Santa Anita: The Grade I, $1 million Santa Anita Derby at 1 1/8 miles (Kentucky Derby qualifying points 100-50-20-10) #1 Dortmund (3-5): Deserving heavy chalk just beat a few of these when he ran his record to 5-for-5 in the local GII San Felipe last month and looks like he’s going to be a handful…
Keeneland: The Grade I, $1 million Blue Grass at 1 1/8 miles (Kentucky Derby qualifying points 100-50-20-10) #1 Ocho Ocho Ocho (6-1): California invader went undefeated in three starts as a 2-year-old but didn’t run a lick when eight of 10 behind Dortmund and Prospect Park in Santa Anita’s GII San Felipe last month and…
Aqueduct: The Grade I, $1 million Wood Memorial at 1 1/8 miles (Kentucky Derby qualifying points 100-50-20-10) #1 Tiz Shea D (8-1): Lightly raced runner didn’t disgrace himself in the least when he was second to one of today’s heavyweights El Kabeir in the GIII Gotham in the mud here in March over the inner…
Image: Postcards from Eugene Wood to the nieces he supported following the death of their mother, his sister. When Eugene D. Wood died in 1924, his local paper –The New York Times – didn’t pay that much attention. Despite his prominence in New York City, through decades of political involvement locally and in Albany, through…
Gulfstream Park: The Grade I, $1 million Florida Derby at 1 1/8 miles (Kentucky Derby qualifying points 100-50-20-10) #1 Ami’s Flatter (8-1): If you’re looking for a price alternative to the favorites–and there aren’t too many here–then this is your guy as he added blinkers and Lasix and was a fine second to hotshot Carpe…
Fair Grounds: The Grade II, $750,000 Louisiana Derby at 1 1/8 miles (Kentucky Derby qualifying points 100-50-20-10) #1 Stanford (5-1): Pletcher invader has the look of a wise guy horse in a race that seemingly is begging for the fresh new face to come take charge and will likely remind more than a few of…
As Leeanne Meadows Ladin and the rest of the staff of The Meadow prepared to throw a party for the 45th anniversary of Secretariat’s birth this weekend, they got a piece of news that gave them even more to celebrate. (And yes, that’s her real name. Nomenclature is destiny?) On March 19, Ladin, who is…
It’s that time: time to try to bolster your lead or make a move on the leader by adding a couple of horses to your charity league stable. Najja and Brian Hoffacker dueled on the front end before ceding the lead to last year’s winner John Perotti and a hard-charging Kay Marie Patterson. Alan Denkenson…
Sunland Park: The Grade III, $800,000 Sunland Derby at 1 1/8 miles (Kentucky Derby qualifying points: 50-20-10-5) [Image: 2014 Sunland Derby winner Chitu and jockey Joel Rosario at Santa Anita. Benoit photo] With a boatload of money and 85 Kentucky Derby qualifying points up for grabs, the Sunland Derby has become en vogue in recent…
Turfway Park: The Grade III, $550,000 Spiral at 1 1/8 miles (Kentucky Derby qualifying points: 50-20-10-5) While the Spiral runs the risk of being racing’s version of the Edsel, it did draw a solid field this year with runners from name barns like Amoss, Casse, Maker and Pletcher, so there’s some potential here, no doubt.…
Brooklyn Backstretch 