Bob Baffert has won the Arkansas Derby twice with American Pharoah (2015) and Bodemeister (2012). Bodemeister ran second in the Kentucky Derby. American Pharoah won the Triple Crown last spring.
Richard Eng
The Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, the Blue Grass at Keeneland and the Santa Anita Derby offer a $1 million purse on Saturday. But more important, the first three finishers will earn enough points to make the Kentucky Derby field.
It’s rare to get a classic East versus West battle of two top undefeated 3-year-olds before the Kentucky Derby.
The $10 million Dubai World Cup, the world’s richest horse race, has a star-studded field of 12, headed by California Chrome, the 2014 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner. Two Kentucky Derby preps also will be run Saturday.
Mohaymen remains my top colt for the Kentucky Derby. The Fountain of Youth winner has a date with my second horse, Nyquist, in the Florida Derby on April 2 at Gulfstream Park. Seldom do we see such a clash of titans before the Derby at Churchill Downs.
This year’s version may not have a Seabiscuit or Shared Belief-type animal, but for $1 million, nine well-matched horses will take a swing Saturday. The Big Cap headlines an exciting day at Santa Anita.
One bet that has been dropping in popularity is the Pick 6, a wager in which one must select the winners of all six designated races.
A big story this spring has been if Songbird, the Eclipse champion 2-year-old filly, would consider a start in the Kentucky Derby against males.
When the Kentucky Derby point system was introduced in 2013, many media types, like me, were against it. We had seen the good and the bad of the previous system, graded purse earnings, as a fairly reliable indicator.
We are 85 days from the Kentucky Derby. While it seems the feats of Triple Crown champ American Pharoah just happened a day ago, there is a new, talented crop of 3-year-olds ready to take over.
There is no doubt that the 3-year-olds are the glamour division in horse racing.
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.
One of the corniest, but harmless, publicity stunts done at racetracks is to have a celebrity try to call a horse race. On Sunday, former UNLV quarterback and now ESPN sports personality Kenny Mayne gave it his best shot at Santa Anita Park.
The original Sunshine Millions program began as a competition between horses bred in California and Florida. The races were split between Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita Park.
On a day-to-day basis, the sport of horse racing can be a grind. For example, the only two calendar days without racing are Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
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