Haskell Field Takes Shape as Big Brown Looks Fit

The 141st Haskell Invitational field is beginning to take shape for the $1 million Grade 1 at 1 1/8 miles. Big Brown, working well for his comeback race at Monmouth Park since being eased in the Belmont Stakes, is among 33 nominees that include several likely challengers that didn't perform well in Triple Crown races. Big Brown has steadily improved while breezing [read more...]

Belmont Stakes Is the Oldie, Goldie of the Triple Crown

The first Belmont Stakes was staged at Jerome Park on June 19, 1867, a year after its founder brought organized racing to the metropolitan New York City area. Leonard Jerome named the race for his friend August Belmont, a leading banker that helped finance the track. Jerome Park, an oddly shaped, English-style racecourse, required runners to negotiate three turns instead of [read more...]

Big Brown Scares Away Derby Also-rans in Preakness

Can you recall the last Preakness that lacked a single runner from the Kentucky Derby to challenge the winner in the second leg of the Triple Crown? Better ask your grandpa because I was 13 when my favorite horse romped in a wire-to-wire victory by 5 ½ lengths at Pimlico. Citation, en route to the 1948 Triple Crown, defeated his [read more...]

Post Positions Might Make a Difference in Derby

The morning line 3-1 favorite in Saturday's Kentucky Derby will break from the outside post position. It won't be the first time Big Brown has done so in his brief racing career. The son of Boundary roared out of post 12 in the Florida Derby on March 31 and won by five lengths recording the fastest 1 1/8 miles since 1996 [read more...]

Early Kentucky Derby Planning Lowers Your Odds

I've found over the years that it's better to leisurely handicap the Kentucky Derby for at least a week than start researching on the eve of the first Saturday in May. Sometimes I take more time when the race appears wide open. Well, this year's 134th edition is just that. First, I seclude myself in the quiet confines of my home office [read more...]

Wood Memorial Is Do or Die for War Pass

The 84th running of the Wood Memorial should answer the question about War Pass: Is the last place runner in the Tampa Bay Derby back on track to the Churchill Downs? The son of Cherokee Run breezed four furlongs in a snappy 47 2/5 at Palm Meadows on March 27. It was the fastest of 11 at the distance on the [read more...]

Louisiana Derby Features the Red Hot Pyro

Fair Grounds is a most historic track. It's the oldest site of horse racing in the United States still in operation. But back in 1852 when it began, the facility was ironically known as Union Race Course deep in the heart of Dixie.Sometimes it was referred to as the New Orleans Fair Grounds. In 1863, it was called Fair Grounds [read more...]