The final major Kentucky Derby prep races — the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland and the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park — will be run Saturday.
Mike Brunker
Mike Brunker is an assistant city editor at the Review-Journal and he writes a weekly horse racing column. The column is posted on Thursday's and appears in Friday's print edition. He previously covered horse racing for the San Francisco Examiner, the Thoroughbred Times and NBCSports.com. Follow @mike_brunker on Twitter
The death of another horse — the 23rd fatality of the current meet — prompted California Sen. Dianne Feinstein to call for an immediate suspension of racing at the track. But the show will go on this weekend and the stakes are huge.
Barry Meadow’s new tome “The Skeptical Handicapper” marries a deep data dive with a thorough exploration of the mental makeup required to be a winning player.
Management at Santa Anita now plans to reopen for racing on March 29 after agreeing to delay its edict banning all race-day medication. But some industry groups are panning the new rule, saying it will actually harm horses.
Princess Lili B, a 3-year-old maiden filly, had to be euthanized Thursday after breaking her front legs at the conclusion of a half-mile workout on the main track. Hours later, track management announced it is banning race-day medications.
Two more deaths in the week following inspection of the track leads management to cancel racing until further notice and bring in longtime track superintendent Dennis Moore to conduct a thorough examination of the racing surfaces.
News has been glum lately at the historic Southern California racetrack, which has been plagued by short fields and a sickening stretch that has seen 19 horses die since opening day on Dec. 26.
“You never know what is going to come through that door,” Rick Harrison of “Pawn Stars” fame says. He was never more spot on than when a man showed up recently with Affirmed’s Triple Crown trophy in hand.
Vic Stauffer, a Las Vegas resident and race-caller at Oaklawn Park, shares the lessons he’s learned from five tries in the tournament.
As winner of the 2019 NHC Tour, David Gutfreund, 57, stands to collect a record $6 million in bonuses in addition to the first-place prize of $800,000 if he can outlast roughly 670 other handicappers in the three-day contest.
A harness race at The Raceway at Western Fair in Ontario in which the $46 winner paid more than the exacta highlights a continuing problem with parimutuel wagering that needs to finally be addressed.
The Stronach family’s ugly legal battle will hang over Gulfstream Park’s marquee day of racing on Saturday, which will be capped by the richest race in North America: the $9 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational.
Leo Polito was introduced to the sport 75 years ago when his brother took him to a bookie joint in Rochester, New York, for the free food and drink. The rest is history (and some great stories)!
The Hall of Fame jockey fractured a vertebrae in his neck in a training accident last summer at Del Mar that left him paralyzed for a short time. Less than six months later, he’s just weeks away from resuming riding.
A reader shares the “best” about horse racing, and a couple of others offer suggestions about what they’d like to read more about in the Review-Journal’s racing column in the year ahead.
