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There have been some exciting racing videos on YouTube this year, but none more exciting and revealing, and ultimately profound than the GoPro video of American Pharoah’s gallop the day before the Travers Stakes that also was posted on the NYRA website. A horse’s gallop is the video of the year, you ask? The answer in one person’s opinion is ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (gr. I) may offer more prestige and a higher purse, but one can make a case that the $350,000 Los Alamitos Futurity (gr. I) has a more impressive and significant list of winners. Held at Hollywood Park before being moved to Los Alamitos last year, the Futurity’s ...

I will make this column brief. There has been quite an uproar over Sport Illustrated’s editors selecting Serena Williams as Sportsman of the Year, ignoring the historic accomplishments and world-wide popularity of American Pharoah. While I totally disagree with their decision, there is no reason for the uproar or to get even mildly upset over ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_KeelermanI know I said this last year, but it continues to hold true: The $250,000 Remington Springboard Mile Stakes at Remington Park has been quietly attracting fields of higher and higher quality over the last few years. In 2012, the runner-up was Will Take Charge, who went on to be the champion ...

I can still smell the mustiness of the old magazines, strewn haphazardly around the Midtown magazine shop on Eighth Avenue, just off 42nd Street in Manhattan. This unique store sold only old magazines, and the vast volume that came in on a daily basis prevented the owner from putting the magazines in any semblance of order.So, there they lay on ...

The tribulations suffered by Ontario's Thoroughbred community offer several lessons for racing throughout the United States...if only political and industry leaders will pay attention. To say everything is rosy in Ontario would be an exaggeration, but it is fair to say the province is coming out of a political firestorm that cut the Thoroughbred ...

No one could imagine that a year as magical, historical, and downright glorious as 2015 could end in such tragedy. The death of Shared Belief shocked the racing world and reminded everyone just how gut wrenching this sport can be and how fragile these magnificent horses are. Shared Belief was special, pure and simple, going through his ...

ORDER THIS PHOTO Smarty Jones, a fan favorite, in late November returned to Kentucky to continue his stud career.  Dual classic winner and champion, Smarty Jones has relocated to historic Calumet Farm.  He first retired to Three Chimneys for the 2005 season, followed by stints in Pennsylvania at Ghost Ridge Farm and Northview Stallion ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman One year ago, I wrote an article for Unlocking Winners listing three two-year-olds that had yet to win a graded stakes race, but which I felt had a strong chance to become Derby contenders. The three colts—Dortmund, Om, and Bold Conquest—have all run well since then, although only ...

There has been a great deal written recently about American Pharoah’s place among the all-time greats. For what he accomplished this year, and last year, I feel he elevated himself into the realm of immortals, not only based on his historic accomplishments on the racetrack, but what he meant to the entire sport and racing fans all over the world, ...