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As I wrote in my preview of Sunday's Fountain of Youth Stakes, in my opinion the Triple Crown season officially starts this weekend. Between Saturday's Risen Star from Fair Grounds, which features the highly-touted El Padrino, and Sunday's Fountain of Youth, a race that pits current Derby favorite Union Rags against a pair of undefeated Todd ...

In the last couple of blogs we've talked about the plethora of Kentucky Derby contenders in the barns of Bob Baffert and Todd Pletcher. Let's continue with that theme and take a look at the contenders from another mega-trainer, Steve Asmussen. Asmussen may not have as many contenders as Baffert and Pletcher, but he has three pretty good ones in ...

When trying to find West Coast Derby contenders, you always start with Bob Baffert and then work your way down from there. That tried and true rule didn't look so good after Liaison and Sky Kingdom, thought to be two of his top 3-year-olds, turned in clunkers in the Robert Lewis Stakes on Feb. 4. But this is Baffert we're talking about, so those ...

There wasn't a true Kentucky Derby prep run last weekend, but there was still major news on the Triple Crown front. It involved top rider Javier Castellano, who through his agent, Matt Muzikar, announced that Castellano would ride Algorithms and not Union Rags in the key Fountain of Youth Stakes on Feb. 26 at Gulfstream Park. The decision sort of ...

At a time when horse racing is struggling to stay in the spotlight, having big-name owners with star horses can be a major shot in the arm for the industry. We've seen that over the past few years with people like Bobby Flay and Mike Repole. There may be no bigger celebrity with a passion for horses than country music superstar Toby Keith. As you ...

Over the past decade, it almost seems like a rite of passage that Todd Pletcher will dominate the Kentucky Derby preps. When making any Derby list, you have to start with Pletcher horses, and this year is no different. In fact, as we sit here in early February, Pletcher's hand looks as strong as it ever has. He's always the first one to point ...

If Alpha ever figures out his gate issues, watch out. That's how trainer Kiaran McLaughlin feels about the talented son of Bernardini, who will be heavily favored on Saturday in the grade III Withers Stakes at Aqueduct. Whether or not he can do that remains to be seen. If he can, the colt figures to be a major player on the Triple Crown trail. If ...

Jonathan Sheppard is one of the best trainers horse racing has ever known, but his name is certainly not synonymous with the Kentucky Derby. Though the Hall of Famer has had a couple of his protégé saddle Derby winners--Barclay Tagg with Funny Cide in 2003 and Graham Motion with Animal Kingdom last year--he himself has never even had a runner make ...

The 2011 racing season officially came to an end Monday in California with the Eclipse Awards. Save a few categories, the ceremony was almost as anticlimactic as the racing was last year. Whether or not your favorite horse won last night or not, I think most of us will agree that 2011 was one of the most uneventful years in recent memory. If that ...

Despite the fact that he lost the Breeders' Cup Juvenile by a head and may not be named 2-year-old champion as a result, Union Rags entered 2012 as the no-doubt-about-it early favorite for the Kentucky Derby. On Jan. 11, his Triple Crown quest officially got started, as he turned in his first official breeze of the year at Palm Meadows. As ...