This weekend’s prep takes us to Arkansas, and the presence of horses like Strong Mandate, Kobe’s Back, and Hoppertunity offer plenty of chances to earn points in our Kentucky Derby charity league. Brian Nadeau of Horseplayer Now takes his usual thorough look at the race. Oaklawn Park: The Grade II, $600,000 Rebel at 1 1/16…
There is no sound more exciting to the racetrack customer than the trenchant, nasal exclamation of “They’re off!” by Fred Capossela. With this brief expression, the New York track announcer sums up the promise of clamorous jockeys, flailing whips and eager-to-race horses springing from the starting gate. (Tuite) Capossela was NYRA’s track announcer for 37…
Tampa Bay Downs: The Grade II, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby at 1 1/16 miles, by Brian Nadeau of Horseplayer Now #1 Ring Weekend: Motion runner enters off a MSW win in relatively slow time at Gulfstream Park but drew well and seems to be on the improve, so this is a logical next step up…
Derby points on the line in two races this weekend, in California and Florida, so plenty of opportunities to earn points in our Derby fantasy league. The scratch of Bayern doesn’t leave our players with much in the way of action on the West Coast, but the Tampa Bay Derby might spur some movement on…
It’s not often that Aqueduct Racetrack overshadows its classier siblings, but discussions at the meeting of the New York Racing Association Reorganization board of directors March 5 suggested that the future of Thoroughbred racing in the state may well turn on the fate of the track in Ozone Park. Continue reading at BloodHorse.com…
When retired Thoroughbreds take to the show ring this weekend at the Will Rogers Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas, Third Regiment and his trainer Pat Dale will be there to do the Mid-Atlantic proud. A 2007 Louis Quatorze gelding out of the Smart Strike mare Acts Well, Third Regiment was bred in Pennsylvania by Kim…
By the time the Gotham was run last Saturday afternoon, Aqueduct might have been at its raw, freezing, wintry worst, but that didn’t seem to matter to the people who braved the elements and were rewarded with a heck of a horse race for their efforts. It was nice to see the old track—which saw…
With this year’s Kentucky Derby a little over two months away—May 3—here are 10 things to know about this year’s Triple Crown series. 1) The penultimate Kentucky Derby future wager closes Saturday at 4:17 pm, post time for the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. The race carried a total of 85…
Week 1 of the Brooklyn Backstretch Kentucky Derby charity league is in the books, and we might already have a whiff of scandal…created by yours truly. But before we get to that…we’ve got pledges from 28 people for a total of $1,845, with some of that money already having come in. As I wrote in…
Hockey returned to the NHL this week after the Olympic break, our national loyalties reverting to regional ones, as the players against whom we rooted over the last few weeks once again become our home team. Whether NHL players will return to the Olympics in PyeonChang, South Korea, in 2018 remains to be seen; injuries to the…
Brooklyn Backstretch 