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If the first two mornings at Belmont Park are any indication, we should see a top-class field of horses in Saturday's Belmont Stakes who are all looking great and working sensationally. California Chrome, of course, is the center of attention, and he, like fellow Kentucky Derby and Preakness starter Ride On Curlin, has held his weight extremely ...

Churchill Downs Inc. has certainly been taking some body blows over the past several weeks.The Louisville-based publicly held corporation has been subjected to a barrage of criticisms from owners, a Hall of Fame jockey, handicappers, regulators in other states, trainers, and fans since early April.CDI took its first public relations hit April 10 ...

One would think that analyzing the pedigrees for the Belmont Stakes hopefuls would be fairly easy, considering the extreme distance of the race and the lack of true mile and a half horses. It should be pretty obvious who the stayers are and which horses are going into the race on the proverbial wing and a prayer.But the truth is, many of the ...

If you’ve been on the California Chrome bandwagon, there’s no reason to jump off now. If you’re still looking for a way to beat him, there are some new faces and a few old ones who are coming into the Preakness Stakes the right way and could offer good value.We’re all aware by now about the colt’s throat blister and the few coughs it triggered, ...

The Daily Racing Form website has published links to all their stories about California Chrome since his maiden win, providing a fascinating look back at how the colt made it from a 4 1/2-furlong maiden race to the Kentucky Derby winner’s circle.That got me thinking that it might be interesting to do something similar regarding California ...

This has to be one of, if not the, most confusing Derbys in memory, as we have to deal with a whole new cast of characters than the one we started with last fall. The one-two finishers of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile are gone, the one-two finishers of the Champagne are gone, the one-two finishers of the Remsen are gone, as are the winners of the ...

When Medal Count showed up at Dale Roman’s barn at Churchill Downs as a promising 2-year-old, the colt was an immediate standout.“After he started training, I thought he was our best horse,” the trainer said. Owner B. Wayne Hughes had also thought enough of the colt by Dynaformer, out of the graded stakes-placed Brisquette (by Unbridled’s Song), ...

As predicted, California Chrome's arrival yesterday drew a large crowd, as did his first appearance on the track Tuesday morning. The son of Lucky Pulpit only jogged once around, but still made his presence felt, just by his demeanor and the way he handles himself. He appears to be a horse who knows what he's supposed to do and get it done at a ...

There are heavy rains, torrential rains, and the rain that all but drowned Churchill Downs Monday morning. The lightning came fast and furious; one bolt knocked out light, and the flooding came just as fast. Some of the thunder claps were so loud and strong, several horses became noticeably spooked. But not at Todd Pletcher’s barn, where “spooked” ...

From Kentucky to New York to California to Maryland, there were Kentucky Derby works galore the past two days.But before we get to the works, the highlight moment of the day came at 5:45 a.m. when General a Rod went out for a gallop with blinkers n. Because of the colt’s slow work several days earlier when he became distracted by the giant ...