Test of a Champion – Blue Grass Stakes Preview
Yazan: Steve | 14 April 2012 | Comments Off
Categories: Handicapping, Horse Racing
This preview was originally published on Thorofan Saturday’s Grade I Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland Racecourse is one of the last major prep races prior to the 2012 Kentucky Derby. Despite its Grade I status, few winners of the Blue Grass have gone on to actually win the Kentucky Derby (the most recent was [...]
Secrets Out – Arkansas Derby Preview
Yazan: Dylan | 14 April 2012 | Comments Off
Categories: Handicapping, Horse Racing
This preview was also published on Thorofan The Arkansas Derby once again manages to draw a talented full field of eleven. In the gate Saturday will be Southwest and Rebel Stakes winner #5 SECRET CIRCLE (5/2), San Felipe Stakes winner #11 BODEMEISTER (9/5), Delta Jackpot winner #9 SABERCAT (15-1), Rebel Stakes runner up #7 OPTIMIZER [...]
Hawthorne – Illinois Derby Day Preview
Yazan: Paul | 07 April 2012 | Comments Off
Categories: Handicapping, Horse Racing
The most important race of the Hawthorne spring meet is upon us. It’s Illinois Derby Day, with the feature set for race 9 on a ten race card. WGN will be showing the Illinois Derby, along with the Cryptoclearance, in a program set to air from 5:00 pm CT to 6:00 PM CT. (Which airs [...]
Union Dues – Florida Derby Preview
Yazan: Dylan | 30 March 2012 | Comments Off
Categories: Handicapping, Horse Racing
This weekend marks five weeks until the Kentucky Derby and a key prep race is on tap: Saturday’s Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park. The Florida Derby has a history of producing legitimate Kentucky Derby contenders including recent Derby winners Barbaro (2005) and Big Brown (2008) and 2010 runner-up Ice Box. This year’s edition features a [...]
Weekend Trifecta – Turf, Dirt and Synthetic Graded Stakes on the Docket
Yazan: Dylan | 24 March 2012 | 1 Comment
Categories: Handicapping, Horse Racing
This weekend is filled with a diverse mix of graded stakes with two having potential Kentucky Derby implications. Time to find those checkmark winners! Gulfstream Park Race 10 – Grade II Pan American Stakes ($150K) – 1 ½ Miles (Turf) – 5:35 (EDT) Post Time Usually when thinking of turf racing at Gulfstream it’s about [...]
How Great is Kitten’s Joy? Palm Beach Stakes Preview
Yazan: Steve | 10 March 2012 | Comments Off
Categories: Handicapping, Horse Racing
Gulfstream Park Race 7 – Grade III Palm Beach Stakes ($150K) – 1 and 1/8 miles – Post time 4:05 Though it has a small field of 6, half the entrants in Sunday’s Palm Beach Stakes are out of the exceptional turf sire Kitten’s Joy. The race may also hold the winner of Keeneland’s Blue [...]
Some Saturday Races to Watch (and a few worth betting)
Yazan: Steve | 02 March 2012 | 4 Comments
Categories: Handicapping, Horse Racing
There’s plenty of racing action to be had on Saturday from New York, Kentucky, Florida, and California. The best races for 3 year old colts, and potential Derby prospects, may be at Gulfstream Park instead of Aqueduct or Turfway Park. The best betting race of the weekend figures to be the Santa Anita Handicap at, you [...]
Who Is Ponce de Leon? Grade II Fountain of Youth Stakes Preview
Yazan: Dylan | 26 February 2012 | Comments Off
Categories: Handicapping, Horse Racing
Gulfstream Park’s $400k Grade II Fountain of Youth Stakes takes the Sunday spotlight. Very few Fountain of Youth winners have gone on to win the Kentucky Derby (Thunder Gulch in 1995 was the most recent and before that, Spectacular Bid in 1979), but several have gone on to successful stud careers (notably 1997 winner Pulpit [...]
Presidents’ Day Feature – General George Handicap
Yazan: Dylan | 19 February 2012 | 4 Comments
Categories: Handicapping, Horse Racing
Long a Presidents’ Day tradition, the Grade II $200k General George Handicap at Laurel Park is where TOBY’s CORNER will start his four year old campaign. This will be his first race since the Wood Memorial last April where he beat then undefeated juvenile champion Uncle Mo. Seven furlongs is the distance and six opponents [...]
Opinions on Gulfstream Park’s Saturday Card
Yazan: Steve | 09 February 2012 | 4 Comments
Categories: Handicapping, Horse Racing
The best racing card of the weekend arguably belongs to Gulfstream Park. It includes 4 graded stakes; the Grade III Swanee River, the Grade II Hutcheson (the only graded Derby prep his weekend), the Grade I Donn Handicap, and Grade I Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap. Here’s a few thoughts on the entries. Gulfstream Park Race 2 [...]
Let the Sunshine In
Yazan: Paul | 27 January 2012 | 1 Comment
Categories: Handicapping, Horse Racing
On Saturday January 28, Gulfstream Park in South Florida will present its “Florida Sunshine Millions” racing program. The program features six stake races restricted to Florida-bred horses. Sunshine Millions this year will be different from prior years. Prior years featured Florida-breds and California-breds racing against each other in stakes that alternated between in venue between [...]
Wintering with Juvenile Statebreds Part 2
Yazan: Paul | 09 December 2011 | 1 Comment
Categories: Handicapping, Horse Racing
Born in Oklahoma in 1946, Jim Edgar served two terms in the 1990s as Governor of Illinois. Governor Edgar is a rare species: an honest Illinois politician, as the Prairie State would then have two consecutive governors who each have faced criminal charges and prison sentences. He maintained and left office with favorable approval ratings. [...]
Wintering with Juvenile Statebreds Part 1
Yazan: Paul | 02 December 2011 | 1 Comment
Categories: Handicapping, Horse Racing
Patricia (Pat) A. Wentworth (1936-2011) served for many years as an executive board member of the Illinois Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Foundation, ITBOF, (www.itbof.net), a “not-for-profit service corporation, representing Illinois breeders and owners and dedicated to the growth and development of the Illinois state-bred incentive program for Thoroughbreds.” While President of the ITBOF board, the [...]
Making (and Playing) an Allowance at Hawthorne
Yazan: Paul | 19 November 2011 | Comments Off
Categories: Handicapping, Horse Racing
After a week off for the Breeders’ Cup, Paul Mazur returns home to Hawthorne. Without a major stakes on the calendar in the month of November, we look for our plays in the allowance ranks in one of Saturday’s two features. Hawthorne – Race 5 – N2X/$35K-$25K Allowance Optional Claimer (AOC) (Turf) – Post time [...]
Delta Destiny – Princess and Jackpot Stakes Start Triple Crown Aspirations
Yazan: Dylan | 17 November 2011 | 2 Comments
Categories: Handicapping, Horse Racing
On Saturday Delta Downs in Vinton, LA will host two races that could have Kentucky Oaks and Derby implications come springtime. The Million Dollar Delta Downs Jackpot S. (G3) effectively kicks off the 2012 road to the Triple Crown. The Delta Jackpot has been known for producing exciting finishes (dead heat in 2007) and a [...]
