It should be clear by this time … that Busher has as good a chance to take the best three-year-old colts as Gallorette. “The Deadly Demoiselles” by Tasker Ogle, Turf and Sport Digest, September 1945 Before those words were written, the three-year-old Busher, bred by E.R. Bradley’s Idle Hour Farm, had already beaten not only…
Three-year-fillies got equal time with their male counterparts this weekend, as the 2015 Kentucky Oaks Championship Series made its debut in New York, Florida, and Louisiana. The final stage of official Kentucky Oaks prep races as designated by Churchill Downs, Championship Series races offer 85 points to the top four finishers (50-20-10-5). The top 20…
The roads to the Kentucky Derby and the Oaks resume this weekend, with six races at four racetracks nationwide. In the points system initiated by Churchill Downs in 2012, this weekend’s races represent the beginning of what Churchill calls the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks “Championship Series” of prep races, each race offering a total…
Busher broke her maiden in her first start, on my birthday in 1944 (several decades before I was born, I hasten to add). That victory kicked off a Belmont-centric two-year-old season in which the filly raced at the big oval six times, winning four starts, and finishing second and fourth once each. She won her…
Today’s feature at Aqueduct is the Busher, for three-year-old fillies at a mile and a sixteenth. Run for the first time in 1978, the race is named for the filly who was the Horse of the Year in 1945. She’s depicted here in a painting by J.N. Slick, from the National Museum of Racing collection.…
Brooklyn Backstretch 