Tag: Kentucky Horse Racing

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Tyler Gaffalione won all six of his races Friday. He became the first jockey in 114 years to win with all six of his mounts at Churchill Downs. (Image: AP Photo)

Gaffalione Rides His Way to a Churchill Downs Six-Pack

Betting on Tyler Gaffalione at Churchill Downs on Friday was a no-lose proposition, as the jockey won all six of his races on the card. Gaffalione, who owns six Churchill Downs riding titles, put his name in another chapter of the track’s record book. He became the 12th jockey scoring […]

Independence Hall (right), held off Code of Honor in the Keeneland slop to win Saturday's Grade 2 Fayette. This final stakes race of Keeneland's Fall Meet helped the track bring in a record handle. (Image: Coady Photography)

Bettors Give Keeneland an 85th Anniversary Gift: Record Meet Handle

Keeneland threw itself an 85th anniversary party and horseplayers responded with a wagering gift: a record $181 million in all-sources handle for its just-concluded Fall Meet. The 17-day Fall Meet, which ran from Oct. 8-30, brought an all-sources handle of $181,009,626. That destroyed the previous mark of $164,680,229, set during […]

Code of Honor breezed to victory in the Grade 3 Philip Iselin at Monmouth. Can he find the boad again in his final race: Saturday's Fayette Stakes at Keeneland? (Image: Bill Denver/EQUI-PHOTO)

Code of Honor Rides Into Retirement After Saturday’s Fayette Stakes

The Grade 2 Fayette Stakes brings a host of recognizable names to its Keeneland starting gate Saturday for the featured event on Keeneland’s Fall Meet final day. None more recognizable than the horse running his final career race: Code of Honor. The 5-year-old owns two Grade 1 wins: both as […]

This battle of geldings went to Two Emmys (back), who nipped Domestic Spending in the final Mr. D Stakes at Arlington Park. Two Emmys won't go off near his 27/1 price in Friday's Grade 3 Sycamore at Keeneland. (Image: Coady Photography)

After 27/1 Shocker, What Can Two Emmys Bring to the Keeneland Stage?

When Two Emmys won August’s Mr. D Stakes at Arlington Park at 27/1, Hugh Robertson was the trainer of record. When Two Emmys leaves the Keeneland starting gate for Friday’s Grade 3 Sycamore Stakes, where he’s the 3/1 morning-line favorite, Mac Robertson will be the trainer of record. What’s going […]

In May, Empress Josephine won the 1,000 Guineas at 14/1. She comes back a week after running another Grade 1 as the 3/1 favorite in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup. (Image: RacingFotos.com)

What Break? Empress Josephine Back, Searching for First US Grade 1

When it comes to his Irish-bred filly Empress Josephine, the concept of “load management” is a foreign one to Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien. It’s apparently also a foreign concept to Keeneland’s morning-line author, who made Empress Josephine the 3/1 favorite for Saturday’s Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup. This, […]

Flippant goes from this Listed Virginia Oaks victory to Saturday's Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland. (Image: Coady Photography)

This QE II Challenge Cup Contender is Certainly Flippant

It was in the genes that Flippant would run her first two races on dirt. After all, that’s what Tapit offspring do. They run on dirt. Often, quite well on dirt, as we’ve seen with the likes of Belmont and Travers winner Essential Quality, among numerous others. But Flippant flipped […]

Letruska captured August's Grade 1 Personal Ensign by a half-length overe Bonny South. The two, along with fourth-place Dunbar Road, tangle again in Sunday's Grade 1 Spinster at Keeneland. (Image: NYRA/Coglianese Photos)

Letruska Looms Large and in Charge Over Her Spinster Stakes Rivals

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, […]

Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. guides Rattle N Roll to a 4 1/2-length victory in Saturday's Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity. (Image: Coady Photography)

Rattle N Roll Shakes Up Derby Prospect List With Breeders’ Futurity Win

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 […]

Order of Australia returns to the scene of his 73/1 shocker in last year's Breeders' Cup Mile. He headlines the field for Saturday's Grade 1 Keeneland Turf Mile. (Image: Coady Photography)

Is Another Upset In Store for Order of Australia’s Keeneland Return?

It took two horses dropping out to get Order of Australia into the Breeders’ Cup Mile last fall. Then, once he was in the then-3-year-old son of Australia went off at a dismissive 73/1. A tick over 93 seconds later, bettors holding Order of Australia win tickets weren’t dismissive. Not […]

Penny Saver's 9 1/2-length blowout of a Churchill Downs maiden special weight field makes her the filly to watch in Friday's Grade 1 Alcibiades Stakes at Keeneland. (Image: Coady Photography)

Deep Alcibiades Goes a Long Way Defining Who is the Top Juvenile Filly

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 […]

Knicks Go's 4 1/2-length victory in August's Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga set him up to run Saturday's Grade 3 Lukas Classic as a tune-up for the Breeders' Cup Classic. (Image: NYRA)

Is the Inaugural Lukas Classic an Impromptu Knicks Go Workout?

Knicks Go is back in his Churchill Downs stall, coming in off a resounding victory in one of the biggest older-horse races in the country. And he’s running against a familiar crew of competent, but hardly imposing, rivals. As Breeders’ Cup Classic tune-ups go, this one couldn’t come on a […]

For its Fall Meet, Keeneland introduced a new Pick 3 for bettors: the Turf Pick 3. Just choose the winners of the day's last three turf races. (Image: Keeneland)

Keeneland Gets Deep in the Grass with New Pick 3 Wager

Before its Fall Meet begins next Friday, Keeneland unveiled a wagering menu that features new contests and a twist on the Pick 3 – the Keeneland Turf Pick 3. The Keeneland Turf Pick 3 requires that bettors pick the winners of Keeneland’s final three turf races each day. It comes […]

A beaming Steve Asmussen escorts Stellar Tap and Ricardo Santana Jr. to the Saratoga winner's circle after the juvenile made the conditioner the winningest trainer in North American history. Stellar Tap is the 3/1 morning-line favorite to win the Grade 3 Iroquois Stakes at Churchill Downs. (Image: Chelsea Durand/Coglianese Photos)

The 2022 Kentucky Derby Trail Begins Here, With the Iroquois Stakes

The Grade 3 Iroquois Stakes open the gate for the 2022 Kentucky Derby trail. But perhaps winning the first points race on the Derby trail is a poisoned chalice. Win the 1 1/16-mile Iroquois, named after the first American horse to win the Epsom Derby – along with the Native […]

Shedaresthedevil bedeviled her opponents in the Grade 1 La Troienne at Churchill Downs. She returns to one of her favorite tracks on opening weekend for the 12-day fall meet. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Churchill Downs Returns with Three-Weekend, All-Dirt September Meet

Horse racing continues its return from the post-Saratoga/Del Mar hiatus today, with the beginning of Churchill Downs’ 12-day September Meet. The Kentucky track joins Belmont Park, which began its fall meet Wednesday. All 117 September races at Churchill Downs will run on dirt. The track began work on its new […]

Imperador and jockey Joe Talamo hold off a surging Arklow to win Kentucky Downs' flagship race: the $1 million Calumet Turf Cup. That Saturday race headlined a record handle day and meet for Kentucky Downs. (Image: Coady Photography)

Kentucky Downs Wrap: Bettors, Rosario Make it a Record-Setting Meet

Whether it was riding or betting, records fell in bunches during Kentucky Downs’ recently completed six-day meet. The boutique, all-turf track located on the Kentucky-Tennessee border destroyed its previous handle record, both for a single day and for the overall meet. Kentucky Downs came in with a six-day, all-sources handle […]

Mike Maker made himself quite a career just off the Calumet Turf Cup. Standouts like the just-retired Zulu Alpha helped Maker earn more than $2.2 million in just this event. (Image: Joe DiOrio)

Maker’s Mark Predictably Potent in the $1 Million Calumet Turf Cup

To illustrate how seriously trainer Mike Maker takes the $1 million Grade 3 Calumet Turf Cup and how deep his barn goes at Kentucky Downs, Maker had owner Michael Hui retire Grade 1 winner Zulu Alpha Friday. And even with Zulu Alpha’s retirement, Maker still sends four horses into Kentucky […]