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Belmont Gold Cup international scouting report: Baron Samedi
Joseph O’Brien has been a trainer for only five years, but he’s already won the Melbourne Cup (G1) that has eluded father Aidan—and he’s done it twice. Both Rekindling (2017) and Twilight Payment (2020) prevailed over his father’s runners at Flemington, and Baron Samedi could put himself on a similar path in Friday’s Belmont Gold Cup (G2).
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New York Stakes international scouting report: Thundering Nights
Irish trainer Joseph O’Brien is sending two upwardly mobile contenders for turf stakes on Friday at Belmont Park. While the streaking Baron Samedi is the 8-5 morning-line favorite in the Belmont Gold Cup (G2), stablemate Thundering Nights brings top form as a 6-1 chance in the New York S. (G2).
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Just a Game international scouting report: Althiqa and Summer Romance
You’ll be seeing double in Saturday’s Just a Game S. (G1) with a pair of gray fillies both sporting the Godolphin blue. Stablemates of Belmont S. (G1) contender Rebel’s Romance from the Charlie Appleby yard, Althiqa and Summer Romance likewise ship to Belmont Park in pursuit of a first Grade 1 laurel.
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Belmont Stakes international scouting report: Rebel's Romance
Rebel’s Romance earned a Kentucky Derby (G1) ticket with a dominant display in the UAE Derby (G2), but his Godolphin team circled the Belmont S. (G1) as a more suitable target. Trainer Charlie Appleby’s discretion could pay dividends at Belmont Park.
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Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit faces stiff Triple Crown challenge
Day-after reflections on the Kentucky Derby (G1) involve not only an analysis of how the race was won and lost, but also what it portends for the remaining jewels of the Triple Crown. While Medina Spirit’s victory was both brave and historic, his task only gets tougher from here.
Kentucky Derby
More Than One Way to Wear Roses
Ron McAnally built a Hall of Fame career training superstars like John Henry and Bayakoa and sent 10 horses to the Kentucky Derby over his 50-year career. Though fourth place is his best finish as a trainer, as co-breeder of leading contender Rock Your World, McAnally is a rarity Derby history. He follows in the footsteps of another legendary breeder/trainer - the “Wizard of the Turf,” John E. Madden.
Kentucky Derby
The best jockeys that have never won the Kentucky Derby
A horseman’s greatness is often determined by their success in Triple Crown races, particularly the Kentucky Derby (G1). These five outstanding jockeys are without a win in the "Run for the Roses."
Triple Crown
Kentucky Derby
The Name Game: The thread connecting all 20 Kentucky Derby contenders
Like a Helium balloon, the Essential Quality it takes to contest the Kentucky Derby has once again risen to the top.
Kentucky Derby
One Hundred Years Ago, Colonel Bradley Goes for the One-Two
A century ago, the Kentucky Derby was blossoming into the Run for the Roses, America’s most famous horse race. Names now iconic in Derby history contributed to its growing popularity, these humans and horses synonymous with cascading blankets of roses and icy cups of mint juleps: Regret and Exterminator, Harry Payne Whitney and Colonel Matt Winn. In the 1920s and 1930s, another Kentucky colonel added his name to that list, Edward Riley Bradley.
Kentucky Derby
The best horses to lose the Kentucky Derby
These five horses made their mark in racing history in spite of their shortcomings in the Kentucky Derby.
Triple Crown
The 5 greatest trainers that have never won the Kentucky Derby
A horseman’s greatness is often determined by their success in Triple Crown races, particularly the Kentucky Derby (G1). These five outstanding trainers are without a win in the "Run for the Roses."
Triple Crown
Kentucky Derby Context: Essential Quality
Essential Quality will take some beating as the Kentucky Derby favorite. They gray colt exhibited his will to win in the final prep race, determinedly getting up by a neck in the Blue Grass S. (G2) to remain unbeaten.
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Kentucky Derby Context: Super Stock
Super Stock broke through in the Arkansas Derby (G1), earning a spot in the Kentucky Derby field with a 12-1 upset at Oaklawn Park. Read this and the full series by James Scully on TwinSpires Edge!
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Kentucky Derby Context: Hidden Stash
A rallying second in the Tampa Bay Derby (G2), Hidden Stash did not receive the right set-up and experienced a troubled trip finishing fourth in the Blue Grass S. (G2) at Keeneland. His late kick could prove more effective in the Kentucky Derby.
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Kentucky Derby Pedigree Profile: Crowded Trade
Can Crowded Trade handle the 1 1/4-mile distance of the Kentucky Derby? That’s a tough question, because his pedigree can be read in multiple ways, and it doesn’t provide a clear answer.
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Kentucky Derby Pedigree Profile: O Besos
Kentucky Derby winners might be elite racehorses, but they don’t necessarily make elite stallions. Derby winners who sire Derby winners are a relative rarity; can Orb pull off the double with O Besos?
Pedigree
The oddest horse names in Kentucky Derby history
There are a number of weird and wonderful horse names that have made it to the biggest stage of all. Here are the 10 best in Kentucky Derby history.
Triple Crown
Queen Elizabeth's top race horses of all time
A prominent fixture on the turf since ascending the throne of the United Kingdom in 1952, Queen Elizabeth II has enjoyed tremendous success as both an owner and breeder in her seven decades as the sport's most recognizable patron. Indeed, a number of her most accomplished runners came along during the first decade or so of her long and inspiring reign.
International
Brotherly love and sister acts: The greatest siblings on the racetrack
Siblings Day on April 10 is an occasion to celebrate our brothers and sisters. As a racing fan and pedigree aficionado, I’d like to expand on that idea and recall some of the greatest sibling acts of the turf.
Pedigree
Kentucky Derby Pedigree Profile: Rock Your World
Turf or dirt, it doesn’t seem to matter to Rock Your World, who won his first two starts on grass before emerging as a Kentucky Derby contender with a victory in the Santa Anita Derby on dirt.
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Gretzky the Great aims to bounce back like his namesake
Gretzky the Great, who returns in the Jeff Ruby Steaks, takes his name from his country's most iconic sports hero.
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What is Tennessee's legacy on horse racing and the Kentucky Derby?
Did you know that the Tennessee Derby was once a Kentucky Derby prep? Discover more on how TN shaped horse racing during the 19th century.
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Some Things Stay the Same: One Hundred Days, One Hundred Years Ago
A century ago, January 21st saw racing in the midst of its yearly changing of the guard, the champions of 1920 giving way to their successors.
Kentucky Derby
Derby Americana: Kentucky Derby bourbon tour
In this edition of Derby Americana, we look at bourbon, a spirit synonymous with Kentucky.
Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby culinary traditions
Elevate your Derby party by adding one of these customary dishes to your menu.
Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby Americana: Decadent and Depraved
The 96th running of the Kentucky Derby led Hunter S. Thompson to introduce gonzo journalism to the world.
Kentucky Derby
1945 - When the Kentucky Derby moved from May to June by Vance Hanson
When the Kentucky Derby ran in June. 1945 proved a record season for Thoroughbred racing with nearly $1.4 billion wagered following the lifting of the ban.
Kentucky Derby
History repeating with Mr. Monomoy and Modernist
Whether it ties into pedigree or connections, sometimes the next big thing in horse racing sounds familiar—a jazzy riff, a sultry timbre, a little bit of history repeating.
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Pedigree fun facts for 2019 Preakness
The dozen contenders expected in Saturday’s Preakness (G1) bring notable pedigrees into the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.
Although none is by a Preakness winner, three are grandsons of champions who’ve figuratively hoisted the Woodlawn Vase. ...
Pedigree
Phenom to Journeyman: The Riding Life of Bill Boland
For almost seven decades, Bill Boland has been able to call himself a winner of the Kentucky Derby. The Hall of Fame jockey recently looked back on his career and his stories are priceless.
Kentucky Derby
A yardstick to measure the greatness of Winx
There has always been a lot of chatter when foreign horses are dominating their regions. Questions arise regarding who they are beating and why don’t they come to America? As one Australian trainer, Peter Moody, once reminded: “The planes fly both wa ...
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LONGFORM: The Story of Majestic Prince
Majestic Prince: The leading lights of this generation of colts were also to a large extent an aristocratic one -- conceived of the best blood...
History
Mike Battaglia prepares to call the Battaglia Memorial Stakes at Turfway Park (Adam Spradling Photo)
Spiraling Up to the Kentucky Derby
The story behind Turfway Park's Kentucky Derby prep-race during a special race call of the Battaglia Memorial by his son Mike Battaglia.
Kentucky Derby
Cigar Mile sparks memories of Hall of Famer
Naming stakes after past champions is a fitting way to keep their memory alive, especially when the honoree has a logical connection to the race. A case in point is the Cigar Mile (G1), and Saturday’s renewal conjures up thoughts of its Hall of Fame ...
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What Winx has in common with Zenyatta and Phar Lap
Winx (Courtesy of Steve Hart/Sky Racing)
by Alastair Bull
When champion racemare Zenyatta retired, it’s doubtful anyone would have expected her sire Street Cry to produce another mare as good as she was.
But there’s now one of similar sta ...
International
Happy Valley a place to rejuvenate your racing soul
HONG KONG - When the Hong Kong Jockey Club announced attendance of around 29,600 for Wednesday night's International Jockey Championship at Happy Valley Racecourse, my first thought, and not in a negative way, was "That's it?"
In truth, it was a t ...
International
History is against Beholder in the Breeders’ Cup Classic
Beholder will be going for a history-making win when starting in the 32nd Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) at Keeneland on October 31.
If the Henny Hughes mare breaks from the gate, she’ll become just the sixth distaffer to even compete in the 1 1/4-m ...
Breeders Cup
Among the Giant's killers, Beau Purple was best
Hall of Fame trainer Allen Jerkens, who died this week at 85, is best remembered for defeating great champions rather than training them. Indeed, only one in his plethora of stakes winners – Sky Beauty in 1994 – ever topped a year-end poll as divisio ...
History
Genesis of a Triple Crown drought: Spectacular Bid & the 1979 Belmont Stakes
The 36-year streak of Triple Crown futility dates back to unquestionably one of the greatest racers in history, the mighty Spectacular Bid.
Coming into the 1979 Belmont Stakes, the Triple Crown had been captured three different times in the last s ...
Triple Crown
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