The Lane’s End – Grade II, $500,000 – Turfway Park – 1 1/8 Miles, by Brian Nadeau The Derby Trail heads to Turfway Park this weekend for the Lane’s End Stakes. With a $500,000 purse on the line, this race offers the winner an essentially guaranteed a spot in the Derby starting gate. Bittel Road…
Reviewing last weekend’s Derby preps, by Brian Nadeau We’ve all crammed for a test in our day, right? But I mean really crammed–just studied the paint off the wall, hoping to unearth that one little portion of our brain that’s going to store some information vital to a good grade. And then you take the…
We interrupt our regularly scheduled southern programming with this important news from Aqueduct: “Distaff” is not a dirty word. On Saturday at the Big A, the Distaff Handicap will be run for the 55th time. It’s been won by storied fillies and mares, several of whom have been profiled here: Hirsch Jacobs’s Searching (1957); her…
Preparing for my trip to Ocala, I browsed farm information, looking for visitor-friendly sites, easy contact information, and stallions for whom, for one reason or another, I felt a particular affinity. In Journeyman Stud, I found all three. In response to my e-mail inquiry about a possible visit, I received an ebullient e-mail from Crystal…
Approaching Ocala from the north on 301, the signs, both literal and figurative, let you know that you’re coming into horse country. North of town, a big billboard points you towards a restaurant called The Yearling, named for the eponymous Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings book (which is actually about a fawn and not a horse, but…
As expected, there was a lot of movement in our Brooklyn Backstretch Road to the Roses League yesterday. I’ve begun my descent to the bottom, and Superfecta’s Sleipnir Stables has vaulted to the top. Thanks to Brian’s previews and recaps, I probably know more about Derby hopefuls this year than I have any other year—but…
The Rebel – Grade II – $300,000 – Oaklawn Park – 1 1/16 Miles, by Brian Nadeau Old Fashioned looks to continue his march to Churchill Downs and there doesn’t appear to be too much standing in his way. He’s imposing indeed, but maybe there’s someone out there that could pull the shocker? Let’s take…
The Tampa Bay Derby – Grade III – $300,000 – Tampa Bay Downs – 1 1/16 Miles, by Brian Nadeau While the local prep, the Grade III Sam Davis, went to the locals, the invaders look poised to take home the trophy this time. Let’s see if we can’t find a little value to spice…
The San Felipe – Grade II – $200,000 – Santa Anita – 1 1/16 Miles, by Brian Nadeau Pioneerof The Nile looks to keep pace with The Pamplemousse in the battle for favoritism for the upcoming Santa Anita Derby. He meets six relatively unproven sorts trying to latch on to the Derby Trail. Let’s take…
Before Secretariat, there was Cicada. A decade before Secretariat became the first colt in 25 years to win the Triple Crown, Christopher Chenery (father of Helen) campaigned a filly who was setting her own records. At two, Cicada started 16 times, winning eleven races and never finishing worse than third; among her victories that year…
Brooklyn Backstretch 