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The racing and breeding world was shocked to learn of the death at age 53 of J.B. McKathan, who along with his brother Kevin, helped propel the comet known as Bob Baffert back in 1996, while establishing the McKathan Brothers Farm in Ocala as one of the best classrooms for young 2-year-olds to get their start. It was Baffert’s good fortune to ...

In the winter of 1997, Joe Hirsch began a column in Daily Racing Form: “Pulpit, Pulpit, Pulpit. That’s all people are talking about.” The legendary Turf writer was musing on the buzz in South Florida surrounding Claiborne Farm’s colt as the son of A.P. Indy worked his way along the Triple Crown trail.In 2018 racing people were talking a lot about ...

Mary Simon, three-time Eclipse Award winner and one of the sport’s most noted historians, brought out an old box of papers she hadn’t looked at in many years and placed it on the living room floor. She had no idea what was in there, just basically old papers she had saved. Among the contents, secured by a small rusted paper clip, were a number of ...

The weeping is over. The complaining fruitless. So just accept the direction Thoroughbred Racing is heading. The American Graded Stakes Committee is no doubt comprised of knowledgeable, intelligent people who know what they are doing and follow their formulas and equations with great awareness when juggling graded stakes, especially those rated ...

In the days leading up to the 1979 Belmont Stakes, with Spectacular Bid having dominated his opposition in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, if someone had asked you to give thanks that we were about to witness a Triple Crown winner, you might have been inclined to laugh in their face.“Big deal,” you might have said. “So we have another ...

Thoroughbred racing’s Golden Age, as we know it, was the decade of the ‘70s when we had three Triple Crown winners, as well as equine heroes such as Ruffian, Forego, Spectacular Bid, Alydar, and the rags to riches Canonero II.But to our parents’ generation, racing’s Golden Age were the years following Word War II when the Sport of Kings got back ...

On April 12, 2016, the four major Kentucky Derby prep winners were Florida Derby winner Nyquist, Santa Anita Derby winner Exaggerator, Blue Grass Stakes winner Brody’s Cause, and Wood Memorial winner Outwork.Following three straight defeats, Nyquist was retired after a sixth-place finish in the Sept. 24 Pennsylvania Derby, Exaggerator was retired ...

The Breeders’ Cup is always looking to make changes in order to improve the event. It started back when the Filly and Mare Turf was added. Some of the changes since have been good and some bad. For years, I have been an advocate for an all juvenile day on Friday, promoting it by saying, “Come see next year’s Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks ...