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While the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Selected Yearlings Showcase raked in more than $61.2 million over two days, we’ll defer commenting on the yearling sales until we get more than two books in. Even then, the expert commentary will come from Bill Oppenheim’s “In My Opinion.” Until then, here are some side comments, like the old-school sports ...

I believe a stewards’ ruling on a recent race at Kentucky Downs failed to follow the state policies in place on disqualifications when an entry is involved, although chief steward Barbara Borden believes the rule gives them latitude on such matters. As it turns out, even when given that latitude—which I don’t think is there—I still think they ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman The lucrative race meet at Kentucky Downs is underway, with the Saturday card shaping up to be a major highlight. Five stakes events worth a combined $3.2 million are on the slate, including the $1 million Kentucky Turf Cup (G3) and the $700,000 Runhappy Turf Sprint (G3). Both ...

Kentucky Derby weekend in Louisville had it all. It was exciting yet bizarre, colorful yet weird, and tense yet quiet…often at the same time. But it makes sense in a year when Hunter S. Thompson’s once “Decadent and Depraved” Kentucky Derby was “disinfectant and delayed” due to a global pandemic and run in a city with raw nerves following more ...

Looking at the number of starts in the past performances for horses entered in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), one half expects to see Real Quiet or Thunder Gulch listed among the runners. In terms of starts ahead of the Derby for this year's 3-year-olds, pushing the race back four months seemingly has pushed the classic ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman Four months later than originally scheduled, the 146th running of the Kentucky Derby (G1) will take place on Saturday, Sept. 5 at Churchill Downs. For the first time since 2003, less than 20 horses have been entered in the 1 1/4-mile ''Run for the Roses,'' and the field has ...

Events since early March 2020—both health-related and society-related—are reshaping America, and the planet for that matter, at a pace unimaginable a year ago. The pandemic is widening the chasm between the maskers and the non-maskers, the employed and the impoverished, the haves and the have-nots. Flashpoint events in Minneapolis, Minn., ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman It seems like every year, I write a preview of the potential Kentucky Derby pace scenario and reach the same inevitable conclusion—''the pace won't be particularly strenuous, and forwardly-placed runners will thrive.'' So far, this conclusion has been pretty much spot-on. ...

The front-page news of the week is the decision of Churchill Downs to nix patrons at the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1). Churchill officials—with a calculated best guess—took their best shot back in March in moving the Run for the Roses from May 2 to Sept. 5. However, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to pour cold water over large ...