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We didn’t pay that much attention—or have much in the way of retention—while enduring an English literature class at the University of Kentucky, but we remember a quote from poet James Russell Lowell given to us by famed broadcaster Jim McKay in an introduction to the national television coverage of the 1991 Belmont Stakes (G1): And what is so ...

If you think watching racing from Belmont Park and Churchill Downs and other tracks in front of empty grandstands is kind of eerie try watching the races from Royal Ascot where the event normally is highlighted by a sea of top hats and ornate women's hats, with champagne pouring and a proper buzz in the air. And of course the revered presence ...

On April 3, 1972, the front page headline in the Morning Telegraph read, ''Head of the River Wins Everglades Stakes.'' It looked as if the colt's owner Rokeby Stable and trainer Elliott Burch had another top 3-year-old on the Kentucky Derby (G1) trail to follow their champon Arts and Letters. What made this headline so significant was that it ...

June 6 is a historic day in the history of the United States, with Operation Overlord, better known as D-Day commencing that day on the beaches of Normandy in 1944. While it pales in comparison, June 6, 2020, was an important day in Thoroughbred racing. Starting in mid-March, the COVID-19 closings nearly KO’d the sport, and on the first Saturday ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman It isn't often that an ungraded stakes race on a Thursday looms among the most intriguing betting opportunities of a given week, but this general rule will be thrown to the wind when Belmont Park hosts the $80,000 Flat Out Stakes on Thursday, June 11. Held over 1 3/8 miles on the ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman Better late than never, the $400,000 Santa Anita Derby (G1) will be contested on Saturday at Santa Anita. The 1 1/8-mile Road to the Kentucky Derby prep race has attracted seven starters, representing some of the most talented 3-year-olds in California. Let's dig in and start ...

The Thoroughbred racing landscape is coming back to life with the depth of a 1960s movie in Cinemascope. The New York Racing Association jump-started its racing calendar June 3, and racing re-broke from the gate at Laurel Park May 30. Monmouth Park in New Jersey has been cleared for a July 3 start. The graded stakes action at Churchill Downs since ...

Despite what the history books say, there really is not a big difference between an all-time great horse and a horse who had all-time greatness in him. Human athletes like Sandy Koufax, Gale Sayers, and Bo Jackson showed how all-time greatness can be demonstrated even in an ...

The order of races in the Triple Crown series has changed for 2020. The race dates have been shifted from spring to the summer and fall. The distance of the Belmont Stakes (G1) has changed. Yet, based on the expressed interest of horsemen with talented 3-year-olds in the first leg of this year’s series—the 1 1/8-mile Belmont Stakes June 20 at ...