The 2022 Preakness Stakes comes to you with a paradox, a wagering quandary that pits one 21st century trend against one 2020s trend. The trend this century is the friend to chalk. Since 2000, 10 favorites found the Pimlico Race Course winner’s circle. Oxbow at 15.40/1 in 2013 is the […]
There wasn’t a lot of creativity involved in putting Creative Minister in the 147th Preakness Stakes. Not unless you consider cutting a check for $150,000 to supplement his entry to be a creative act. It cost 150 large to put Creative Minister into the Pimlico Race Course starting gate because […]
Still trying to process how his Kentucky Derby futility streak hit 24 races, trainer Steve Asmussen was non-committal on whether Derby runner up Epicenter would run the May 21 Preakness Stakes. The two-time Preakness winner was very committal on his level of disbelief at what transpired 50 yards from his […]
Keeneland’s stop on the Kentucky Derby trail, the Blue Grass Stakes, headlines opening weekend at the Lexington, KY. track. But this edition of Saturday’s 1 1/8-mile Derby prep does so with a renewed prestige boost. Grade 1 status. The Blue Grass regained that status this year, putting it with the Santa Anita Derby, […]
Tiz the Bomb may still go to the UK for either the Epsom or Irish derbies. But before he does – if he does – the recent winner of the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks has a Kentucky Derby date on the first Saturday in May. Trainer Kenny McPeek told […]
Saturday’s penultimate wave of Kentucky Derby prep races brought four horses into the Derby field and taught us plenty about several others who either evolved into Derby contenders or devolved into Derby pretenders. There was White Abarrio, winning the Florida Derby in stellar fashion to punch his ticket to the […]
Emmanuel is on many Kentucky Derby watch lists as one of the colts to watch in Saturday’s Grade 2 Fountain of Youth. Horseplayers watched him win his first two starts by a combined 11 ¼ lengths. They watched him get bet down to 18/1 in Circa Sports’ Derby futures and […]
The John Battaglia Memorial isn’t one of your A-list Kentucky Derby preps. It’s probably not a B-lister either. But the status trip down the alphabet got a boost with the presence of Grade 2 Bourbon Stakes winner Tiz the Bomb. Tiz the Bomb headlines an oversubscribed 14-colt-and-gelding field in Saturday’s […]
Envoutante has always been a filly who was good, but often not quite good enough to break through at the highest levels. Trainer Kenny McPeek attempts to change that by sending the now 5-year-old mare to Santa Anita Park’s Grade 1 Beholder Mile. “Envoutante is going to work next Friday […]
The third of five pools for the Kentucky Derby Future Wager (KDFW) opens Friday at noon ET with the familiar “All Other 3-Year-Olds” – a.k.a. “the field” – as the 5/2 morning-line favorite. But it opened with a new co-individual favorite sharing that status with a familiar favorite. That newcomer […]
Dale Romans was talking about his horse, Giant Game. But he spoke for all his fellow trainers in Saturday’s Grade 3 Holy Bull when he distilled the meaning of this Kentucky Derby prep. “Like we say every year, this is the time for the 2-year-olds to turn into men and grow […]
Dash Attack came into last Saturday’s Southwest Stakes as one of the Kentucky Derby prospects to watch. He came in as the unbeaten, 3.40/1 second favorite for the Southwest. He came out of it unscathed physically, according to trainer Kenny McPeek. As for his once-invincible aura? Not so much. Not […]
Today’s $750,000 Grade 3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park has the usual Bob Baffert flavor: 2/1 morning-line favorite Newgrange, shipping in from California in search of Baffert’s record-tying fifth Southwest title. But there’s a new contender awaiting: Kenny McPeek, who finds himself in the unfamiliar role of trainer of Kentucky […]
Just like it did in November’s Pool 1, the Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 2 finished with All Other 3-Year-Olds as the favorite, and Smile Happy closing as the individual favorite. While Smile Happy closed at the same 8/1 odds he finished at in Pool 1, All Other 3-Year-Olds wound […]
The second of five pools for the Kentucky Derby Futures Wager (KDFW) opens Friday at noon ET with All Other 3-Year-Olds (aka the field), carrying 7/5 favorite odds. Meanwhile, the individual Pool 2 favorite comes from a trainer not usually seen with Derby favorites. That would be Kenny McPeek, whose […]
Kenny McPeek has what you call a Kentucky Derby embarrassment of riches coming courtesy of Dash Attack, who won Saturday’s Listed Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park. And the dynamic trainer is still trying to put the talented pieces together. That’s because, on Saturday, McPeek added another piece to an […]
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 […]
When it comes to running against Letruska, Kenny McPeek – who sends Envoutante against the standout mare in Sunday’s Grade 1 Spinster — summed up the frustration he and his fellow trainers face. “That’s the thing,” McPeek told the Daily Racing Form. “If you try to run with her early, […]
Rattle N Roll entered the Kentucky Derby prospect picture, Saturday, doing so with a 4 ¼-length victory in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity on a busy opening weekend at Keeneland. Not only does this put Rattle N Roll into next month’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, courtesy of the Breeders’ Futurity’s “Win […]
Last year, Kenny McPeek watched Simply Ravishing and Crazy Beautiful turn in stunning performances in the Alcibiades at Keeneland. That he watched his 2-year-old duo go 1-2 in the Grade 1 race while at Pimlico was a minor annoyance. McPeek, like everyone else coping with the pandemic, could handle minor […]
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