Many experts are calling this the most wide-open Kentucky Derby in years. When I hear that, I get cynical. Wide open was in 2009 when Mine That Bird destroyed the field at 50-1 odds.
Sports Columns
On Saturday, Saratoga will offer four stakes, including the Grade 1 Test and Whitney Handicap, and Mountaineer Park will card nine stakes, led by the West Virginia Derby.
There is no doubt that the 3-year-olds are the glamour division in horse racing.
American Pharoah will be the odds-on favorite when he faces a field of rested horses at the Belmont Stakes on Saturday. But bettors should look at Mubtaahij, Materiality and Frosted to upset his Triple Crown dreams.
When horse racing is presented in a first class manner, it’s the best sport, and gambling game, going. Del Mar is among a select few racetracks that has a strong, positive brand even to those outside of horse racing.
I am among the 50 voters in the weekly National Thoroughbred Racing Association horse poll. It’s a privilege, for sure. And another chance to be told I know nothing about horse racing, which I would disagree. I know something about horse racing.
Any race program featuring three Grade I stakes is worthy of attention. On Saturday at Santa Anita Park, the Santa Anita Oaks, Kilroe Mile and Santa Anita Handicap will make for an outstanding day of horse racing.
Smoke and mirrors are key weapons in any public relations battle between perception and reality. Just ask Tiger Woods and his spinmeisters.
If Rachel Alexandra wins the Woodward on Saturday at Belmont Park, I wouldn’t be surprised if Jess Jackson calls it a year for his champion 3-year-old filly.
The Fourth of July is as good a day as any to reflect how horse racing has become sports’ most popular pinata. A lot of rage is being bandied about. But if it’s from people who care about the sport, then I can accept it. That energy just needs to be channeled in a positive way.
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