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It appears – to paraphrase the song about New York – that the Southwest Stakes (gr. III) has become the race “so good they ran it twice.” Since 2004, when Smarty Jones swept the series en route to victories in the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) and Preakness Stakes (gr. I), the Oaklawn Park road to the Triple Crown – the Southwest Stakes (gr. III), Rebel ...

[brightcove videoid=''1463679823001''] 1 Creative Cause Mike Harrington Giant's Causeway—Dream of Summer, by Siberian Summer Have mixed feelings about his third in San Vicente, but mostly good, such as coming home in :35 flat and :11 4/5 for final eighth, finding his best stride late and galloping out very strong. But he did change leads ...

Dr. Barry Eisaman and his wife, Shari, had a big day Santa Anita Park earlier this month when two horses they had sold captured graded events. I'll Have Another triumphed by 2 ¾ lengths in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (gr. II) in Feb. 4's sixth race. Two races later, Ultimate Eagle, who was a grade I winner last year on grass, rolled to a 7 ¼-length ...

Last year didn’t end well for Airdrie Stud—how could it when you lose a top stallion like Indian Charlie? Curious to hear how everyone at the farm is adjusting, last week I spoke with Ben Henley, who handles bloodstock services at Airdrie. Ben summed it up pretty well: “Losing Indian Charlie was a terrible blow, not only to everybody here at the ...

Now that Sheikh Mohammed and the Godolphin braintrust have decided to take the conventional route to the Kentucky Derby by prepping in America and no longer are intent on winning the roses with a horse trained in Dubai, beware of the boys in blue on the first Saturday in May.With their American stable, under the care of Rick Mettee, recently ...

Rachel Alexandra and her first foal, a Curlin colt born on Jan. 22, 2012, live on Stonestreet Farm. They went out in their paddock on a beautiful and sunny day in Lexington, Ky. The foal took his lead from Rachel Alexandra, running some, resting some and repeating the routine. The foal is growing fast and now weighs 175 pounds. Friendly and ...

When trying to find West Coast Derby contenders, you always start with Bob Baffert and then work your way down from there. That tried and true rule didn't look so good after Liaison and Sky Kingdom, thought to be two of his top 3-year-olds, turned in clunkers in the Robert Lewis Stakes on Feb. 4. But this is Baffert we're talking about, so those ...

When Kiaran McLaughlin announced that Alpha would skip the Gotham Stakes (gr. III) and go directly to the Wood Memorial (gr. I), the connections of Hansen might have thought they were all but home free over Aqueduct’s speed-favoring inner track. But as it turns out they might be looking over their shoulder in the final furlong after all. My Adonis ...

The brilliant victory of Black Caviar in the MRC C.F. Orr Stakes (gr. I, video below) - which took her record to 18 wins in 18 starts - gives us an excuse to post an article of her pedigree that ran in the Australian publication Inside Breeding last year, which explored the potential reasoning behind the mating that led to her. Why is Black ...

(Originally published in the February 18, 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 - @EJMitchellKy on Twitter Thoroughbred racing associations and commissions get their fair share of criticisms for either moving too fast or not being ...