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By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman Saturday, July 20th will be a busy day of racing across North America, with plenty of action to keep an eye on at Saratoga and Del Mar. But by far the most anticipated race of the weekend is the $1 million Haskell Invitational (gr. I) at Monmouth Park. This 1 1/8-mile race will pit ...

The lamp of the Saratoga racing season had barely been lit when news came that Sea Hero, Paul Mellon’s homebred hero, had died in Turkey at the age of 29. Sea Hero’s score in the 1993 Travers Stakes (G1) is synonymous with the Spa as a statue of the horse is the centerpiece of the paddock. Not the most consistent horse—he only won six times in 24 ...

This one is personal. Come to think of it, perhaps it shouldn't be.  Racing has suffered a major blow this year due to the deaths of a number of horses at Santa Anita, which resulted in the surprising and controversial banishment of one of the sport's leading trainers, Jerry Hollendorfer. Many of those who have castigated racing and called ...

It was April 2, 1974. It should have been April 1, for what better April Fool’s joke than telling someone that a filly who had just finished second in a four-furlong maiden race at Fonner Park, a five-furlong bullring track in Grand Island, Nebraska would one day be crowned a champion and elected into the Hall of Fame.After all, any track run by ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman Who's ready for another summer of high-class racing at Saratoga? The much-anticipated 2019 summer meet kicked off earlier today, and the first Saturday of the meet will feature a couple of prominent graded stakes races. The fields might be small, but this is Saratoga, and upsets ...

With Saratoga about to open, you can bet there will be new stories added to the lore of this hallowed racetrack that is so steeped in history, dating back to the Civil War. When one looks at the history of The Spa they normally go right to the meet’s premier event, the Travers Stakes, going back to the great upset of 1930 when 100-1 Jim Dandy ...

The Fourth of July weekend these days signifies much more than celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence back in 1776. For families it’s a chance to gather, grill, and ignite explosives. For fans of Major League Baseball, it’s a time to assess a team’s chances of making the playoffs come October. For those of us in the ...

With the Suburban ''Stakes,'' once one the most prestigious races in the country when it was a handicap, being run July 6 I have to ask this question. When was the last time you used weight among your criteria for greatness? I am sure most of you never have. Although the whole concept of handicaps was unfair, penalizing the superior horses ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman Happy Independence Day! One of the best races on this upcoming holiday weekend is the $700,000 Belmont Oaks (gr. I) at Belmont Park, a 1 ¼-mile turf test that has attracted a high-quality field of nine three-year-old fillies. When I first examined the field, a key question ...