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It’s not unusual to have two winners of a Thoroughbred race—even with advanced photo-finish equipment dead heats happen every once in a while, and we’re a little surprised they don’t happen more often. However, it’s hard to fathom how there are two “winners” of a race when they are four lengths apart at the wire, but that is exactly what racing ...

Neil Drysdale could have sat in his office at Churchill Downs, consumed by thoughts of what might have been. The Kentucky Derby was over and the mighty Arazi had launched another missile of a move, only to run into the proverbial brick wall, finishing eighth. A 16-1 shot named Lil E. Tee had pulled off the upset, defeating 29-1 shot Casual Lies by ...

If you’re having a tough time deciphering this year’s wide-open and puzzling Belmont Stakes, especially having to sort through 15 or 16 horses and trying to figure out who can get the mile and a half and is in peak form, then just go a different direction and don’t fill your brain with all kinds of speed figures and statistics, which in most ...

A sport as unpredictable as Thoroughbred racing does not fall into a rut often, but every once in awhile the results become a little predictable. Sifting through the outcomes from the stakes action last weekend in May provided several cases of déjà vu. While he’d rather win on the First Saturday in May—wouldn’t we all—trainer Chad Brown was a ...

As reported several times before, this is my 50th anniversary in racing, which means the 50th anniversary of that unforgettable year of Damascus, Dr. Fager, Buckpasser, In Reality, and so many other talented horses. Throughout the year, I will be writing retrospective columns on some the most memorable races and events. As a celebration of this ...

On the morning of May 20 John Sikura and his 13-year-old son, Jackson, were handicapping the Preakness Stakes (G1). “This is going to sound ridiculous, Jackson, but I’m looking at the form…this horse can win the race.” Sikura was talking about Cloud Computing, a colt he bred from the first crop of Maclean’s Music who stands at his Hill ‘n’ Dale ...

If you enjoyed the Kentucky Derby dream, no sense waking up now. You might as well keep dreaming until you are jolted back to reality, if and when that ever occurs. Kentucky Derby winners often run better in the Preakness, despite the two-week comeback, or maybe because of it, and it would not be surprising to see Always Dreaming win the ...

Even though we have a pretty lousy record of selecting winners of the Preakness Stakes (G1), despite its being perhaps the most formful Triple Crown race, there are three “sure things” on the agenda prior to the main event May 20. First up, no matter what the weather forecast says before departing for Baltimore, it will change dramatically by the ...