In the summer of 2003, Dr. Patricia Hogan treated a chestnut 2-year-old who had arrived at her New Jersey clinic with his head practically smashed in. Yet to make his first start, the colt was trying to earn his gate card when he instead crashed into the starting gate, badly injuring his eye and the…
by Brian Nadeau of Horseplayer Now and Capital OTB TV. Oaklawn Park: The GII, $900,000 Rebel at 1 1/16 miles (Kentucky Derby qualifying points: 100-40-20-10) #1 Creator (6-1): Deep closer drew perfectly for his style and is one of two sons of Tapit in here for Asmussen; both come in off breakthrough runs, and this one blitzed a…
by Brian Nadeau of Horseplayer Now and Capital OTB TV. Tampa Bay Downs: The GII, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby at 1 1/16 miles (Kentucky Derby qualifying points: 50-20-10-5) #1 Morning Fire (15-1): One of three exiting last month’s local prep, the GIII Sam Davis, will need to improve on that third-place finish to have a say here, as…
After three and a half years under the supervision of New York State, the New York Racing Association is preparing to return to private control, board chairman Michael Del Giudice said at a meeting of the association’s board of directors March 10 in New York City. Though the plan for privatization, due to be submitted…
by Brian Nadeau of Horseplayer Now and Capital OTB TV. Santa Anita: The GII, $400,000 San Felipe at 1 1/16 miles (Kentucky Derby qualifying points: 50-20-10-5) #1 Uncle Lino: Improving runner really answered the bell last time when he was a good second behind fellow heavyweight Mor Spirit in the local GIII Robert Lewis, in what was his…
Fourteen years ago, Thoroughbred trainer Dominick Imperio decided to give the woman who would become his daughter-in-law a special birthday present: a yearling. “My husband told me to give it back,” said Elizabeth Loftus, who goes by Libby and who eventually married Dominick’s son, Michael. “He likes to blame me for dragging us back into…
When the horses go to the gate on Saturday afternoon for this weekend’s lone Kentucky Derby prep, the Gotham Stakes in South Ozone Park, Queens, the temperature will be hovering around 40 degrees. The hardy patrons at Aqueduct Racetrack will be in parkas and scarves to fend off the chilly breeze coming off of nearby…
by Brian Nadeau of Horseplayer Now and Capital OTB TV. Aqueduct: The GIII, $400,000 Gotham at 1 1/16 miles (Kentucky Derby qualifying points: 50-20-10-5) #1 Laoban (15-1): The most well-traveled maiden in the country was scratched out of the GII Risen Star at Fair Grounds a few weeks back and now ends up in South Ozone Park in…
What little attention paid to horse racing in the winter is generally devoted to three-year-old horses on the Kentucky Derby trail. Two months out from the big race, two undefeated colts, Mohaymen and Nyquist, are the buzz horses, with the hype expected to grow if they take each other on in the Florida Derby on…
by Brian Nadeau of Horseplayer Now and Capital OTB TV. Gulfstream Park: The GII, $400,000 Fountain of Youth at 1 1/16 miles (Kentucky Derby qualifying points: 50-20-10-5) #1 Fellowship (20-1): Intriguing longshot was a good third, albeit six lengths behind today’s heavy favorite Mohaymen, in the local GII Holy Bull last month and seems to be coming into…
Brooklyn Backstretch 