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Through three months of the Kentucky Derby prep season, for the most part, we watched one unspectacular effort after another. Many of the prep winners wired their respective fields after setting pedestrian paces and having ideal trips, and the ones who did come from off the pace, well, you just kind of got the feeling that they weren't going to ...

In our last post we noted that the three sophomore grade I winners last weekend all had some form of Storm Cat and Blushing Groom on their pedigree pages. Storm Cat and Blushing Groom are also found in the pedigree of American Lion (TrueNicks B+) who punched his ticket to Churchill Downs with a 2¾ lengths win in the Illinois Derby (gr. III). The ...

The stallion Giant's Causeway is nicknamed ''The Iron Horse,'' but there's another Thoroughbred out there who deserves the nickname and he's only a 2-year-old.   Wilburn, the top-priced horse at $625,000 in the Keeneland April sale of 2-year-olds in training worked like clockwork at Keeneland and Turfway Park before the ...

.commentForm, .postComments, #comments{display:none;} Robert LaPenta, a native of Yonkers, N.Y., who now resides in Westport, Conn., was introduced to racing during his youth by his mother. He first became an owner in 1998 in partnership with University of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino. LaPenta established his own stable in ...

Lil's Lad (TrueNicks,SRO) was an exceptionally fast runner in his racing days. He carved out wicked fractions before grudgingly giving way to Grand Slam in the grade I Champagne Stakes at two. At three, he used his great quickness to outrun Coronado’s Quest in the Fountain of Youth S. (gr. II). In his next start, he went wire-to-wire in the grade ...

Sidney’s Candy took the Santa Anita Derby (gr. I) and is by young sire sensation, Candy Ride (ARG) (TrueNicks,SRO). He follows Evita Argentina and Capt. Candyman Can as the third grade I winner by the sire from only ten starters out of mares by Storm Cat and his sons. Can we say “emerging nick” anyone? He’s from the second crop of Candy Ride (a ...

 1 Eskendereya Todd Pletcher Giant's Causeway—Aldebaran Light, by Seattle Slew Well, the Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth certainly was no fluke. When it comes to combining brilliance with staying power, he stands alone among this year’s 3-year-olds. Only thing left is to see what he can do with a fast pace. His high cruising speed and ...

  The second largest opening day crowd in history gathered at Keeneland Friday. Shoulder to shoulder and plenty of body heat everywhere, thank goodness I could get relief by watching horses while standing in the paddock. The weather was warm, the college crowd was immense and drinks were flowing. There were several scholarships being given ...

By Bill Pressey, Horse Training Science  Drosselmeyer - we all saw his performance in the Louisiana Derby; terrible trip and an impressive third place finish. But, how many of us noticed the aggressive warm up given to him by Kent Desormeaux? Breaking away from the pony after the post parade, Desormeaux cranked him up to a quick pace for ...

By Laura Pugh Last year, when I learned Dubai was uprooting it's premiere track, Nad Al Sheba, and ''remodeling'' it into the dream track of Medayen, I was among those who was not so enthusiastic. Why was I so unenthusiastic by this transformation? Because they took out conventional dirt and replace it with synthetics. You do not simply change ...