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While it doesn’t have the breeding and sales industry infrastructure of Keeneland, Oaklawn Park—and the town of Hot Springs, Ark.—is steeped in racing and gambling tradition. Both tracks run high-caliber meetings, feeding right into Triple Crown season. Oaklawn’s signature closing event—the Racing Festival of the South—brings together the best of ...

By: Erin Shea, @BH_EShea While ending up in the winner's circle is ultimate goal for Thoroughbred owners, one partnership tries just as hard to find homes for former charges once their racing days are over. Ten Strike Racing—which is run by Marshall Gramm and Clay Sanders, plus 25 other partners—campaigns graded stakes placed Allied ...

1 Always Dreaming Todd Pletcher Bodemeister—Above Perfection, by In Excess Boy, is it close up at the top. But rather than keep switching the No. 1 horse every few weeks based on the latest big-race winner, I decided to stick with this guy for now, partly because of his potential to be any kind and his combination of tactical speed, ...

The major preps are over. Now the anticipation begins. Time to call the car rental office and reserve a car, hoping it drives well enough to make the 11 1/2-hour trek to Louisville somewhere between tolerable and semi-enjoyable. For that, I also will need to specify the car has satellite radio. The big day finally arrives and I am out the door ...

In a move designed to build the confidence of new horseplayers while emphasizing that racing offers a different form of gambling from random gaming like the lottery, Oaklawn Park is paying more money for winning on-track show wagers this year. Bobby Geiger, Oaklawn's director of wagering and simulcasts, said while it's a thrill for new players to ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman With just three weeks remaining until the Kentucky Derby, the last of the official prep races are scheduled to be run this Saturday, led by the $1 million Arkansas Derby (gr. I) at Oaklawn Park. Given the number of surprising results that we've seen on the Derby trail so far this ...

Heading into April weekends we love seeing stories with headlines such as “Preps to Clear Derby Picture” because: a) the features always focus on the obvious, over-worn angles, and b) the results often prove them to be incredibly wrong. It played out in spades April 8 at Keeneland, Aqueduct, and Santa Anita. We anticipate more of the same next ...

By: Erin Shea, @BH_EShea For the first time, Thoroughbred aftercare will have a deserved spotlight in a part of the larger international racing conversation.  Coinciding with the Pan American conference in Washington D.C., the newly established International Forum for the Aftercare of Racehorses (IFAR) May 17-18 hopes to highlight ...

By Ron Mitchell Driven by the top of the market, the first four juvenile sales of 2017 resulted in a 12.2% increase in gross receipts, a 15.8% cumulative increase in average, and a decline in buy-backs as the marketplace becomes more polarized. According to BloodHorse MarketWatch data, the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream, Ocala Breeders' Sales ...