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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 ...

1 Always Dreaming Todd Pletcher Bodemeister—Above Perfection, by In Excess There is very little separating him and Irish War Cry in natural ability and running style, and both should have no problem with the 1 1/4 miles. The Florida Derby now appears to be the best of the preps, mainly because he easily handled the No. 3 ranked horse ...

With Awesome Gem arriving at his new home at Old Friends April 7 I thought it would be an appropriate time to reprint a column I wrote in 2010 on this old warrior and the person whose life he changed. Clyde Haugan always said: ''Don't let the bastards get you down.'' Haugan, a longtime resident of Indian Harbour Beach, Fla., began suffering from ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman Get ready, everyone! A tremendous day of racing awaits on April 8th, with fourteen graded stakes races scheduled to be run at Aqueduct, Keeneland, and Santa Anita. The lineup includes three major Kentucky Derby prep races, with the $1,000,000 Santa Anita Derby (gr. I) appearing to ...