The 3-year-old class takes center stage this weekend in the $1 million Haskell on Sunday at Monmouth Park and the $600,000 Jim Dandy on Saturday at Saratoga.
Richard Eng
We are only eight days from the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Every Las Vegas race book will be rolling out the red carpet to horseplayers for the first leg of the Triple Crown.
The 17th annual Daily Racing Form/National Thoroughbred Racing Association National Handicapping Championship began Thursday at TI. The total purse is a record $2.77 million.
Did the overconfidence of Spectacular Bid trainer Bud Delp and jockey Ronnie Franklin lead to his near miss at the Belmont in 1979 and the beginning of the current curse? It’s a good bet Bob Baffert and Victor Espinoza won’t make the same mistake with American Pharoah.
When California Chrome enters the starting gate for the Grade 1 $300,000 Hollywood Gold Cup on Saturday at Del Mar, most eyes in the horse racing world will be watching.
Horseplayers look for an edge by betting against the casinos in futures, such as who’ll win the 2014 Eclipse Award Horse of the Year award.
Possibly the worst bad beat in sports betting history occurred in the Rainbow Pick 6 on Saturday at Gulfstream Park.
There is a natural pause in horse racing after the hectic 14-race Breeders’ Cup four weeks ago. Many Eclipse Awards were won and lost. Many horseplayer bankrolls ballooned or got deflated.
The next eight days will tell a lot about the horses prepping for the Breeders’ Cup on Nov. 1 and 2 at Santa Anita Park. By the way, the grand Great Race Place is opening today and will show off more than $15 million of improvements.
It is Saratoga’s turn to offer a great array of graded stakes Saturday, headed by the $1 million Travers for 3-year-olds. Rachel Alexandra won’t be in it, but an argument can be made that the seven-horse Travers’ field is stronger than the Kentucky Derby’s.
