The days before the first broadcast of Fox Sports 1’s new Thoroughbred racing series were not promising. The network’s Twitter timeline didn’t mention Sunday’s 5 pm show from Gulfstream Park in Florida until about an hour before broadcast, and a promo video offered the sort of sexist, inaccurate images of a day at the races…
Santa Anita: The Grade II, $200,000 Robert Lewis at 1 1/16 miles Analysis by Brian Nadeau of Horseplayer Now. #1 Candy Boy: Talented up-and-comer made a stunning, albeit premature, move to the lead in the GI CashCall when last seen over the Cushion surface at Hollywood Park before settling for a well-beaten second to 2yo…
When the Eclipse Award winners were announced a couple of weeks ago, the response to the honorees was largely muted; 2013 was not a year in which the performances on the racetrack were likely to give rise to any controversy, and there was no polarizing Zenyatta/Rachel Alexandra, Zenyatta/Blame debate for Horse of the Year. What…
While racing success at home and abroad is in itself a goal for Ken Ramsey, it’s also a necessary stage-setter for the development of Kitten’s Joy as an international sire. Kitten’s Joy’s first season at stud was in 2006, and the following year, Ramsey bred him on Southern Hemisphere time at his Lexington farm to…
“Originally this race was run over the memorable six-furlong straight course at Morris Park, then the newest and most elaborate of Metropolitan racing plants—which was a bit down grade and for that reason nicknamed the “toboggan slide”. (sic) (Hervey) As racing historian John Hervey notes above, the name of the Toboggan has nothing to do…
On this weekend when a “New York” Super Bowl will be played in New Jersey, it seems only fitting that a race named for a man whose racing life was based in the Garden State will be run at Aqueduct. David Withers got his start in New York and lived here for most of his…
Brian Nadeau of Horseplayer Now offers his regular analysis of the 2014 road to the Kentucky Derby with a look at the Grade III, $250,000 Withers on Saturday at Aqueduct at 1 1/6 miles. #1 Uncle Sigh: Romping New York-bred MSW winner sure looked good when stretching to two turns last time in a breakthrough…
Frisky Cat’s mother wasn’t much of a racehorse, but his sire, Tale of the Cat, was a multiple graded stakes winner, as was his damsire, Dynaformer. It seemed reasonable to expect that Frisky Cat, foaled in 2009, might be a moderate success on the racetrack. But, not infrequently, even horses with good bloodlines don’t find…
On Jan. 18, Ken and Sarah Ramsey collected their second leading owner Eclipse Award, and their first for leading breeder. They won for their first Eclipse Award in 2004, when Kitten’s Joy was named Champion Male Turf Horse, and it’s not too much of a stretch to say that the Ramseys’ most recent awards belong…
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…
Brooklyn Backstretch 