Tag: Bourbonic

Mr Wireless called up this nearly four-length Indiana Derby victory last month. He returns as the 9/5 morning-line favorite for Saturday's Grade 3 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Park. (Image: Coady Photography)

West Virginia Derby Returns, Bringing Bourbonic and Mr. Wireless Back

- 3 min read

The West Virginia Derby is back after a year’s hiatus. And so are Mr. Wireless and Bourbonic, who headline Saturday’s Grade 3 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Park. The two 3-year-olds provide the recognizable names for the 1 1/8-mile race, which skipped 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions. Those created logistical […]

Bernardini's victory here in the 2006 Jockey Club Gold Cup was his sixth and final victory. The 2006 Preakness winner won six of eight races and became a prolific stallion and broodmare sire. (Image: Darley Farm)

Preakness Champion and Prolific Sire Bernardini Euthanized at 18

- 3 min read

Bernardini, the 2006 Preakness Stakes winner and one of the most decorated international sires of this century, was euthanized on Friday after complications from laminitis. He was 18. The stallion was euthanized at Jonabell Farm in Kentucky, where he lived since beginning his stallion career in 2007. Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley […]

Hot Rod Charlie hit the board in his last five races: two wins, a second and two thirds. Four of those came in graded stakes races, making him a legitimate Belmont Stakes threat. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Back to Being a Real Test: Breaking Down the 2021 Belmont Stakes

- 9 min read

The 153rd Belmont Stakes wraps up an unpredictable 2021 Triple Crown season with what should be the best race of the three for horseplayers. If 12/1 Medina Spirit winning the Kentucky Derby was a shock to the handicapper’s system, what was 11/1 Rombauer winning the Preakness Stakes? Two horses considered […]

Essential Quality's Blue Grass Stakes wire victory over Highly Motivated was the Champion 2-Year-Old's fifth consecutive win. After finishing fourth in the Kentucky Derby, the colt seeks to rebound as the 2/1 morning-line favorite in the 153rd Belmont Stakes. (Image: Kentuckyderby.com)

Essential Quality Returns to Triple Crown Trail as Belmont Stakes Favorite

- 4 min read

Essential Quality duplicated the favorite status he enjoyed for the Kentucky Derby five weeks ago, taking 2/1 morning-line favorite odds into Saturday’s 153rd Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park. Tuesday morning’s Belmont Stakes draw put the Brad Cox-trained, Tapit progeny in post 2. He’s one of four Grade 1 winners and […]

Bob Baffert said Medina Spirit was his most improbable Kentucky Derby winner. The Hall of Fame trainer said Medina Spirit came out of the Derby well and is likely for the Preakness Stakes. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Medina Spirit Comes Out of Derby Well, Likely for Preakness

- 3 min read

Less than a day after Medina Spirit’s remarkable Kentucky Derby victory, trainer Bob Baffert said he’s on track for the May 15 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico. Tentatively. “He came out of it well. It takes about a week to determine, so I’m going to come back next weekend and see,” […]

The Kentucky Derby is only Rock Your World's second start on dirt. He is the fastest horse in the field based on speed figures. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Almost Back to Normalcy: Breaking Down the 2021 Kentucky Derby

- 12 min read

Welcome to the 2021 Kentucky Derby. And welcome back to what a normal Kentucky Derby looks like. Almost. The crowds? Well, they’re back – about 40,000. That’s a quarter of what normally turns Churchill Downs into a sporting bacchanalia. But there’s people in the stands. We’ll take it. The horses? […]

Dynamic One, seen here working out at Churchill Downs last Friday, is one of trainer Todd Pletcher's four Kentucky Derby entries. (Image: Churchill Downs)

Pletcher Plays Another Four of a Kind Kentucky Derby Hand

- 5 min read

One trainer has four horses – a quarter of the field – in this year’s Kentucky Derby. Surprisingly, his name is Todd Pletcher, and not Bob Baffert. It’s one of those counterintuitive Derby facts that most casual horse racing fans stumble over. And it’s not their fault. Nor is it […]

Don't get used to the scene of Kendrick Carmouche celebrating aboard Bourbonic. The 72/1 surprise Wood Memorial winner is best left off your Kentucky Derby tickets. (Image: Susie Raisher/Coglianese Photos)

Three Kentucky Derby Long Shots You Can Cross Off Right Now

- 4 min read

Here’s what finding the right Kentucky Derby long shot means to your exotic tickets. Last year’s Kentucky Derby $1 trifecta paid $1,311.80, for which you can thank 46/1 Mr. Big News and his unobtrusive third-place finish. Let’s look at 2019, asterisk and all. The $1 trifecta, starring 65/1 Country House, […]

Kendrick Carmouche and Bourbonic pulled off the biggest upset on the Kentucky Derby Trail, capturing Saturday's Wood Memorial at 72/1. (Image: NYRA)

This Bourbonic Plague Caught the Biggest Upset in Wood Memorial History

- 3 min read

It had to be a typo that Todd Pletcher’s Bourbonic entered the Wood Memorial starting gate at 72/1. Surely, the trainer with the most Kentucky Derby starters in history couldn’t have a moon shot like this in a race he’s won five times. It was no typo. Bourbonic left the […]