Horse Racing Blogs

After the way Cliff Lee pitched against the Yankees in the World Series six weeks ago, I would have been surprised to hear that the Phillies were even listening to offers for their ace.  But when the chance to acquire Roy Halladay comes around, I suppose any team would be crazy not to listen.  Before I knew it, Halladay was a Phillie and Lee was heading to Seattle, where he’ll join his third club in the span of four and a half months.  How often does that happen to the defending Cy Young Award winner?

Continue reading "Phillies take a Halladay"

Continue reading "Breeders Cup weekend - will it answer ..."

It's been a tough month for champions in the TB world. As mentioned in a previous post Gone West was lost. The others are also major horses that have left fans reeling.

 There's the loss, to a heart attack in his pasture, of popular sire El Prado of the 21st.

Continue reading "The Thoroughbred World Loses Legends"

The best sports movies can vary. What sport you like makes a difference too! There's classics like Chariots of Fire and underrated like Prefontaine and can't miss Friday Night Lights. For the horse racing fan there are special movies too. The five best in my opinion are not only for the horses they represent but the larger than life story around them. In no particular order, check these out!  ( MORE)

Continue reading "5 Top True Sports Movies"

Rachel Alexandra won the Woodward Stakes today in a smoking time of 1:48.1 holding off a hard charging Macho Again. She still has critics. She has won from coast to coast, at the top, against fillies, against 3 year olds, now against older horses. She has a perfect, unblemished season. She's been criticized she didn't "work for it" in some races - can't be said for the Woodward. There were several gunning for her waiting for a mistake from the three year old filly who dared tread outside her gender AND age! It's criticized she won't be at the Breeders Cup but it seems like unless something spectacular happens then she's done everything she needs to do for Horse of the Year, top 3 year old, top 3 year old filly and only Zenyatta arguably could stand between her and a clean sweep to best female running.

Continue reading "We're Seeing History"

 Horse racing has some of the highest highs and the lowest lows. There are stories that are quite unlike other sports because the main players do not care about prize money or earnings and have no concept of retirement. The horses themselves either have the will to run and compete or they don't, and if they don't there is no amount of whipping that will make them be a champion.

Continue reading "Great Sports Moments in Horse Racing"

In the world of horse racing, many people chose to watch the races for the excitement. There are the novice horse wager, who will choose a horse to bet on, by their appearance. When it comes to the more seasoned veteran of horse gambling, they take an even broader approach to choosing a winning horse. Now there are those who look at just the winning horse, the top two, or the tri-vecta (top three).

Continue reading "Tips For Betting The Ponies"

"The best female athletes in horse racing warrant attention as much as the colts as in most cases the best challenged and beat the colts. Among the greatest fillies in the sport of horse racing is one that complete statistics can't be given and two that died doing what they were bred to do

Continue reading "top female thoroughbred athletes"

A soft tissue injury has ended the career of Pioneer of the Nile. The son of Empire Maker won 4 straight graded stakes and was 2nd in the Derby.

From one of his races, the santa Anita Derby:

Continue reading "Pioneer of The Nile retired, Jade Hunter pensioned"

Of course the people who read this link are for increased revenue in the horse racing industry. Those who read these blogs partake of the fun, and some have a bigger interest.

 So when Bob Baffert says we need to save horse racing in Kentucky because over 100,000 jobs are at stake, we ask if we are being selfish to agree.

Continue reading "What Baffert said"

Rachel Alexandra had not even gotten to her stall when the critical comments began sizzling through the internet. She ruined the bid for the Triple Crown (kinda like Birdstone ended Smarty Jones') and how it'd be better for racing if Mine That Bird had won cause he won't be off to the breeding shed - he'll be around for fans to follow. She didn't deserve to be there. She hadn't beaten anything in the Oaks 'cause the good horses wouldn't run against her.

Continue reading "Hostilities and critics"

The stories continue from the one horse stable of General Quarters to the "small time" New Mexico entry of Mine That Bird that rolled to victory in the Kentucky Derby.

 Since then many of the Derby starters were found to have legitimate excuses - Friesan Fire grabbed a quarter and had multiple scrapes on his legs. General Quarters had a wad of mud lodged in his nostril from the sloppy track. The winner got a perfect ride compared to many who didn't. Taking nothing away from MTB - he was the best on that day.

Continue reading "Coming to the Preakness"

Say Swine Flu keeps spreading. Say it gets worse, like "Outbreak" worse, and the majority of people in the US get it, including LeBron James. I still don't think I could beat him one-on-one. Even if it was first to score. Or if we played "PIG." Remember when Jordan had the flu in the '88 playoffs, and he dropped 47 against the Knicks, AT the Garden??? We spectators/bloggers/sports fans seriously over-estimate the flu. If LeBron had swine flu, not only would he stuff me like a Quizno's Torpedo, he would still be able to beat the following athletes/teams:

Continue reading "LeBron could beat me with Swine Flu"

Quality Road, Square Eddie and Willy Win all dropped out of the Derby this week with non-lifethreatening injuries and this morning I Want Revenge was added to the list when some heat was raised in the left front ankle. While it may be nothing or may be something, this close to the race of his life and with the tenacity he showed in his last race a little something may have turned into a big something. As disappointing as it is for trainers, owners and yes the fans too it underscores people *do* attempt to do right by the horses. In races this big everything has to be right.

Continue reading "Derby stories, disappointment"

    Well this race will tell us a whole bunch about the derby. Maybe not in the way you think though. After this, we will know if the east coast horses are better or is it the west horses that have the best shot. Winning this race and then trying to win the first Saturday in may does not happen often, so lets not get our hopes up on any of these fringe players.

Continue reading "Coolmore always helps to pick a derby winner"

There's the expected and the unexpected then sometimes there's just reminders that they have good days and bad days. Most horse owners know that until a horse is truly tested we don't know how good they are. Until we ask for that last measure that they have to give above their training and tap into their HEART we don't know if it's there. This is true for dressage horses, jumpers, reiners and every discipline but perhaps isn't so visible as with horse racing.

Continue reading "The Derby Picture Sharpens"

Perhaps the spring brings more highs and lows to racing than any other time. There's the hope of brilliance as three year olds mature and find (or lose) what it takes to be a champion. There's disappointment, such as The Pamplemousse being scratched just before the Santa Anita Derby due to soreness and a concern on one leg - good for the horse but nonetheless disappointing. There's the buzz of a two year old by Songandaprayer who sizzled an eighth of a mile in 9.4 seconds at Keeneland Then there's the even more extreme off the track - the ushering in of a new generation of foals and too often saying goodbye to others.

Continue reading "The emotional time of year for horse racing"

Dunkirk ran well but Quality Road ran a monster race in the Florida Derby.

Continue reading "Quality Road cashes Derby ticket in record time"

The gutsy Alysheba who won the 1987 Kentucky Derby and was Horse of the Year has been euthanized.

  Last fall he was pensioned and King Abdullah sent the 24 year old to the Kentucky Horse Park from Saudi Arabia so he would be home where the public could see him. It was a gift to American racing fans. Alysheba fell in the stall and was not able to get up. A veterinarian was summoned and he was transported but had badly injured his right hind femur. It was not responding and combined to a chronic spinal condition that caused the fall the pain and inability to stand left only one humane choice for the champion.

Continue reading "Alysheba euthanized in Kentucky"

La Ville Rouge probably has more fans than any broodmare out there and many likely don't know her name. She foaled on March 10 with a 142 pound colt by Dynaformer. Said to be a bay with a white marking center forehead he'll be the latest in Dynaformer - La Ville Rouge babies, the first of whom was Barbaro. Nicanor, now 3, had an injury in the first start; a two year old Lentenor is in training in Florida. She'll be bred back, of course, to Dynaformer.

Continue reading "foaling season names in the news."

Critics shunned her then discredited her. The bay filly won more consecutive races than did the great Cigar and Citation. Critics say her connections picked the races carefully.

Don't ALL trainers pick races carefully?! After all how many studs go in promoting they were almost good enough? It's wins that make statistics and wins that draw mares. Pepper's Pride raced into the record books at 17 consecutive wins in an allowance field in New Mexico. A race streak that long no matter what caliber competition is certainly an achievement, but the Desert God daughter didn't stop there. She also went past the international record of Hong Kong standout Silent Witness by winning 19 consecutive races, retiring undefeated. Her lifetime earnings are just over a million dollars. She won at a mile and won at six furlongs. She doesn't have high dollar breeding, true.

Continue reading "Peppers Pride begins New Career"

So often you don't know what a horse will do when challenged. Some babies go out and are so spectacular and precocious they aren't challenged. Arazi's performance in the Breeder's Cup Juvenile is an example - no one was close to him and he determined the win margin. Other horses put their best on the line when pressed hard and this is where the memorable ones are made - think Affirmed and Alydar. Sunday Silence and Easy Goer.

Continue reading "Stardom Bound...Derby bound?"

In the El Camino Real on Valentine's Day, my sweetheart Chocolate Candy delivered a win to swell the hearts of his supporters. Although this previously confirmed come-from-behinder was a bit too fresh too early, landing in an unaccustomed position on the lead with a lot of stretch left to cover, Chocolate Candy turned the challenge into an opportunity to demonstrate his versatility.

Continue reading "Fresh Chocolate Candy Wins El Camino Real Derby"

Oy.

The particular soap opera slant of the Animal Planet's new reality show "Jockeys" makes me cringe.  There's soap opera in horse racing, but Jockeys doesn't just churn up a lather around the personalities inside horse racing for enhanced dramatic effect; it's often illogical about the way the business functions.  

Continue reading "Jockeys!"

Old Fashioned is wearing me down.  When Derby prep season started I admired Old Fashioned but rooted on Chocolate Candy, Hello Broadway and Capt. Candyman Can, among others.  I still do like those three very much.  But at the moment, Old Fashioned seems to actually want the Derby more than anyone else, and since none of his connections are among the crowd I customarily root against (I'm a race fan with personal likes and dislikes, way more than a lover of "the action"), I may as well cry uncle.  He seems to want it so much and have so much talent that I want it for him. His focused intent in every race reminds me of Invasor. I always felt it would kill Invasor to lose, which happened to him only once. I feel the same way about Old Fashioned.

Continue reading "Old Fashioned Wins Smartly"

Does anyone remember the horse who ran the opening quarter of the Kentucky Derby faster than Secretariat? The horse who pushed the fastest 3/4 record in history? He didn't win the race...but he pushed the fastest time stopping the clock since Secretariat.

Continue reading "Kentucky Derby moments"

Damascus is just a name on a page to many fans and for recent fans not even that. Damascus won the Preakness and the Belmont in 1967, along with the Dwyer, American Derby and romped in the Travers by 22 lengths. He won at two miles in the Jockey Gold Cup. He did all that was asked of him as a three year old and perhaps the only thing he didn't do was win the Kentucky Derby. He was third, washed out from nerves and humidity. He was handed nothing as among his competitors were legends Buckpasser and Dr. Fager. In the Woodward he won by 10 lengths over both of those horses. Damascus was easily Horse of the Year. Retired to stud Damascus sired scores of stakes winners including Desert Wine, Highland Blade, Belted Earl, Private Account (sire of the hard knocking classy mare Personal Ensign), Timeless Moment and many others. By Sword Dancer out of Kerala by My Babu Damascus carried the old lines of Blue Larkspur, Phalaris and Teddy. He was pensioned in 1989 and died at age 31 in August of 1995. He is buried at Claiborne Farm in Kentucky.

Continue reading "The unknown family members"

Larry Jones has informed the Louisiana Times-Picayune that he's closing up shop as a public trainer after Breeders Cup 2009. His decision is definite. The good news is that nobody besides Larry Jones believes his decision will stick.

Continue reading "Larry Jones Says He's Done After ..."

"Kip Deville is not a people person. He's a race horse, he doesn't like to be petted, he doesn't like all that funny stuff around him. He's like a man, he wants to show up on the big days and he's all race horse, as you could see today."

Continue reading "Kip Kip Hooray - It's Another Day ..."

I'm verklempt. Hurray for Albertus Maximus's win in the Donn Handicap. He ran just like his pop, a complete professional, and has really moved up in the world. He's now owned by Shadwell Stables (which paid a substantial sum for him), trained by Invasor's trainer, Kieran McLaughlin, and pointed towards the Dubai World Cup. I could listen to McLaughlin say nice things about Albertus Maximus all day. Congratulations also to the almost too-aptly-named runner-up, FinallyMadeIt, a horse who was partially paralyzed behind at birth, and who has successfully propelled himself from sprinting to going long. FinallyMadeIt runs his heart out and is a joy to watch.

Continue reading "My Baby! Albertus Maximus Wins the ..."

In yesterday's Hutcheson, Capt. Candyman Can showed he's got a learning curve when he was able to settle down, drop back off the pace, then come on easily in the lane to dispose of Hello Broadway.

Continue reading "Capt. Candyman Can Could in the Hutcheson ..."

While many people decry racing there are others who are watching closer than ever.

One of the names being watched is a young bay cold named Lentenor - being documented in video long before his racing career. http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/nicanor/archive/2009/01/30/lentenor-video.aspx is a look at a young Thoroughbred that many don't see, and wouldn't see if not for the continued interest in the "Barbaro brothers".

Continue reading "Barbaro 2 years later"

This is a tough race for a fan like me.  In here are three potential Derby horses for whom I can feel a personal rooting interest:

Breakwater Edison, by Lemon Drop Kid:   Lemon Drop Kid was the first handicap division horse I followed back in 2000 when I became a serious fan of the game.  He gave me a lot of thrills, and helped raise my all time favorite jockey, Edgar Prado, to prominence.  Still, I consider him underappreciated. I'd love to see him get a breakout star among his offspring.

Continue reading "Friday's G2 Hutcheson at Gulfstream ..."

There's a lot to like about Old Fashioned, the precocious son of Unbridled's Song who won the Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct under a hand ride. He gives the impression of mental maturity, a confident and endearing intensity. He was all business. And unlike some of the promising California contenders, he won on dirt. (The trainers who don't intend to run their best three year olds over the dirt en route to the Kentucky Derby are nuts.)

Continue reading "Maybe Old Fashioned Is Too Old Fashioned"

Continue reading "HOW SWEET I HOPE HE IS"

This is a topic that is more misunderstood and with more focus than any other. There are bad actors in EVERY INDUSTRY. Cops. Teachers. Religious leaders. Politicians. Sports stars. Should we ban all o

Continue reading "Horse racing and cruelty charges"

 The Kentucky Derby, run the first Saturday in May, is a race known around the world. While many fans and horsemen also follow the Breeders Cup races, the other stakes races such as the Travers a

Continue reading "Kentucky Derby Memories"

The horse racing industry needs change. Congressional time? No. We have escalating costs in the economy and jobs going out of the country. There are so many things elected officials need to be doing a

Continue reading "Does Horse Racing Warrant Congressional action?"

Thoroughbred champions are remembered forever. Or are they? History shows that while many beloved names stand the test of time there are others that are not remembered for their accomplishments. Somet

Continue reading "Remembering Thoroughbred Champions"

Seattle Slew is still the only undefeated Triple Crown champion. His name is known even to many who don't follow horse racing and one of the most beloved horses in racing.On February 15, 1974 a daught

Continue reading "Seattle Slew - Horse Racing Legend"

A big thanks to everyone who participated in the "Inbound Link Contest".  We have a winner!  A big congratulations go out to Marija.  Thank you for all your hard work on this.  While we had a lot of people participate, Marija was able to win with only 4 links!  So it wouldn't have taken a lot to win this contest!  We'll be having another contest soon so stay tuned.

Continue reading "Inbound link contest winner announced!"

To try and motivate our bloggers to get inbound links we're going to have a contest to see which blogger can get the most inbound links to their blog. The contest begins now and ends July 31st, 2008. To be entered in to the contest all you have to do is go out and get as many websites to link to your blog as you can and at the end of the month send us an email listing all those links. All links must be active from August 1st through August 7th when we'll be judging the entries - a winner will be announced on August 7th. All entry emails must be received by Midnight on July 31st, 2008. You can email them to sportsfan@nbabasketballonline.com

Continue reading "Inbound link contest - Win $100!"

Make each blog post as interesting as possible. This may sound like common sense, but always keep it in mind. The more interesting your blog is the more people will read it. Quality is much more important than quantity. No one will read through a hundred blog posts (or even 10) to find one interesting one. But if each post is interesting people will be coming back week after week to read what you have to say.

Continue reading "What tips can you give me on blogging?"

I don't watch horse racing much, but I did tune in to see Big Brown fall short of his attempt to win the first Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978, just as I watched Street Sense, Smarty Jones and Funny Cide do the same. It was history in the making. But baseball hasn't had a Triple Crown winner since 1967, when Carl Yastrzemski in 1967, the year after Frank Robinson did the trick. There have been eleven horses to win the Derby, Preakness and Belmont since 1919, an impressive feat, as these are races of three different lengths in a five-week period, and the distances are typically more than the horse has ever run. 

Continue reading "Triple Crowns"

Today's Belmont Stakes features a potential triple crown winner, Big Brown.  Our Big Blue World Champions face a crowded field of contenders, and, like Big Brown, Big Blue starts from the number one

Continue reading "Triple Crown Thoughts"

After weeks of soul searching I am back.  And because the sports world is so busy right now I couldn’t decide which story to write on.  With that said, I am going to run through the sports world as a whole and let everyone know what I think about everything.  By the way, I haven’t been soul searching at all.  I finished school, went home for two weeks and relaxed, headed to Scottsdale, AZ for nine days for my brother’s wedding and then came back to Boston and helped move my girlfriend into her summer apartment.  So without further ado, my thoughts.

Continue reading "Checking In With The Sports World"

Triple Crown candidate Big Brown, winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, was taken for a jog today by trainers.  This coming two days before doctors had said they would allow such activity after finding a crack in one of the horse's hooves.  Although reports are that Big Brown looked very good in the workout, this whole injury is very disconcerting.  Any time that a horse is injured in the least bit, the risk for a greater injury in a race goes up.  Even if this injury would not have a high propensity toward causing a more horrific injury on raceday, the repercussions of Big Brown going down would be catrastrophic to horse racing.  I don't see the sport recovering from such an event.  The masses would claim negligence, no matter what the cause, on the horse's caretakers, and eventually on the institution of horse racing itself.  A new holder of the Triple Crown would be an incredible boon for horse racing, however I really hope Big Brown's handlers make the right decisions in the days leading up to the Belmont.

Continue reading "Big Brown goes for a jog"

Revolution Number Nine...Number Nine...Number Nine...

For some abstract reason, that infamous Beatles song reminds me of Astros outfielder Hunter Pence, who wears jersey number nine.

Pence used his second career grandslam--an opposite field line drive--to propel the Astros past the Chicago Cubs 4-2 in the second game of their series. Houston, which had been near the bottom of the cellar earlier in the season, is now 26-21 on the season and in second place. The Cubs, who this year will celebrate their dubious 100th year anniversary since their last World Series victory, are still in first place.

Continue reading "Astros get a slam from Hunter Pence"

The long wait for a horse to take home racing's Triple Crown may soon be over.  Big Brown didn't just win the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, he absolutely dominated them.
 
Quite simply, Big Brown is the most impressive horse I've seen in the twenty years or so I've watched the Triple Crown races. It's impossible to compare time periods, but if anyone can make a comparison, Secretariat's owner, Penny Chenery, would be as qualified to anyone. And Chenery has stated she's not sure Secretariat could hang with Big Brown.  Brown's sprint speed down the stretch is unreal; he simply doesn't tire. If you can, watch the overhead camera angle from the Derby; jockey Kent Desormeaux is almost fighting to hold him back until the stretch. More so than any horse in recent memory, Big Brown truly loves to run -- he can't wait to be unleashed.

Continue reading "Big Brown and the Triple Crown"

Although this is a blog meant to focus on baseball, I must address the tragedy that occured at the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 3, 2008.  Big Brown hardly shocked the racing world with his prowess on the track, proving to everyone why he was the favorite for the race.  Yet deep down, most observing the Derby were cheering for a filly named Eight Belles.  A gorgeous thoroughbred who had only five races under her belt prior to Saturday's Derby, Eight Belles shocked the world with her glorious second-place finish as a 20 to 1 shot.  Only moments after her achievement, Eight Belles suffered a gruesome injury that resulted in both of her front ankles breaking, one of which broke the skin.  Thankfully, equine vets acted quick and put the horse out of her misery but not before sparking a bitter debate on the future of the "sport."

Continue reading "An Animal Rights Activist's View On A Tragedy..."

http://wizbangsports.com/2008/03/heavy_rains_close_pompano_park.

What the heck?

Due to heavy rains in the Pompano Beach area during the late afternoon hours, and with the forecast calling for additional downpours in the vicinity, Pompano Park cancelled its live racing for Friday.

Continue reading "Heavy rains close Pompano Park for a night"