Golden Gate Fields: The Grade III, $200,000 El Camino Real Derby at 1 1/8 miles (Kentucky Derby qualifying points 10-4-2-1) by Brian Nadeau #1 Donji (30-1): Gigantic longshot gets the coveted inside post and will save all the ground, but that’s quickly where any positives end, as he’s still a maiden after seven starts and…
Santa Anita: The Grade III, $150,000 Robert B. Lewis at 1 1/16 miles by Brian Nadeau #1 Tizcano (15-1): Longshot goes back to the Miller barn after a one-race trip to Gulfstream Park where he didn’t fire in the 6F Spectacular Bid last month and also runs beyond six furlongs for the first time today.…
Aqueduct: The Grade III, $250,000 Withers at 1 1/16 miles by Brian Nadeau #1 Classy Class (2-1): Tricky read starts his 3yo campaign as a bit of a wildcard as he looked great winning his bow sprinting, then didn’t fire when a modest fourth over a highly speed-favoring track when stretching out in the local…
Gulfstream Park: The Grade II, $400,000 Holy Bull at 1 1/16 miles by Brian Nadeau #1 Frosted (5-2): The first of two heavy hitters for Godolphin tipped his hand with a rousing win at Aqueduct to break his maiden in October then followed that up with a game second-place finish going two turns when Lasix…
He’s back! Brian Nadeau joins Brooklyn Backstretch for the seventh year to handicap Kentucky Derby preps and take us through the Triple Crown. Brian handicaps at Horseplayer Now, is a regular on Capital OTB TV in upstate New York, and writes a weekly Breeders’ Cup newsletter in the run-up to that event. I’m thrilled that he’s back,…
Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup races kick off with the Juvenile Fillies at 3:05 pm, with the NBC Sports Network beginning coverage at 3:30 Eastern time. The broadcast switches to NBC at 8 pm for a one-hour telecast of the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic. We’ll hope your Friday wagers provide you with plenty of capital heading…
The weekend that horseplayers and racing fans eagerly await all year has finally arrived. With the stunning San Gabriel Mountains in the background, 13 races worth almost $25 million will be contested, highlighted Friday by the $2 million Distaff and Saturday by the $5 million Classic. As they have for the past several years, a variety…
When Dawn Lupul was about six years old, her father, a chemical engineer who worked for the Canadian government, decided that he’d like to get into horse racing. Not a man, apparently, to do things half-heartedly, he ended up with a herd of about 30 standardbreds on a farm just outside of Edmonton, Alberta. Not…
Belmont Park: The Grade I, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes at 1 ½ miles #1 Medal Count: Turf and Polytrack specialist is being overlooked off his eighth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby, but go back and watch the replay again and see all the trouble he had while full of run off the far turn; it’s…
Pimlico: The Grade I, $1.5 million Preakness at 1 3/16 miles #1 Dynamic Impact: Rapidly improving son of Tiznow exits a fast win in the GIII Illinois Derby at Hawthorne but certainly tests the big boys today in his first GI assignment. Casse charge has come to hand in his last two, which includes an…
Brooklyn Backstretch 