Hangin' With Haskin : kentucky derby

Haskin's Derby Recap: Rare Bird Sightings

Blood-Horse Staff — Tue, 05 May 2009 12:53:00 GMT

Well, we saw one bird fly over the rainbow. The vast majority of experts and racing fans were astounded, aghast, and amazed at Mine That Bird’s otherworldly performance in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), in which he took off on a demonic dash as if he were being chased by a swarm of angry hornets.

Read the full column here.

Haskin's Derby Report: The Picks

Blood-Horse Staff — Sat, 02 May 2009 02:30:00 GMT

To start, this is as tough a Derby as I have ever had to decipher, with a case to be made for at least dozen of the horses. I will break the race down in several categories and then put it all together and come up with something that resembles a wagering strategy.

Read the full column here..

Haskin's Derby Report: 48 Hours and Counting

Blood-Horse Staff — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:06:00 GMT

The big day is almost here. No, not the Derby; having to make selections, which will be in Friday's column. In the meantime, he are a few late odds and ends.

Read the full column here.

Haskin's Derby Report: Day for Revenge

Blood-Horse Staff — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:19:00 GMT

Following Monday’s flurry of workouts, it was all about I Want Revenge on Tuesday, as the likely Kentucky Derby favorite had the center stage all to himself.

Read full column here.

Live Derby Chat - Wed. April 15, from 4-6 pm ET

Blood-Horse Staff — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 19:57:00 GMT

Join me for a live chat Wed. April 15, from 4-6 pm ET, when I’ll be answering your questions about Derby 135.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;task=viewaltcast&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;altcast_code=cab8e6b1e5" &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Steve Haskin Live Blog: Wed., April 15th&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Ky. Derby Trail: Simple Twists of Fate

Blood-Horse Staff — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 01:14:00 GMT

Lost in the overwhelming spectacle of the Kentucky Derby and the arduous road leading to Churchill Downs are the little-known ironies and twists of fate that get played out behind the scenes.

There was an old TV series, based on a movie of the same name, called “Naked City,” which offered a gritty look at life in New York City. At the end of each show a narrator would say: “There are eight million stories in the Naked City. This has been one of them.” There aren’t quite as many in the Kentucky Derby, but here are two from this year’s storylines.

Read the rest of the column here.

Kentucky Derby Trail: Louisville Shuffle

Blood-Horse Staff — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:58:00 GMT

As often happens on the Kentucky Derby trail, they fell like proverbial bowling pins last weekend, although two of the bigger names reinforced their strong position. Not all the vanquished will be taken off the trail, as some deserve another chance after racing on less than desirable surfaces, but they have put themselves in a desperate situation.

Read the rest of the column here.

Ky Derby Trail: Second Wave Lands

Blood-Horse Staff — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:46:00 GMT

It is the second week in March, the second Future Wager is upon us, and that means the Kentucky Derby contenders are pretty well established…or are they? That’s what we’ll find out this weekend when the second wave storms the beaches at Fair Grounds, Tampa Bay Downs, Oaklawn Park, and Santa Anita in an attempt to secure a late spot in the Derby field.

Read full column here.

Ky. Derby Trail: The Total Package

Blood-Horse Staff — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:04:00 GMT

March means many things to owners and trainers of horses on the Kentucky Derby trail. There's the nail-biting, the sleepless nights, and the early morning phone calls that every owner dreads. And for many it sadly means the end of the road.

Read the full column here.

Ky Derby Trail: Road to the Roses

Blood-Horse Staff — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 14:57:00 GMT

The last Saturday in November is NYRA's farewell to grade I and grade II racing, with the running of the Cigar Mile (gr. I) and the grade II Remsen and Demoiselle Stakes for 2-year-olds. But last year, there was a buzz in the air that had nothing to do with any of those three races.

Read the entire column here.

Ky. Derby Trail: Southwest & Middle East

Blood-Horse Staff — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 14:38:00 GMT

Although there was nothing over the weekend to knock your proverbial socks off, there were a few races that could steer you toward a horse or two as potential Derby material. With the Southwest Stakes having just been run, we’ll briefly discuss the race and go over it in more detail next week.

Read the entire column here.

Watch the latest edition of "And They're Off" with Steve and Lenny Shulman.

Ky. Derby Trail: The Challenge is On

Blood-Horse Staff — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:15:00 GMT

So, 23 “elite” 3-year-olds have been chosen to make up the first Kentucky Derby Future Wager field. Well, several of those who didn’t make the cut are up in arms over the selections and are offering a challenge to the so-called leading Derby contenders.

The reason they are up in arms over the decision-making is that they feel several of those chosen are less -- or at least no more -- worthy of inclusion than they are.

Read the entire column here.

Watch the latest edition of "And They're Off" with Steve and Lenny Shulman.

Ky. Derby Trail: Mid-Week Melange

Blood-Horse Staff — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:17:00 GMT

Because the Top 30 list took up a great deal of Monday’s column, we’ll go double duty this week and catch up on some updates and ramblings and look at the Risen Star Stakes.

On the pedigree front, are you tired of all the inbreeding in racing, especially through Mr. Prospector and Northern Dancer? Well there are a couple of prominent horses this year who are that rare outcross that you’d think would be attractive to breeders and infuse some fresh blood into the game.

Read the full column here.

Ky. Derby Trail: Flashback to Greatness

Blood-Horse Staff — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:44:00 GMT

What do the following horses have in common? Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Spectacular Bid, Affirmed, Alydar, Damascus, Buckpasser, Easy Goer, Riva Ridge, Holy Bull, Spend a Buck, and Swale?

All of them, despite having run at a mile or longer as a 2-year-old, made their 3-year-old debut going seven furlongs or shorter.

In recent years, trainers, for whatever reason, are reluctant to drop a horse back in distance for his 3-year-old debut. Now you see races like the Hutcheson Stakes and Bay Shore Stakes dominated by sprinters. You rarely see a top 2-year-old make his first start at 3 in a sprint of any kind, with many trainers rushing them into 1 1/8-mile races, as they do with horses who have never even been two turns.

Read the full column here.

Historical Hiatus

Blood-Horse Staff — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:55:00 GMT

Rather than just have them disappear from the blog, I want to let everyone know that I will be concentrating on my Ky. Derby Trail columns and Derby Watch and Derby Spotlight features and am putting the historical blogs on hold for a while.

I want to thank everyone for their support and encouragement regarding those blogs and for all the kind words. There were all greatly appreciated.

The behind-the-scenes historical blogs seem to have been well received, and I hope to continue them at some point on a regular basis. They might even pop up now and then in the near future. I have so many other stories of well-known and lesser known horses that I feel would be of great interest to the readers – stories, like the previous ones published, that have been compiled over the years.

As for the upcoming blogs, they will contain a few paragraphs about the Derby trail and various other topics, and will link to the Ky. Derby Trail column that appears weekly on BloodHorse.com. In this way, you will be able to comment on the column.

So, thank you again and enjoy the 2009 Derby trail.