King for a Day ruled the day when he managed to topple overwhelming 1-20 favorite Maximum Security in last Sunday’s 1 1/16-mile Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park. When I was a guest with Joe Withee and Rob Rao last Sunday morning on the Win Place Show, a radio program heard on Seattle’s KJR-AM, I issued […]
Read more
The gas tank situation was considerably different for the horse I picked to win last Saturday’s Belmont Stakes (War of Will) than it was for my selection to take the 2018 renewal (Justify). After Justify won the 1 1/4-mile Kentucky Derby and 1 3/16-mile Preakness Stakes for trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Mike Smith, the […]
Read more
There’s no Triple Crown on the line Saturday in what appears to be a lackluster Belmont Stakes. However, don’t sleep on this race. There’s a chance we could witness a breakout performance from a developing star. Tacitus has many positives going for him both in the Belmont Stakes and for the future. He could emerge […]
Read more
Do you have a pen nearby? Go ahead and grab it. Next, get yourself a set of past performances for Saturday’s 151st running of the Grade I Belmont Stakes, the demanding 1 1/2-mile event that has drawn a field of 10. Okay, now take a look at the past performances for those 10 horses. Focus […]
Read more
A number of Preakness Stakes traditions continued last Saturday. Keeping with tradition, when the horses came onto the track for the Preakness Stakes post parade, the folks on hand at Pimlico Race Course sang “Maryland, My Maryland.” Also in keeping with tradition, after the 1 3/16-mile Preakness was declared official, the silks of the winning […]
Read more
Redemption. That’s what winning the 144th Preakness meant to War of Will’s trainer Mark Casse. Forget that in a post-race interview Casse said he wouldn’t use that word to describe his feelings. It sure seemed that way to me. And not just redemption for the trainer. Young jockey Tyler Gaffalione and colt War of Will […]
Read more
There is no question that the 2 019 Kentucky Derby is going to be discussed and debated for a very long time. I had hoped this week to be writing about Omaha Beach heading to the Preakness Stakes following his victory in the 1 1/4-mile Kentucky Derby. But after Omaha Beach had been installed as […]
Read more
The highly anticipated confrontation between undefeated Eclipse Award winner Game Winner and undefeated Grade I winner Improbable will not be taking place this Saturday. Game Winner, who is No. 1 on my Kentucky Derby Top 10, and Improbable, ranked No. 2, were scheduled to clash in Saturday’s Grade II San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita […]
Read more
Coming up later this week is the first Saturday in March. This, of course, means we are only a couple of months away from the coveted Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May. For the past several weeks, I have been putting together a Kentucky Derby Top 10 list. Here is my current Top […]
Read more
“An undefeated racehorse has an aura of invincibility.” That phrase, written many years ago by the fabulous turf writer Charles Hatton, came to mind when I happened to notice that No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 on my Kentucky Derby Top 10 list this week are all undefeated…so far. Here is my […]
Read more
Trainer Bob Baffert has done something in the sport of Thoroughbred racing that has not received anywhere close to the attention it deserves. In fact, it has not received much attention at all. If something similar had happened in the NFL, NBA or MLB, it would be a very big deal. But in horse racing, […]
Read more
Inasmuch as the 2019 racing season now has commenced, it is time for my list of the Top 10 performances by a Thoroughbred in the United States during 2018. This marks the 15th year that I have compiled such a list for Xpressbet.com. A Thoroughbred’s performance can make my list for a variety of reasons, […]
Read more
Below is how I am planning to fill out my official Eclipse Award ballot for 2018, with the caveat that my decisions will not become absolutely final until the entire year is over. That is why I will not be submitting my ballot until after racing this Monday (Dec. 31) is completed. TWO-YEAR-OLD MALE: […]
Read more
In less than a month, many in the racing industry will congregate at Gulfstream Park in balmy South Florida for the third running of the $9 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational. That rich race and a new $7 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational will be decided on the track and turf course, respectively. The […]
Read more
In the debate surrounding whether Accelerate or Justify should be voted a coveted gold statue as Thoroughbred racing’s 2018 Horse of the Year, count this writer squarely in Justify’s camp. He’s just the best. And here’s why… Accelerate had an outstanding season February until November. He raced 7 times, once each month, except for […]
Read more