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Mike Brunker

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

Heavy-hitters take center stage in Triple Crown chase

Just as playwrights use unseen characters to advance the plot, this year’s road to the Triple Crown has been overshadowed by two horses — Good Magic and Bolt d’Oro — whose absence has called into question everything we’ve been watching on stage.

Try Twitter to find unexpected gems on horse racing

When you use Twitter to filter for a specific niche like horse racing, you begin to receive valuable intelligence without lifting a finger. Best of all, it’s often information you wouldn’t necessarily think to search for.

Stakes go up for those with Kentucky Derby dreams

More points used to determine the starters in the Run for the Roses are on the line starting with Saturday’s Risen Star Stakes (Grade 2) at the Fair Grounds. Horseplayers need to pay close attention to this second round of preps.

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Gun Runner displayed greatness in his final race

The Horse of the Year’s final race in the Pegasus World Cup was a wonder to behold and offers some important handicapping lessons as well.

Post position is paramount in Pegasus World Cup

Gun Runner, the 4-5 morning line favorite, drew post position 10, a major disadvantage in a 1 1/8-mile race where the horses enter the first turn almost as soon as they break from the gate.

Pegasus World Cup living up to its mission statement

We briefly detour off the road to the Kentucky Derby this week to consider the Pegasus World Cup, a little contest in Florida coming up next week that carries the distinction of being the richest horse race in the world.

Twisting journey to Kentucky Derby begins in earnest

The Sham Stakes at Santa Anita and the Mucho Macho Man Stakes at Gulfstream Park on Saturday give newly turned 3-year-old thoroughbreds their first chance to show their stuff in 2018.

Through my binoculars, the top 5 horse racing happenings of 2017

Arrogate’s brilliance, Gun Runner’s steady excellence and the emergence of a pair of top jockeys from Puerto Rico top columnist Mike Brunker’s recount of the year’s highlights.

Training center tragedy rouses horse racing community

The outpouring of support after last week’s tragic fire at San Luis Rey Downs in northwest San Diego County, which killed 46 horses, may ultimately burn as brightly as the so-called Lilac wildfire itself.

‘All others’ is 6-5 choice in Kentucky Derby futures betting

Find out which other horses the early bird wagerers liked in the first Derby futures pool offered by Churchill Downs and which horse is most intriguing based on the betting patterns.