Fair Grounds: The Grade II, $1 million Louisiana Derby at 1 1/8 miles, by Horseplayer Now’s Brian Nadeau #1 Intense Holiday: The first of two from Pletcher figures to go favored based on his win in the local prep, the GII Risen Star, last month, and with the potential for a hot pace, his closing…
Gulfstream Park: The Grade I, $1 million Florida Derby at 1 1/8 miles, by Brian Nadeau of Horseplayer Now. #1 Wildcat Red: Lightning-quick runner stretched out after his local 7F win in the GIII Hutcheson to blaze to a wire-to-wire win over fellow hard-hitter General a Rod in the local prep, the GII Fountain of…
Sunland Park: The Grade III, $800,000 Sunland Derby at 1 1/8 miles, by Brian Nadeau of Horseplayer Now #1 Bourbonize: Price player didn’t fire when last seen in Oaklawn Park’s GIII Southwest when he closed mildly to be a well-beaten sixth in his graded stakes debut, and he’ll no doubt have to improve to factor…
Eighty-five points on the line at Turfway Park, in the race won by Animal Kingdom in 2011 and his stablemate Went the Day Well a year later. Not sure how much effect it will have on our Derby charity league, but we’re back again tomorrow with the Sunland Derby, and Brian will have his analysis…
This weekend’s prep takes us to Arkansas, and the presence of horses like Strong Mandate, Kobe’s Back, and Hoppertunity offer plenty of chances to earn points in our Kentucky Derby charity league. Brian Nadeau of Horseplayer Now takes his usual thorough look at the race. Oaklawn Park: The Grade II, $600,000 Rebel at 1 1/16…
Tampa Bay Downs: The Grade II, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby at 1 1/16 miles, by Brian Nadeau of Horseplayer Now #1 Ring Weekend: Motion runner enters off a MSW win in relatively slow time at Gulfstream Park but drew well and seems to be on the improve, so this is a logical next step up…
Derby points on the line in two races this weekend, in California and Florida, so plenty of opportunities to earn points in our Derby fantasy league. The scratch of Bayern doesn’t leave our players with much in the way of action on the West Coast, but the Tampa Bay Derby might spur some movement on…
Week 1 of the Brooklyn Backstretch Kentucky Derby charity league is in the books, and we might already have a whiff of scandal…created by yours truly. But before we get to that…we’ve got pledges from 28 people for a total of $1,845, with some of that money already having come in. As I wrote in…
Gulfstream Park: The Grade II, $400,000 Fountain of Youth at 1 1/16 miles–by Brian Nadeau of Horseplayer Now #1 Commissioner: The first of two from Pletcher was a game winner of an optional claimer over fellow heavyweight Top Billing here in January in what was his first start since August. Son of A.P. Indy is…
Fair Grounds: The Grade II, $400,000 Risen Star at 1 1/16 miles, by Brian Nadeau of Horseplayer Now. #1 Albano: Lightly raced son of Istan is a half-brother to Mark Valeski, who was second in this race for the Jones and Jones combo a few years back, so he’s bred to be a nice one,…
Brooklyn Backstretch 