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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 ...

That’s El, as in El Padrino, and Al, as in Algorithms. When Todd Pletcher sent both these talented Kentucky Derby prospects to the gate in separate races on Jan. 29, no one had more interest in the outcome than Pletcher’s father, J.J., who broke both colts at his 80-acre Payton Training Center in Ocala.J.J., who has provided the early training for ...

 (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.) Pat Klussman, breeder of Algorithms, had a decision to make. She could accept co-owner Jack Wolf’s invitation to travel from California to Florida to watch the colt tackle ...

There wasn't a true Kentucky Derby prep run last weekend, but there was still major news on the Triple Crown front. It involved top rider Javier Castellano, who through his agent, Matt Muzikar, announced that Castellano would ride Algorithms and not Union Rags in the key Fountain of Youth Stakes on Feb. 26 at Gulfstream Park. The decision sort of ...