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By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') @J_Keelerman On Saturday, the racing world will turn its attention to Dubai, where an impressive slate of eight graded stakes races worth a combined $29 million will be held at Meydan. Headlining the action is the world’s richest horse race, the $10 million Dubai World Cup (UAE-I), in which reigning U.S. ...

The most important lessons Chuck Simon learned as an assistant trainer to Allen Jerkens were not about horses—though those were plentiful. What Simon learned most were lessons about being a good person. “Outside of my own father, he had more influence on me than any other person,” said Simon, who worked for Jerkens from 1994 through 1999, when he ...

1 American Pharoah Bob Baffert Pioneerof the Nile—Littleprincessemma, by Yankee Gentleman Ever wonder why his tail is so short? Well, he actually had part of it bitten off by another horse while playing in the field. Now his tail is all the other horses see of him and he’s made sure no one gets close to it. But a little company in the ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') @J_Keelerman Just as the Spiral Stakes (gr. III) is a major milestone on the Derby trail as the ''first of the final'' Kentucky Derby prep races, the $800,000 Sunland Derby (gr. III) is another major milestone as the ''Last of the Fifties,'' or the last of the Derby prep races that award 50 qualification ...

Allen Jerkens dropped back to pass. His son Steve was in the open briefly, but the ball was knocked down at the last minute by jockey Richard Migliore. Jerkens, visibly upset at himself for waiting too long to throw, uttered a few choice words of displeasure, then promptly called the next play. God forbid if he threw a perfect pass and you ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') @J_Keelerman At long last, we’ve entered the homestretch! After months of poring over entries and results and pedigrees and speed figures, trying to project which horses are serious Kentucky Derby contenders and which are not, we have finally reached the beginning of the end of our journey. On Saturday, the ...

We've mentioned on more than one occasion that it's next to impossible to accurately appraise young stallions until they've at least had a couple of crops at the races. That said, the progress of those with their early crops at the races is always interesting, and a look at this year's current leading freshmen reveals quite a reshuffle from the ...