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In the week that saw the passing of the mighty Sadler’s Wells, it was appropriate that his grandson Frankel (TrueNicks A++) should produce a dominant performance in the first English classic of the year, the 2,000 Guineas (gr. I, video below). The son of Galileo was equipped with a pacemaker, but set such a rapid pace that he was soon alone in the ...

Who will win this year's Kentucky Oaks? Will it be a Joyful Victory? Is it time for a Summer Soiree? Are you expecting a Street Storm? Or will the results be Plum Pretty? writeRanker(''http://i.bloodhorse.com/xml/ranking/2011KYOaksOrderofFinish.xml''); To participate, use your cursor to drag the selections on the left (currently ...

This will be an abbreviated report, as there wasn’t much activity Tuesday morning. There isn’t much happening on the track as we await the all-important post position draw tomorrow. No one on the Churchill Downs backstretch could remember a more miserable morning – cold, windy, and rainy. Only a handful of Derby horses were out for a gallop on the ...

I love a good longshot. In this year’s Kentucky Oaks (gr. I), the one that particularly stands out to me is St. John’s River, who was most recently a runner up to Daisy Devine in the March 26 Fair Grounds Oaks (gr. II). Dismissed at morning line odds of 30-1 in the Oaks, this bay daughter of Include is a homebred for Dede McGehee, who also ...

Finding value in the Kentucky Derby is rarely an issue, and that is especially true this year. The wide-open nature of this group means that nearly every horse--save Dialed In and Uncle Mo--will be double-digit odds on Saturday and will help trigger potentially huge exotic payoffs. The trick is, we have to find the right ones to ...

  (Originally published in the May 7, 2011 issue of The Blood-Horse magazine. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions at the bottom of the column.)  By Lenny Shulman  There aren’t many advantages horse racing has over other sports when it comes to being television-friendly. Games such as football, baseball, ...

 (Originally published in the May 7, 2011 issue of The Blood-Horse magazine. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions at the bottom of the column.)       Mike Lauffer is a connection of Kentucky Derby contender Shackleford. When Mike Lauffer and partner Bill Cubbedge bought back a Forestry colt ...

 (Originally published in the May 7, 2011 issue of The Blood-Horse magazine. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions at the bottom of the column.)   By U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) and U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY) On the first Saturday in May, many Americans will turn their attention to Churchill Downs for the ...

Officially rated the best long distance runner in the world last year was So You Think. He earned a figure of 122 as an extended distance performer on the basis of a third under top-weight in the Melbourne Cup (gr. I). However, he was actually rated 126 as a middle distance runner, a standing earned with five straight victories during the ...

Perhaps none of the past weekend’s workouts was more anticipated than the main track work by Animal Kingdom, who has never run on dirt or worked over it all year and who had his first scheduled dirt drill canceled last week due to bad track conditions at Churchill Downs.The good news is that his work was exceptional. He was able to make a couple ...