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Rick Hammerle has been racing secretary at Santa Anita for 15 years and was stakes coordinator at Monmouth Park for 12 years, and he thought he had heard everything. That is until one day in mid-February of this year. Hammerle had carded a seven-furlong maiden race for 3-year-olds, and Bob Baffert walked into his office to make sure that the ...

** Updating the column, the more I look at Bolt d'Oro the more I like everything about him, so my two win bets looking for value are Vino Rosso and Bolt d'Oro. If Vino Rosso can work out a trip from post 18 and Bolt d'Oro gets a clean trip and is in the clear, turning for home I feel they will both be very formidable down the ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman After months of preparation, the field for the 144th running of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (gr. I) at Churchill Downs is set, and on paper, the twenty horses entered in the ten-furlong ''Run for the Roses'' comprise one of the strongest fields in ...

With the amount of time breeders spend holding their breath, running a commercial operation has to be incredibly hard. Will the “big mare” get in foal? Will she carry the foal? What about her delivery? They would be lucky if the worries stopped there. The resultant foal—should it be hale and hearty enough—has a year and a half of preparation ...

1 Vino Rosso Todd Pletcher Curlin—Mythical Bride, by Street Cry I’ve had him ranked on top for several weeks now and see no reason to change at this point. He’s done nothing wrong, he looks fantastic physically, and you had to love his last work, a sharp half in an un-Pletcher-like :47 1/5. Working outside his stablemate, he did ...

On April 27, trainer Todd Pletcher sent out Audible, Magnum Moon, Noble Indy, and Vino Rosso for their final pre-Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) workouts at Churchill Downs. That would be this year's respective Xpressbet Florida Derby (G1) winner, Arkansas Derby (G1) winner, TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) winner, and Wood ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman Question: How fast will the early pace be in the 2018 Kentucky Derby? That is one of the key factors to consider when handicapping the ''Run for the Roses,'' since predicting the intensity of the early pace can determine whether speed horses or late runners will have the advantage, ...

Every once in awhile a great one comes along. And while the best of them are often measured by the grit and determination they show in defeat instead of in victory, so to, are they more appreciated once they leave this earth. We say this with the passing of the legendary Giant’s Causeway, a wonder in flight and a legend at stud, who left us April ...