Saturday Pimlico, Race 12 The Preakness By Robert Finnegan If handicapping the 2014 Kentucky Derby was nasty, brutish, and long, handicapping the 2014 Preakness was nasty, brutish, agonizing, and almost as long. Here is where we ended up, for better or worse: The TFUS Pace Projector indicates that the Preakness will be run at a fast pace, and that Social Inclusion will be on a clear lead at the opening...
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The Predicteform.com Pace Figures will tell you if a horse is likely to improve or regress in its next start....
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Granted, this is somewhat a self-fulfilling statistic, as the best last-out Brisnet.com Speed Rating is most often the Kentucky Derby winner, and in this time range the Derby winner has won the Preakness six times. Still, the best last-out Brisnet.com Speed Rating would have landed you on non-Derby starters and Preakness winners Bernardini and Rachel Alexandra as well as longshot runnerup Scrappy T....
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Could Bayern be sitting on a career-best performance in Saturday's Preakness Stakes? J. Keeler Johnson analyzes the similarities between Bayern and Paynter, the runner-up in the 2012 Belmont Stakes....
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A lot has been made about the unimpressive final time of the 2014 Kentucky Derby. As you may know, Old Rosebud won the 1914 Kentucky Derby in a faster time (2:03.40) than this year’s edition (2:03.66), which is pretty remarkable considering how much slower final times were a century ago. For instance, the two six-furlong races on the 1914 Kentucky Derby card went in 1:14 and 1:13.40. In 1914, the Churchill...
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The sixth race on Friday at Churchill Downs (click for FREE Brisnet.com Ultimate Past Performances ) is a tough and interesting Maiden Special Weight event for two-year-olds going 4 ½ furlongs. One interesting horse is #6 Stonebriar. This Two Punch colt debuts for trainer Al Stall, who has enjoyed a brilliant start to this Churchill Downs meeting with four wins from nine starts with all nine starters...
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Check back Saturday for Sunday stakes previews from Belmont Saturday Belmont, Race 9 G2 Peter Pan Stakes By Mike Beer A field of seven is set to enter the gate for the Grade 2 Peter Pan. They will go nine furlongs over Belmont's main track, and when all is said and done, one of these three-year-olds will be a newly minted graded stakes winner. Depending upon who that winner is and, perhaps, how impressive...
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J. Keeler Johnson handicaps the Peter Pan Stakes (gr. II) at Belmont Park....
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I’ve compared this year’s Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands to two things: a roulette wheel and the NCAA men’s basketball championship tournament. A roulette wheel because most horses can win (i.e. have some chance of winning), and it’s up to the handicapper to determine which odds are better than the horse’s chance of winning. That doesn’t work in roulette where you get 35-to-1 no matter which...
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For (some) insight into each of these picks (as well as some thoughts from other handicapping luminaries), check out the Courier-Journal 's Kentucky Oaks day analysis section .
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In-depth analysis of the 2014 Kentucky Derby including Pace Figures and Form Cycle Pattern of each starter. Please refer to the Legend or Pattern Guide for back-up definitions and patterns. The Predicteform.com Pace Figures will tell you if a horse is likely to improve or regress in its next start. Pace Figures are not just a single speed number, but rather a series of numbers that are incredibly powerful...
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For Kentucky Oaks Day Analysis, scroll to the second half of this blog post Saturday, Churchill Downs Race 11 The G1 Kentucky Derby By Robert Finnegan Handicapping the Kentucky Derby tends to be nasty, brutish, and long, and handicapping the 2014 edition was certainly no exception for us. There are so many approaches one can take, so many angles one can embrace, so many rumors one can listen to...there...
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J. Keeler Johnson handicaps the 140th Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I)....
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By Ed DeRosa Picking a Kentucky Derby favorite is much easier than picking the Kentucky Derby winner, but tabbing his (and 19 others’) off odds is among the more difficult guessing games in the Sport of Kings. Of this I’m certain: California Chrome will be favored and Wicked Strong will be second choice. After that, there are questions: What will California Chrome’s price actually be? Will Wicked Strong...
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J. Keeler Johnson shares his thoughts on three Kentucky Derby longshots that could finish in the superfecta at solid prices....
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While we wait for more two-year-old racing to start, Brisnet.com pedigree handicapper and blogger Doug Salvatore will profile each of the expected Kentucky Derby starters in terms of classic breeding and current form/speed. This final installment of three looks at the top contenders ranked in the bottom third of the prospective field by points on the TwinSpires.com Kentucky Derby Championship Series...
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Many skilled handicappers treat pedigree analysis as though it should be left for those whose primary aim is the buying, selling, or breeding of horses. There are countless examples, new and old, of the maddening uncertainty associated with this subject. One hundred years ago, Roamer was the champion three-year-old and is credited with 1914 Horse of the Year recognition. He was sired by a "teaser stallion...
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FRIDAY The G2 Elkhorn Stakes Keeneland, Race 9 By Alan Mann The Grade 2 Elkhorn Stakes has drawn an overflow field of 14 on Friday's closing day card at Keeneland. Hangover Kid (10-1) stretches out to a mile and a half after returning from a 105-day layoff to race at a mile and a sixteenth. This somewhat lightly raced (record of 21-6-6-3) six-year-old son of Lemon Drop Kid has never run quite this...
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J. Keeler Johnson handicaps the Derby Trial Stakes (gr. III) and shares his "Kentucky Derby Top Five."...
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The G3 Coolmore Lexington Stakes Keeneland, Race 9 By Robert Finnegan 11 horses are entered in the Grade 3 Coolmore Lexington, to be run at a mile and 1/16 on Polytrack, and what the race lacks in Kentucky Derby implications, it makes up for in chaos. More than half the field (including the two favorites on the morning line) has never raced on synthetic. Several horses enter off terrible efforts. Several...
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While we wait for more two-year-old racing to start, Brisnet.com pedigree handicapper and blogger Doug Salvatore will profile each of the expected Kentucky Derby starters in terms of classic breeding and current form/speed. The second installment looks at the top contenders ranked eighth through 14 th by points on the TwinSpires.com Kentucky Derby Championship Series . For FREE Ultimate Past Performances...
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On Saturday, Game On Dude returns to Charles Town to seek another victory in the Charles Town Classic (gr. II). Will he win?...
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While we wait for more two-year-old racing to start, Brisnet.com pedigree handicapper and blogger Doug Salvatore will profile each of the expected Kentucky Derby starters in terms of classic breeding and current form/speed. The first installment looks at the top seven contenders as ranked by the Kentucky Derby points system . For FREE Ultimate Past Performances with comments of probable Derby entrants...
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Sunday's ninth race at Keeneland is a very exciting third-level allowance race for fillies and mares going a mile on the turf. The most intriguing horse in the race is the French invader Filimbi. In her most recent start, Filimbi nicely captured a Listed Stakes race at Chantilly over heavy ground last November. Filimbi is a product of two former Juddmonte owned and Bobby Frankel trained stars. In fact...
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Saturday's Blue Grass card at Keeneland features numerous Graded Stakes races, however, we'll shift our focus to a trio of treacherous Maiden Special Weight events starting with race four. Race 4: A wide-open field of 11 three-year-old fillies going two-turns over Polytrack in this contest. The Brisnet.com Speed Rating par for this race is an 83, and no horse in this field has ever run that fast. The...
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