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All of the stories and anecdotes about Saratoga Springs and Saratoga Race Course just might be true. The upstate New York haven for horses and humans offered a splendid week with perfect weather for the big show Aug. 24 capped by the 150th running of the Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1). Walking the backstretch area for a few days, one sees the ...

Having covered the Triple Crown races in one form or another for the past 32 years, including writing the features Derby Doings for Daily Racing Form and the Derby Dozen for BloodHorse, I can state emphatically that I cannot remember a horse maturing physically and mentally and turning into a polished professional as quickly as Code of Honor. ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman In analyzing the field for Saturday's $1.25 million Travers Stakes (gr. I) at Saratoga, I'm struck not only by the lack of division leaders entered in this 1 ¼-mile race, but also by the extraordinary lack of speed horses in the mix. The three classic winners of 2019—Country House, ...

Through some magical combination of glass, tinting, and air conditioning, sunshine immerses occupants of the atrium dining room at the Thoroughbred Club of America in Lexington while keeping heat and stuffiness at bay. On a mid-August Wednesday in Central Kentucky where high temperatures and humidity had locals referencing dogs and days instead ...

You can't say it hasn't been a strange, but remarkably productive, year for jockey Flavien Prat. Following the Kentucky Derby, I chronicled his bizarre path to Churchill Downs for the Run for the Roses, as he went through one contender after another, including Derby favorite Omaha Beach, before winding up on 65-1 shot Country House and then ...

My interview with the late Bobby Frankel today on his former assistant Chad Brown? It would go something like this: SH: So Bobby, what do you make of your boy Chad Brown? Could you have envisioned the amazing success he's had? BF: Why do you think I had him saddle Ginger Punch in the Breeders' Cup Distaff when the love of my life, Happy, ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman Classic stamina will be on display this Saturday when three-year-old fillies negotiate 1 ¼ miles in the $600,000 Alabama Stakes (gr. I) at Saratoga and older males tackle the same distance in the $1,000,000 Pacific Classic (gr. I). I'm eager to oppose the morning line favorites, so ...

Each year, the Travers Stakes takes on a look of its own. Some years it proves to be an extension of the Triple Crown races and other years the Triple Crown horses make little impact, as fresh faces such as Arrogate, West Coast, V.E. Day, and Afleet Express pop into the picture well after the Triple Crown. Then you have a horse like Will Take ...

There was plenty of action afield in the Thoroughbred world from coast to coast during the Aug. 10-11 weekend. Racing was stellar at Saratoga, Arlington International, and Del Mar, and The Jockey Club hosted its 67th Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing. Meanwhile, Colonial Downs reopened its doors, boosting the vital signs for ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman John Henry. Manila. Paradise Creek. Gio Ponti. Some mighty fine turf horses have won the $1 million Arlington Million (gr. I) through the years, and if #3 Bricks and Mortar runs as I expect he will in Saturday's renewal of the 1 ¼-mile race, his name might eventually rank among the ...