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Technically, this blog is still called Breeders' Cup Chat, with Triple Crown Talk not officially returning until the start of the New Year. But in my mind it is never too early to start talking about the Kentucky Derby, especially after the performance we saw from Old Fashioned last weekend in the Remsen. If you missed it or haven't gotten around ...

Although I have never been openly outspoken against synthetic surfaces since they began making their way onto American racetracks a few years ago, when the subject of horse safety comes up I have always asked the same question: Why do the powers that be place so much emphasis on racing safety but continually ignore the issues of unwanted horses ...

In the past few days we've learned Curlin will not be running in the Clark Handicap, one of the last big races of the year. Despite Curlin's absence, the Clark will still have plenty of star appeal, thanks to amazing 7-year-old gelding Commentator, who has become one of the big fan favorites after winning his second straight Whitney this ...

The announcement earlier this week that Curlin would not race in 2009 was not a surprise, but the reality of it made me come to one disappointing realization: Other than Zenyatta, there really aren't many top-tier older horses I am looking forward to watching next year. With Big Brown and Curlin now out of the mix, we now have the two most ...

  As we have seen during our heated debates regarding Horse of the Year and 3-year-old filly champion, the Eclipse Awards voting certainly brings out some strong opinions in all of us. On this blog especially, people voice their opinions loud and clear, and without much consensus. It's the same way in the Blood-Horse office, as even us ...

Although we all have different opinions on it, I think we can all agree that we've beaten Horse of the Year debate to death. Let's move on to another topic; one that that I'm sure we also won't all agree on, but is an interesting debate nonetheless: 3-year-old female of the year. This should be one of the closest Eclipse Award votes of the year, ...

For anyone that has read this blog or Triple Crown Talk, there is no secret that I have never been the leader of the Big Brown bandwagon. I've always appreciated his excellence during the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, but I had difficulty separating the human connections from the horse. Fair or not, that's just the way I am. Despite not being a ...

Now that the dust has settled on Zenyatta's marvelous Breeders' Cup win, I thought it would be a good time to catch up with her trainer, John Shirreffs, who is one of the nicer guys in racing. Admittedly, my motives were a bit self-serving, as I wanted to inquire about two of the hot-button topics surrounding Zenyatta: Her future and of course, ...

Now that the Breeders' Cup is in our rearview mirror and it feels as though racing comes to a screeching halt for the rest of season, there is one topic that seems to be on everyone's mind: Horse of the Year. Curlin vs. Zenyatta. Who will it be? It's been less than a week since the Breeders' Cup ended and I've already been asked the same ...

What a great weekend of racing. We saw several outstanding performances, including three on Ladies Day Friday and many more on what will be now known as ''European Saturday.'' Less than 24 hours after a very successful Breeders' Cup 25, here are a few thoughts and a breakdown of some of the standout races: First of all, hopefully we haven't seen ...