The long and winding road to the Kentucky Derby ends Saturday with the $1 million Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park.
Richard Eng
No two days in the sport are bigger than the Breeders’ Cup. My suggestion is make sure you build up a large enough bankroll so you can take some shots at making a nice score.
This weekend, all eyes are on Arlington Park in the suburbs west of Chicago. The Arlington Million Festival of races will include three Grade 1 turf stakes: the Arlington Million, Beverly D and Secretariat.
It used to be that once the Breeders’ Cup was over, things quieted down in the horse racing world. That is not the case this year with a potential start by California Chrome in the Hollywood Derby at Del Mar on Nov. 29.
There are 11 prep races left at which horses can earn points to make the Kentucky Derby field. In reality it’s 10, because no horse exiting the UAE Derby in Dubai has ever done anything at the Kentucky Derby.
The Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs on Saturday marks a turn-the-page moment in racing from the end of the Triple Crown. Orb, Oxbow, Palace Malice plus the other top 3-year-olds will return soon enough in the Haskell and Travers. But for now the attention will be on the older horses.
Without a doubt this year’s Breeders’ Cup was the most memorable ever because of one horse, Zenyatta. Her riveting win over 11 males in the Classic has to move into everyone’s top five races of all time.
March means madness in college basketball. In horse racing, it means a mad scramble among 3-year-olds on the Kentucky Derby trail.
Hallelujah! After three weeks, the TrackNet blackout is over. As soon as today, we could be back betting and watching Santa Anita, and four other tracks, in the race books of Nevada.