Kentucky Derby 151: Predictions, Trends & One Horse to Watch
The first Saturday in May is nearly here, and with it comes one of the most exciting questions in sports: Who’s going to win the Kentucky Derby? For 150 years, fans, bettors, and racing enthusiasts have tried to crack the code on how to pick a winner in the world’s...
Keeneland Spring Meet delivers plenty of tasty treats
Sometimes we forget how delectable certain delights can be until we get another taste. There are those dishes that just throw you into great white shark mode and it becomes a feeding frenzy. You just can’t seem to get enough. So what in the world am I talking about?...
Thorpedo Anna runs to her looks
One of the things an athlete strives for is to be the best. Looking the part is of course of great importance, but at the end of the day, it is about walking that walk. Now, if you can do both…Look out. Thorpedo Anna came into 2025 off a more than brilliant...
Can a Kentucky Downs graduate win the Kentucky Derby ?
It’s that time of the year when we ask questions, questions, and more questions. Okay, I realize a lack of intelligence means “that” time of year comes with more frequency for guys like me. Nevertheless, we pose the aforementioned interrogative. Can a Kentucky...
Road to 2025 Kentucky Derby busier than I-24
For guys like me, the Kentucky Derby is always in focus. Whether it be the one coming up, the one they just ran, or the one that’s the one. As the world’s most famous Thoroughbred race and a crown jewel of the game, it’s always time to think about that mile and a...
Forever Young makes a statement in Saudi Cup
In every sport, the question always rages…Who is the best? In the older male classic dirt division, we may have gotten an answer on February 22. The $20 million Saudi Cup was created in 2020 and offers a $10 million prize to the winner. Money like that brings...
It’s all Bull on Kentucky Derby leaderboard
Right now, on the Kentucky Derby qualifying points leaderboard, it is all Bull. A points qualifying system is used to determine the 20 entrants into the world’s most famous race each year. Races are run beginning in September of the preceding year with the top...
Running down the 2025 Pegasus World Cup
For the ninth consecutive year the Pegasus World Cup will be contested at Gulfstream Park. Originally this race was designed to become the richest in the world, but then reality set in and the $16 million purse in 2018 became a $9 million purse in 2019 and is now at...
Kentucky Oaks trio has Brad Cox playing Charlie’s Angels
Remember that old television series where a mastermind stood in the background and orchestrated the action of three good-looking girls? Crime solvers they were as they thwarted evil with the greater good always in mind. Of course I am dating myself a bit with this...
Romans keeps it real with Keep It Easy
Thoroughbred trainer Dale Romans has long been a man of wise words. Brilliant at conditioning winners and caring for horses, this Louisville native is second on the list of all-time winning trainers beneath the historic twin spires of Churchill Downs. His...
Running down the 150th Clark at Churchill Downs
For 150 consecutive years the Kentucky Derby has been run at Churchill Downs. On November 29, the Clark Stakes will be run at Churchill Downs for…you guessed it…the 150th time. Let’s take a look at the entrants of this $600,000 centerpiece of the Fall Meet beneath...
Citizen Bull the early leader for 2025 Kentucky Derby
When is the appropriate time to start thinking about the upcoming Kentucky Derby? Having been run for 150 consecutive years at theses same Churchill Downs, the answer is quite simple. The time to start thinking about the upcoming Derby is the day after the existing...
Mystik Dan Shows some Derby vision
One of the most mysterious things in the sports world today is finding the formula for a Kentucky Derby winner. How do you make it happen? Bloodlines, workout patterns, prep race competition, what’s the solution? Perhaps it will take a Mystik to find the answer. ...
Nysos looks like number 1
This time of year often times focuses on the three-year-olds as the Kentucky Derby takes center stage. Nysos may not be running in the 150th Run for the Roses due to a suspension of trainer Bob Baffert from entering horses in races at Churchill Downs, but this son of...
National Treasure takes the Pegasus loot
Since 2017, the first big money race of the year has taken place in South Florida. The purse may have diminished a bit since the first running of the Pegasus at Gulfstream Park, but the miraculous performances have not. The eighth running of this now $3 million...
TENNESSEE TURF AWARDS 2023
The sport of kings is just that…royalty. With that in mind, let’s take a look in the rearview at the 2023 racing year and dish out a few accolades. Because we are a card-carrying Southern boy, we will put a little Tennessee twist on some awards that we want to pass...
California-breds enjoying some Miller time
The West coast is obviously the best place to find California-bred race horses. As is the case with all areas that feature facilities for the sport of kings, winning in the backyard in which you were born is always good. For one California-based trainer, recent...
Milky Way Farm gives Tennessee two minutes to remember
As the proposed best turf writer in Tennessee, it is my obligation to indoctrinate as many sports fans as possible in regard to the many wonderful aspects of the sport of kings. Here is a little story that ties the Volunteer State to the greatest sport in the world....
Hoist The Gold smokes’em in the Cigar Mile
If you watch enough sports, sooner or later you get to see one of those WOW performances. An effort that is a real jaw-dropper. One of those smack your momma good things. And when you bear witness to such, it truly is a treat. The wonderful world of...
Running down the 149th Clark Stakes
On November 24 the Clark will be run at Churchill Downs for the 149th consecutive year. Always the centerpiece of a spectacular fall meet, this mile and an eighth drive over the Churchill Downs dirt has featured much magnificence. This year should be no different as...
Cody’s Wish exhibits the omens of horse racing
In reality, we all have to wonder what it all means. Being real about it, deeper thoughts can cause the preponderance of our existence. One of the things I love about horse racing is the omens of life present in this royal game. The 2023 Breeders’ Cup and the...
Trifecta of runners flex their muscle in 2023 Breeders’ Cup
The Breeders’ Cup has always been a showcase for talent. These year-end World Thoroughbred Championships oftentimes tells us just how strong a runner really is. At the 2023 event, there were three runners in particular that performed a pose down. Cody’s Wish came...
Just FYI…she’s pretty good
Future stars Friday at the Breeders’ Cup gives us a glimpse of things to come… we think. Some of these promising two-year-olds go on to great things while others don’t quite pan out. So who was perhaps the most impressive of the five winners on November 3? The boys...
A few Breeders’ Cup picks and pans for 2023
A FEW BREEDERS’ CUP PICKS AND PANS FOR 2023 The Breeders’ Cup is traditionally the greatest two days of racing on North American soil. Events like the Kentucky Derby and other Triple Crown races feature “big” weekends as well as some blockbuster stakes days...
Pretty Mischievous is one bad filly headed to Breeders’ Cup
When is bad good? If you are talking about athletic ability that is when it is definitely good to be considered “bad”. One sparkling three-year-old filly certainly fits that “bad” bill as she prepares for the 2023 Breeders’ Cup. Pretty Mischievous is what some...
Does home court advantage exist at the Breeders’ Cup ???
The beauty of the Breeders’ Cup is it rotates around the country. This makes for interesting scenarios as the best of the best in each division come together to run for big money and more. As we prepare for the 2023 Cup to be run at Santa Anita we ask do the horses...
Big weekend of racing sheds some light on the Breeders’ Cup
The weekend that was on September 30 and October 1 told us a few things about the upcoming Breeders’ Cup…we think… A plethora of stakes races across this racing continent over the past couple of days saw some impressive efforts from many Thoroughbred teams. Here are...
Ceiling Crusher was all that in Cotillion
A great game plan means little without execution. For one Thoroughbred racing team, the grade 1 Cotillion on September 23 was kinda like that Jack Nicholson movie…As good as it gets. Coming into this $1 million foray for three-year-old fillies, questions abounded...
Cotillion a big test for Ceiling Crusher
In the Thoroughbred racing game, every trip to the starting gates is a test. When it’s a Grade 1 worth $1 million it is definitely more than a pop quiz. For one fabulously fast California-bred filly the Cotillion at PARX on September 23 equates to her ACT. A real...
Turf Cup day adds to Kentucky Downs lore
Two of the things that make Thoroughbred racing the greatest game in the world are predictable unpredictability and the adrenaline rush the thrill of victory produces. Both were more than present on September 9 at Kentucky Downs. As one of the biggest days on the...
The Cup runneth over at Kentucky Downs on September 9
If you are thirsty for some top notch competition, there will be plenty of Cups to drink from at Kentucky Downs on September 9. Located just north of the Tennessee state line, that little “country” track in Franklin, Kentucky will feature a huge day of racing on...
Big Race Bob pulls a Classic at Del Mar
There is an art to winning the big events. In stick and ball sports they call it clutch. Whether it be nailing a three at the buzzer, launching a dinger in the bottom of the ninth, or making a tackle at the two yard line, there is something to be said for performing...
Mandella riding a Rocket into Pacific Classic
Hall of Fame Thoroughbred trainer Richard Mandella has enjoyed many wonderful achievements since opening his own stable back in 1976. As a force in the Southern California racing circuit, he has elevated the game with superior conditioning methods that always puts...
Live racing meet begins August 31 at Kentucky Downs
One of the most wonderful times of the year is now upon us. Like a shooting star, Kentucky Downs is about to light up the Thoroughbred racing sky as their live racing meet begins on August 31 and features six other dates through September 13. Nestled just north of...
Saratoga Special winner makes for a Hopeful situation
When speaking of young athletes, “special” and “hopeful” can be two commonly used terms. Or at least those are two words that an athlete wants to be used as adjectives when being discussed. There is one particular two-year-old male Thoroughbred that has garnered one...
Everything was all White in the Whitney Stakes
The 95th running of the Whitney Stakes at Saratoga was supposed to be all- about heavily favored Cody’s Wish winning his seventh straight race. Somebody forgot to tell White Abarrio. Coming into this grade 1 test the focus had been deservedly on Cody’s Wish. A...
A pair of streakers enjoy grade 1 glory in Sprint division
Question of the day…Are all streakers sprinters?... I think in some cases the answer is yes…depending of course on the type of streaker we are referencing. In this particular piece, we are not talking about a pair of Woodstock or Bonaroo festival attendees or the...
Geaux Rocket Ride makes the grade in Haskell
The athletic playing field is always a test and that’s especially true in the Thoroughbred racing game. The three-year-old division features more pop quizzes than an eighth-grade science class. Given the lack of any real superstar in this 2023 bunch of males, the...
Del Mar magnificence begins July 21
There are special places and then…there is Del Mar. All sports have venues that seem to echo greatness and the Seaside Oval in Southern California is that donkey for sure. Way back in 1937, entertaining icon Bing Crosby had a vision, and as the 84th summer meet...
Why is Saratoga the graveyard for favorites?
Life can pose many questions. As we navigate through it all there are certain things we begin to wonder about. The meaning of life…the definition of happiness… and of course what was the mystery meat they fed us at the 4th-grade lunch counter? There is one question...
Giant Game executes to perfection in Cornhusker
The beauty of an executed Game plan can be Giant. The Cornhusker Handicap on July 8 was that and then some. This grade 3 run for three-year-olds and up males is the centerpiece for the Prairie Meadows Race Course in Altoona, Iowa. Inaugurated in 1966, this mile and...
Stephen Foster day at Ellis Park speaks for the sport
For those familiar with the wonderful world of Thoroughbred horse racing the following assortation has long been understood. If you are not quite as familiar, this statement summarizes another wonderful aspect of this game. Thoroughbred racing…predictable...
Stephen Foster stakes looks like a loaded baked potato
For those of us that like to eat, a loaded baked potato is a delectable delight. Piled high with potatoey goodness, this mouth-watering dish does a body good. A quick glance at the Stephen Foster Stakes on July 1 reminds us of one of those spectacular spuds....
Hoosier Philly makes it look easy in Monomoy Girl Stakes
Does making things look easy signify quality in the athletic arena? If that’s the case, then the running of the Monomoy Girl Stakes on June 17 means Hoosier Philly is a top-shelf talent. Re-located to Ellis Park, the one-mile Monomoy Girl featured a compact but...
Caravel shines bright on Belmont day
One of the great things about this time of year is the long days and the starry nights. Oftentimes, the June sky will be full of stars, but as we all are aware, some just shine brighter than others. The Belmont Stakes racing festival was very much like one of those...
Belmont Stakes will be the Test of a champion
The 155th running of the Belmont Stakes on June 10 will absolutely live up to one of its monikers. Long considered the “Test of a Champion”, this third leg of the Triple Crown series offers some intriguing storylines. Let’s examine a few as nine talented...
It all adds up for National Treasure in Preakness Stakes
There are times when those “big” sporting events provide less-than-expected results. That means when you see a thriller and a great plan comes together it produces something special. The 148th running of the Preakness was exactly that…special. Those familiar with...
Taking a look at Preakness 148
Two weeks after the first Saturday in May means another glorious event…the Preakness Stakes! The folks at Old Hilltop in Maryland say they only contest the Kentucky Derby to see who is good enough to run in the Preakness. That rub is a little different this year as...
Baffert looking to strike Preakness gold with National Treasure
The Kentucky Derby is now in the books so it is off to Maryland for the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico. The second leg of the Triple Crown could become crowded with some of those “other” horses that did not run beneath the Twin Spires on the first Saturday in May. One...
Kentucky Derby 149 like 1983 NCAA Final Four
Don’t be confused by the headline. There is a shred of sanity here, but just remember we said shred. My loyal readers understand that sometimes I like to compare Thoroughbred racing to more mainstream sports in an attempt to hook the everyday sports fan into this...