BloodHorse.com

While the weather in Central Kentucky this spring has been anything but “spring like,” we can expect next year’s spring in the Midwest to be pretty heated. That intel came with an April 11 press release that announced Oaklawn Park will “extend” its 2019 meet three weeks past its traditional close with the Arkansas Derby (G1) and will run through ...

1 Vino Rosso Todd Pletcher Curlin—Mythical Bride, by Street Cry What 3-year-old has run the fastest Thoro-Graph number in America this year? Hint: it’s a tie and they all did it in their final Derby prep. The tie is between Justify (of course), Audible (no surprise there), and Vino Rosso (really?). That’s right, Vino Rosso ran the same ...

Few people have experienced the joy of breeding or racing a horse good enough to start in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1). Imagine how breeder John Gunther felt April 7 after two horses he bred—Vino Rosso and Justify—won the Wood Memorial presented by NYRA Bets (G2) and Santa Anita Derby (G1), respectively. Both figure to ...

1 Vino Rosso Todd Pletcher Curlin—Mythical Bride, by Street Cry I know this is going to shock a lot of people, being the only one of 25 voters in the Derby Media Poll to have him No. 1 and the only one of 46 voters in the NTRA poll (he ranks 8th and 9th on both polls). But when totally confused, look outside the box. This colt actually ...

It has been one of my missions in horse racing to re-tell the story of Jim French every four or five years, because if I don’t it will quickly fade away and not even remain a minor footnote in the history books. For those who have never read or heard the story, and even those who have, but stashed it away in the deepest recesses of the mind, I ...

The email arrived Saturday evening, just as it does every Saturday this time of year. The missive from Darren Rogers, senior director, communications and media services for Churchill Downs, is a detailed listing of the points leaders for the upcoming Kentucky Derby—this year presented by Woodford Reserve (G1). Sitting at the top this ...

1 Bolt d’Oro Mick Ruis Medaglia d'Oro—Globe Trot, by A.P. Indy Once again, you couldn’t fault his workout, as he did everything smoothly and professionally, sitting two lengths off his workmate and cruising by him late under no urging. He won’t get a chance for a rematch with McKinzie, but will now have to contend with the much-hyped ...

It looks as though producer/director Salomon Gill is about to get the green light to begin putting his long-awaited movie on Canonero II in motion. Gill already has the script written and finalized and has some big-time talent in cinematography interested in putting this incredible story on the big screen. I have told the story on several ...