This story appeared in the May 22, 2004 issue of Blood-Horse magazine Get the golden coach ready; we're heading to the ball again. After so many failed attempts, maybe this time Smarty Jones can fit into that elusive glass slipper, and Thoroughbred racing and the Visa Triple Crown finally can live happily...

The following story first appeared in the April 28, 2007 issue of Blood-Horse magazine, with a few additions thrown in. This feature, about Team Smarty and what became of everyone, will kick off our “Smarty Jones Tribute Week,” in preparation for his departure for Uruguay next month. Each day we will...

By Jennifer Wirth, of The Saturday Post Every now and then, a remarkable racehorse can elude you when it is in your direct line of sight. And, in our home, there are few places to fix your eyes without finding a photo of some racehorse that was a remarkable horse for varying reasons, ranging from claimers...

If you have not read Steve Haskin's Derby Dozen for this week, be sure to do so. Why you ask? Because his number one pick is a MaidenWatch horse (by Saint Liam) and he is trained by Bruce Levine, I am good friends with Bruce's niece. Say hello to Buddys Saint . This blog is actually about several of...

The day after the 1987 Preakness Stakes, I stopped at a service area on I-95 in Maryland on my way back home from the Preakness and called Jack Van Berg, asking if I could do a feature on him for the Thoroughbred Times, which had only been in existence for about a year. I had never met Van Berg, who...

There are moments along the Triple Crown trail that remain forever etched in our minds. For this writer, one of those was April 27, 1978. Prior to the Blue Grass Stakes (gr. I) at Keeneland, then run just nine days before the Run for the Roses, Jorge Velasquez slowly walked local favorite Alydar from...