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So, 23 “elite” 3-year-olds have been chosen to make up the first Kentucky Derby Future Wager field. Well, several of those who didn’t make the cut are up in arms over the selections and are offering a challenge to the so-called leading Derby contenders. The reason they are up in arms over the decision-making is that they feel several of those ...

“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…”So goes the oft-quoted line penned by Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities, his 1859 novel that describes the days of the French Revolution and the proletariat’s fight against the aristocracy.The Thoroughbred breeding industry finds itself facing both the best and worst of times, and it has ...

 It was an excellent weekend on the old trail, with some first-class performances, not only by the winners, but several of the losers as well. The latest Top 15 follows the column. From a visual and statistical standpoint, Pioneerof the Nile’s victory in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (gr. II) was as impressive as we’ve seen this year. Sure, ...

Because the Top 30 list took up a great deal of Monday’s column, we’ll go double duty this week and catch up on some updates and ramblings and look at the Risen Star Stakes. On the pedigree front, are you tired of all the inbreeding in racing, especially through Mr. Prospector and Northern Dancer? Well there are a couple of prominent ...

The icy conditions and sub-freezing temperatures of the last week in Central Kentucky gave us good reasons to catch up on some reading. Awaiting Steve Haskin’s first Derby Dozen, I went to the bookshelf at home and pulled down The Archjockey of Canterbury and Other Tales by former Blood-Horse editor Kent Hollingsworth.Published by The Blood-Horse ...

As stated in my previous blog post, I am currently on vacation in sunny Florida. Seems as if I picked the perfect time to escape the icy, cold misery back in Lexington.Though horse racing is not the first thing on my mind as I sit here in shorts and flip-flops by the pool, I do realize that it is a huge weekend at Gulfstream. In fact, I will be ...

The first Derby Dozen comes out next week, but we’ll get a jump on it with a more comprehensive look before this weekend’s stakes. Then we’ll make any adjustments based on the results. So, this is more of a speculative list, with a great deal riding on the Hutcheson and Holy Bull Stakes, as well as a couple of allowance races featuring one ...