpasses $700 Million in 2020 Handle

Bettors proved they could handle the magic of Saratoga’s racing season without being at Saratoga, passing the $700 million mark in all-sources handle for the second consecutive year. The numbers for the 40-day 2020 Saratoga meet remained surprisingly strong, despite the lack of fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Saratoga […]

After his 1 1/4-length Kentucky Derby loss to Authentic, Tiz the Law stares at a future that may not include the Preakness Stakes. (Image: Darron Cummings/AP Photo)

After Kentucky Derby Loss, Tiz the Law May Skip Preakness

Tiz the Law came out of the Kentucky Derby perfectly fine, save for his aura of invincibility and his Triple Crown hopes. And, according to trainer Barclay Tagg, that aura may not renew at the Preakness Stakes. Tagg is non-committal about his prize trainee’s future plans, but intimated he may […]

Authentic and John Velazquez led the Kentucky Derby at every post en route to upsetting heavy favorite Tiz the Law. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Authentic Drama Takes Over Wild 2020 Kentucky Derby

There was a thin sense of normalcy to the 2020 Kentucky Derby. Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert won his record-tying sixth Derby, this time with Authentic. And unheralded Mr Big News played this year’s designated long shot, blowing up many tickets – in good ways and bad – by […]

Woodward Stakes favorite Tacitus breezed to an 8 1/4-length victory in July's Grade 2 Suburban. But can he finally break through in a Grade 1 event? (Image: Sue Kawczynski/Eclipse Sportswire)

There’s A Prominent Race Outside Kentucky: The Woodward Stakes

One of Saturday’s most prestigious races goes 1 ¼ miles and features the likes of Seattle Slew, Affirmed, Spectacular Bid and Pleasant Colony on its winner’s roll. That would be the Woodward Stakes at Saratoga, not the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Even with the Derby sucking the racing and […]

Tiz the Law brings that placid demeanor everywhere but the starting gate. It's one reason he's the favorite to win Saturday's 146th Kentucky Derby. (Image: Churchill Downs)

No Asterisks Needed: Breaking Down the 2020 Kentucky Derby

Historians 100 years from now will note the 2020 Kentucky Derby took place the first Saturday in September, instead of the first Saturday in May. They’ll note that, due to the coronavirus pandemic, America’s annual racing bacchanalia was shy of bacchanalia because Churchill Downs was shy of spectators. Barring any […]

The draw of nine fillies competing for the most prestigious title for 3-year-old fillies -- the Kentucky Oaks. (Image: Churchill Downs)

Gamine, Swiss Skydiver Finally Meet as Kentucky Oaks Favorites

Gamine has been an unstoppable force. Swiss Skydiver, the prototypical immovable object. That prompts the inevitable question surrounding Friday’s Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs: Who will prevail and emerge as the best 3-year-old filly in America? The unstoppable force that is even-money Gamine? Or the immovable object that […]

King Guillermo will miss the Kentucky Derby due to a fever. Trainer Juan Carlos Avila tweeted, "He is happy and we are very sad but proud to take care of him." (Image: Churchill Downs)

Fever Scratches King Guillermo from Kentucky Derby

In a different twist on “Derby Fever,” Tampa Bay Derby winner King Guillermo became the latest Kentucky Derby casualty, scratching from Saturday’s race due to a fever. King Guillermo’s connections, owner Victor Martinez and trainer Juan Carlos Avila, discovered he had a fever Wednesday afternoon. They turned matters over to […]

Throw These Three Derby Hopefuls Off Your Betting Tickets

Picking a Kentucky Derby winner this year may seem easy on paper. Or chalk, as Tiz the Law and his generational-low 3/5 morning line odds illustrate. But while there’s plenty of value underneath, there are also plenty of minefields – horses you want to avoid stuffing underneath in those trifectas […]

A spectator-free Churchill Downs for Saturday's Kentucky Derby might thn the in-person betting herd. But plenty of wagers will go down across the risk-reward spectrum. (Image: Getty)

Kentucky Derby Betting Options Go Deeper than Just the Derby

This weekend’s Kentucky Derby/Oaks cards provide bettors with a veritable wagering smorgasbord, one giving you betting options covering the entire risk/reward spectrum. There are, of course, your regular standbys: the win-place-show, exactas, trifectas, and superfectas. But because of the spectator-free nature of this year’s Derby and Oaks weekend, Churchill Downs […]

Considered the Kentucky Derby's second favorite, Art Collector will miss the Run for the Roses after suffering a minor injury during a Monday gallop. (Image: Eric Crawford)

Hoof Injury Knocks Art Collector Out of Kentucky Derby

Expected to be a single-digit second favorite and the chief challenger to favorite Tiz the Law, Art Collector withdrew from Saturday’s Kentucky Derby due to a slight injury to his left front hoof. Trainer Tommy Drury, who was making his first career Kentucky Derby appearance with Art Collector, said that […]

Jockey Manny Franco and Tiz the Law, seen here winning the first leg of the Triple Crown in June, go for the second as the 3/5 Kentucky Derby favorite Saturday. (Image: Seth Winig)

Tiz the Law Opens as Lowest-Priced Kentucky Derby Favorite in 31 Years

The fact nobody has ever won the Kentucky Derby from post 17 didn’t dissuade Churchill Downs morning line oddsmaker, Mike Battaglia, from making Tiz the Law a 3/5 favorite for Saturday’s 146th Kentucky Derby. The Belmont Stakes and Travers Stakes champion drew post 17 in the 18-horse field, the smallest […]

John Velazquez will ride even money favorite Gamine in Saturday's Kentucky Oaks. (Image: Alton Strupp/Louisville Courier Journal)

Gamine Takes Even Money Favored Status In Kentucky Oaks

At even-money, Gamine enters Friday’s Kentucky Oaks as the shortest-priced favorite in 11 years, where she looms large over the smallest Oaks field in 15 years. Gamine starts the 146th running of the prestigious 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-old fillies from post 5 in the nine-horse field, drawn Monday afternoon […]

Art Collector, seen her romping to an easy victory in the Ellis Park Derby, is one of six Kentucky Derby horses with a triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure. (Image: Coady Photography)

Speed Rules: How Fast is Your Favorite Kentucky Derby Hopeful?

When it comes to handicapping the Kentucky Derby, the speedy rule of thumb used to be simple. Bring your thumb down to the horses who ran at least a 95 Beyer Speed Figure, and begin your handicapping from there. That’s an easy place to start, considering 25 of the last […]