BloodHorse.com

BloodHorse.com experiences a predictable and understandable bump in traffic in the days leading up to the Kentucky Derby.*  This year, fans would need to set aside a whole day to see all of the content available on the Web site. I've mentioned my friend Jason Shandler's Triple Crown Talk blog and the Triple Crown Mania home page before; now I ...

With the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands mere days away, we thought it was worth giving TrueNicks a tryout on the leading contenders. TrueNicks came through its Derby Trial with flying colors. Of the top 24 contenders at time of writing, nine (37.5%) were A++; 17 (71%) were A or above; 21 (87.5%) were B+ or higher. Of the remaining three, ...

Win, lose or post position draw, this should be the final year that Kentucky Derby eligibility is determined by earnings, graded or otherwise.The system has outlived its utility and no longer makes sense. Twenty Derby starters is the modern rule, not the exception. And it matters not whether that this year’s draw involving the filly Eight Belles ...

By Peter Blair, NYTimes.comIf you watched the Kentucky Derby post position draw Wednesday on ESPN2, perhaps you caught a glimpse of the internationally famous sports artist LeRoy Neiman — how could you miss his mustache? — scribbling away in the crowd. Neiman’s artwork will be an important part of Derby day. To celebrate the 35th anniversary of ...

The Rail invites readers to submit questions for Joe Drape, The New York Times’s Eclipse Award-winning horse racing writer. To submit a question, add a comment below. Joe will be checking in from Churchill Downs throughout the day Thursday to talk about the Derby field, the draw, workouts and anything else readers want to know about. Have a ...

By Alan Mann, NYTimes.com The fact that Big Brown will break from post 20 doesn’t change my perception of his chances in the Derby. Richard Dutrow Jr. is putting his colt out there for all to see. No excuses now; he can’t get pinched between horses coming out of the gate, and chances are quite good that he won’t get touched at all with the ...

From Railbird - Graham Motion, a great guy but not exactly a human quote machine, has one good line this week for reporters about Adriano and he's sticking to it: ''I must be the only trainer in the world with an A.P. Indy that can't run on dirt.''... Speaking of one-liners, Henny Youngman used to have a good one about racing. ''I once bet on a ...

By Joe Drape, NYTimes.com LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Barclay Tagg was in his full-blown cantankerous but with a smile mode this morning at his barn, sparring with anyone who was trying to be nice to him. Both Nick Zito and D. Wayne Lukas have been touting Tagg’s horse Big Truck as Derby contender. Big Truck, the Tampa Derby winner, finished 11th in the ...

When the members of this year's field for the Kentucky Derby Presented By Yum! Brands (gr. I) were yearlings in 2006, the most expensive horse sold that year at public auction was Meydan City, who brought $11.7 million. When they were 2-year-olds in 2007, the most expensive in their age group was The Leopard, who sold for $2.5 ...

  When Storm Cat lost some of his luster at last year's yearling auctions, it wasn't good news for breeders based on the stallion's $500,000 stud fee in 2006 when those horses were conceived. But the situation did open a window of opportunity for yearling-to-juvenile pinhookers.   Four Storm Cat offspring were sold during this year's ...