BloodHorse.com

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman Our quest to pick 50% winners in 2021 took a hit last week when our plays in three major Kentucky Derby preps all fell to defeat. As a result, we enter the second weekend of April with an 11-for-26 (42%) record—not bad, but not quite our goal. Essentially, we need a 4-for-4 week to ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman Get ready—another huge week of racing awaits! Three top-tier Road to the Kentucky Derby prep races are on the agenda, so we won't waste time with introductions. We'll just dive right in and start handicapping: Blue Grass (G2) I'll be the first to admit #4 Essential Quality (3-5) ...

Starting with a full allotment of Road to the Kentucky Derby points for its signature race, things are looking up for the $250,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) and its host track, Turfway Park racing and gaming. The track, at this point, is only a track. The razed grandstand is being replaced by a new facility that Turfway broke ground on a week ago. ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman Raise your hand if you're ready for an epic weekend of racing! No fewer than 39 stakes races are scheduled to take place on Saturday and Sunday in the U.S., led by the Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream Park. Meanwhile, Meydan in Dubai is set to host an action-packed Dubai World Cup ...

Old habits die hard. BloodHorse, which has stuffed mailboxes weekly since before the Great Depression, will transition to a monthly publication with the April issue. Apparently too many subscribers are too far behind in their reading and would prefer to be served with just one issue a month instead of four. The website and Daily are the drivers of ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman The Road to the Kentucky Derby will take another major turn on Saturday. Fair Grounds is set to host the $1 million Louisiana Derby (G2), the first prep race of the season awarding 100 qualifying points to the winner. A suitably deep field has turned out to contest the lucrative ...

In many respects it seems as if the “year of COVID” has lasted a lot longer than 12 months. A year ago we couldn’t find much on the shelves of the local grocery store, especially paper products. Swiss Skydiver had yet to defeat stakes company. Bob Baffert had just five Kentucky Derby (G1) wins. While we herald the fact racing was able to continue ...