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Handicapping Big Breeders' Cup Preview Day Saturday at Santa Anita
Santa Anita Graded Stakes Preview for September 30, 2017
Breeders’ Cup preview days don’t get much bigger than at Santa Anita Sept. 30. Five grade one races are being staged at the Southern California track, and all carry direct entry into the ...
Racing
Breeders' Cup Bearings at Belmont: Handicapping the BC Challenge Races
Belmont Graded Stakes Preview for September 30, 2017
by Alastair Bull Belmont Park’s fall meeting gets serious this weekend with four graded stakes races, all of which could have a bearing on the Breeders’ Cup meeting at Del Mar in early Nov ...
Racing
Santa Anita Spot Plays in FrontRunner, Chandelier, and Rodeo Drive
by SCOTT SHAPIRO
Saturday is Breeders' Cup Challenge Saturday at Santa Anita and that means that five Grade 1 events with $300,000 purses are on tap at "The Great Race Place" as part of opening weekend at the 19-day autumn meeting.
...
Racing
Shapiro's Pick 4 analysis for Santa Anita's Breeders' Cup preview day
by Scott Shapiro
Five Breeders’ Cup spots are on the line on Saturday afternoon at Santa Anita Park, starting with the Zenyatta Stakes (G1) featuring Santa Anita Oaks (G1) winner Paradise Woods in Race 5 and concluding with the Awesome Again Stak ...
Racing
Roaring Lion to run rampant in Royal Lodge
Saturday’s Royal Lodge (G2) at Newmarket features an odds-on favorite in Nelson , a blueblood son of Frankel who’s taken a leap forward of late for Aidan O’Brien.
Yet this doesn’t strike me as a one-horse race at all. Rather the one-mile test, se ...
Racing
FrontRunner Stakes Analysis
Saturday’s $300,000 FrontRunner (G1) at Santa Anita serves as a “Win & You’re In” for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) five weeks later at Del Mar and the 1 1/16-mile race is also part of the “Road to the Kentucky Derby” series, with the top f ...
Racing
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Breeders’ Cup implications in Diamond? War Decree, Long Island Sound return in Friday feature; Zenyatta’s brother De Coronado entered
Trainer Aidan O’Brien has used the Diamond (G3) at Dundalk as a Breeders’ Cup reconnaissance mission at least once before, so the fact that he has two high-profile runners in Friday’s renewal must at least pique curiosity as to intent.
War Decree ...
Racing
Dayton Raceway offers two lucrative stakes
While the three-year-old pacing colts had their chance to shine in the Little Brown Jug at the Delaware County Fair and prior to that at Northfield Park for the Milstein Memorial, the older free-for-all pacers and trotters will head to another Ohio t ...
Racing
Awesome Again, Joe Hirsch highlight the first of two major Breeders’ Cup prep weekends
The first of two major Breeders’ Cup prep weekends is up ahead, with Belmont Park and Santa Anita offering 12 graded stakes including seven “Win & You’re In” races, and let’s preview the Breeders’ Cup implications.
Friday
Eddie D (G3) : ...
Racing
Reelin’ On The Bluegrass At The Red Mile; Freshmen Are Feisty; Northlands Launches Top Pacing Features
Autumn’s promise always delivers. There’s the crisp and colorful leaves flying through the air and the pounding of hooves on the dirt in Kentucky as The Red Mile hosts the Grand Circuit. Loaded with talent from all divisions, this is the overture for ...
Racing
Derbies At Dayton Deliver Top Pacers And Trotters Into More Grueling Battles
Dayton Raceway’s signature races are the center point of the first few weeks of their harness meet. This Friday, Sept. 29, the Dayton Pacing Derby and the Dayton Trotting Derby are on the program, featuring some of the best older competitors in ...
Racing
West Coast poised to challenge in Breeders’ Cup Classic
After stepping up with a dominant Travers (G1) victory, West Coast continued to impress by rolling to a 7 ¼-length decision in last Saturday’s $1 million Pennsylvania Derby (G1) at Parx. The 3-year-old male divisional leader is clearly getting stro ...
Racing
Rosecroft Raceway fall meet set to start this weekend
Tuesday morning the Rosecroft Raceway fall meet unofficially got under way when the Maryland five-eighths mile oval hosted a half-dozen qualifiers as several very familiar faces, human and equine, made their presence known. In the opening qualifier ...
Racing
Sophomore fillies peaking towards Distaff
The imposing duo of multiple Grade 1 queen Forever Unbridled and champion Stellar Wind headline the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) at Del Mar for good reason. The former is the top dirt distaffer in the East while the latter is surely the queen of the We ...
Racing
Breeders Cup: Who's Aidan O'Brien Bringing to Del Mar?
Like he does every year, Ballydoyle trainer Aidan O'Brien should send a few top horses to this year's Breeders' Cup. O'Brien is no stranger to the winner's circle. He might be the most successful international trainer to ever live. As always, O'Brien ...
Racing
State-bred stars shine on dirt and stone dust
Tracks such as Harrington Raceway in Delaware and Charles Town in West Virginia often get overlooked and deemed inferior, but in actuality they are quite capable of putting together quality cards that highlight state-bred standardbreds and thoroughbr ...
Racing
West Coast proves he's no one-trick pony
by DICK POWELL
Well, it looks like Derby season is finally over. What begins in late winter and goes to late summer, there is a Derby run in virtually every state that conducts licensed, pari-mutuel horse racing.
Late Saturday afternoon, a sol ...
Racing
Breeders' Cup: Will Bob Baffert's Legend Grow on Nov. 4?
Trainer Bob Baffert appears to be getting better with age. Baffert won the Triple Crown in 2015 with the brilliant American Pharoah. He broke a then 37-year Triple Crown drought. Baffert unleashed the best horse in the world in 2016 when Arrogate won ...
Racing
Breeders' Cup: Del Mar Home Track Advantage Horses
Like many racetracks in the United States, there's something about Del Mar that allows certain horses to thrive. Some of those horses should have a huge say in this year's Breeders' Cup Races. Below, I've listed many of them. Check out the list! &nb ...
Racing
Fear The Dragon Wins Best ‘Jug’ Heat; Metro Pace Score At 3-1; Top Win Prices Are Double Digits, Place Pool Pounded
It was a big week in the sport and a good one for our audience as features began with the classic Grand Circuit pace in Delaware, Ohio.
Once again, the public leaned the wrong way. In the first and most important betting mile of The Little Bro ...
Racing
Looking to be hot as the weather in Arlington Closing Day Pick 5
It's been unseasonably hot in Chicago of late and the hope for Saturday's closing day program at Arlington is that it feels that way, too, from a betting perspective.
Arlington has put together a top-notch card of 12 races, mostly on turf, with bi ...
Racing
How I'm playing the Pennsylvania Derby Day Pick 4
by Scott Shapiro
Parx Racing will be the center of attention on Saturday afternoon as the venue located just outside of Philadelphia has a loaded card that includes two $1 million races.
The Cotillion (G1) for three-year-old fillies and the P ...
Racing
Shapiro: How to bet the Pennsylvania Derby
By Scott Shapiro (@ScottShap34)
Saturday marks the pinnacle of the Parx Racing calendar as they present a loaded 13-race card headlined by the track’s premiere event, the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby (G1).
The nine-furlong race over the main ...
Racing
Cotillion Stakes Preview: Abel Tasman Meets 'Salty' Oaks Opponents
Cotillion Stakes Preview
by Alastair Bull The Cotillion Stakes (G1) may not be a “win and you’re in” qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1), but it’s been one of the most important guides for the big race in the past 15 years. Run over ...
Racing
Gallant Bloom H Preview: Carina Mia Meets the Highway Star
Gallant Bloom Handicap Preview
by Alastair Bull The grade II Gallant Bloom Handicap may not be the most publicized race this weekend – those are the Pennsylvania Derby (G1) and the Cotillion Stakes (G1) at Parx – but it does have relevance tow ...
Racing
Pennsylvania Derby Preview: Last Stop For 3YO Breeders' Cup Contenders
Pennsylvania Derby Preview
by Alastair Bull Upgraded to grade I this year, the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby is the last major race for 3-year-old Classic horses in the United States. Held over 1 1/8 miles at Parx Racing, the Pennsylvania Derb ...
Racing
Road to the Kentucky Derby Pedigree Profile: The Tabulator
The Tabulator wins the Iroquois Stakes
The Road to the 2017 Kentucky Derby is officially under way, with The Tabulator earning the first 10 points in the series by winning the 1 1/16-mile Iroquois Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs Sept. 16. The Ta ...
Racing
Filibuster Hanover wins Little Brown Jug
This year's revamped, diluted edition of the Grade I, $600,000 Little Brown Jug may have continued the sport's trend of eliminating heat racing altogether but it again showed the correlation between inside posts and early speed on half-mile ovals. I ...
Racing
When is it a dead heat?
What is a dead heat? According the Cambridge English Dictionary, it is “a race in which two or more competitors finish at exactly the same time: The two horses finished in a dead heat.”
But that ...
Racing
Dreams Fulfilled with Penny Chenery
Prominent Thoroughbred Owner Penny Chenery
by Alastair Bull Few women have made more of an impact on the North American Thoroughbred world than Penny Chenery, the owner of Secretariat, who died Sept. 16, aged 95. The youngest daughter of utili ...
Racing
Little Brown Jug ‘Fear’ Heats On Fire; Hoosier Hosts Division Stars; Metro Stakes Spotlight Top Frosh Colt Pacers
Features aplenty this extended week of harness action. The first feature goes on Thursday, as the sport’s focus is upon glamour-boys and the Great American Pace, the Little Brown Jug, along with its trot version, the Old Oaken Bucket.
From the ...
Racing
World Approval gives Casse another star miler
Trainer Mark Casse was blessed to train the great Tepin, who won Champion Turf Female honors in both 2015 and 2016, and Canadian turf champ Catch a Glimpse as well. And the conditioner boasts yet another turf performer who is destined to be a champio ...
Racing
Kershaw looks to strike in Los Alamitos debut
With Clayton Kershaw serving as the ace of a talented pitching staff, the Los Angeles Dodgers appear poised to make a deep run this fall. But before the playoffs get underway, the Thoroughbred namesake of the star pitcher will make his career debut a ...
Racing
Breeders’ Cup implications in Parx graded stakes
West Coast stretched his win streak to four recording a 3 ¼-length victory in the August 24 Travers (G1), netting a whopping 112 BRIS Speed rating for the wire-to-wire decision, but his status for the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) remains un ...
Racing
What to Know About Del Mar's Dirt Surface
The 2017 Breeders' Cup takes place at Del Mar. Del Mar is affectionately known as "Where the Turf Meets the Surf". In my last blog, I wrote some words about how Del Mar's turf track should play. This blog is all about the dirt track. Del Mar, like o ...
Racing
Kentucky Derby Pedigree Profile: The Tabulator
The Tabulator wins the Iroquois Stakes
(Coady Photo/Churchill Downs)
The Tabulator; winner of the Iroquois Stakes
by Alastair Bull
After producing a notable 2017 Kentucky Derby runner from his first crop, Darby Dan Farm stallion Dia ...
Racing
The Jugette And The Buckette Highlight Femme Divisions
Glamour-girl pacers and trotters are featured in this edition during the Little Brown Jug meet in the Jugette and the Buckette.
Two short filly fields make up the elimination heats of the Jugette at the Delaware, Ohio fair. The top three-year- ...
Racing
Weekend preps yielded various Breeders' Cup clues
by DICK POWELL
Monday night's $400,000 Presque Isle Masters (G2) had some interesting aspects for the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1). In the past, the race has yielded MUSICAL ROMANCE, who used the Masters as a prep before winning th ...
Racing
Bit Of A Legend N dominant in Quillen Memorial
Since arriving in the United States less than two years ago, Bit Of A Legend N has emerged as one of harness racing's best aged pacers and Monday night he solidified his reputation further by delivering a dominant performance en route to a three-leng ...
Racing
What to Know About Del Mar's Turf Surface
The 2017 Breeders' Cup takes place at Del Mar. A few major prep races are still to be run. Since we're on the other side of September, it's a good idea to get an idea of Del Mar's turf surface, though. See below for a few things about Del Mar's turf ...
Racing
Another Plested Powerhouse At $74 To Win; Ariana G Devours Division; What A Hill Avenges In Glamour-Boy Derby
Our biggest priced winner this week was a first-time entry on the horses-to-watch list (H2W), coming from a barn we touted from the start of the current Running Aces meet. Trainer Kathleen Plested came through with Tornado Henry at 36-1 (from headlin ...
Racing
Woodbine Mile one-liners
A five-strong European contingent , plus a few North American-based contenders with top-level credits on their resumes, make for a contentious renewal of the Woodbine Mile (G1). Particularly in such an open-looking race, the free berth to the Breede ...
Racing
How I'm betting the Woodbine Mile and Pocahontas Stakes
Backing a horse eligible for a first-level allowance in a Grade 1 typically doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but #10 LANCASTER BOMBER (9-2) can be the exception in Saturday's C$800,000 Woodbine Mile (G1).
Having beat all save Oscar Performance ...
Racing
Scully: Handicapping juveniles at Churchill Downs September 16
The Iroquois (G3) and Pocahontas (G2), the opening points’ races in the Road to the Kentucky Derby & Road to the Kentucky Oaks series, take center stage and Saturday’s 11-race card at Churchill Downs also features four juvenile maiden races with ...
Racing
Deciphering Belmont-Woodbine Pick 5
An international all-turf Pick 5 will be offered on Saturday. Four of the grassy tilts will be of the graded variety as this unique wager consists of three races at Woodbine and a pair at Belmont Park. I will take a crack at it, as it looks challengi ...
Racing
Can Beach resist Ocean in St Leger?
Saturday marks the final British classic of the season, the 1 3/4-mile, 115-yard St Leger (G1) at Doncaster. If the 11-horse field doesn’t feature a single standout, I’d argue there’s strength in depth, and we’ll be hearing a lot more from several of ...
Racing
Quillen Invitational highlights Monday harness racing
Both thoroughbred and standardbred racing fans are accustomed to seeing their respective stars compete primarily on weekend cards, but this coming Monday evening Harrington Raceway in Delaware will present its signature event when it hosts the latest ...
Racing
The 2-Year-Old Juvenile Betting Guide FREE Download
2-Year-Old juvenile racing is sometimes a challenge to handicap, when many have limited starts. Whether you examine family pedigree, caculate their work tab habits, or research any listing of past performances that display experience over the crowd, ...
Racing
Shapiro’s Los Alamitos Saturday Late Pick 4 analysis
By Scott Shapiro (@ScottShap34)
We have reached the midway point at the three-week 2017 Los Angeles County Fair meet at Los Alamitos.
The second of three Saturday cards in Orange County offers horseplayers a nine-race slate headlined by the $1 ...
Racing
We're Back!
We’re Back! I’m glad to report that the bestbet Building, the kennel compound, and the greyhound are all safe and ready to go for this weekend. Kudos to all the hard-working kennel employees that risked themselves to keep all our greyhound safe duri ...
Racing
Looking beyond the big two in Wynn Las Vegas' Breeders' Cup Classic Future
Gun Runner is currently listed as the 13-10 favorite on Wynn Las Vegas' 2017 Breeders' Cup Classic Future Wager, no surprise in the wake of the colt's 10 1/4-length demolition of the Woodward (G1) at Saratoga on Labor Day weekend.
With no further ...
Racing
Saturday cards offer plenty of star power
This coming Saturday thoroughbred racing fans in the Mid-Atlantic region will have plenty of quality runners to view when Laurel Park hosts a handful of open stakes, including the Grade III, $250,000 Frank DeFrancis Memorial Dash at six furlongs on t ...
Racing
Looking forward to Star in Iroquois, Upset in Pocahontas
By DICK POWELL
Churchill Downs opens its September meet this Saturday and the 11-race card ends with a pair of graded stakes races for two-year-olds of both sexes. With trainers wanting more time than ever between races, you could see the top hor ...
Racing
‘Derby’ Duels And Amazing Aged Battles At Mohawk; Octo-Simpsons Sunday
Mohawk hangs the main marquee in the sport again this week with a parade of stakes finals featuring the season’s top stars, along with high-hopes elms for two-year-old pacers. The latter are handled by the TwinSpires-exclusive blog—the Breeders Crown ...
Racing
Frosh Male Pacers March The Miles In Metro Stakes Eliminations
With the She’s A Great Lady attracting enough competitors to go straight to the final, three Metro eliminations highlight the frosh stakes going on the Grand Circuit-fueled program at Mohawk Racetrack on Saturday, Sept. 16.
Elimination one gat ...
Racing
2017 Breeders' Cup Distaff Top 5
With Songbird's retirement, I thought it would make sense to come out with updated Breeders' Cup Distaff Rankings. My Top 5 is listed below. I haven't placed the 5 fillies and mares in order of preference. Instead, I've just listed them. All 5 figu ...
Racing
Top older pacers heading to Harrington next Monday
Harness racing fans in the Mid-Atlantic region have few opportunities to see the top horses of either gait or any age compete in person anymore with Delaware and Maryland both offering limited stakes, but next Monday evening Harrington Raceway will h ...
Racing
Iroquois to kick off Road to Kentucky Derby 144
It’s never too early to talk Kentucky Derby and qualifying for 144 th edition of America’s most famous horse race begins Saturday with the $150,000 Iroquois (G3) at Churchill Downs.
The Road to the Derby Kentucky series awards points to the top ...
Racing
Deauville, Mondialiste spearhead European team for Woodbine Mile; Hawkbill the class of Northern Dancer Turf
Saturday’s Woodbine Mile (G1) promises to have a distinctly international flavor. According to the Woodbine notes, five Europeans are expected in the “Win & You’re In” for the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1), including 2015 Woodbine Mile winner Mondiali ...
Racing
Show bettor has a day at Ajax Downs
But alas, Theydontlikemyname (#6) broke sharply and ended up finishing second, safely in the money. So at the end of the day, if our hero bet $2000 to show on one runner in all seven races, since they won them all today, they took home a tidy $700 pr ...
Racing
Starter positioning, "magic" jockeys, and Arc trials
by DICK POWELL
There is, after all, life after Saratoga and Del Mar, and the European racing season on the flat is heading for its conclusion. The Breeders' Cup is only eight weeks from this coming weekend, so things are happening fast since the ...
Racing
Sophomores on display at Harrah's Philadelphia
While many of the sport's top three-year-old colts and gelding trotters and pacers competed in lucrative stakes on Saturday night, a bevy of potential rising stars clashed in eight different divisions of the Liberty Bell at Harrah's Philadelphia on S ...
Racing
Catching up with top sellers from 2016 Keeneland September
On the eve of the Keeneland September kickoff, it’s an opportune time to revisit the top sellers from the 2016 yearling sale. Of the nine who crossed the million-dollar threshold a year ago, six have been named, three have run, and one has won.
Th ...
Racing
2017 Breeders' Cup Classic Top 5
The 2017 Breeders' Cup is less than 8 weeks away. It's time to come out with my 2017 Breeders' Cup Classic Top 5. I'm not ready to rank these horses yet. I've got a lot of handicapping to do before I do that. I did put them in the order that I beli ...
Racing
Ariana G, Downbytheseaside Win Toying With Foes; ‘Crown’ Countdown Cools Off; $18 Winner Tops Overnight Prices
Top choices that were obviously going to do their best were right there this weekend in a mishmash of features.
However you decided to wager—if you did at all—in the questionable Jug Preview on Sept. 9 at Scioto, Downbytheseaside ($2.10, $2.10 ...
Racing
Scioto Downs and Mohawk offers stakes
Saturday evening many of harness racing's best three-year-olds of both gaits and genders were on display at Scioto Downs in Ohio and Mohawk Raceway in Canada preparing to invade another small town in Ohio later this month while older horses at Scioto ...
Racing
Irish Champions Weekend Sunday: Can O’Brien win all five Group races?
After a couple of big upsets on the Leopardstown kickoff to Irish Champions Weekend , will the unpredictability carry over to the Curragh on Sunday? Or will the pendulum swing back to the market leaders?
An Aidan O’Brien clean sweep of the secon ...
Racing
Sonneteer looks to make mark on turf in Super Derby
Once an important race for 3-year-olds, the Super Derby no longer serves as a prep for the Breeders’ Cup Classic. During its heyday, the Grade 1 Super Derby produced Breeders’ Cup Classic winners Sunday Silence, Tiznow and Unbridled and second-place ...
Racing
Kentucky Downs Saturday undercard plays & all-stakes Pick 4
Crazy as it sounds, Saturday will mark my first ever trip to the increasingly popular Kentucky Downs. While happy for it to be installed at #29 on my list of U.S. Thoroughbred tracks visited, I'll be even more thrilled to cash a few tickets during ...
Racing
Mid-Atlantic tracks to get an upgrade in quality
Over the next three weeks at several thoroughbred and standardbred tracks throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, racing fans of both sports will have the opportunity to see various potential division champions compete in several lucrative stakes races o ...
Racing
Irish Champions Weekend Saturday: Much more than Churchill and Winter
Even with Aidan O’Brien hotpots Churchill and Winter bestriding Day 1 of Irish Champions Weekend , Saturday’s action at Leopardstown provides some interesting wagering opportunities.
2ND Race, Wilson Towers Watson Champions Juvenile (G3) – As a ...
Racing
American shippers seek top prizes in Korea
Last year’s inaugural runnings of the Korea Sprint and Korea Cup were swept by international shippers, and the two lucrative races on Seoul’s sandy dirt track are attracting the nation’s first-ever American-based runners on Sunday (late Saturday nigh ...
Racing
Scully's Kentucky Downs Day 2 handicapping blog
Day 2 of Kentucky Downs features 10 races, including the $150,000 Old Friends Stakes. Given how contentious the racing can be in Franklin, Kentucky, it wasn’t surprising to see several upsets on the opening-day card but six of the 10 winners left the ...
Racing
Mohawk Rides Again With Stakes Elims; Meadowlands For Brief Stint; NYSS Frosh Splits
With the sport’s eyes looking ahead to the 2017 Little Brown Jug week at the Delaware, Ohio fair, a “Jug” preview, the Grand Circuit at Mohawk and a brief Meadowlands meet for features are the Ohio overtures.
The TwinSpires-exclusive blog—the ...
Racing
Maple Leaf Trot, Milton Elims Highlight Weekend Affairs At Mohawk
Grand Circuit action among the older sets are the divisions featured as the “Roaring Grand” continues at Mohawk Racetrack this weekend. Top stakes action including the eliminations for the Maple Leaf Trot and the Milton Pace on Friday, Sept. 8. Along ...
Racing
Scioto Downs earns spotlight on Saturday night
This coming Saturday night many of the sport's top older pacers and a handful of the season's best three-year-old pacers will venture to Scioto Downs in Ohio for a pair of lucrative stakes races that onlookers will certainly watch closely for varying ...
Racing
Tips for handicapping Los Alamitos
by Scott Shapiro
After a challenging yet safe and successful summer at Del Mar, the Southern California circuit wastes no time as racing commences at Los Alamitos on Thursday, September 7, and runs through Sunday, September 24, before moving nort ...
Racing
Cold exactas in short fields
By Dick Powell
Sometimes, you never know. Last week, I advocated the way to make money in the Woodward Stakes (G1) was to put GUN RUNNER (Candy Ride) over RALLY CRY (Uncle Mo) in a cold exacta. With a five-horse field, there wasn’t much value av ...
Racing
Final round of Breeders’ Cup prep races their losing appeal
With Labor Day weekend in the books, less than nine weeks remain until the 2017 Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar and many top contenders are already training up to the championship event in early November. The final round of major prep races, which takes pla ...
Racing
My 5 Favorite Songbird Races
Songbird, the great 4-year-old filly trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, has been retired. Owner Rick Porter of Fox Hill Farms said that the great race runner has been retired due to physical issues . There's no reason to doubt Porter's assessment. Song ...
Racing
Strong Wednesday card at Indiana Grand has several worth backing
by SCOTT SHAPIRO
Indiana Grand has an outstanding nine-race card scheduled for Wednesday afternoon featuring four stakes races. The 12th running of the $200,000 Centaur and the 9th running of the $200,000 Indiana Grand headline the weekday slate ...
Racing
Spot plays for opening day at Kentucky Downs
With only five days of racing at Kentucky Downs over the next two weeks, starting slow and revving up play after picking up on some trends might not be to everyone's taste. There simply isn't enough time. Each bettor has their own comfort level, thou ...
Racing
Scully: Opening-day plays at Kentucky Downs
Horseplayers love large and contentious fields coupled with low takeout rates and Kentucky Downs offers it all. That’s why it’s proven wildly successful in recent years, with a record $22,540,761.22 being wagered on last year’s five-day session, an ...
Racing
Using Sabermetrics to Win Kentucky Downs' Jockey Bet
The aftermath of the premiere summer meetings at Saratoga Race Course and Del Mar Thoroughbred Club usually brings about some legitimate philosophical discussion on whether number of wins is the best metric by which to crown a meet champion.
I'm O ...
Racing
Kentucky Downs horses of interest on Wednesday
Kentucky Downs’ opening day was transferred from last Saturday to Wednesday, thanks to the rainy remnants of Harvey, but the terrific card was preserved intact.
Here are my comments on runners of interest, mostly from a turf pedigree perspective b ...
Racing
O’Brien loaded for Breeders’ Cup “Win & You’re In” races on Irish Champions Weekend
With fewer than two months until the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar, the clues will be coming thick and fast on the international scene no less than domestically. This Saturday and Sunday, five “Win & You’re In” contests will be held during Irish Champ ...
Racing
How to bet the Del Mar Futurity
by SCOTT SHAPIRO
The closing day feature at the Del Mar summer meeting is the Del Mar Futurity (G1). A race won in recent years by 2015 Triple Crown winner and unanimous Horse of the Year American Pharoah, as well as 2015 two-year-old champion m ...
Racing
Mucciolo: Closing Spa meet in style in Late Pick 4
We have reached another closing day at Saratoga Race Course on Monday, putting the finishing touches on yet another fantastic season of racing. I am intrigued by the challenging late Pick-4 sequence on the Labor Day card and will take a shot at a pot ...
Racing
Stakes continue at Harrah's Philly and Ocean Downs on Sunday
One night after many of harness racing's best horses of all ages and both gaits competed at Mohawk Raceway in Canada and at Yonkers Raceway in New York, standardbred fans still had the chance to see a number of talented trotters and pacers compete in ...
Racing
Ariana G Golden Again; Yonkers Trot Choice Fades; Downbytheseaside’s Wave Of Wins Ensues; Triple Partner Pumps $280 Ticket
NOTE: Sunday, Sept. 3 and Monday, Sept. 4 races were covered in the Aug. 31 blog. Please refer to it for more suggestions to play on this Labor Day weekend
We began on Friday, Sept. 1 with a pair of New York Sires Stakes for frosh-colt p ...
Racing
Lucrative stakes highlight weekend cards
While many thoroughbred racing enthusiasts were still buzzing after seeing Gun Runner trounce his rivals in the Grade I, $750,000 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga, harness racing fans had the chance to see many of the sport's best pacers and trotters comp ...
Racing
Final Saratoga Saturday Early Pick 5 play
Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good, which is how I felt after the first five races last Saturday at Saratoga. With an assist from the stewards, who elevated Paradise Island to first via disqualification in leg three, and a from Profiteer, wh ...
Racing
Juvenile singles for Saturday Pick 4s at Saratoga, Del Mar
A short field of five will line up for today’s Spinaway (G1) at Saratoga (race 10) and Pure Silver puts a 3-for-3 record on the line as the expected odds-on favorite. She’s never been headed in previous starts and with the inside presence of Separati ...
Racing
Kowboy Karma, Jehozacat worth following Saturday at Monmouth
With Saratoga and Del Mar reaching their crescendo, it’s easy for Monmouth Park’s two-year-old features to get lost in the shuffle on Saturday. But then you might miss the newest Larry Jones star, or the next blueblood celebrity for Lael Stables.
...
Racing
Harness racing's best set to compete this weekend
While many Americans will be looking to find an ideal vacation spot this coming Labor Day weekend, marking the unofficial end to summer since many schools will open next Tuesday, harness racing enthusiasts will have the chance to see five of the spor ...
Racing
Shapiro's Pick 4 analysis for final Saturday of 2017 Del Mar meet
by Scott Shapiro
Summer has come and gone.
We have arrived at the last Saturday card of the meeting and Racing Secretary David Jerkens and his staff have put together an extremely challenging 11-race slate to start the holiday weekend action. ...
Racing
Gun Runner tough to go against in Woodward Stakes
by Dick Powell
Is there any way GUN RUNNER (Candy Ride) can lose Saturday’s Woodward Stakes (G1) at Saratoga? I would love to try to find a way to beat him but just can’t see it happening.
Only four older males dare to line up against the earn ...
Racing
Road to the Kentucky Derby extends reach into Europe
Churchill Downs released the "Road to the Kentucky Derby" points schedule for the 2017-18 season , and several changes were made to the series.
Highlighting the changes is the addition of a "European Road to the Kentucky Derby," which consists of ...
Racing