Tag: horse racing

Subconscious won three consecutive races after being gelded. He is the second favorite for Saturday's Grade 1 Hollywood Derby at Del Mar. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Hollywood Derby Comes With East-West Rivalry Flavor

Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella sends 4/1 second-choice Subconscious out in today’s Grade 1 Hollywood Derby. But even he knows where most of the attention is during Del Mar’s Bing Crosby Meet closing weekend. And that’s Brown. Chad Brown. Trainer of turf terrors and eastern feaster of this weekend’s […]

Tiz the Bomb, seen here winning the Castle and Key Bourbon Stakes, is the 3/1 favorite in a deep Kentucky Jockey Club field. (Image: Keeneland)

Derby Trail Traffic Resumes Saturday With Kentucky Jockey Club

Traffic on the Kentucky Derby trail picks up again Saturday with a full cast of 14 entered in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club, the headlining race on Churchill Downs’ Saturday card. Up for grabs are 10-4-2-1 Derby qualifying points to the top four finishers, along with another Derby prospect […]

Steve Asmussen won a record five races on Churchill Downs' Thanksgiving Day card. (Image: Coady Photography)

Asmussen Bags Record Five Wins on Churchill Downs’ Thanksgiving Card

In August, Steve Asmussen took the mantle as North America’s winningest career trainer. On Thanksgiving Day, he went from macro record-setter to micro record-setter, winning what is believed to be a record five races on one card at Churchill Downs. Churchill Downs officials said records prior to 1991 are incomplete, […]

Rockemperor finished a non-threatening eighth by 6 1/2 lengths in the Breeders' Cup Turf earlier this month. He's the 8/5 morning-line favorite to win Friday's Grade 2 Hollywood Tur Cup at Del Mar. (Image: Breeders' Cup)

Brown Seeks Another Del Mar Turf Crown with Steady Rockemperor

That Rockemperor is the 8/5 favorite in Friday’s Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup at Del Mar makes sense if you look at the Rockemperor who won the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Belmont Park. If you look at the Rockemperor who finished a troubled eighth in the Breeders’ […]

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 […]

Trainer Art Sherman (right) and California Chrome's jockey Victor Espinoza greet fans after winning the 2014 Kentucky Derby. The 84-year-old Sherman will retire at year's end. (Image: Andy Lyon/Getty Images)

California Chrome Trainer Art Sherman Will Retire at End of Year

Trainer Art Sherman, who burst into the public conscience when he guided California Chrome to the 2014 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, announced he will retire at the end of this year. The 84-year-old conditioner told Blood-Horse he plans to travel the country with his wife and do some bloodstock […]

Army Wife and Joel Rosario romped in the Grade 3 Iowa Oaks at Prairie Meadows this summer. She looms as a threat against older fillies and mares in Thanksgiving Day's Churchill Downs feature: the Grade 2 Falls City. (Image: Coady Photography)

Conquering This Falls City Handicap is a Wide-Open Affair

Last year, Bonny South came into the Grade 2 Falls City Handicap as the 8/5 favorite. She didn’t run to those odds, finishing a distant second, six lengths behind winner Envoutante. And yet, Churchill Downs morning-line author Mike Battaglia has no issue making her this year’s 9/5 favorite for the […]

Super Stock didn't pay a super price, going off at 1/20 in the Zia Park Derby. But the Arkansas Derby winner and Kentucky Derby starter gave trainer Steve Asmussen and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. one of three stakes victories at New Mexico's Zia Park. (Image: Coady Photography)

Asmussen, Ortiz Parachute Into Zia Park, Depart with Three Stakes Titles

Hall of Famer Trainer Steve Asmussen and Eclipse Award-winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. turned their Zia Park invasion into a walk in the park. The pair of Eastern invaders won three of the seven stakes on Zia Park’s Land of Enchantment Day card on Tuesday. That included the day’s biggest […]

Gun Runner, the 2017 Horse of the Year and 2018 Pegasus World Cup winner, debuted on the Kentucky Derby Sire Future Wager pool this year. (Image: Adam Coglianese)

Betting On The Derby Gene Pool: Who Will Father the 2022 Derby Winner?

One of the more interesting prop wagers in horse racing, betting on the sire of the future Kentucky Derby champion, opens Thursday with “All Other Sires” as the early 6/1 favorite. The Kentucky Derby Sire Future Pool is offered concurrently with Pool 1 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, but […]

Despite being on the shelf due to surgery for a stress fracture, Jack Christopher found himself the individual favorite in the first Kentucky Derby Future Wager pool for 2022. (Image: Coglianese Photos)

Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool Opens Without Baffert Colts

In case you’re curious, the first Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool opens this weekend with “All Other Colts and Geldings from the 2019 Foal Crop” as the even-money favorite. It also opens with the current Las Vegas futures favorite, Corniche, literally missing from action. Currently 6/1 at Caesars at William […]

It's not a track that comes to mind for most horseplayers. But New Mexico's Zia Park takes center stage Tuesday for a 10-race, seven-stakes card that attracted some of the sport's stars. (Image: Zia Park Racetrack)

Asmussen, Ortiz, Prat Invade Tiny Zia Park for Land of Enchantment Card

When it comes to must-see tracks, Zia Park is far off the high-profile path. The New Mexico track isn’t even located in – or near — one of the state’s two high-profile cities, Albuquerque or Santa Fe. But for Tuesday’s Land of Enchantment Stakes card, Zia Park is big enough […]

Azul Coast and Flavien Prat won their first graded-stakes race Saturday, capturing the Grade 3 Native Diver Stakes at Del Mar. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Azul Coast Breaks Out of the Shadows, Takes Native Diver at Del Mar

Azul Coast was the forgotten Baffert; the also-ran in the three-headed contingent the Hall of Fame conditioner sent out in the Grade 3 Native Diver Stakes at Del Mar on Saturday. Hidden in the shadow of the more heralded Eight Rings and the veteran stakes runner Ax Man, and coming […]

Formerly known as Fairmount Park, FanDuel Racing is ground zero for a battle between the Illinois Horsemen's Benevolent and Protection Association and Churchill Downs Inc. over whether CDI can operate its TwinSpires ADW in the state. (Image; Derik Holtmann/Belleville News-Democrat)

Illinois HBPA Rejects CDI’s Bid to Operate its ADW in the State

The board of directors of the Illinois Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association rejected its consent for Churchill Downs Incorporated’s TwinSpires advance-deposit wagering (ADW) betting platform to operate in the state of Illinois. Under Illinois law, horsemen get consent rights for an ADW platform to operate in the state. State law […]

This is where trainer Jack Sisterson wants Channel Cat: the winner's circle. The 6-year-old horse last visited it in May for the Man o' War. He is the 5/2 morning-line favorite for the Grade 2 Red Smith Saturday at Aqueduct. (Image: Coglianese Photos)

Channel Cat Chases That Elusive Grade 1-Winning Form in Red Smith

Channel Cat is by default, the class of the Grade 2 Red Smith Handicap field. This is a status that by no means, makes him a lock to win the $200,000 race over Aqueduct Racetrack’s inner turf course. He may be the lone millionaire in the 10-horse field of 3-year-olds […]

Obligatory and Jose Ortiz captured the Grade 2 Eight Belles Stakes on the Kentucky Oaks undercard in April. The unpredictable 3-year-old is the 5/2 morning-line favorite to win the Grade 3 Chilukki Stakes at Churchill Downs. (Image: Jamie Newell/TwinSpires)

Which Obligatory Will We See in the Grade 3 Chilukki Stakes?

The question surrounding Obligatory, the 5/2 morning-line favorite for Saturday’s Grade 3 Chilukki at Churchill Downs, is an obligatory one, given the filly’s 2021 season. Will we see the Obligatory who won her last race at Churchill Downs, the Grade 2 Eight Belles on April 30 at 16/1? Or will […]

Jackie's Warrior and Joel Rosario used this Grade 2 Gallant Bob romp as a Breeders' Cup Sprint tune-up. After finishing a disappointing sixth, Jackie's Warrior suffered a bone chip that puts him on teh shelf until 2022. (Image: Chad B. Harmon)

Jackie’s Warrior Has Bone Chip Removed, Will Return in 2022

Standout sprinter Jackie’s Warrior joined other 2021 stars on the operating table last week, undergoing surgery for a bone chip in his left knee at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Kentucky. Dr. Larry Bramlage, who this week performed shin surgery on 2-year-old star Jack Christopher, did the procedure. The […]

Messier and Flavien Prat breezed to victory as the 6/5 favorite in last Sunday's Bob Hope Stakes at Del Mar. He's currently second on Kentucky Derby futures boards at 20/1 despite being ineligible to run the 2022 Derby. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Two 2022 Derby Hopefuls Share Future Odds on Differing Paths

As one Kentucky Derby hopeful underwent surgery, another underwent surgery to his Derby futures odds after winning his stakes debut. Jack Christopher, who was the 9/5 morning-line favorite before being scratched from the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, had a screw placed in a left shin, according to Blood-Horse. After Dr. Larry […]

Santa Anita Park's Turf Starter Series will give fillies and mares the chance to follow in Twilight Stakes winner Subconscious' grassy hoofprints. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Santa Anita Breaks Out Turf Starter Series for Allowance-Level Runners

Following in the successful hoofprints of the Tin Man Starter Allowance Series, Santa Anita Park announced a new series of turf allowance races for fillies and mares, the Santa Anita Turf Starter Series. The Turf Starter Series is comprised of four sprints and four route races, all on the Santa […]

Three days after this workout, Rock Your World finished sixth of eight in the Belmont Stakes. He retired Monday with three wins in seven races, but none since winning the Santa Anita Derby in April. (Image: Janet Garaguso/Coglianese Photos)

Santa Anita Derby Winner Rock Your World Rolls Into Retirement

Add Rock Your World to the 2022 first-year stallion crop after the Santa Anita Derby winner was suddenly retired from racing on Monday. The son of standout sire Candy Ride will stand at Spendthrift Farm for $10,000. Spendthrift General Manager Ned Toffey said he’ll be featured in the farm’s “Share […]

Jessica Pyfer ended her apprentice riding career with a 50/1 score aboard Primer Dimer (8) in a $20,000 Del Mar maiden claimer. (Image: Benoit Photo)

The (Former) Apprentice Pyfer Makes a 50/1 Farewell Splash at Del Mar

Jessica Pyfer provided the perfect apprentice rider graduation program to herself: pilot a 50/1 long shot to victory in your final victory as an apprentice. Pyfer took Primer Dimer and his 50/1 odds to the Del Mar winner’s circle on Saturday afternoon. It was her final victory as an apprentice […]