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1 Classic Empire Mark Casse Pioneerof the Nile—Sambuca Classica, by Cat Thief Any of the top four horses could have been a legitimate No. 1, but it was decided on the champ because of one of my favorite handicapping tools for a winning horse – a huge gap between second and third in a large classy field, as was the case in the Breeders’ Cup ...

Time to dust off the crystal ball and attempt to decipher which freshman sires of 2017 are likely to be at or near the top of the first-crop sire list at year's end. The only certainty in such an exercise is that someone will surprise us. For the past few years, BloodHorse MarketWatch has published statistical profiles of the first-crop ...

by: Anne M. Eberhardt, @BH_AEberhardt  Songbird jogging at WinStar Order This Photo On the morning after the Eclipse Awards ceremony, it was business as usual at Kenny Troutt's WinStar Farm near Versailles, Ky. The farm was honored with the Eclipse Award for outstanding breeder Jan. 21 at Gulfstream Park.  On the way to the training ...

As if the attraction of seeing the two best dirt horses in the world—arguably the two best horses in the world—currently in training wasn't enough, the first edition of the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) also features depth comparable to last year's Dubai World Cup (G1). The second part of that sentence may come as a surprise to those who ...

There is no doubt America has a love affair with California Chrome, with his hardcore worshippers proudly calling themselves Chromies.  They have formed what can best be described as a sub culture in the world of Thoroughbred racing. They love him in his victories and they love him every bit as much in his defeats, as rare as they have ...

While wagering on U.S. races in 2016 was flat—up less than 1% compared with 2015— bettors continue to support a reduced Thoroughbred racing product. That is to say average handle per U.S. race in 2016 improved 2.3% to $280,408, which is the first time since 2007 that wagering per race has surpassed $280,000. The $280,408 in average ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman The Road to the Kentucky Derby will continue this Saturday with a competitive renewal of the $200,000 LeComte Stakes (gr. III) at Fair Grounds, a race that has produced many Kentucky Derby starters in recent years, including Mo Tom, Tom's Ready, Destin, War Story, Vicar's in Trouble, ...

When it comes to keeping track of horses' health information, about one in five breeding farms and boarding/training facilities are using a computerized method to track information. The above detail is just one of the nuggets available in a new report from the National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) that examines, for all breeds: horse ...

Keeneland’s January sale is, well, the January sale. It has always been considered to be more the last mixed sale of the previous year than the first sale of the new year. Its results are hard to measure from one year to the next due to varying factors, mainly the appearance or scratch of a few “name” horses or stock that are part of major ...

Father and son Pioneerof the Nile and American Pharoah topped the leading covering sire ranks by gross and average at the five-day Keeneland January horses of all ages sale that ended Jan. 13. Mares bred to American Pharoah, the 2015 Triple Crown winner who stands at Ashford Stud, attracted the highest gross of $955,000 and the highest average of ...