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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, ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman Take a deep breath, folks! With just seven weeks remaining until the Kentucky Derby, the $900,000 Rebel Stakes (gr. II) is the last Derby prep race that falls before the start of the ''final prep races'' on March 26th. In other words, from here on out, the road to the Derby is ...

You all said the Derby memories column wasn’t too long, so wait until you read this one. After sharing my Kentucky Derby memories I figured I might as well keep going and complete the Triple Crown, starting, of course, with the Preakness Stakes, which most members of the media will tell you is the most fun of the three to cover. But with the fun ...

Several weeks ago we questioned the effectiveness of a National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association call for medication research to be conducted, and possibly adopted, independently of the Racing Medication & Testing Consortium. The HBPA wants the resulting thresholds to be vetted and considered for adoption into the Association of ...