Gulfstream Park: The Grade II, $400,000 Holy Bull at 1 1/16 miles Brian Nadeau #1 Coup De Grace: Undefeated Brown runner has made waves in his two starts and gets the proverbial acid test today in this deep GII as he tries to join the Triple Crown trail. Tactical son of Tapit drew perfectly for…
How do you handicap a horse race? It depends on whom you ask. In Esquire TV’s new reality series Horseplayers, viewers will see both traditional and unorthodox approaches to wagering as cameras follow seven men trying to qualify for the National Handicapping Tournament, held next week in Las Vegas. Team Rotondo will show viewers the tried-and-true. Peter…
Forbes 400’s B. Wayne Hughes took home an Eclipse Award for the second straight year when Thoroughbred racing’s highest honors were handed out at Gulfstream Park on Saturday, January 18. Bred in Kentucky by Clarkland Farm, Hughes’ Beholder wrapped up the three-year-old filly championship when she won the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Santa Anita Park on…
The sport of horse racing is the only instance where the participation of blacks stopped almost completely while the sport itself continued—a sad commentary on American life…Isaac Murphy, so highly admired during his time for his skills and character, would have been ashamed of his sport. –Arthur Ashe, quoted by Edward Hotaling in They’re Off!…
I was remiss in not welcoming back Brian to Brooklyn Backstretch when I posted his Lecomte analysis last week, so here’s a belated but no less hearty welcome to the man who’s been checking out the Derby preps for Brooklyn Backstretch since 2009. Brian handicaps regularly at Horseplayer Now and appears on Capital OTB TV in…
She was a last-second impulse purchase, and her owner called her “a gift from God.” She lost only once in her first 12 races, and in 1999, she was the 3-year-old filly champion. Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009, she earned more than $3 million and she ran like her name. She’s Silverbulletday.…
Fair Grounds: The Grade III, $200,000 Lecomte at 1 mile and 70 yards #1 Roman Unbridled: Delta invader ran off with the Big Drama Stakes last time by 8 ½ lengths at 7F’s, but it’s worth noting that is a two-turn race, which gives him a leg up on most in here. Tactical sort wired…
Depending on the outcome of Saturday’s fifth race at Santa Anita Park, Blackhawks’ coach Joel Quenneville might get a chance to dream about adding a Kentucky Derby trophy to his collection of Stanley Cup rings. Midnight Hawk, a three-year-old colt, will make his second start tomorrow in the Grade 3 Sham. He’s owned by Quenneville…
Frigid in New York. Balmy in Florida. Warm, cold, rain, shine, north, south, Aqueduct, Gulfstream. On the first weekend of 2014, racing interests with Mid-Atlantic connections were kind of like the U.S. Postal Service: nothing kept them from their appointed rounds, and several kicked off the new year with a trip to the winner’s…
On a Sunday afternoon in October, Steuart Pittman stood on the track at Pimlico, surrounded by jumps and horses. A microphone in his hand, he spoke to hundreds of people sitting in the stands as Thoroughbreds trotted, cantered, and jumped around him. The track was his pulpit, the audience his congregation, and the message of…
Brooklyn Backstretch 