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Although I've lived in Lexington for seven years now, I still regularly handicap the races back in sweet home Chicago. In fact, Arlington has been my best track this summer from a wagering standpoint (surprisingly followed by Del Mar). Going over Saturday's Arlington card, which features the Arlington-Washington Futurity (G3) and the ...

A huge weekend of racing lies ahead, and as I go through the weekend cards, I find myself most excited about watching the two-year-old races. I love seeing the future of the sport unfold. On Saturday, Executiveprivilege is the 4-to-5 morning line favorite in the Del Mar Debutante. She was the first two-year-old filly to catch ...

The retirement of Hansen earlier this week further gutted this crop of three-year-old males and left us with a largely paceless field of 11 in the Travers Stakes (G1). The mid-summer Derby will be a far cry from the Kentucky Derby, where we had Bodemeister ripping along in 45-2 and 1:09-4, with a field of pursuers that included I'll Have ...

Arlinton Million, Race 11, Saturday, August 18 $1-million, 1 1/4 miles on Turf   1 Rahystrada (8-1) finished finished 5th, beaten 3 3/4 lengths, in last year's Million, which had a better field than this year with the likes of multiple Group 1 winners Cape Blanco and U.S. champion grass horse Gio Ponti. An eight-year-old ...

Breeders' Cup announced it will hold its two-day championship event at Santa Anita Park in 2013, for the second year in a row. Nothing against Santa Anita, but as a fan, I liked the Breeders' Cup a lot more when it rotated its venue every year. The rotation that went California-New York-Kentucky-Random Track was perfect. Every ...

I believe Ron the Greek is the best horse in the Whitney Handicap (G1), and although I prefer him going 1 1/4 miles, it looks like there is enough pace in this field to set up his steady late move. The 1 1/8-mile Whitney at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday drew a field of nine. Trickmeister looks like the speed of the speed, but Rule, ...

With the winners of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes already retired, and two-time Classic runner-up Bodemeister in recovery mode, a whole bunch of purse money is up for grabs this weekend in the three-year-old division. Saratoga has the $100,000 Curlin Stakes on Friday and the $600,000 Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) on Saturday. Then ...

Southern California always has been a bit of an island on the U.S. racing map. And although it can be a very difficult circuit for out-of-state shippers to win at (keep that in mind later this year for the Breeders' Cup), new arrivals trained by the home team can be quite dangerous.   Last Friday and Saturday at Del Mar, ...

We taped That Handicapping Show this morning, and I went with Finnegans Wake in the Grade 2 Virginia Derby (Race 9 at Colonial Downs, Saturday, 8:38 ET). He is appealing beyond the ''other Romans'' angle (Dale Romans also trains favorite Silver Max, a winner of five in a row). Finnegans Wake is by Powerscourt, a multiple Group 1 winner going ...

I like to pick my spots early at Del Mar due to the uniqueness of the track. That means I'll be concentrating my plays on the turf course while I watch to see how the Polytrack plays. Del Mar's opening day feature today is the (two division) Oceanside Stakes, for three-year-olds going one mile on the turf. Blingo, an Artie Schiller colt who is ...