Tag: Authentic

This image of Tiz the Law pulling away from his foes in the stretch played out for the sixth and final time in August's Travers Stakes. The four-time Grade 1 winner and Belmont Stakes champion suddenly retired Wednesday after suffering bone bruses in his leg. (Image: Spencer Tulis/The Saratogian)

Tiz the Law Prematurely Retired After Injury During Workout

Reigning Belmont Stakes and Travers Stakes winner Tiz the Law was retired to stud Wednesday, ending one of 2020’s most storied campaigns due to a veterinarian’s diagnosis. That diagnosis revealed bone bruises to his front leg bone. Those bruises were discovered when assistant trainer Robin Smullen noticed Tiz the Law […]

Life Is Good sprinted up the Kentucky Derby futures betting boards. His next test is likely at January's Sham Stakes at Santa Anita Park. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Life Is Good’s Next Stop: The Derby Trail’s Sham Stakes

The same day that 2-year-old sensation Life Is Good became the favorite in the first Kentucky Derby Future Wager pool, trainer Bob Baffert said he’s likely to run next in the Sham Stakes at Santa Anita Park. Baffert told the Thoroughbred Daily News that Life Is Good will join the […]

Into Mischief broke a 2016 Tapit record for highest progeny earnings in a calendar year. (Image: Spendthrift Farm)

Into Mischief Again Proves He’s a Breed Above the Rest

Into Mischief illustrated again why he is the most sought-after sire in North America when his suddenly hot 2-year-old, Life Is Good, won his Del Mar debut Sunday. With the victory, Into Mischief broke the North American single-season progeny earnings record. When Life Is Good romped home by 9-½ lengths […]

Monomoy Girl and Florent Geroux stood tall in the 2020 Breeders' Cup Distaff. just as they did in this 2018 Distaff victory. Even after selling for $9.5 million, the standout mare returns to the track in 2021. (Image: Darron Cummings/AP Photo)

Not Every Horse Retired in 2020: Here are the Stars to See in 2021

Now that we’ve bid farewell to the Thoroughbred standouts who retired in 2020, which horses will we greet as the returning equine stars worthy of attention in 2021? We bid farewell to Authentic, Improbable, Maximum Security, Vekoma, Tom’s d’Etat, War of Will, McKinzie, Serengeti Empress, Enable, and Ghaiyyath in recent […]

It’s Economical How Gramm Won Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge

It’s Economical How Gramm Won Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge

Proving those who can do, can teach, Marshall Gramm, an economics professor at Rhodes College in Tennessee nailed an Authentic-Improbable exacta in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. The $170,250 score gave him the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge title. With the late bet, which vaulted Gramm over 429 other top handicappers, […]

Maximum Security won 10 of his 14 races, including six in a row at one point. He retires with more than $12.4 million in career earnings and a wild career of ups and downs. (Image: Matthew Stockman/Getty)

Maximum Security Retires: Closes Book On Wild, Accomplished Career

Three days after finishing off the board for only the second time in his career, Maximum Security retired from racing. The Eclipse Award 3-year-old Champion of 2019 heads to Coolmore America’s Ashford Stud, where he’ll begin his stud career in 2021 standing for $20,000. The move comes after Maximum Security […]

After Authentic and John Velazquez captured the Breeders' Cup Classic, the 3-year-old Kentucky Derby champion rides into retirement. He'll open the 2021 breeding season at Spendthrift Farm. (Image: Darron Cummings/AP)

After Breeders’ Cup Classic Win, Authentic Rides Off to Retirement

After watching his gate-to-wire victory in Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Classic, it took Authentic’s owners barely 24 hours to retire the three-time Grade 1 winner at the end of his 3-year-old season. The Kentucky Derby champion heads to Spendthrift Farm, the large Kentucky breeding farm and majority owner of Authentic. He […]

Authentic went gate-to-wire to win the Breeders' Cup Classic over an all-star field of Grade 1 stakes winners. (Image: AP Photo)

On Record-Setting Day, Breeders’ Cup Handle Takes Mild Dip

With Kentucky Derby champion Authentic, standout filly Gamine, and Knicks Go all winning Breeders’ Cup races in record time – and without general public tickets available – the Breeders’ Cup World Championships managed its sixth-highest all-sources handle since 2007. That was the year the Breeders’ Cup expanded to two days. […]

Improbable was nothing short of awesome in the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes. The 5/2 favorite rides into the Breeders' Cup Classic on a three-race win streak. (Image: Alex Evers)

Breeders’ Cup Classic: Picking a Winner in this All-Star Field is a Puzzle

If you’re grasping to understand how good the field is for this year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic truly is, it’s easiest to picture what an All-Star horse race would look like. The Mid-fall Classic, as it were. If the Mid-fall Classic offered a $6 million purse, two Triple Crown race winners, […]

Maximum Security didn't even run his best Beyer Speed Figure in this Pacific Classic victory from August. But he owns the fastest Beyer and Equibase speed figures in the Breeders' Cup Classic field. (Image: Coolmore America)

Breeders’ Cup Speed Figures: Looking at an Instant Classic

As you parse the speed figures for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, you understand there is truth in advertising to this year’s edition of the Breeders’ Cup’s flagship race. Putting aside the eight Grade 1 winners in the 10-horse field, these speed figures should make this Classic well … an instant […]

Improbable stands out as a 5/2 favorite in what is one of the deepest Breeders' Cup Classic fields in the history of the event. (Image: AP)

Improbable Takes Favorite Status, Outer Post in Breeders’ Cup Classic

The last time Bob Baffert turned loose a Breeders’ Cup Classic favorite at Keeneland, that horse – American Pharoah – won him his second of three consecutive Classics. Now, Baffert has more than an outside chance of winning his fourth. He has three outside chances. That’s because his three mainstays, […]

Irad Ortiz Jr. rode Improbable to his second of three Grade 
wins at August's The Whitney. His current form makes him the favorite in Circa Sports' Breeders' Cup Classic futures betting. (Image: Daily Gazette)

Circa Sports Makes Improbable the Breeders’ Cup Classic Futures Favorite

One day after opening the first domestic Breeders’ Cup Classic futures board, Circa Sports puts Improbable as the favorite to capture the $6 million Breeders’ Cup’s marquee event on Nov. 7 at Keeneland. Improbable opened at +380, then moved up slightly to +410. His best odds overseas are 4/1. The […]

Swiss Skydiver trainer Kenny McPeek congratulates jockey Robby Albarado for winning the 145th Preakness Stakes. That complicates McPeek's Breeders' Cup plans for his star filly. (Image: Mitch Stringer/USA TODAY)

Winning Preakness Complicates Swiss Skydiver’s Breeders’ Cup Plans

She’s run with the boys. Now, with her Preakness victory last Saturday, Swiss Skydiver beat the boys. So what’s the next challenge for one of the great North American fillies of her generation? That would be the Nov. 7 Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland. That much, we know. But what are […]

Swiss Skydiver got her head in front of 3/2 favorite Authentic to win a Preakness Stakes stretch duel for the ages. (Image: Nick Wass/AP Photo)

Swiss Skydiver Wins Epic 2020 Preakness Stakes Amid Plunging Handle

Not even one of the most exciting Preakness finishes in memory prevented a 48.7% drop in betting handle from 2019’s record figure, according to Equibase. Pimlico’s 12-race Preakness handle checked in at $51,252,631, a nearly 50% drop from last year’s $99,852,653 record handle. That 2019 handle came on a 14-race […]

The venerable Pimlico Race Course clubhouse will play host to a small group of owners for Saturday's 145th Preakness Stakes. (Image: Getty)

The Triple Crown Ends Here: Breaking Down the 2020 Preakness Stakes

It’s October 2020, which in this bizarre of all bizarre years, means it’s Preakness Stakes time. That there is no Triple Crown at stake does not mean there is nothing at stake in the third and final jewel of a wild, 15-week Triple Crown campaign. The 2020 American Classics trail […]

Who says horses don't play to the camera? Authentic's playful side came out earlier this year outside his barn. Just don't expect him to play around at Pimlico during Saturday's Preakness Stakes. (Image: MyRacehorse.com)

Speed, Breeding, Competitive Fire Produces an Authentic Champion

When he races, Authentic doesn’t show a lot of patience on the track. He’s developed a well-earned reputation as the proverbial front-runner, a horse who likes the lead and a horse who relishes a challenge. This, however, contrasts with the connections and background of the Kentucky Derby champion and 9/5 […]

Art Collector has taken trainer Tommy Drury Jr. on the ride of his life this year. He's the 5/2 second choice in Saturday's Preakness Stakes. (Image: Wendy Wooley)

Trainer Tommy Drury Takes Big Picture View with Art Collector

Art Collector was the biggest “what-if” surrounding this year’s Kentucky Derby. “What if” the multi-dimensional speedster ran the Derby? Would Authentic have run first at every call, like he did en route to his victory? Would he have had run first at the most important call of all – the […]

Authentic and John Velazquez found the Kentucky Derby winner's circle. They are the 9/5 favorite to find the Pimlico winner's circle in Saturday's Preakness Stakes. (Image: MyRacehorse.com)

Preakness Stakes Draw: Derby Winner Authentic Takes Favorite Spot

While Preakness Stakes favorite Authentic was wrapping up his final pre-race workout, the 9/5 favorite for Saturday’s 145th Preakness drew post 9 at Monday morning’s post draw in Baltimore. In what’s already been a wild and unpredictable Triple Crown season, at least one reliable standby remains true. The Kentucky Derby […]

Swiss Skydiver will be the first filly running the Preakness Stakes in six years. (Image: Coady Photography)

It’s Official: Swiss Skydiver Jumps into Preakness Stakes

Swiss Skydiver’s trainer Kenny McPeek confirmed Saturday his star filly will take on the boys in next Saturday’s Preakness Stakes. McPeek told the Daily Racing Form that the decision to run Swiss Skydiver in the final Triple Crown race of 2020 “was one of the toughest decisions of my career.” […]