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By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') @J_Keelerman It will be a Triple Crown reunion of sorts in the $500,000 Ohio Derby on Saturday at Thistledown, a race that has drawn six starters from the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. Although it’s not technically a graded stakes, there’s no doubt that this race is of that quality in every other ...

Joe De Francis understands like few others the tough decision being weighed by the Maryland Jockey Club over the future of Pimlico Race Course.“From a purely business point of view, it does not make a lot of sense to pour your resources into two racetracks,” De Francis said recently during a lunch break at the inaugural Pan American Conference in ...

 With the announcement June 15 of Steve's resignation from Blood-Horse to pursue other opportunities, I found the first column he did for the magazine. In this ''Final Turn'' column from the Dec. 26, 1998, issue, Steve talks about his transition at the time from his longtime association with The Morning Telegraph and Daily Racing Form. It ...

 Triple Crown winner American Pharaoh returned to the race track for the first time since winning the June 6 Belmont Stakes. ORDER THIS PHOTO   ORDER THIS PHOTO Based in Barn 33 at Churchill, American Pharoah went to the track lead by Jimmy Barnes with Jorge Alvarez up. D. Wayne Lukas stopped by to chat with Bob Baffert while the ...

For 37 years, the gates to racing’s pantheon have remained shut, rusted with time, leaving a number of fallen heroes strewn along its steps.But this time, there were no heartbreaking nose defeats, no safety pins, no horse suffering a fractured leg in the stretch, no bent shoes, no getting stepped on by another horse at the start, no horse being ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') @J_Keelerman With a memorable Triple Crown season in the record books, it’s time to start focusing our attention on the 2015 Breeders’ Cup, which will be held on October 30th-31st at Keeneland. Fortunately for racing fans, a terrific day of racing is on schedule for this Saturday, led by the $500,000 ...

Nothing reveals how hard people work to achieve success in horse racing like walking through the barn area of a racetrack.Hundreds of people gather daily for the ritual of caring for these athletes in which we have so much invested—physically, financially, and emotionally. Days begin before the sun even hints of its presence. Feed tubs are filled ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') @J_Keelerman ''American Pharoah is finally the one! American Pharoah has won The Triple Crown!!'' Larry Colmus’ call of the Belmont Stakes (gr. I) (VIDEO) is still resonating in my head, and will not be forgotten for as long as I live. When American Pharoah put away Frosted at the top of the stretch and the ...

As I said before the Preakness, you really don’t think I’m going against American Pharoah now after having him ranked No. 1 since February and stating then he had superstar potential and looked to be something special. This is the race that no doubt will determine his place in the history books. There are Triple Crown winners and then there ...

Although his name is American Pharoah, he has been more like Moses leading the Jews out of Egypt, as masses of humanity follow him everywhere, from the moment he leaves his barn to the last drops of water from his bath. And that was also the case this morning when he was brought out to be schooled in the paddock. While all eyes are focused on ...