Tag: Collusion Illusion

Decorated sprinter C Z Rocket won the Grade 2 Pat O'Brien on this Del Mar track last summer. He look for his first Grade 1 win as the 5/2 favorite in Saturday's Bing Crosby Stakes. (Image: Benoit Photo)

C Z Rocket Takes Off In Search of Elusive Grade 1 in Bing Crosby Stakes

- 4 min read

Considering how many times he’s figured in various race mixes, it defies logic that C Z Rocket comes into Saturday’s Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes lacking a Grade 1 victory. And yet, here he is, one of the West Coast’s top sprinters and owner of 11 victories and nearly $1.4 […]

Last time out, Shivaree set the Tampa Bay Downs stakes record en route to winning the Marion County Florida Sire Stakes. The runner-up in last year's Florida Derby returns to action Saturday in the Fred Hooper Stakes at Gulfstream Park. (Image: SV Photography)

The Pegasus Isn’t the Only Stakes Race This Weekend

- 3 min read

Saturday brings us the first two Grade 1 stakes races of 2021: the Pegasus World Cup Invitational and the Pegasus World Cup Turf, coming to you from Gulfstream Park. The Florida track captures this weekend’s stakes spotlight with those two high-profile races, along with five other graded stakes on its […]

Smooth Like Strait was the only favorite to win the five graded stakes races on Santa Anita Park's opening-day card. He nipped Storm the Court in the Grade 2 Mathis Brothers Mile. (Image: Benoit Photography)

No Crowds? No Problem as Santa Anita Park Enjoys Record Handle

- 3 min read

With Charlatan winning Bob Baffert’s 17th Grade 1 race of 2020 headlining an 11-race, six-stakes card, Santa Anita Park set an all-time opening day handle record of $23,003,159 Saturday. That surpassed the previous record: 2018’s 11-race opening-day handle, by more than $2.51 million. And it did so without the traditional […]

Every race thus far has been a breeze like this for Nashville. The 6/5 favorite for Saturday's Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita is 3-for-3 since September, winning his races by an average of 8 1/2 lenths. (Image: Coady Photography/Keeneland)

The Malibu Stakes Puts a Rich, Plot-Filled Bow on 2020’s Grade 1 Races

- 4 min read

The Malibu Stakes is the bow on the 2020 racing season. It gives horseplayers and racing fans a deserving end to this year’s wild, unpredictable runaway roller coaster that was Horseracing 2020. There’s Nashville, he of the freakish speed. There’s Charlatan, he of the one-time Kentucky Derby favorite status. There’s […]

Improbable turned aside Mr. Buff to win the Whitney at Saratoga. He'll find winning his third consecutive Grade 1 a bit tougher in the Awesome Again Stakes Saturday at Santa Anita. (Image: NYRA/Dom Napolitano)

Stakes, Stakes, and More at Stake this Weekend at Santa Anita Park

- 3 min read

Santa Anita Park’s postponed opening created a bettor’s bonanza this weekend. The Southern California track will open with 12 stakes races – 11 of those graded stakes events. Officials pushed opening weekend at the iconic track back a week due to air-quality concerns from the nearby Bobcat Fire. One of […]