Tag: Barber Road

Trainer Rodolphe Brisset puts We the People through his Friday morning paces at Belmont Park. He is the 2/1 morning line favorite to win Saturday's 2022 Belmont Stakes. (Image: Skip . Dickstein)

Breaking Down the 2022 Belmont Stakes: Taking Constitutional Law 101

- 9 min read

The first thing you need to remember about the Belmont Stakes is forget the long-believed idea the “Test of the Champion” is easy for closers to pass. It isn’t. It sounds counterintuitive, doesn’t it? Send horses 1 ½ miles – the longest distance any of them will ever run and […]

Barber Road, seen here working out before the Kentucky Derby, gets Eclipse Award-winning jockey Joel Rosario for Saturday's 154th Belmont Stakes. (Image: Coady Photography)

Champion Joel Rosario Takes Barber Road’s Reins for the Belmont Stakes

- 2 min read

Eclipse Award-winning jockey Joel Rosario will pilot Barber Road in next Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, news his agent Ron Anderson confirmed over the weekend Anderson told the Daily Racing Form that Rosario, a two-time Belmont Stakes winner, will segue from Epicenter to Barber Road for the Belmont Stakes. Epicenter, who finished […]

(Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Breaking Down the 2022 Kentucky Derby: Chaos Theory Reigns

- 15 min read

Welcome to Kentucky Derby 148, a.k.a. The Chaos Derby. And we’re not talking about the usual infield escapades that happen as the Derby returns to it’s pre-pandemic crowds north of 150,000. Unpredictability? Depth? A Derby where surprises almost wouldn’t be surprising? This edition of America’s most popular race has it […]

Cyberknife captured the Arkansas Derby Saturday, vaulting him into the Kentucky Derby. (Image: Coady Photography)

Kentucky Derby Prep Stretch Run: Who’s Rising, Who’s Falling

- 4 min read

Saturday’s penultimate wave of Kentucky Derby prep races brought four horses into the Derby field and taught us plenty about several others who either evolved into Derby contenders or devolved into Derby pretenders. There was White Abarrio, winning the Florida Derby in stellar fashion to punch his ticket to the […]

Un Ojo was the longest shot on the Rebel Stakes board Saturday. But the one-eyed, 75/1 shot came home with a half-length victory in the Kentucky Derby prep. (Image: Coady Photography)

At 75/1, Un Ojo Puts His One Eye on the Rebel Stakes Prize

- 2 min read

Un Ojo lost his left eye in a pasture accident as a yearling, which partially explains how he got lost in the shuffle of Saturday’s Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park. One-eyed geldings aren’t usually the bettor’s favorites, which explains how the son of the late Laoban went off […]

Unbeaten Newgrange looks to build on his Southwest Stakes win as the 9/5 favorite in Saturday's Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park. (Image: Coady Photography)

Favorite Newgrange Gives Rebel Stakes an Old-School Baffert Look

- 3 min read

When it comes to the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes, it doesn’t really matter that Bob Baffert is suspended from Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby. All that matters is one question, the answer of which is typically “yes.” Does Baffert have a live candidate in this year’s Rebel? Of course […]

Perhaps Dash Attack needed muck like he conquered in the Smarty Jones last weekend in the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes. The previous unbeaten colt finished fifth in the Southwest at Oaklawn Park. (Image: Coady Photography)

McPeek Trying to Figure Out Why Dash Attack Went South in Southwest

- 2 min read

Dash Attack came into last Saturday’s Southwest Stakes as one of the Kentucky Derby prospects to watch. He came in as the unbeaten, 3.40/1 second favorite for the Southwest. He came out of it unscathed physically, according to trainer Kenny McPeek. As for his once-invincible aura? Not so much. Not […]

Kenny McPeek's Dash Attack splashed his way to victory New Year's Day in the Smarty Jones. Can he do the same on a dry track as the 7/2 second choice in the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park? (Image: Coady Photography)

Yes, Baffert has the Southwest Stakes Favorite, But He’s Got Company

- 4 min read

Today’s $750,000 Grade 3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park has the usual Bob Baffert flavor: 2/1 morning-line favorite Newgrange, shipping in from California in search of Baffert’s record-tying fifth Southwest title. But there’s a new contender awaiting: Kenny McPeek, who finds himself in the unfamiliar role of trainer of Kentucky […]