Tag: horse racing

Carpe Vinum won a one-mile turf allowance Friday that gave trainer Phil D'Amato the Sant Anita Park Winter/Spring Meet training record. (Image: Benoit Photo)

D’Amato Seizes Santa Anita Park Meet Training Record With Carpe Vinum

Phil D’Amato already has the Santa Anita Winter/Spring Meet training title wrapped up. Now, he has the single-season meet record for victories to go along with it. D’Amato won his record 57th race of the 74-day Winter/Spring Meet Friday, sending Carpe Vinum to a 2 ¼-length victory in the day’s […]

Campanelle's lone 2022 race was this easy victory in the Giant's Causeway at Keeneland. Saturday's Platinum Jubilee at Royal Ascot will be considerably more difficult. (Image: Keeneland/Coady Photography)

Ward, Ortiz Throw Their Final Royal Ascot Dice With Campanelle

Between a lack of stable success and a suspension to Irad Ortiz Jr., this has not been the greatest of weeks for Ortiz and trainer Wesley Ward at Royal Ascot. But all it takes is Campanelle winning her third consecutive Royal Ascot meet race to flip the plot. That comes […]

Mind Control's first of two wins last year came in the Nerud Stakes at Belmont Park. He's expected to be one of the contenders in the Grade 3 Salvator Mile at Monmouth Park. That's the final race in this week's Cross Country Pick 5. (Image: Coglianese Photos/Susie Raisher)

Monmouth Park Stakes its Claim in This Week’s Cross Country Pick 5

Monmouth Park joins the New York Racing Association’s weekly Cross Country Pick 5 this week, spotlighting a contentious Grade 3 race featuring Grade 1 winner Hot Rod Charlie. That would be the Salvator Mile, one of three Monmouth Park races from Haskell Stakes Preview Day on the five-race wager. Two […]

Hot Rod Charlie put in a 1:01.60, five-furlong work last Saturday at Santa Anita Park. He returns for the first time in nearly three months for Saturday's Grade 3 Salvator Mile at Monmouth Park. (Image: Ernie Belmonte)

Hot Rod Charlie Motors Back to Monmouth Park for the Salvator Mile

Hot Rod Charlie is the marquee name on Monmouth Park’s inaugural Haskell Stakes Preview Day, which stands to reason when you consider he’s making his first start in nearly three months. But in a Grade 3 race? The Salvator Mile? Isn’t that a tad slumming for a horse with more […]

Stradivarius and Frankie Dettori are trying to put a bow on his Royal Ascot success in Thursday's Group 1 Gold Cup. The standout stayer owns three victories in the event. (Image: Mathea Kelley)

Stradivarius Ready to Play a Closing Note at Royal Ascot’s Gold Cup

If we’re going to put a label on Stradivarius, the obvious one would be “crafty veteran.” It’s the perfect description for an 8-year-old staying legend who’s on the cusp of furthering his legacy. The three-time defending champion of the Gold Cup, Royal Ascot’s marquee race, will attempt to join Yeats […]

Skippylongstocking made the most of his Belmont Stakes upstart role. He finished third as one of the two double-digit long shots in the eight-horse field. (Image: Coglianese Photos/Janet Garaguso)

Long Shot Skippylongstocking Turns a Personal Corner at the Belmont

Skippylongstocking opened his career 1-for-7. He couldn’t crack 88 on the Equibase Speed Figure chart and went into Saturday’s 154th Belmont Stakes one of two double-digit long shots with his 11.80/1 surpassed only by Golden Glider’s 14.60/1. Now, he’s a Triple Crown-placed colt. The son of 2016 Preakness Stakes winner […]

Golden Pal tuned up for his King's Stand duel with Australia's Nature Strip with this romp in April's Grade 3 Shakertown at Keeneland. He and Nature Strip headline Day 1 at Royal Ascot. (Image: Keeneland/Coady Photography)

It’s US vs. Australia in a Royal Ascot Rumble

They’re not wasting any time in giving the well-heeled racing fans at Royal Ascot the meet’s main attraction. On Tuesday’s first day of the 2022 Royal Ascot meet, those fans get Golden Pal vs. Nature Strip in the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes. Only the top North American turf sprinter […]

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 […]

Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard Mo Donegal punctuates their Belmont Stakes victory Saturday at Belmont Park. Mo Donegal's victory gave trainer Todd Pletcher his fourth Belmont Stakes title. (Image: Chelsea Durand/NYRA Photo)

Getting His Mo On, Favorite Mo Donegal Captures 154th Belmont Stakes

The Belmont Stakes was the race Mike Repole wanted more than any other. It was the race the entrepreneur he called “his Kentucky Derby.” The race the native New Yorker loved so much that he watched the replay numerous times of his best finisher in the race: Stay Thirsty, in […]

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 […]

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

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 […]

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 […]

Champion 3-Year-Old Malathaat won her lone 2022 race: the Grade 3 Doubledogdare at Keeneland in April. She is the 5/2 second choice for Saturday's Grade 1 Ogden Phipps at Belmont Park. (Image: Mathea Kelly)

This Year’s Ogden Phipps Resembles a Filly and Mare All-Star Race

Forgive yourself if you look at Saturday’s Grade 1 Ogden Phipps at Belmont Park thinking you’re looking at a sneak preview of the Breeders’ Cup Distaff five months early. There’s defending Ogden Phipps champion Letruska, who made last year’s race look like a glorified workout. Her 2 3/4-length gate-to-wire victory […]

The New York Racing Association offers several two-day wagers over its Friday and Belmont Stakes Day Saturday cards. (Image: NYRA Photo)

NYRA Betting Horseplayers Will Like These Two-Day Wagers

With a two-day Pick 6 as its centerpiece, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) unveiled a smorgasbord of special wagers for the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival that begins Thursday. NYRA rolled out six two-day wagers that encompass the Festival’s biggest races. There are 17 stakes races over the three days, […]

Echo Zulu is the prohibitive 3/5 favorite to rebound from her fourth in the Kentucky Oaks with a victory in the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes Saturday at Belmont Park. (Image: Chad B. Harmon)

Champion Echo Zulu Trying to Crack Her Foes in Acorn Stakes

Unwrapping Saturday’s Grade 1 Acorn Stakes, one of eight Grade 1 races on the weekend’s Belmont Stakes card, means finding the answer to two questions: can Echo Zulu – your 3/5 Acorn favorite — cut back? And, can the reigning Champion 2-Year-Old Filly rebound from her first loss? Echo Zulu […]

Highland Chief captured last month's Grade 1 Man o' War as the 19/1 longest shot in the field. He'll have his hands full at 6/1 repeating in a deep, experienced Manhattan field at Belmont Park Saturday. (Image: Coglianese Photos)

Highland Chief Faces Tougher Trip at Shorter Odds in Manhattan

Last month, Highland Chief passed his first stateside Grade 1 test with a flourish, beating four other rivals, including Champion Turf Male Yibir, to win the Grade 1 Man o’ War at Belmont Park. A nice score to be sure, especially as the 19/1 longest shot in the field. Now, […]

Jack Christopher puts in a workout before Saturday's Grade 1 Woody Stephens at Belmont Park. The one-time Kentucky Derby hopeful is the 1/2 favorite to remain undefeated. (Image: Coglianese Photos/Susie Raisher)

Jack Christopher Ready for More Undercard Magic in Woody Stephens

The Jack Christopher Comeback Tour makes its next stop at the Grade 1 Woody Stephens, setting down once again on a Triple Crown undercard race. The seven-furlong Woody Stephens will be one of the eight Grade 1s on Saturday’s Belmont Stakes undercard. It’s not to be confused with the Grade […]

Jackie's Warrior won his fourth Grade 1 race with this May score in the Churchill Downs. He is the presumed favorite for Friday's Grade 2 True North Stakes in the Belmont Park Racing Festival. (Image: Coady Photography)

Champion Sprinter Jackie’s Warrior Points His Way to True North Stakes

Among the many marquee horses you’ll see at this weekend’s Belmont Stakes Racing Festival is reigning Eclipse Award-winning sprinter Jackie’s Warrior, the marquee name in Friday’s Grade 2 True North. The True North is one of five stakes on Friday’s 11-race card. That card is headlined by the Grade 1 […]

Santa Anita offers 26 stakes races -- 15 graded -- during its Autumn Meet that begins Sept. 30. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Santa Anita Park Creates Front-Loaded Fall Stakes Schedule

Santa Anita Park’s Autumn Meet gets off to its traditional fast start in terms of stakes and Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series races. The Southern California track is offering 11 stakes — seven of those graded — over the first weekend of the 18-day meet. All told, Santa Anita will card 26 […]