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Rain entered the picture early. By 7 a.m. Thursday, it was teeming. Then it stopped and stayed dry for the rest of the day, although a few miles away there were downpours. The weekend forecast is spotty, calling for thunderstorms daily. One person, at least─Biz Zast of New York City, who’s being married on Saturday evening─would prefer that ...

With the winners of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes already retired, and two-time Classic runner-up Bodemeister in recovery mode, a whole bunch of purse money is up for grabs this weekend in the three-year-old division. Saratoga has the $100,000 Curlin Stakes on Friday and the $600,000 Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) on Saturday. Then ...

Say what you will about the horses competing at Saratoga this summer. The quality will improve Saturday when two $600,000 graded stakes are run─the grade I Diana Stakes for fillies and mares on the turf and the grade II Jim Dandy, a prep for the Travers Stakes (gr. I). In the meantime, what’s missing in horsepower is available in betting ...

The 3-year-old crop of 2007 was one of the most contentious of recent years as Street Sense (TrueNicks,SRO), Curlin (TrueNicks,SRO), Hard Spun (TrueNicks,SRO), and Any Given Saturday (TrueNicks,SRO) fought it out for leadership of the division. Curlin would emerge with titles as champion 3-year-old and Horse of the Year, and he remained in ...

It feels inadequate to refer to Tom Durkin as a race caller. He is a person of many interests--a philanthropist, a lover of language and the arts, an owner and breeder of world class trotting horses, and a raconteur par excellence--the kind of Monday night speaker you enjoy listening to before taking the day off from horse racing. Turf writer ...

(By Avalyn Hunter) On July 19, the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA, the parent company of Blood-Horse Publications) announced that 40 owners had pledged not to race any of their juveniles on Salix or other anti-bleeding medications in 2012. Among them were many of the most respected and recognizable names in the business: ...

(Originally published in the July 28, 2012 issue of The Blood-Horse magazine. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions at the bottom of the column.)  By Eric Mitchell - @BH_EMitchell on Twitter Last week’s start of the premier summer racing seasons provided a welcome respite from the otherwise heavy news that’s been ...

(Originally published in the July 28, 2012 issue of The Blood-Horse magazine. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions at the bottom of the column.)   By Tracy Gantz When brothers Kosta and Pete Hronis were kids living in Southern California’s San Joaquin Valley, they often visited their grandparents in Pasadena.“Our ...

Southern California always has been a bit of an island on the U.S. racing map. And although it can be a very difficult circuit for out-of-state shippers to win at (keep that in mind later this year for the Breeders' Cup), new arrivals trained by the home team can be quite dangerous.   Last Friday and Saturday at Del Mar, ...