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By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman It's not every year that racing fans get a showdown as epic as the one coming up in Saturday's $1,000,000 Xpressbet.com Florida Derby (gr. I) at Gulfstream Park. A matchup between the two favorites for the Kentucky Derby is a great rarity indeed, especially when both are undefeated, ...

Did California Chrome’s victory in the Dubai World Cup assure him a place in racing’s Hall of Fame? Heck, yeah, it did. Here is one of racing’s true rare breeds – a Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner and potential stallion racing at the age of 5 (can we have a few “Hallelujahs,” please); a Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner going to Dubai not ...

1 Mohaymen Kiaran McLaughlin Tapit—Justwhistledixie, by Dixie Union Worked a solid half in :48 4/5 for his big showdown in the Florida Derby. It was pretty much all McLaughlin was looking for. He has all the advantages, having won twice over the track, and it didn’t appear as if he came close to running a peak performance in either race, so ...

California Chrome certainly proved his superiority by winning the $10 million Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline (UAE-I) and avenging last year's second-place finish, but jockey Victor Espinoza deserves much credit for this victory. Soon after the break in the world's richest race at Meydan Racecourse, Espinoza found himself in a ...

Jeff Lukas walked along the outside rail heading back to the barn following Charismatic’s victory in the 1999 Kentucky Derby. The fans in the grandstand off to his right were still buzzing over the 31-1 triumph of the former $62,500 claimer. Jeff wore a blank expression on his face, staring straight ahead. No longer the Jeff Lukas that had ...

The Belmont Stakes; the end of the Triple Crown journey; the one race, as fickle and unsympathetic as any in the country, that has the power to grant or deny a horse immortality on the slightest whim. It has the patience to wait 25 years or 37 years for a Triple Crown winner or it can get restless and crown three in a six-year period. It is an ...

J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman It's finally here! The $1,000,000 Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (gr. II) at Fair Grounds on March 26th is the first Kentucky Derby prep race to offer 100 qualification points to the winner, meaning that at long last, we've reached the homestretch of the Kentucky Derby trail! The ...

1 Mohaymen Kiaran McLaughlin Tapit—Justwhistledixie, by Dixie Union He had another solid work, breezing 5 furlongs in a bullet 1:01. Can you say a horse is boring and mean it as a compliment? Yes, if you’re referring to Mohaymen, who runs perfect, acts perfect, and trains perfect. So, yes, he is boring in that he does everything perfect and ...

In our previous column we discussed how the Racing Medication & Testing Consortium determines the regulatory thresholds for therapeutic drugs. We looked at this process because the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association at its recent annual conference called for independent research to provide alternatives to RMTC-identified ...

With Todd Pletcher scoring his 4,000th win today, I thought this would be a good time to reprint my recap of the 2007 Belmont Stakes victory by Rags to Riches, which I feel is still Pletcher’s greatest training job. It was also his and John Velazquez’ first classic victory. Not only was this one of the most thrilling Triple Crown races ever, ...