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Multi-millionaire Richard's Kid is just one of the talented contenders at Keeneland By Claire Novak, all photos by Anne Eberhardt LEXINGTON, Ky (April 7, 2013) -- A conglomeration of equine stars has assembled at Keeneland for the upcoming season, which is no surprise given the quality this meeting attracts. From the local contingent comes ...

Manuel Ycaza won his second Florida Derby in 1969 with Top Knight (Blood-Horse Archives) I first profiled Hall of Fame jockey Manuel Ycaza in 2009 when Churchill Downs' old website was running a series called ''On The Muscle'' and Ycaza's four victories in the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) merited a trip down memory lane. A look through the clippings ...

Jockey Erik McKneil couldn't believe Texas Bling upset Remington Park's Springboard Mile at odds of 128-1 (Dustin Orona Photography) They say everything is bigger in Texas, and if that's the case it is easy to imagine that the heart of a Thoroughbred named Texas Bling is biggest of all 3-year-olds competing on the early trail to the Kentucky ...

''We didn't know how good she was going to be,'' said Potesta's co-owner, Joe Scardino. Here, the 3-year-old filly sets a track record in the Torrey Pines Stakes at Del Mar (Benoit Photo)Lexington, Ky. – Her name means “power,” and in four starts the seal-bay filly they call Potesta exuded just that. After a runner-up finish in her March 22 ...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- We form attachments writing about racehorses, as much as some of us try to deny it. Admiration of the Thoroughbred is, after all, part of why turf writers do what we do. The best and worst parts of our job revolve around the campaigns of these runners and our coverage of them. We get to know the horses and the people who ...

John Gosden Walks The Fugue to the Turf at Santa Anita Oct. 31  ARCADIA, CA --John Gosden walked along the surface of the Santa Anita main track, his stylish sneakers leaving deep tracks in the cuppy ground. Beside him strode his main hope and one of Europe's top contenders for the Breeders' Cup World Championships, a 3-year-old ...

Animal Kingdom at Keeneland Oct. 26 (C. Novak) ARCADIA, CA -- If his trainer were another—less conservative, less reserved—you’d be inclined to doubt the legitimacy of Animal Kingdom’s upcoming bid at the Nov. 3 Breeders’ Cup Mile (gr. IT) at Santa Anita Park. You might wonder how the 2011 Kentucky Derby winner could possibly return to the ...

Pataky Kid wins the Arlington-Washington Futurity (Four Footed Fotos) LEXINGTON, Ky.—Now it just so happens in the summer of 2012, when good young Thoroughbreds commence to emerge upon the juvenile scene, that one runner flashes across the radar of a certain horseplayer. This in itself is not unusual for the player, who finds himself frequently ...

Wise Dan under Damien Rock at Keeneland Sept. 12, 2012 (C. Novak) LEXINGTON, KY—Early morning at Keeneland Race Course, a hint of rapidly-approaching autumn in the air. One chestnut gelding sauntered through a low-key gate-schooling session. One kind trainer, fingers crossed, was counting down the hours until raceday. One thing we know for sure ...

Mucho Macho Man at Saratoga Race Course, Aug. 12, 2012 (C. Novak)TAKE Mucho Macho Man, posing in the shadows of a tree-lined path at Saratoga Race Course, out of this decade and roll him back to the past. The lanky bay brings to mind racing's glory days; runners like Late Bloomer, Bowl Game, Stage Door Johnny, and Key to the Mint. That will to ...