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The Breeders’ Cup Filly Friday concept had its flaws from the beginning. The Breeders’ Cup has always prided itself as the self-anointed World Thoroughbred Championships, and the ultimate of all the championships is Horse of the Year.Racing’s top honor normally is decided in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. I). On occasion it has been decided in the ...

A standout in Australia, More Than Ready (TrueNicks,SRO) has also been a very successful and consistent sire in the U.S., but his Northern Hemisphere record had lacked one important thing: a grade I winner. That omission was corrected over the weekend when his progressive daughter Buster’s Ready (TrueNicks A++) captured the Mother Goose Stakes ...

Next week this blog will officially switch over to Breeders' Cup Chat, where we can begin talking about the second half of the racing season. Before we do, let's review the 2011 Triple Crown by giving quick updates on all of the 3-year-olds that won graded races this year and what their immediate futures might hold. As far as who the 3-year-old ...

 (Originally published in the July 2, 2011 issue of The Blood-Horse magazine. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions at the bottom of the column.)  Growing up on the sidewalks of New York, Peter Callahan thought he’d like to win the race named after his hometown of Astoria, Queens. The grade III race for 2-year-old ...

 (Originally published in the July 2, 2011 issue of The Blood-Horse magazine. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions at the bottom of the column.) By Evan Hammonds   Competitors on the track, comrades on the backside—Thoroughbred racing is a sport of contradictions. That dichotomy was brought into sharp ...

One of the most fun things about summer racing is watching the 2-year-olds emerge, especially at Saratoga, where many well-bred youngsters start for the first time. It's also interesting to see how some of the high-priced horses at the juvenile sales do as they make their career debuts. Most from this year's round of auctions already have been ...

Many may wonder what possessed Barb Hutchison to make Thoroughbred rescue her life mission, having not grown up around the industry. But for her, all it took was one look into the eyes of a slaughter-bound Thoroughbred at Fairmount Park to turn her whole world upside down. Renaissance Rescue, a 75-acre facility located south of St. Louis in ...

This was to be the year. You could feel it. Divine forces were guiding Smarty Jones up the sacred slopes of Mt. Olympus. Only a quarter mile away, the pantheon was in sight. Every step to this point had been perfectly orchestrated, and Smarty's ascent to immortality seemed written in the stars. The vast majority of the record 120,139 in ...

Although a front-running victory in a sloppy renewal of the Alabama Stakes (gr. I) would prove to be the final win of Pretty Discreet’s racing career, she was about to commence a broodmare career that would bring her even greater acclaim. Last weekend, Awesome Maria became the latest grade I winner to extend from Pretty Discreet when winning the ...

Seventeen go to the post in the Queen's Plate on June 26. Are you up to the challenge of predicting the order of finish? Need more information about the Queen's Plate? Read the race preview, or watch That Handicapping Show. writeRanker(''http://i.bloodhorse.com/xml/ranking/2011QueensPlateOrder.xml''); To participate, use your cursor to ...