BloodHorse.com

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') The pre-entries for the 31st running of the Breeders Cup were announced this morning, with a record number of horses being entered and overflow fields expected for many of the thirteen races. It will take many days to sort out the details of each horse and each race, but here are a few of my initial thoughts ...

Of 201 horses pre-entered to the Oct. 31-Nov. 1 Breeders' Cup World Championships at Santa Anita Park, 38 raced or trained at Keeneland in September or October. House horse Wise Dan, the racing world’s two-time Horse of the Year, used the Shadwell Turf Mile (gr. IT) to set up his Breeders’ Cup Mile (gr. IT) campaign the past three seasons in a ...

Hall of Fame golfer Gary Player, who also has bred and raced Thoroughbreds for about 50 years, covered a lot of ground during his keynote address at the inaugural Thoroughbred Owner Conference at Keeneland Oct. 13-16.Player, a remarkably accomplished person, has traveled more than 15 million miles pursuing with dogged determination and drive a ...

A year or so ago another company that I am associated with, Performance Genetics, did a private study on mitochondrial DNA, the strand of DNA that is maternally inherited in all species and can be used to classify female lineages. We were specifically looking into the #1 family of Tregonwell's Natural Barb which is now that of the likes of Black ...

To most everyone, the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic was a punch in the gut, the end of a magical run that brought an eerie hush to the crowd at Churchill Downs. Even after four years, many still find it difficult to watch Zenyatta’s spectacular run from last fall a head short of catching a courageous Blame. Unfortunately, this Classic will always be ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') A big weekend of international racing will wrap up on Sunday when a quartet of graded stakes races are held at Woodbine racecourse in Canada, led by the $1,000,000 Pattison Canadian International (gr. I) and the $500,000 E. P. Taylor Stakes (gr. I). Both races have drawn top-notch fields with plenty of ...

Count trainer Chris Richard as one of the more enthusiastic horsemen regarding the recent removal of Polytrack and installation of dirt before this year's fall meet at Keeneland. Richard registered four wins from his first five starts at Keeneland this fall, winning three races for owner Maggi Moss with Galloping Domino, Como Se Llama, and ...

The Grade 2 Raven Run at Keeneland Keeneland / October 18 / Race 9 / 5:13 EDT by TimeformUS Analyst Mike Beer Get Started with FREE PPs for the Raven Run Saturday's feature at Keeneland is the Grade 2 Raven Run, a 7-furlong sprint for 3yo fillies on dirt. It has drawn a large field of 13 and could hardly have come up a more competitive ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Although Saturday is a rather slow day of racing in the U.S., fans of international racing are in for a treat, as QIPCO British Champions Day is scheduled for October 18th. Comprised of five championship races, it’s the culmination of the British racing season, with a grand total of fifty-six horses turning ...

NYRA.com plans to roll out a preview of upgraded video options on its web site this weekend, Saturday Oct. 18 and Sunday, Oct. 19. After taking in a ''preview of the preview'' Thursday, Oct. 16, I’d recommend checking out the new NYRA.com video options. First of all, if you’re not currently getting a true HD feed of the races from NYRA, ...