BloodHorse.com

Thoroughbred racing in Texas has been going from bad to worse as the racing states across its borders—Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and New Mexico—have steadily grown purses and the value of their state-bred stock through casino gaming. Since 2007 the number of mares bred in Texas has fallen 65% to 814, and the number of active stallions has ...

Somewhere there is a Kentucky Derby with Dale Romans’ name on it. Having grown up a just few miles from Churchill Downs and having spent a good portion of his youth there working for his father, Romans has been dreaming of the roses almost his entire life. But the harsh realities of backstretch life on the claiming scale made it nothing more than ...

A tidbit to start today's blog: The three sires currently or formerly based in the U.S. to already have two different horses win Breeders' Cup Challenge races this year all boast victories in the King's Bishop Stakes (gr. I) as Tale of the Cat won the seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds at Saratoga in 1997 (when it was grade II), Hard Spun won ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman On the final Saturday of the 2015 Saratoga meet, a strong field of eight will contest the $600,000 Woodward Stakes (gr. I), a major prep race on the road to the Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. I). The nine-furlong race has been won in recent years by such stars as Curlin, Rachel Alexandra, ...

There is one final moment on the American Pharoah post Triple Crown tour that needs to be mentioned; this time to demonstrate how today’s sights, sounds, and actions can reflect the changing times.We have all heard the reference to silence being deafening, and that was the case for one person prior to the William Hill Haskell Invitational Stakes ...

One of the first rules of Thoroughbred racing is ''they all get beat,'' so while there was a collective groan when Keen Ice rolled past American Pharoah in front of 50,000 at Saratoga Race Course and on a nationally televised broadcast Aug. 29 in the Travers Stakes (gr. I), we shouldn't have been shocked. American Pharoah joins some select ...

The defeat hit like a ton of bricks. It was a crushing blow to the thousands who journeyed to Saratoga and those watching on TV. But the bottom line is that American Pharoah should not be blamed for this loss. He ran his heart out, having to withstand pressure for a long way from a very talented colt in Frosted. That is all you can ask of any ...

By TimeformUS Analyst Mike Beer >>Go to the TimeformUS PPs for the Travers | Post Time 5:46 EDT Saturday  The Grade 1 Travers, for 3yos over 1 1/4 miles, is always the centerpiece of the Saratoga race meet. This year's running has taken on added significance due to the participation of one horse. That horse is, of course, American ...

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 ...