Tag: US Triple Crown

Between them, Todd Pletcher (left) and Bob Baffert own eight Kentucky Derby victories. Pletcher (45) and Baffert (23) have the most Triple Crown early nominated horses for 2021. (Image: Doug Engle/AP File)

Essential Quality Leads 326-Strong Triple Crown Nomination Parade

Getting your horse a Triple Crown nomination used to be so simple that connections to this year’s 3-year-old hopefuls nominated 326 horses to compete in the three American Classic races this spring. Those 326 nominations represent a slight, 6.1% dip from last year’s 347 early nominees. Those connections paid $600 […]

While many of the country's biggest tracks fell short of their 2019 handles, Remington Park in Oklahoma watched its handle hit nine figures for the first time in the track's 32-year history. (Image: Remington Park)

Despite Topsy-Turvy Year, Horseracing’s 2020 Handle Falls Only 1.3%

Tracks closed, spectators were absent, and schedules were changed beyond recognition. Yet, amid a year unlike any other in Thoroughbred racing, the total 2020 US handle dipped only 1.3% from its 2019 totals. What was remarkable about that modest dip — from $10.871 billion in 2019 to $10.727 billion in […]

Tiz the Law made the Travers Stakes look as easy as his other three 2020 victories. Oddsmakers dropped his Kentucky Derby odds under 2/1 as a result. (Image: Stacey Heatherington/NYRA via AP)

Derby Odds Fall as Tiz the Law’s Stock Rises

It is a testament to Tiz the Law’s dominance over the rest of his 3-year-old contemporaries that his odds to win the Triple Crown (+250 at Circa Sports) are lower than any of his counterparts’ future odds on them winning the Kentucky Derby. That’s one takeaway from Tiz the Law’s […]

Vennezulan-based Canonero II winning 1971 Kentucky Derby.(Image: Staten Island Advance/Irving Silverstein)

How the Kentucky Derby Became a Worldwide Horse Racing Event

Non-American horse racing interests have long coveted the greatest prize in US racing, the Kentucky Derby. The question of who has the fastest horse — in this instance a three-year-old — is many hundreds of years old and has no national boundaries. In 2012, a specific framework was created establishing […]