BloodHorse.com

Call me a worry wart. I’ve been known to see the glass half empty; just my nature. So don’t take my concerns about American Pharoah in the Travers Stakes too seriously. It’s just me being me. All I can say, from past experience, is that this race scares the heck out of me, even though American Pharoah looks as if he could have everything his ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman Get ready, everyone! Saturday is the kind of day that racing fans dream of, with seven graded stakes races on schedule at Saratoga, including the $1,600,000 Travers Stakes (gr. I). The prestigious ''Midsummer Derby'' is always a great race, but this year’s renewal promises to be the ...

The 3-year-old showdown of the year will take place in the grade I Travers Stakes. This time American Pharoah has made another cross-country trip to take on Texas Red and Frosted, and several others, on their home turf at Saratoga.We have already seen the explosive power of Texas Red, who not only is reaching his peak, he has the ...

In March 2013 eight states in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast—Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia—announced their intentions to adopt uniform regulations governing equine medication rules and drug testing. The effort, spearheaded by the Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, which ...

Watching Beholder decimate her male opponents in the Pacific Classic and the aftermath on TVG and social media, it made me realize how times have changed; how the great fillies of the past never received the national recognition of a Beholder, a Zenyatta, or a Rachel Alexandra, or even a Black Caviar and Goldikova.I then began to think what an ...

Although we are well aware of Saratoga’s reputation, this in no way is meant to suggest or influence what American Pharoah’s connections should do regarding running in the Travers Stakes. Bob Baffert and Ahmed Zayat have handled the colt perfectly so far, from his injury suffered before the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and subsequent layoff over the ...

With three Breeders’ Cup Challenge races this weekend, Del Mar will be in the spotlight. Two of those three races will be on the main track, which for the first time since 2006 offers a dirt surface after an eight-year run for Polytrack. While the track record of those two main-track races, the TVG Pacific Classic Stakes (gr. I) and Pat ...

  By TimeformUS West Coast Analyst Justin Finch >>Go to the TimeformUS PPs for the Pacific Classic | Post Time 6:10 PDT SaturdayThe Grade 1, $1,000,000 Pacific Classic has a field of 10 horses going a mile and 1/4 on the main track. The field is led by Beholder, the great mare with the 3.6-million dollar bankroll, who is attempting to ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman Two weeks ago, the best older males on the East Coast squared off in a battle for supremacy in the Whitney Stakes (gr. I) at Saratoga. This Saturday, the best older males on the West Coast will engage in a similar battle in the $1,000,000 TVG Pacific Classic (gr. I), but this race ...