BloodHorse.com

Here is the way my Eclipse Award ballot would look, as of Dec. 30. Happy New Year to everyone. See you on the other side. Horse of the Year: Havre de Grace--It's been discussed at length how there was no true standout in 2011, but she is the best of the group. The decision by Rick Porter and Larry Jones to race her against males in the Woodward, ...

by J. Keeler Johnson Every year, many of the top 3-year-old colts head off to stud, often before they've been given a chance to show off everything they can do. In recent years, we've watched horses like Lookin At Lucky, Big Brown, Street Sense, and Hard Spun leave the racetrack at the conclusion of brilliant 3-year-old seasons, leaving us ...

Playing money on the Kentucky Derby future book is almost always a waste of money. We don't know enough about each horse yet and so many things can happen between now and May. Experienced players know it's a novelty more than anything, not a wise investment of money. Knowing all of this, I usually find myself wagering a small ...

Ian Wilkes has not won a Kentucky Derby on his own yet, but as the top assistant to Carl Nafzger he played a vital part in developing Street Sense, who took the roses in 2007. A native of Australia, Wilkes also galloped horses for Nafzger when he first came to the United States way back in 1989. One of the horses he routinely exercised for Nafzger ...

With nearly all of the important races completed in 2011, this is usually about the time that my attention begins to shift toward 2-year-olds. That will happen in the very near future, but before getting into that I think it is worth taking a quick peak ahead to the older horses returning next year. Listed at the bottom of this blog are 20 of the ...

In keeping with the theme of the last two blogs, let's continue discussing the Eclipse Awards. People had some fairly strong opinions about Horse of the Year and 2-year-old male, so I'm guessing the race for 3-year-old male will be no different. In a year where three different horses won the Triple Crown races and no 3-year-old won the Breeders' ...

As a quick follow up to the post Breeders' Cup blog, it seems that voting shows most people believe Havre de Grace is the front-runner for Horse of the Year. All things being considered, she is the right the choice, even if it's by default. Flat Out, Ruler On Ice, and maybe even Drosselmeyer are possible for the Clark Handicap, but even if one of ...

All in all, it was a fairly odd and anti-climatic Breeders' Cup weekend, in my opinion. Of course, had I cashed a few more tickets or if my name was Bill Mott my opinion may have been a little different. The odd part: Of the 15 Breeders' Cup races only four favorites won (just one out of nine of Saturday), and there were three races where the ...

Juvenile Sprint Secret Circle--Nobody is better at preparing young sprinters than Baffert, the former Quarter Horse trainer. Was as dominant as could be in first two starts and is fast, but tactical for a young colt. Doesn't offer much value but I'll bite the bullet. Trinniberg--Beaten less than a length by Vexor in Nashua, but draws better this ...

I'll be back later in the week with selections for all 15 Breeders' Cup races, but here are a few horses that could be live at a price. As we all know, this has not been the strongest year of racing, so I'm expecting the tote board to light up at Churchill this weekend. The trick is finding the right ones. Let me know your thoughts. Juvenile ...