This Saturday, Social Inclusion will make his much-anticipated stakes debut in the $1,000,000 Wood Memorial (gr. I) at Aqueduct, one of four grade I races for three-year-olds being run this weekend....
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RACE TWO (click race for PPs): Radiant (8-to-5 morning line) and Follow The Kitten (9-to-5) are expected to vie for favoritism. Both horses have obvious credentials and are dropping from the Maiden Special Weight level, where they have burnt a lot of money (no wins in five tries as the favorite between them, and neither has been worse than 5-to-1 in any of their combined 10 starts). There are two interesting...
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The G1 Florida Derby Gulfstream, Race 14 By Alan Mann In the G1 Florida Derby at Gulfstream (Race 14, Scheduled Post Time 6:48 PM ET), Cairo Prince (#3, 9-5) comes in off a layoff -- well, we don't consider 63 days to be a layoff in this day and age, so you won't see a layoff line in our PPs. Suffice to say that trainer Kiaran McLaughlin gave him a break after he drew away to crush his opponents in...
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When the calendar pages turn to March, and the days slowly count down to the final Saturday of the month, the annual anticipation for one of the greatest days in horse racing begins to build....
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The Spiral Stakes and the Sunland Derby are this week's Kentucky Derby Showdown races. ...
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Saturday, Turfway, Race 11, Local Post Time 6:28pm EDT The G3 Horseshoe Casino Spiral Stakes , 1 and 1/8 miles, Synth, 3YO By Jason Perlmutter This Saturday, we find ourselves getting ever closer to Louisville, at least in a geographical sense. Twelve Derby hopefuls will take their talents approximately 95 miles northeast of Churchill Downs to contest the G3 $550k Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park. • FREE...
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The road to the Kentucky Derby heats up with the Spiral Stakes (gr. III) and Sunland Derby (gr. III) on March 22-23....
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As I discussed in varying ways on the Hello Race Fans Derby Prep Alert and Steve Byk’s At The Races Radio Program, I don’t expect a lot of sexy results on Saturday at Oaklawn Park in terms of payoffs, but it will be fun to watch some (future) stars shine at likely low prices. That’s good news for the 82 people still alive for $1-million in the TwinSpires.com Road To The Kentucky Derby Showdown , as...
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Saturday, Oaklawn, Race 10, Local Post Time 6:04pm CT The G2 Rebel Stakes , 1 and 1/16 miles, Dirt, 3YO By Robert Finnegan 85 more Kentucky Derby points are on the line in the Grade 2 Rebel, to be run at a mile and 1/16 on the main track. The morning line has this looking like a three-horse race, with Tapiture at 9-5, Strong Mandate at 2-1, Kobe's Back at 7-2, and the others all 8-1 or higher. However...
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Strong Mandate could be sitting on a strong performance in the grade II Rebel Stakes this Saturday....
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By Ed DeRosa If you’re the type who thinks that racing needs its stars to keep racing to increase interest, then this is the Saturday for you! The one-two finishers and beaten favorite in America’s richest race all make the second start of their season on Saturday at Santa Anita Park in the Santa Anita Handicap, and last year’s Preakness runner-up Itsmyluckyday and Belmont Stakes winner Palace Malice...
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Santa Anita Saturday, Santa Anita, Race 5, Local Post Time 2:00pm PT The G2 San Felipe Stakes , 1 and 1/16 miles, Dirt, 3YO By Robert Finnegan Kentucky Derby Fever makes its way back to Arcadia for the Grade 2 San Felipe, to be run at a mile and 1/16 on the main track, with 50 Kentucky Derby points going to the winner. • TimeformUS PPs for the San Felipe Stakes • A Special Offer on Unlimited PPs for...
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In what may go down as the race of the year, Saturday's Santa Anita Handicap (gr. I) will feature a rematch between Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) 1-2 finishers Mucho Macho Man and Will Take Charge, with two-time defending Santa Anita Handicap champion Game On Dude shooting for an unprecedented three-peat in the historic race. Who will win the showdown?...
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The question today's handicapper must ask is how much weight matters....
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There is no shortage of opinions regarding a horse’s performance following races on the TwinSpires.com Kentucky Derby Championship Series , and the beauty of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager is that it allows bettors to put their money where their mouths are (assuming the price is right). Pool 3 is now open and closes Saturday before the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct (more on that race on Friday). For FREE...
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Saturday, Aqueduct, Race 9, Local Post Time 4:17pm ET The G3 Gotham Stakes , 1 and 1/16 miles, Dirt, 3YO By Jason Perlmutter With only nine weeks remaining until the first Saturday in May, Derby fever comes to the rough and tumble neighborhood of Ozone Park, New York, home of Aqueduct Racetrack. There, 11 three-year-olds will compete in the Grade 3 $500k Gotham, and a promising son of Noble Causeway...
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Samraat, Uncle Sigh, and Havana are among the box-office stars entered to race in this week's Gotham Stakes (gr. III) and Swale Stakes (gr. II). But could they be overshadowed by the supporting cast?...
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Rise Up has a 10 point Prime Power advantage on the field in the Risen Star....
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Saturday, Gulfstream Park, Race 11, Local Post Time 5:31pm ET The G2 Fountain of Youth Stakes, 1 and 1/16 miles, Dirt, 3YO By Alan Mann The Grade 2 Fountain of Youth is the final prep for the Florida Derby, an actual prep (finally) for the Kentucky Derby. It will be run at a mile and a sixteenth with a short run to the first turn and a shortened stretch, both of which figure to be significant factors...
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It's an age-old handicapping question--what do you do when the horse you like has drawn a poor post position?...
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In discussing the Southwest Stakes (click for free Brisnet.com Ultimate PPs w/ comments ) with Steve Byk on his At The Races radio program Friday morning, I wondered whether fitness would be a factor for some entrants because of the lost training time this month at Oaklawn Park . Eleven of the dozen entrants are based at Oaklawn with the most recent works ranging from four days ago to three weeks ago...
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When playing races or carryovers at tracks I normally don’t play, I try to lean on the Ultimate Race Summary found in the Brisnet.com Ultimate Past Performances , but the El Camino Real Derby (click for FREE PPs) on Saturday at Golden Gate Fields does not afford such a luxury because there has only been one 1 1/8-mile race so far this meeting at the Bay area track. A (free!) fallback is the At A Glance...
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Sunday, Santa Anita, Race 5, Local Post Time 2:30pm PT The G2 San Vicente Stakes , 7 Furlongs, Dirt, 3YO By Jason Perlmutter The Grade 2 San Vicente at Santa Anita features a field of six colts who have raced a combined 15 times in their burgeoning careers. This is the time of year when three-year-old thoroughbreds explode with regularity to career-top performances. In light of that, we will look for...
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J. Keeler Johnson joins the Unlocking Winners blog and looks at Alpha's chances on the grass in the Feb. 15 Mac Diarmida Stakes....
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The return of SHOWdown is always a big deal here at TwinSpires.com HQ, but nothing would be a bigger deal than seeing Vice President of Marketing Jeremy Clemons with the blanket of roses in one hand and a $1-million bill in the other for the TwinSpires.com player who successfully picked a horse to show in 19 prep races plus the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands . Of course, successfully picking...
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