McPeek Sends Blueridge Traveler for Maxxam Gold Cup

Thu Feb 22 2018J. Keeler Johnson

A small but quality group of six horses is set to face off in Saturday’s $100,000 Maxxam Gold Cup Stakes going nine furlongs at Sam Houston Race Park . Leading the charge is the lightly-raced four-year-old Blueridge Traveler , who hails from the ...
Spot Plays for Sam Houston's Maxxam Racing Festival

Thu Feb 22 2018Vance Hanson

Saturday night's nine-race program at Sam Houston features four stakes and an offer for TwinSpires.com customers to get their Win bets back all evening. Players that opt in and wager at least $50 on the card can get their Win bets back up to $10 per ...
Thursday Early Pick 4 Analysis at Fair Grounds

Thu Feb 22 2018Scott Shapiro

by: Scott Shapiro Racing resumes at Fair Grounds on Thursday afternoon after a couple of dark days. The action includes an early Pick 4 starting in Race 2 that concludes with a low level maiden claimer over the main track in Race 5. Here are my ...
Mitole Steps Up in Oaklawn Park's Gazebo Stakes

Wed Feb 21 2018J. Keeler Johnson

Six-furlong stakes races in February aren’t typically where handicappers look to find Kentucky Derby contenders, but Saturday’s $125,000 Gazebo Stakes at Oaklawn Park could be an exception. Although the field is small with just six entrant ...
An early look at Pool 3 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager

Wed Feb 21 2018TwinSpires Staff

by Dick Powell Pool 3 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager (KDFW) will be available in a few weeks but it’s not too soon to start paying attention to it as the division has become very fluid lately. The Risen Star Stakes (G2) was run last Saturd ...
East or West, who holds the stronger Kentucky Derby hand?

Wed Feb 21 2018Scott Shapiro

It’s a light week ahead on the Road to the presented by Woodford Reserve, so now’s a good time to take stock of the division following the first 50- points-to-the winner-prep race. With less than seventy-five days until the first Saturday of May ...

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Fair Grounds: Risen Star Showcases Another Derby Contender

Wed Feb 21 2018D.S. Williamson

Two Kentucky Derby prep races were the highlight of this past President's Day Weekend. The Fair Grounds in Louisiana ran the Risen Star Stakes. Oaklawn Park in Arkansas ran the Southwest Stakes. Only one, the Risen Star, produced what should be a tru ...
Keeler Johnson's Kentucky Derby Top 10 -- 2/20/18

Tue Feb 20 2018J. Keeler Johnson

The Road to the Kentucky Derby took a few major twists last weekend with upsets in the Risen Star Stakes (gr. II) and Southwest Stakes (gr. III), plus a brilliant debut from an exciting colt at Santa Anita. Suffice to say, my Kentucky Derby Top ...
Is Japan's Sumahama a Kentucky Derby Contender?

Tue Feb 20 2018J. Keeler Johnson

Sumahama’s success from a stalking position isn’t surprising given that the early pace was slow—:24.00, :48.80, and 1:14.20—but Sumahama’s acceleration in the homestretch was legitimate, as he ran the final 400 meters in a respectable :24.30, giving ...
Powell: Magnum Moon, Justify new stars of three-year-old class

Tue Feb 20 2018TwinSpires Staff

by DICK POWELL There were lots of stakes races run over the President's Day weekend, but the two stars of the week came in an allowance race at Tampa Bay Downs and a maiden special weight race at Santa Anita.   On January 13, Todd Ple ...
Pace, Track Favored My Boy Jack in Southwest Stakes

Tue Feb 20 2018J. Keeler Johnson

Racing fans were treated to an eye-catching sight on Monday when My Boy Jack produced an explosive rally from off the pace to win the $500,000 Southwest Stakes (gr. III) at Oaklawn Park . From a visual perspective, My Boy Jack looked terrific ...
Kentucky Derby Pedigree Profile: Bravazo

Tue Feb 20 2018TwinSpires Staff

Bravazo (Hodges Photography) Risen Star Stakes Winner Bravazo by Alastair Bull Calumet Farm has been the most successful owner and breeder of Kentucky Derby winners, but it’s been a long time since it was last successful. In ...
Kentucky Derby Pedigree Profile: Sumahama

Mon Feb 19 2018TwinSpires Staff

Sumahama (Tomoya Moriuchi/Horsephotos.com) Hyacinth Stakes Winner Sumahama by Alastair Bull The 1989 Kentucky Derby winner Sunday Silence became the ultimate breed-shaping stallion in Japanese Thoroughbred history, siring more t ...