Life is full of instances in which people try to do the right thing but end up with egg on their faces by not thinking things through.
Richard Eng
This week was a mix of emotions as first there was a blackout of seven racing signals controlled by Monarch Content Management. Fortunately, the interruption lasted less than two days. By mid-afternoon Thursday, a temporary agreement between Monarch and the Nevada Pari-Mutuel Association allowed those signals to return.
Now that a dazzling duel between Shared Belief and California Chrome in the San Antonio at Santa Anita is in our rear-view mirror, our focus can return to the Kentucky Derby.
The San Antonio at Santa Anita Park will feature California Chrome, Hoppertunity and Shared Belief on Saturday. It will be the first race of the season for the Horse of the Year California Chrome.
Columnist had a front-row seat for the Daily Racing Form/National Thoroughbred Racing Association National Handicapping Challenge at the Treasure Island. He watched John O’Neil of Huntington Station, N.Y., out-handicap the field to take the first prize of $800,000.
The 16th annual Daily Racing Form/National Thoroughbred Racing Association National Handicapping Championship will start today at Treasure Island. With more than 600 entries in play, the three-day tournament will have its largest field ever.
The closing of Atlantic City Racecourse. follows closely on the heels of the closure of Suffolk Downs in East Boston, Mass., and Hollywood Park in Inglewood, Calif. I can’t see how closing down three racing franchises in about a year could be anything but negative.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. So when Gulfstream Park began its Rainbow 6 jackpot wager in 2011, it has been copied by other tracks in some way, shape or form.
When I first started voting for horse racing’s Eclipse Awards some 16 years ago, the first rule I learned was there are no rules.
Bob Baffert’s undefeated Dortmund will be the favorite in the Los Alamitos Futurity on Saturday. In the Kentucky Derby future books, the colt already is 12-1 at Wynn Las Vegas and 10-1 at William Hill.
In the battle over the shrinking horse racing pie, simulcast providers are seeking increased payments from locations that don’t offer live racing. This could have a big impact at Nevada casinos.
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.
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.
Racetracks that are “No. 2” and don’t have the status or resources of the New York Racing Association, Churchill Downs or Keeneland and Del Mar or Santa Anita Park can still bulk up and host an outstanding day of horse racing.
It used to be that once the Breeders’ Cup was over, things quieted down in the horse racing world. That is not the case this year with a potential start by California Chrome in the Hollywood Derby at Del Mar on Nov. 29.
