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By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman Although this weekend is a relatively quiet one in terms of major racing action, racing fans will nevertheless be treated to a stellar renewal of the $400,000 Veterans Ford Risen Star Stakes (gr. II) at Fair Grounds, the first Kentucky Derby prep race of the year that will offer ...

With the Hall of Fame Nominating Committee diligently trying to come up with horses worthy to be on this year’s ballot, we could be looking at two of the surest bets in a long time – that Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra will be elected to the Hall in their first year of eligibility. So let’s take a break from the Derby trail and turn the clocks ...

Make no mistake about it—the movement to decouple pari-mutuel licenses from electronic gaming is a bad deal for racing. Efforts to weaken or even break this connection are now being debated by Florida and West Virginia legislatures (see page 14 of the Feb. 20 Blood-Horse). While both these situations are very fluid, the concern is that any ...

1 Mohaymen Kiaran McLaughlin Tapit—Justwhistledixie, by Dixie Union This horse hasn’t taken a backwards step in his entire career and showed the Holy Bull was a mere stroll in the park by working a half in a bullet :47 3/5, fastest of 31 works. McLaughlin wasn’t looking for anything that quick, but when good horses are doing good they do ...

Sam Houston Race Park officials could offer opinions on the track's many low-takeout wagers, but they figure that pricing every horizontal wager (Daily Double, Pick 3, Pick 4, Pick 5) at 12% for a fourth straight year says volumes. That is to say, if low pricing wasn't working; Sam Houston wouldn't be bringing the 12% rate back each season. ...

They are both 30-1 on the morning line. They are both sons of Bernardini. They both have never been two turns. And they both could be the most fun to wager on in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager…and possibly the smartest in the long run. Their names are Zulu and Shagaf, and although neither has ever run in a stakes or beaten anyone of note, ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman Although it offers no qualification points for the Kentucky Derby, the $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes (gr. III) at Tampa Bay Downs has nevertheless drawn a quality field of seven three-year-olds hoping to use the race as a springboard to bigger and better things down the road. In ...

I enjoyed catching up with owner-breeder Dennis Drazin last week for a Winner's Circle feature in the Feb. 13 Blood-Horse magazine.Drazin, who also advises the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association on operations at Monmouth Park, has a classic contender this year in New Jersey-bred Sunny Ridge, who won the Withers Stakes (gr. III) ...

It’s time for another Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which in February still has a pretty low percentage, which is why Mohaymen is the only horse in single digit-odds, while the mutual field is an unappealing 4-5. It shows that there is still a huge chance that the Derby winner is not among the 23 horses listed with individual odds. We know ...