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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 ...

By Tom Pedulla, USA TODAY LOUISVILLE — Cuban-born Thoroughbred owners Carlos Juelle and Jose Prieto are living the American dream. They left behind heartache and hardship in their native land — including a death sentence against Prieto for anti-communist activities — to find opportunities beyond their wildest imagination. One of those comes ...

By David Geier David “Buc” Geier helps run a tavern in the horse racing hinterland of Kansas City, Mo. I had planned on sparring with my favorite sportswriter, Joe Drape, on our annual disagreement on the East Coast slant to the Derby. Every year, I contend, the media always holds the horses from the Eastern block in an inflated regard. There ...

By Joe Drape, NYTimes.com LOUISVILLE, Ky. - This is a confusing Kentucky Derby, but aren’t they all? It’s draw day here, and we want you to start thinking about how you’re going to pick the winner of the only race in America that bestows bragging rights on the correct prognosticater. So with no further adieu, here’s Dean Keppler, the author ...