Tag: Tom’s d’Etat

By My Standards seeks his first Grade 1 victory in the $500,000 Clark Stakes. He is the 4/1 second favorite. (Image: Coady Photography/Churchill Downs)

Recognizable Names, Deep Field: The Clark Stakes Has it All

Together, the $500,000 Clark Stakes field owns 22 stakes victories, 60 overall wins, and more than $12.6 million in earnings. And even in this topsy-turvy, runaway-roller coaster year, the traditional Black Friday headliner at Churchill Downs remains one of the most popular races on the late-season schedule. For the first […]

Maximum Security won 10 of his 14 races, including six in a row at one point. He retires with more than $12.4 million in career earnings and a wild career of ups and downs. (Image: Matthew Stockman/Getty)

Maximum Security Retires: Closes Book On Wild, Accomplished Career

Three days after finishing off the board for only the second time in his career, Maximum Security retired from racing. The Eclipse Award 3-year-old Champion of 2019 heads to Coolmore America’s Ashford Stud, where he’ll begin his stud career in 2021 standing for $20,000. The move comes after Maximum Security […]

Improbable was nothing short of awesome in the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes. The 5/2 favorite rides into the Breeders' Cup Classic on a three-race win streak. (Image: Alex Evers)

Breeders’ Cup Classic: Picking a Winner in this All-Star Field is a Puzzle

If you’re grasping to understand how good the field is for this year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic truly is, it’s easiest to picture what an All-Star horse race would look like. The Mid-fall Classic, as it were. If the Mid-fall Classic offered a $6 million purse, two Triple Crown race winners, […]

Maximum Security didn't even run his best Beyer Speed Figure in this Pacific Classic victory from August. But he owns the fastest Beyer and Equibase speed figures in the Breeders' Cup Classic field. (Image: Coolmore America)

Breeders’ Cup Speed Figures: Looking at an Instant Classic

As you parse the speed figures for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, you understand there is truth in advertising to this year’s edition of the Breeders’ Cup’s flagship race. Putting aside the eight Grade 1 winners in the 10-horse field, these speed figures should make this Classic well … an instant […]

Improbable stands out as a 5/2 favorite in what is one of the deepest Breeders' Cup Classic fields in the history of the event. (Image: AP)

Improbable Takes Favorite Status, Outer Post in Breeders’ Cup Classic

The last time Bob Baffert turned loose a Breeders’ Cup Classic favorite at Keeneland, that horse – American Pharoah – won him his second of three consecutive Classics. Now, Baffert has more than an outside chance of winning his fourth. He has three outside chances. That’s because his three mainstays, […]

Irad Ortiz Jr. rode Improbable to his second of three Grade 
wins at August's The Whitney. His current form makes him the favorite in Circa Sports' Breeders' Cup Classic futures betting. (Image: Daily Gazette)

Circa Sports Makes Improbable the Breeders’ Cup Classic Futures Favorite

One day after opening the first domestic Breeders’ Cup Classic futures board, Circa Sports puts Improbable as the favorite to capture the $6 million Breeders’ Cup’s marquee event on Nov. 7 at Keeneland. Improbable opened at +380, then moved up slightly to +410. His best odds overseas are 4/1. The […]

Ghaiyyath and rider William Buick hold the top spot in the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings. (Image: Frank Sorge)

Tiz the Law Named Top American Horse in World Racehorse Rankings

Despite falling 1 ¼ lengths short to Authentic in the Kentucky Derby, Tiz the Law holds down a share of third in the just-released Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings for 2020. In the rankings compiled by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities handicappers, Tiz the Law (125 rating) is the […]

The start to the Breeders' Cup Classic is like watching an all-star race. This year's Preakness Stakes sends its winner to the $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland. (Image: Breeders' Cup World Championships)

For the First Time, Preakness Joins Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series

For the first time in the Breeders’ Cup’s nearly 40-year history, a Triple Crown race will be part of its “Win and You’re In” Challenge Series of races. The 145th Preakness Stakes became one of 44 Challenge Series races offering spots in the Breeders’ Cup field over the next two […]

Tom's d'Etat stumble coming out of the gate likely cost him his fifth consecutive victory. Instead, Improbable captured the centerpiece of Saratoga's Whitney Day card. (Image: Erica Miller/Daily Gazette)

Saratoga Enjoys Record Whitney Day Handle, Memorable Upsets

Thanks to the coronavirus, this was not a typical Whitney Day crowd at Saratoga, because there was no Whitney Day crowd. Even so, that didn’t prevent the track from setting an all-sources handle record of $35,796,435. That bested the previous record of $31,835,863, set last year when Saratoga welcomed 40,791 […]

Even in the mud, Tom's d'Etat finds Saratoga to his liking. He's 3-for-4 at the Spa, seeking his fifth consecutive win in Saturday's Whitney Stakes. (Image: Elsa Loreul/NYRA)

The Whitney: Where History and Horse Racing Meet

It’s appropriate that in a race named after one of America’s most prominent families, the field consists of five millionaires. Yes, Saturday’s $1,200,000 Grade 1 1 1/8-mile Whitney Stakes at Saratoga, one of the most prestigious races for older horses in North America, features only five horses. But quality abounds. […]

The horses leaving he starting gate at Saratoga is a summer staple. It continues with a stacked Saturday card featuring three Grade 1 stakes races. (Image: The Saratogian)

Saturday at Saratoga Provides a Bettor’s Feast of Stakes

Curious about 3-year-old colts? Saratoga has a stakes for that. How about fillies and mares? It has a race for them as well, including the best mare in the world. Older, accomplished horses? Well, they have not one, but two stakes races for them, too. Saturday at Saratoga is Mecca […]

The 2019 Louisiana Derby was one of By My Standards five wins in 10 career races. He shoots for No. 6 in Saturday's Whitney Stakes at Saratoga. (Image: Scott Serio/Eclipse Sportswire

By My Standards Seeking to Do It His Way at Whitney Stakes

By My Standards ran his last race – June’s Grade 2 Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs — exactly by his standards. He chalked a 102 Beyer Speed Figure, tying his career-best mark. He raced exactly out of trainer Bret Calhoun’s playbook, even down to the strong gallop-out afterward. This should […]

Whitmore won his third Count Fleet Sprint Handicap in four years in April. He goes for his 15th career win and second Grade 1 in Saturday's Alfred Vanderbilt Stakes. (Image: Richard Rasmussen/Hot Springs Sentinel-Record)

Whitmore Shows the Youngsters How This Sprinting Game Works

Usually, horses of Whitmore’s age are working in the breeding shed or are retired. They’re not doing morning workouts. Usually, horses with 14 career wins are … well, rarely do horses with this portfolio get to 14 career wins. But here is Whitmore, a 7-year-old gelding, seeking career win No. […]

By My Standards won his first stakes race, last year's Louisiana Derby. He faces his biggest challenge to date against tough, seasoned Tom's d'Etat in the Stephen Foster. (Image: Eclipse Sportswire)

Stephen Foster Composes Beautiful Front Line of Contenders

As marquee races go, this isn’t the Kentucky Derby. But you could do a lot worse than the Stephen Foster as the headline race of your meet, abbreviated and all. The Grade 2 Stephen Foster not only headlines Saturday’s strong 11-race, four-stakes card at Churchill Downs, it provides an enviable […]

Tom's d'Etat seeks his fourth consecutive stakes victory in Saturday's Stephen Foster. The 7-year-old is your even-money morning line favorite. (Image: Churchill Downs)

Favored Tom’s d’Etat Not a Revolutionary Pick in the Stephen Foster

You can’t call what Tom’s d’Etat did in the Oaklawn Mile a coup d’etat, not when he was the 4/5 favorite. Nor can you call his previous two races revolutionary. All of which explains why Tom’s d’Etat is the even-money favorite for Saturday’s Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs. The Grade […]