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On July 31, Bob Baffert lived a trainer’s dream, winning grade I races on both coasts, with Coil in the $1 million Haskell Invitational Handicap at Monmouth Park in New Jersey and with Euroears in the Bing Crosby Stakes in track-record time at Del Mar in California.The 58-year-old conditioner, who was inducted into the National Museum of ...

Did baseball writers and fans really call New York Yankees outfielder, turned racehorse trainer, Mickey Rivers “Mick the Quick?”  That nickname seems like a fabrication of the truth for the sake of promotion. Maybe not.  But, heck, if it is, hooray for making the most of inviting a sports celebrity with limited appeal to the ...

Thursday’s 10-race card wasn’t exactly the kind that horse players support with their greenbacks.  It began with two steeplechases, one a stakes and the second an allowance optional claiming race for $30,000 claimers.  Races three, four and five were for maidens on the flat tracks.  The odds of picking a winner improved after ...

Eleven horses will meet in the 1 1/8 mile Whitney (gr. I), with a trip to the Breeders' Cup Classic on the line. Can you predict the order of finish? Need more information about the Whitney? Read the race previewThat Handicapping Show-->. writeRanker(''http://i.bloodhorse.com/xml/ranking/2011WhitneyOrder.xml''); To participate, use your ...

Few in the crowd of several hundred people watching the end of the NYRA Jockeys vs. Philadelphia Orchestra softball game Monday evening noticed the shiny black Mercedes Benz S-Class sedan roll up to the Saratoga East Side Rec Center stadium and park within feet of the backstop.  The score was tied 11-11 after seven innings of regulation play, ...

This year's Perfect Trip Award will recognize a Breeders' Cup Challenge race winner from this season's North American races that best exemplifies a ''Perfect Trip''. The winner will be selected from a panel of racing experts and will have the opportunity to experience his or her own ''Perfect Trip'' through Sentient Jet, with ...

Rapid Redux may not carry with him the same glory as the mighty Zenyatta, but after a spotty start to his career, the 5-year-old son of Pleasantly Perfect has an impressive win streak going. A hard-knocking 5-year-old gelding, Rapid Redux has won 14 straight races mostly in starter allowance company on the northeast circuit. He is thriving in the ...

 (Originally published in the August 6, 2011 issue of The Blood-Horse magazine. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions at the bottom of the column.)  By Eric Mitchell - @EJMitchellKy on Twitter The 3-year-old male who can nail down at least one more grade I stakes before the end of the year is almost assured the ...

Bob Baffert has performed so many extraordinary feats of magic over the years nothing he does should ever come as a surprise. But since the White-Haired Wonder hooked up with new jockey, Garcia the Great, even he is amazed at what he and Martin Garcia have been able to accomplish.That amazement reached a new high in the $1,020,000 Haskell ...

Years ago, when the practice of saddling the horses under the trees in the backyard was abandoned, Saratoga went from having the best saddling viewing to the worst. The erection of a new fence that stands five feet high around the paddock makes sight lines for fans even less accommodating. “I stand up on my tippy toes,” explained Amanda Vogue, ...