Tag: Todd Pletcher

Prime Factor became a prime Kentucky Derby futures bet after he and Irad Ortiz Jr. blitzed a Gulfstream Park maiden field by 7 3/4 lengths. (Image: Ryan Thompson/Coglianese Photo)

Prime Factor Becomes Choice Derby Futures Pick After Debut Romp

- 3 min read

There were no high-profile stakes races for 2-year-olds last weekend, a fact that didn’t prevent high-profile movement in this week’s Kentucky Derby futures odds. The highest-profile movement came from a new entry to the front rank of Derby prospects, the aptly named Prime Factor. Before his 8-¾-length victory in his […]

Factor This won the Muniz Memorial Classic at Fair Grounds in record time. He's looking for his fourth Grade 2 win in as many tracks at Saturday's Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale Stakes. (Image: Lou Hodges/Hodges Photography)

Fort Lauderdale Stakes Makes the Grade as Great Handicapper’s Race

- 4 min read

Somehow, the Fort Lauderdale Stakes slipped through the grading cracks. How else to explain Saturday’s $200,000 turf battle at Gulfstream Park being “only” a Grade 2? With this field – eight of the 10 horses in Saturday’s Fort Lauderdale are stakes winners, six of those graded – the Fort Lauderdale […]

Kendrick Carmouche still hasn't come down from his first Grade 1 win, piloting True Timber to the Cigar Mile winner's circle last Saturday. Carmouche won his first NYRA riding title during Aqueduct's fall meet. (Image: Eclipse Sportswire)

Carmouche Breaks Into Big Time with First NYRA Riding Crown

- 3 min read

Between 2008 and 2011, Kendrick Carmouche won seven riding titles at Parx, outside Philadelphia, staking his claim as that track’s dominant jockey and earning a spot in its Hall of Fame. But that was at Parx; a nice track, but a track out in the riding provinces. Now, Carmouche is […]

Firenze Fire, seen here winning the True North Stakes at Belmont Park, owns two victories at Aqueduct. He's a strong contender for Saturday's Cigar Mile at the Big A. (Image: Chelsea Durand/NYRA)

Have a Grade 1 Cigar as You Handicap This Weekend’s Graded Stakes

- 3 min read

New York’s final Grade 1 race of 2020 headlines this weekend’s bicoastal slate of graded stakes races, coming to you from Aqueduct and Southern California’s Los Alamitos. The Cigar Mile is that Grade 1 farewell from New York. The $250,000 race for 3-year-olds and up is Aqueduct’s flagship winter race. […]

The $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational is one of 36 graded stakes on Gulfstream Park's 2020-21 Championship Meet schedule. The south Florida track opens its 84-day meet Wednesday. (Image: Getty)

Gulfstream Park Championship Meet Opens with No Fans, Rich Stakes

- 4 min read

Gulfstream Park opens its 2020-21 Championship Meet on Wednesday without spectators, but with a stakes schedule that – aside from several stops on the Road to the Kentucky Derby – offers one of North America’s richest races. Headlining Gulfstream’s 75 stakes races – 36 graded – is the $3 million […]

Mutasaabeq registered his career-best speed figures in this dominating debut race at Saratoga in August. He's North America's best hope in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. (Image: TwinSpires.com)

Breeders’ Cup Speed Figures: Who Answers Europe in Juvenile Turf?

- 3 min read

When looking at speed figures for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, understand that European horses traditionally dominate this event. They certainly dominate this year’s Juvenile Turf field, comprising half of the 14 horses drawn into the main field. That means speed figures for European horses are not as available. So […]

Only a handful of essential personnel watched a geared-down Tiz the Law win the Grade 1 Travers at Saratoga Aug. 8. But despite no fans, Saratoga's handle surpassed $700 million for the second consecutive year. (Image: AP)

No Fans? No Problem as Saratoga Surpasses $700 Million in 2020 Handle

- 2 min read

Bettors proved they could handle the magic of Saratoga’s racing season without being at Saratoga, passing the $700 million mark in all-sources handle for the second consecutive year. The numbers for the 40-day 2020 Saratoga meet remained surprisingly strong, despite the lack of fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Saratoga […]

Woodward Stakes favorite Tacitus breezed to an 8 1/4-length victory in July's Grade 2 Suburban. But can he finally break through in a Grade 1 event? (Image: Sue Kawczynski/Eclipse Sportswire)

There’s A Prominent Race Outside Kentucky: The Woodward Stakes

- 3 min read

One of Saturday’s most prestigious races goes 1 ¼ miles and features the likes of Seattle Slew, Affirmed, Spectacular Bid and Pleasant Colony on its winner’s roll. That would be the Woodward Stakes at Saratoga, not the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Even with the Derby sucking the racing and […]

Tiz the Law brings that placid demeanor everywhere but the starting gate. It's one reason he's the favorite to win Saturday's 146th Kentucky Derby. (Image: Churchill Downs)

No Asterisks Needed: Breaking Down the 2020 Kentucky Derby

- 10 min read

Historians 100 years from now will note the 2020 Kentucky Derby took place the first Saturday in September, instead of the first Saturday in May. They’ll note that, due to the coronavirus pandemic, America’s annual racing bacchanalia was shy of bacchanalia because Churchill Downs was shy of spectators. Barring any […]

After losing his first race last month in the Santa Anita Derby, Authentic seeks a return to his San Felipe-winning form in Saturday's Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park. (Image: MyRacehorse.com)

Can the Jersey Shore’s Haskell Be an Authentic Playground for Baffert?

- 4 min read

When you’re Bob Baffert and you’ve got a murderer’s row of 3-year-olds looking for marquee races to run in this coronavirus era, the Grade 1 Haskell Stakes almost seems like a gimme. And that’s the scenario Baffert seeks with 4/5 favorite Authentic in Saturday’s marquee race from Monmouth Park. Yet, […]

At one time, Gouverneur Morris was a top-10 Kentucky Derby prospect. A bout of colitis made him the Derby Trail's latest casualty. (Image: Eclipse Sportswire)

Colitis Claims Latest Derby Trail Hopeful — Gouverneur Morris

- 2 min read

In the latest illustration of the perils found along the Kentucky Derby trail, Gouverneur Morris suffered a bout of colitis that will take him out of the Sept. 5 Derby. He is expected to recover at the Mid-Atlantic Equine Medical Center in New Jersey, where he went Monday after suffering […]

Veteran trainer Barclay Tagg and Tiz the Law are the team to beat in Saturday's 152nd Belmont Stakes. Tagg, 82, seeks his first Triple Crown title since Funny Cide won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in 2003. (Image: NY Jockey Club)

Breaking Down The 152nd Belmont Stakes, Worst To First

- 6 min read

Yes, it’s condensed to 1 1/8 miles, instead of its typical hearty 1 ½ miles, meaning the Belmont Stakes goes from the longest Triple Crown race to the shortest. Yes, the Belmont Stakes leads off the Triple Crown season, rather than batting in the power-hitting three-hole. And yes, even in […]

Sole Volante isn't doing much walking these days. The busy 3-year-old heads to New York for Saturday's Belmont Stakes only 10 days after winning an allowance race. (Image: SV Photography)

Sole Volante Turning Around on 10 Days Rest, Headed to Belmont

- 3 min read

The fact Sole Volante’s connections announced late Monday he will run in Saturday’s Grade 1 Belmont Stakes is noteworthy on a couple of fronts. First, it’s a horse committing to the first leg of a revamped Triple Crown. This has become a novelty over the last three weeks, with defections […]

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher sends three horses into the June 20 Belmont Stakes field. (Image: Sarah Andrew/Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners)

Belmont Stakes Field Undergoes a Thursday Tremor

- 3 min read

The Belmont Stakes field underwent a shakeup on Thursday, losing powerful Nadal to a broken leg and Wells Bayou to other Kentucky Derby preps. On the plus side, Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher confirmed three of his horses, Dr. Post, Farmington Road, and Gouverneur Morris, will be in the […]

Bob Baffert's Thousand Words ships in from California as a vulnerable 5/2 favorite for the Oaklawn Stakes. (Image: OG News)

Oaklawn Stakes Vaults Into Prominence as Biggest Game in Any Town

- 3 min read

Ignore for the moment that there are no Kentucky Derby qualifying points up for grabs at Saturday’s $200,000 Oaklawn Stakes. Instead, follow the lead of Hall of Fame trainers Bob Baffert and Steve Asmussen and pay attention to the opportunity. In Baffert’s case, it’s an opportunity to see how Thousand […]

Even in a deep, talented Florida Derby field, it's not a stretch to picture Gouverneur Morris and John Velasquez emerging victorious. Velasquez owns five Florida Derby victories in eight trips and no finish worse than third. (Image: Coglianese Photos)

Florida Derby Offers Talent, Versatility, History, and Best Derby Prep Field

- 3 min read

Now, we’re getting serious. Now, we’re into the varsity of Kentucky Derby prep races and with Saturday’s Florida Derby from Gulfstream Park, we’re going to see a healthy helping of this year’s best 3-year-olds. The 1 1/8-mile Grade 1 Florida Derby offers a hearty helping of Derby Qualifying points: 100 […]

1 … 4 5 6 7 8 … 10