BloodHorse.com

With the current crisis shaking up the entire world, and with a handful of racetracks still conducting live racing, what better time to focus our writing on nostalgia. In the upcoming weeks I am planning on reprinting and re-working my old Kentucky Derby (G1) recaps, and a few Preakness Stakes (G1) recaps just to keep in the spirit of the ...

History buffs have been quick to point to the post-World War II Kentucky Derby in 1945 as the last time the Run for the Roses wasn’t contested on the first Saturday in May. In early January 1945 War Mobilization director James Byrnes had ordered racing to cease. The ban was lifted May 9, the day after VE Day, or Victory in Europe Day, May 8, ...

There are a lot of decisions to be made in the next few weeks or months regarding the rescheduling of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) and the ramifications it will have on the other two Triple Crown races and several major race meets, especially Saratoga. Well, there are two potential decisions that are not out of the ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman If you ask me, Saturday's $1 million Louisiana Derby (G2) at Fair Grounds is ripe for an upset—perhaps an upset of monumental proportions. Seemingly all the requirements are in place to trigger an unexpected outcome. The race has drawn a full field of unpredictable 3-year-olds, with ...

In 2016 I wrote a story for BloodHorse documenting how 16 horses that registered clenbuterol positives following 18 starts in Florida in 2012-13 when trained by Kirk Ziadie enjoyed success they never registered again. The positives led to a six-year-suspension recommendation for Ziadie, who had watched those horses earn $154,275 in purse money in ...

With the Kentucky Derby moved to Sept. 5, we’ll have to be creative with the Derby Dozen, although as of now the major preps will still be run, including all three grade 1 preps -- the Curlin Florida Derby, Santa Anita Derby, and Arkansas Derby. Whether the Belmont Stakes (G1) will remain on schedule and serve as the target race, it is too ...

COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, is for real. So, for a minute, let's deal with it. Local and state governments are trying their best to ''flatten the curve'' by stopping all gatherings of more than a few hundred people. The president just declared a national emergency. That means all major, and most minor, sporting events ...

It was an odd road to the 2002 Kentucky Derby (G1) for the two Derby Dominators, Bob Baffert and Wayne Lukas. Baffert and Lukas had seen one Derby hopeful after another fall by the wayside. It seemed apparent the two trainers who had paved so many new routes to Churchill Downs were heading smack into a dead end. Each day, they would ask each ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman If it seems like trainer Mike Maker wins the $250,000 Jeff Ruby Stakes (G3) every time he turns around, that's because—well—he pretty much does. Held at 1 1/8 miles of the synthetic Polytrack at Turfway Park, the Jeff Ruby has carved out its own little niche on the Road to ...