Brian’s back with a look at tomorrow’s Derby prep, and over the weekend he’ll provide insights on Sunday’s and Monday’s races as well. We’ll launch the Brooklyn Backstretch charity league next week, after this weekend’s preps. The first scoring race is February 26th, and I’m waiting until the last possible moment to put my (inevitably…
Santa Anita – The Grade II, $250,000 Robert B. Lewis at 1 1/8 miles #1 Wegner (ML unavailable): Recent MSW graduate goes out for Baffert, so you know he’s probably got some talent, but at this juncture it appears he’s biting off a bit more than he can chew; pace factor is worth remembering down…
Tampa Bay Downs – The Grade III, $225,000 Sam F. Davis at 1 1/16 miles #1 Reprized Halo (20-1): Calder-based runner drew well and has a plethora of two-turn experience, including a shocker in the pricey In Reality for Florida-breds, but this is asking a lot for his 3yo debut; longshot. #2 Adulare (12-1): Improved…
He’s back! Brian Nadeau has returned to the Backstretch to offer his handicapping skills on key Derby preps. Other responsibilities will mean that he’s writing on fewer races this year, but you can get more of his insights at Horseplayer Now, where he handicaps and appears in live chats regularly. So a hearty welcome back…
We’ve arrived at the end of the end of the road: the Belmont Stakes. Belmont’s spring showcase and the final leg of the Triple Crown gives us a deep field of 12 looking to add their name to the history books. Let’s take a look at the contenders for the Test of Champions. Belmont Park:…
One down, two to go. Super Saver relished the slop and the rail-and Calvin Borel-and dominated what was thought to be a wide-open Kentucky Derby. Can he do it again two weeks later in Baltimore, under what figure to be vastly different circumstances? In his path are four also-rans in the Derby and seven new…
It starts in the late spring and early summer. You look at the two-year-olds racing in Kentucky and New York. You examine pedigree and performance. You hope that by the following spring, you’ll have found your Derby horse. But sometimes, your Derby horse finds you. Bud Perrone grew up in Louisville, going to “the Downs”…
You know how every week I remind you that you can check out Brian’s handicapping for NYRA races at Horseplayernow.com? That he participates in a live chat about three-year-olds every Friday at 2pm? He also participates in chats on Saturdays during the Derby preps, and if you’d been listening last Saturday, you’d have heard him…
Credit where credit is due. As commenter Andy first noted Saturday night, Brooklyn Backstretch’s own Brian Nadeau picked the top two winners in the Blue Grass. OK, so he didn’t pick them in order, but he did give out the winner on his Saturday afternoon chat on Horseplayer Now after seeing Paddy O’Prado’s odds, and…
Oaklawn may not have gotten Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra Friday in the Apple Blossom, but they did get a pretty solid renewal of the Arkansas Derby. The newly minted Grade I has a trio of top Kentucky Derby contenders in Rule, Noble’s Prospect and Dublin, and there are some decent new shooters looking to make…
Brooklyn Backstretch 