Let's look at this year's Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) realistically. After the top three it is a study in futility trying to rank the rest of the horses. There simply isn't enough to go by, as these horses keep beating each other and the vast majority of performances have been fairly ordinary....
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Whether it be in the Travers and/or Kentucky Derby, we could be treated to a classic East vs. West showdown, and what makes it even more appealing is that Honor A. P. and Tiz the Law both have the same running style. ...
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So, why in the world would Turcotte, still on cloud nine and basking in the blinding limelight of his history making victory, ride in the race following the Belmont Stakes?...
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Although the Belmont Stakes (G1) is not the Belmont as we know it, far from it, by being run around one turn at a mile and an eighth with a testing pace likely down that long straightaway, this version of the Belmont may actually be more attractive to breeders than the traditional Belmont Stakes, as it should resemble the Met Mile (G1) more than it resembles your typical two-turn classic race going longer....
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In continuing with my Triple Crown memories, I am reprinting one of my favorite columns written after California Chrome's Kentucky Derby, as I feel it sums up the Cinderella story behind the horse as well as the dreams of all those who own horses....
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If there was one thing I learned about covering the Kentucky Derby it was to stay objective and don't let personal relationships obscure your vision. It was all about the story and backstories and telling them with a clear thought process. But I have to admit there was one year when I let my personal feelings trickle to the surface. Although I had numerous stories and backstories on most of the Derby...
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This column is for me and couple of guys from Brooklyn. If anyone wishes to relive it with us you can continue to the reprint of my 2017 Derby recap below....
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It was just me, American Pharoah, and Jimmy Barnes with not another soul around in as intimate a moment as I could ever recall with a Derby favorite....
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I have just written a script. It's not your everyday script. It is futuristic...well, not too far in the future. Some of the names are made up and some are real. Yes, the script is fiction, but that's not to say it can't happen. You never know....
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There are a lot of decisions to be made in the next few weeks or months regarding the rescheduling of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) and the ramifications it will have on the other two Triple Crown races and several major race meets, especially Saratoga. ...
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War Emblem will always be remembered as one of the fastest, most brilliant, and fascinating horses in many years, with an aggressive personality that spilled out onto the racetrack....
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Every January, well before the roses are in bloom, jockeys and their agents begin the arduous and often times stressful task of finding the Kentucky Derby winner. It is a pressure-packed four months, first finding a horse early on, then hoping he’s good enough to continue on the Derby trail, then hoping he stays sound, then hoping the trainer sticks with them and doesn’t start shopping around for a bigger name jockey....
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Speaking as a writer searching for storylines, if anyone deserved to win the Derby as much as Mott it was Gary and Mary West....
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Because there are so many question marks surrounding the quality of the UAE Derby, including how a round trip there and back can affect a horse trying to come back in five weeks in the Kentucky Derby, let us look at Plus Que Parfait and Gray Magician as unknowns, and therefore potential megabomb exotics horses despite their mediocre form in the U.S. before heading to the desert....
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The fall of the year, well before the journey on the Kentucky Derby trail begins, is a very special time in racing. It is during those fall months that we often see the seeds sprout that eventually will blossom into the Kentucky Derby winner. That is when Derby dreams are born. Any one of those seedlings could grow into a magnificent Thoroughbred that will one day make history. At least that is what...
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When you think of hard-luck horses in the Derby, the first horse that comes to mind is Native Dancer, who was interfered with early and came up a head short of not only winning the Derby but retiring undefeated.
We have had other hard-luck horses in the past 50 years for whatever reason who might have been cost a victory or at least a far better placing. There no doubt are others that I am missing, but here is a list of those who come to mind who had their one chance at Kentucky Derby immortality compromised because of bad luck....
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As I prepare for the latest onslaught of Derby horses and Derby performances and the same old trainer names, I have come to the stark realization that nothing is the same as it was. Gone is the old formulated thinking. Gone is the same old logic. And gone are the same old historical perspectives.
And there is one horse responsible for that. His name is Justify. ...
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Here is a rundown of horses pre-entered in this year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile who could join Street Sense, Nyquist, Good Magic, and Classic Empire as major factors in the Kentucky Derby, based on pedigree and performance, mostly visually, as statistics do not always reveal what a brilliant 2-year-old will do going a mile and a quarter at 3....
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There is one horse likely waiting for the Belmont Stakes who is tucked away far from the action, enjoying the tranquility of Saratoga Race Course and unwinding after an eventful trip in the soggy Run for the Roses....
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Rick Hammerle has been racing secretary at Santa Anita for 15 years and was stakes coordinator at Monmouth Park for 12 years, and he thought he had heard everything. That is until one day in mid-February of this year. Hammerle had carded a seven-furlong maiden race for 3-year-olds, and Bob Baffert walked into his office to make sure that the race was going to fill. It had to. Baffert had a first-time...
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In order to tackle this year's fascinating, but perplexing, Kentucky Derby, we have to start by envisioning how the race is going to be run and which horses might take the worst of the pace scenario and which horses might be in the best position to launch their attacks....
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Is it possible that it is the Irish-trained Mendelssohn who actually is the freak?...
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The field of runners embarking on the 2018 Kentucky Derby trail, have gathered, like the massive throng on the Verrazano Bridge before the start of the New York Marathon, and they are now five days into their annual assault on Churchill Downs that will involve four months of blissful torture for owners and trainers who envision the blanket of roses draped over their horse's withers on the First Saturday in May, but are fearful of the many pitfalls that stand in their path. This is the time when every early morning phone call brings a feeling of dread....
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Many people believe that once the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, Remsen Stakes, and Los Alamitos Futurity are run, that is the end of the 2-year-old season as far as seeing potential Kentucky Derby hopefuls in action. However, that is not the case at all. History has shown us that the winners of those three graded stakes are not necessarily where you want to look to find the Derby winner. A good place...
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As a historian and traditionalist, I have stated on several occasions that I am a firm believer, as were the trainers of the past, in starting a horse's 3-year-old campaign in a sprint to sharpen him up for the rigors of the Triple Crown trail, especially those with extensive 2-year-old campaigns competing at two turns at the highest level. ...
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