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There’s a lot on the line as the Thoroughbred industry approaches the 36th running of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, held this year for the 14th time in Southern California and for the 10th time at Santa Anita Park. There was a lot on the line, too, in 1984 when the first Breeders’ Cup was held at a refurbished Hollywood Park. It’s ...

The most fascinating aspect of 2019 is trying to envision how historians are going to treat this unique crop of 3-year-olds, whose adventures read something like an Agatha Christie novel, with twists and turns on every page. You just never know what is going to happen next. Not even Christie's super sleuth Hercule Poirot could decipher ...

It's not typical to have five Breeders' Cup races that could decide Horse of the Year, but that looks to be the case this year. The five races are the Classic, Turf, Distaff, Sprint, and Dirt Mile. Here is what is facing the horses who have a shot at landing racing's highest honor. BRICKS AND MORTAR (Turf) - If he stretches out and wins the ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman Pre-entries for the 2019 Breeders' Cup World Championships at Santa Anita were released on October 23, prompting handicappers from around the globe to start perusing the prospective fields and formulating early opinions on the competitive races. While I'm still going over the ...

TrueNicks uses a number of coefficients to explain the relationships that are formed beyond those seen in a five generation pedigree. All coefficients are calculated to 10 generations. The reason is twofold. Firstly, the variation in inbreeding and ancestry in Thoroughbreds beyond 10 generations is very similar with very little effect on the ...

For a Bob Baffert-trained horse who will be the likely favorite for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, you would think that McKinzie would have a stronger fan base, especially considering Baffert won three consecutive Classics from 2014-16 and this year’s Breeders’ Cup is being run at his home track. But many of the experts still have reservations ...

Pre-entries for the Breeders’ Cup have been announced, and the World Championships are just days away (Nov. 1-2) at Santa Anita Park. It should be a cause for celebration and anticipation. However, the lead-up to this year’s Breeders’ Cup is high on apprehension and not on handicapping and breeders’ awards. It’s been that kind of year. The ...

In the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic, Mike Smith was devastated when he just got beat on Zenyatta, ending the great mare's 19-race unbeaten streak. Smith was in tears afterward, feeling he gave her a poor ride and let her down. The following year, he was back in the Classic on a 14-1 pick-up mount named Drosselmeyer, a come-from-behind horse ...

BREEDERS' CUP CLASSIC RANKINGS 1—Vino Rosso Todd Pletcher When in doubt go with the older horse. They are in most cases more mature mentally and physically and this tough, hard-knocking horse looks to be peaking. He's already shipped out there and won a grade 1 over the track and I loved his race in the JC Gold Cup. ...