Golden Gate Fields: The Grade III, $200,000 El Camino Real Derby at 1 1/8 miles (Kentucky Derby qualifying points 10-4-2-1) by Brian Nadeau #1 Donji (30-1): Gigantic longshot gets the coveted inside post and will save all the ground, but that’s quickly where any positives end, as he’s still a maiden after seven starts and…
At the break of the Grade III Withers at Aqueduct Saturday afternoon, the #2 horse, Far From Over, stumbled under jockey Manuel Franco, who pulled the horse up to re-gather him, then sent him chasing after a field of horses more than a dozen lengths in front of him. Off the screen for much of…
Santa Anita: The Grade III, $150,000 Robert B. Lewis at 1 1/16 miles by Brian Nadeau #1 Tizcano (15-1): Longshot goes back to the Miller barn after a one-race trip to Gulfstream Park where he didn’t fire in the 6F Spectacular Bid last month and also runs beyond six furlongs for the first time today.…
Aqueduct: The Grade III, $250,000 Withers at 1 1/16 miles by Brian Nadeau #1 Classy Class (2-1): Tricky read starts his 3yo campaign as a bit of a wildcard as he looked great winning his bow sprinting, then didn’t fire when a modest fourth over a highly speed-favoring track when stretching out in the local…
At noon today, the betting windows open for the second pool of the 2015 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, enabling the hopeful, the strategic, and the confident to place $2 win and exacta bets with an eye on cashing big on the first Saturday in May. The pool closes at 6 pm on Sunday evening. At…
When Upstart won the Funny Cide Stakes at Saratoga last summer, a race restricted to horses bred in New York State, his owner Ralph Evans knew that the then-2-year-old was good enough to win against open company. It took five months before Upstart got that win, but got it he did, in the Grade II…
The road to Churchill Downs stopped in the Big Easy on Saturday for the Silverbulletday and the Lecomte Stakes, prep and points races for the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby respectively. The third 2015 points race for the Kentucky Oaks, the Silverbulletday at Fair Grounds in Louisiana was won by I’m A Chatterbox, trained by…
He’s back! Brian Nadeau joins Brooklyn Backstretch for the seventh year to handicap Kentucky Derby preps and take us through the Triple Crown. Brian handicaps at Horseplayer Now, is a regular on Capital OTB TV in upstate New York, and writes a weekly Breeders’ Cup newsletter in the run-up to that event. I’m thrilled that he’s back,…
The 2015 road to the Kentucky Derby kicked off in New York on Saturday with the Grade III Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens. The first race this year to carry Kentucky Derby qualifying points was won by Zayat Stables’ El Kabeir, getting the third win of his career on a miserably cold and…
Brooklyn Backstretch 