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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 ...

With every auto dealership across the United States currently running its Fourth of July Savings Spectaculars, it dawns on us that we’re already into the second half of 2019. And with the Triple Crown series behind us, naturally the question of which candidates will be put forth as eligible to be named champion 3-year-old male has come into sharp ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman It's never too early to start talking about two-year-olds, right? The 2019 Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks are more than ten months away, but we'll get an early, early look at potential Derby and Oaks contenders when Churchill Downs hosts the $125,000 Debutante Stakes and the ...

Santa Anita Park brought down the curtain June 23 on what certainly was the most bizarre race meet the track has held in its 85-year history. Noteworthy for all the wrong reasons, the stand ended with The Stronach Group’s ruling Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer off the grounds of its tracks in Northern and Southern California after a fourth ...

Thoroughbred racing has changed quite a lot over the years, some for better, some for worse. But one of the ways it definitely has changed for the better is the number of horses who have found new homes following their retirement, some discovering hidden talents and given a second career.All of this has been accomplished thanks to numerous horse ...