Tag: Happy Saver

Life Is Good rolled up a 112 Beyer Speed Figure and a 5 1/2-length victory in last month's John A. Nerud Stakes. He's the 6/5 morning line favorite to win one of the biggest older horse races in the country: The Whitney. (Image: NYRA Photo)

The Whitney: The Summer Proving Ground for Older Horses

You almost get the feeling that with Life Is Good and Olympiad heading the marquee for Saturday’s Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga, this 1 1/8-mile race sets up as more than one of the top older horse dirt races in the country. It sets up as a something-to-prove test. Because […]

Mo Donegal (6) beat his stablemate, filly Nest, to win Saturday's Belmont Stakes and give trainer Todd Pletcher his fourth Belmont Stakes. Pletcher's horses went 1-2 in the season's final Triple Crown race. (Image: Coglianese Photos)

Pletcher Reflects on His Belmont Stakes Exacta with Mo Donegal, Nest

Todd Pletcher didn’t know what was more satisfying to him as a trainer: winning the Belmont Stakes with Mo Donegal for one of his top clients, Mike Repole, or winning the Belmont for the fourth time to tie fellow Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas. “Yesterday was why you do […]

Flightline soared to a six-length victory in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap, remaining undefeated and cementing his reputation as the best horse in North America. Image: Susie Raisher)

Slow Start? So What for Undefeated Flightline in His Met Mile Cruise

This time, courtesy of a slow break, Flightline managed “only” a six-length victory in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap. But his reputation as a superhorse is alive and quite well. The latest convert? Jockey Junior Alvarado, who rode 2.75/1 second choice Speaker’s Corner to third in the Met Mile, one […]

Flightline clocked yet another bullet workout last Sunday at Santa Anita Park. He returns as the 3/5 morning line favorite for Saturday's Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park. (Image: Zoe Metz Photography)

Flightline Plus Speaker’s Corner Equals a Memorable Met Mile

When Flavien Prat hopped off Flightline last December, after he had just dismantled the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes by 11 1/2 lengths, the veteran jockey had what could be described as a religious experience. As any jockey can tell you when they’ve ridden a superhorse, the words sometimes don’t come […]

Midnight Bourbon comes into Friday's Grade 1 Clark at Churchill Downs with five runners-up finishes. That includes this Travers Stakes outing in August. (Image: Anne M. Eberhardt)

Clark Stakes Provides A Juicy Grade 1 Opportunity for Familiar Names

The Grade 1 Clark Stakes provides the final opportunity for Maxfield to grab a Grade 1 win. It’s an opportunity for Midnight Bourbon to shake his seconditis and grab his first Grade 1. And it provides a great opportunity for Dr. Post and King Fury to grab validation in their […]

Happy Saver (right) shakes pursuer Mystic Guide in deep stretch of last year's Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup. Happy Saver seeks to be the 11th repeat champion of one of the New York Racing Association's most historic events. (Image: Chelsea Durand/NYRA)

Happy Saver Leads Chase Toward Jockey Club Gold Cup History

The Jockey Club Gold Cup trophy carries the names of four Triple Crown winners: Gallant Fox (1930), Whirlaway (1942), Citation (1948) and Affirmed (1979). You’ll find Hall of Famers like Man o’ War (1920), Hill Prince (1950), Sword Dancer (1959), Buckpasser (1966), Damascus (1967), Forego (1974), John Henry (1981), Easy […]

Undefeated Happy Saver nipped Mystic Guide (left) by less than a length to win last fall's Jockey Club Gold Cup. The two renew their rivalry in Saturday's Grade 2 Suburban Stakes at Belmont Park. (Image: Janet Garaguso/NYRA)

In-Form Stars Mystic Guide, Happy Saver Driving This Suburban Stakes

Mystic Guide comes into Saturday’s Grade 2 Suburban Stakes at Belmont Park riding a wave that crested during March’s $12 million Dubai World Cup. He’s fresh, rested, at the top of his game, and the No. 1-ranked Thoroughbred in the country, courtesy of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association poll. And […]

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 […]

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 […]