BloodHorse.com

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman With just two weeks remaining until the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland, the racing action this Saturday is a bit quiet, but there are still several good races on the agenda, including the $250,000 Lexus Raven Run Stakes (gr. II) at Keeneland. The seven-furlong race has drawn a large field ...

If there is one element of Thoroughbred racing that has always held true it is that the tides of fortune change very quickly. It is the one sport where you can idolize a Babe Ruth as a fan one day and strike him out with the bases loaded the next. Only here can two worlds intermingle, no matter how divergent they may be. Only here can a ...

Racing Australia chairman John Messara gave a keynote address during the recent 49th International Federation of Horseracing Authorities. His address focused on the 30-year evolution of racing in Australia and provided some valuable insight for racing industry leaders in North America. Messara, also the owner of Arrowfield Stud, began owning ...

American Pharoah vs. Beholder! People are already buzzing. Showdowns between males and females have come in many forms over the years, including battles between top 2-year-olds, 3-year-olds, and older horses. Some have decided championships, some were hyped in the press going into the race, some came in Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup races, ...

With the completion of this year’s Breeders’ Cup Challenge “Win and You’re In,” races for 2015, I thought I'd look at the four horses to win more than one Challenge race this year, Beholder, who won three; and two-time winners Big Blue Kitten, Honor Code, and Wild Dude. Beholder, by Henny Hughes—Leslie’s Lady by Tricky Creek 2015 ...

There are freak racehorses and there are freak pedigrees. They don’t come around very often, and on those rare occasions when they do, they normally defy explanation. Now, when you have a freak of a racehorse who just happens to have a freaky pedigree, then you have found something extra special. And that appears to be the case with ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman Following the epic, non-stop racing action of the last two weekends, things will slow down considerably this Saturday, with only two graded stakes races on the agenda. However, one of those races is the always-exciting $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (gr. I) at Keeneland, a ...

The Breeders' Cup's return to Kentucky later this month, and specifically to Keeneland for the first time, reminds me of a famous quote from Kentucky Gov. Albert B. ''Happy'' Chandler Sr.: ''I never met a Kentuckian who wasn't either thinking about going home or actually going home.'' The Oct. 30-31 World Championships figures to be one big ...

Well, all the Breeders' Cup preps are over, and now comes the waiting; first for the pre-entries, then the entries to determine the starting fields. The biggest interest in the makeup of the Classic field will be whether Liam’s Map will try to stretch out to 1 1/4 miles or contest the Dirt Mile, which around two turns might as well be a mile and ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman If you thought last week’s racing action was spectacular, get ready—this week promises to be just as good or better! The second ''Super Saturday'' of Breeders’ Cup prep races will kick off with six graded stakes races at Belmont, including the $1,000,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup (gr. I), in ...