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  Wide open. That is the best way to describe the 2008 Travers. Twelve horses. None of them with credentials to suggest they deserve to be anything but ''under consideration'' for winning the Mid-Summer Derby. Pyro being installed as the tepid 7-2 morning line favorite underscores the uncertainty of the field. It is both a bettors dream ...

  Okay, after the peculiar back-and-forth repartee between Jess Jackson and Mike Iavarone that was carried out by the media on Wednesday, I am officially annoyed with the Big Brown vs. Curlin situation. And after all the bickering that has taken place, it finally appears that the two most popular horses in America will never meet. It is a ...

  We're now a little more than five weeks into the Breeders' Cup season and the divisions are beginning to take shape. The continuing story thus far is how the male division seemingly gets more ordinary every day while the female division continues to get more exciting. Unless this Big Brown-Curlin thing actually happens, there is no doubt ...

  With all the Big Brown and Curlin hoopla over the past week or so, we've gotten away from the Breeders' Cup Challenge. Let's get back into now, and what better time to do it then on one of my favorite days - the International Festival of Racing. The Beverly D. and the Arlington Million are ''Win and You're In'' events, and both look like ...

  Curlin vs. Big Brown: Every racing fan in the nation wants to see it. It's a match-up that would be great for the sport and would give the industry a huge shot in the arm. The only problem is, with every passing day the chances of it happening seem to grow slimmer. From where I sit, the only realistic way it happens is Oct. 25 in the ...

  It is not often that a horse wins a $1 million grade I race and people still walk away scratching their heads. Was it a good performance or not? It is a difficult question to answer. Then again, we should not have expected anything less. From the very start, everything about Big Brown seems to be complicated. On Sunday at Monmouth ...

  On Wednesday it was announced that one of the nation's favorite horses, Lava Man, would be retired due to ankle problems, which were discovered shortly after he finished sixth in the July 20 Eddie Read Handicap at Del Mar. The 7-year-old Slew City Slew gelding was 17-8-5 from 46 starts and earned $5,268,706 in his remarkable career. ...

On Sunday Kent Desormeaux won his 5,000th career race, becoming just the 23rd jockey to accomplish that feat. Below, courtesy of NYRA, are the top 100 riders of all-time, by wins. Name Starts Wins Seconds Thirds Earnings Russell A. Baze* 44,608 10,204 7,703 6,420 $156,377,346 Laffit A. Pincay, ...

  Four Breeders' Cup Challenge races to handicap this week - all at Saratoga. Aside from the Go For Wand, they all look like good betting races. Let's get right to work. Diana Stakes This is a terrific race. On paper it looks as if no less than eight horses have a legitimate shot here. There are four grade I winners in the field - Wait a ...

  Opening weekend at Saratoga. In the world of horse racing, there are few phrases that can come close to it. The beauty. The atmosphere. The excitement. The fun. The best. Saratoga is horse racing. For those who have done it, you know what I'm talking about. For those who haven't, get there. Because until you do, you haven't experienced ...