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Hall of Fame rider Gary Stevens guided 2-year-old King of Speed up the hedge to win the Sept. 2 Del Mar Juvenile Turf Stakes. Similar scenes had been played out before…99 times, as a matter of fact, as the veteran rider hit the century mark in stakes wins at the track where the “turf meets the surf.” That’s no small feat, considering the brevity ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman I must admit that when I first examined the past performances for Saturday's $750,000 Woodward Stakes (gr. I) at Saratoga, I had no real opinion of the race, and the only strong feeling I had was some sort of primeval urge to turn around and flee from such a wide-open and downright ...

While Catholic Boy was the star of the day Aug. 25 at Saratoga Race Course with his four-length score in the Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1), another presence at the track cut a pretty wide swath: James McIngvale. The Texan entrepreneur who has built his Gallery Furniture stores in the Houston area into national prominence, McIngvale has poured ...

Many thoughts filled my head today (Aug. 27) on the news of John Asher's passing, a bunch all at once, and then seemingly one about every hour as I thought, “I can’t believe John is gone.” These are a few of the many pleasant memories. In terms of John Asher’s professionalism, I’ll share the most recent example. All writers and ...

Throughout modern day racing history, there have been top-class grass horses who could run big on dirt, like John Henry, and there have been top-class dirt horses who could run big on grass, like Secretariat.But there is a third kind of horse that is extremely rare. That is the horse who is so gifted on both you can’t tell which is which. These ...

In determining aftercare news coverage for its various platforms, including the distribution of press releases, BloodHorse uses accreditation by the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance as an important barometer of an organization’s integrity and credibility because TAA’s extensive accreditation requirements include a detailed application process and ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman Arguably the best race of the summer at Saratoga is coming up on Saturday, that being the $1,250,000 Travers Stakes (gr. I). The 1 ¼-mile ''Midsummer Derby'' is something like an unofficial fourth leg of the Triple Crown, frequently pitting some of the best three-year-old colts in the ...

Major league sports—and the way we experience them—have changed dramatically since the inception of the Breeders’ Cup in 1984. Larger stadiums have given way to smaller venues. What was once a game is now a multimedia spectacle with music, short-burst entertainment, and advertising filling the void between quarters, innings, matches, and time ...

No major stakes has undergone more changes than the Woodward Stakes, once regarded as the maker of champions, as it often was in the Woodward Stakes that horses clinched Horse of the Year honors. Inaugurated in 1954, it has been run at three racetracks – Aqueduct, Belmont Park, and Saratoga, the last its home since 2006. It has been run as a ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman Since this article is a preview of the $1 million Pacific Classic (gr. I) at Del Mar—arguably the most anticipated and prestigious race of the weekend—I suppose it would make sense for me to begin with an explanation of why #5 Accelerate is clearly the horse to beat. Then again, isn't ...