This week, the Big Race Showdown panel of Candice Hare, Emily Gullikson, Brian Zipse, Dan Tordjman, Mike McCormick, Megan Devine, Dan Cronin, and I tackles a trio of high-stakes Kentucky Derby preps coming up on Saturday: the Wood Memorial, Blue Grass, and Santa Anita Derby. See who we like right here!
Big Race Showdown: Week 6
This week, the Big Race Showdown panel tackles a trio of Derby preps: the Tampa Bay Derby (G2), the Gotham (G3), and the Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3)! Joining me on the panel are Candice Hare, Emily Gullikson, Brian Zipse, Dan Tordjman, Mike McCormick, Megan Devine, and Dan Cronin. Read on for our top picks, and who we think can run into... Continue Reading →
#3: the fifth annual Twelve Days of Curlin Babies
Welcome back to the Twelve Days of Curlin Babies, where we celebrate the twelve most memorable races from Curlin’s progeny throughout 2018. Through all the hundreds of races in which they ran this year, these are the ones to which my mind keeps wandering back. #12: Timeless Curls Marks Herself a Rising Star#11: Secret Passage Comes... Continue Reading →
Picks and Ponderings: 2018 Cigar Mile Preview and Stakes Selections
It's the first big weekend of American racing after the Breeders' Cup, and today I take a look at Aqueduct's Cigar Mile Day action!
America’s Best Racing: Big Race Showdown, Wood Memorial, Blue Grass Stakes, and Santa Anita Derby
This is week ten of Big Race Showdown at America’s Best Racing: where I clash heads with six awesome handicappers (Emily Gullikson, Candice Hare, Dan Tordjman, Brian Zipse, Eric Bialek, and Mark DiLorenzo) to see who can stay the hottest through Derby prep season. We tackle all three Kentucky Derby preps on Saturday: the Blue Grass (G2) at Keeneland, the Wood (G1) at... Continue Reading →
Picks and Ponderings: 2018 Wood Memorial and Gazelle Stakes Preview
This piece focuses specifically on the pair of Grade 2 races in New York: the Wood Memorial and the Gazelle. The Wood Memorial is the final step down the New York spur of the Kentucky Derby trail. The race was inaugurated at Jamaica Racetrack in 1925, and was run there through 1959. In fact, the... Continue Reading →
America’s Best Racing: Big Race Showdown, Gotham/San Felipe/Tampa Bay Derby
This is week six of Big Race Showdown at America’s Best Racing: where I clash heads with six awesome handicappers (Emily Gullikson, Candice Hare, Dan Tordjman, Brian Zipse, Eric Bialek, and Mark DiLorenzo) to see who can stay the hottest through Derby prep season. This week is a huge one, with three stateside Kentucky Derby preps: the Gotham (G3) at Aqueduct, the... Continue Reading →
Picks and Ponderings: 2018 Gotham Stakes Preview
This year, the Gotham Stakes will be run for the 67th time, offering a $300,000 purse as well as Kentucky Derby points (50-20-10-5) to its top four finishers. The race, which takes its name from an old nickname for New York City, was inaugurated at Jamaica Racetrack in 1953 before being moved to New York City in... Continue Reading →
Picks and Ponderings: a busy week on the Oaks trail
This Saturday features four different three-year-old preps at three different tracks: three Kentucky Oaks prep, and a Kentucky Derby prep as well. Over at Picks and Ponderings, I preview all four of the points races: the Fountain of Youth (G2) and the Davona Dale (G2) at Gulfstream, the Busher Stakes at Aqueduct, and the Santa... Continue Reading →
Picks and Ponderings: 2018 Withers Stakes Preview
After visits to Gulfstream (for the Holy Bull and the Forward Gal) and Santa Anita (for the Robert B. Lewis), Picks and Ponderings heads to New York for a look at the Withers Stakes, Aqueduct's Derby prep for the weekend. Though the race only drew six horses to vie for shares of a $250,000 purse and Kentucky... Continue Reading →
Picks and Ponderings: 2018 Busanda Stakes Preview
This year marks the 45th running of the Busanda Stakes. The races's namesake was a mare who excelled both on the track and in the breeding shed. A 1947 daughter of Triple Crown winner War Admiral, bred by Ogden Phipps, her female line was just as regal.... This year's edition of the Busanda was originally scheduled for... Continue Reading →
Picks and Ponderings: 2018 Jerome Stakes Preview
Originally scheduled for January 1st, the Jerome Stakes -- like much of the northeast and midwest -- has been stuck in a deep freeze. As New York will have hopefully become warm enough to safely race, the Jerome has been released from its suspended state, and scheduled for January 13. The race had been a Grade... Continue Reading →
Picks and Ponderings: 2017 Wood Memorial and Gazelle Stakes Preview
The New York spur of the Kentucky Derby trail winds down this Saturday with the Wood Memorial (G2); Oaks-bound fillies from the Big Apple can likewise punch their tickets in the Gazelle (G2). I preview both over at Picks and Ponderings. In the Wood, Curlin baby Irish War Cry hopes to redeem himself, as... Continue Reading →
Picks and Ponderings: 2017 Busanda Stakes Preview
The Oaks prep season continues this Saturday with the Busanda Stakes at Aqueduct. The race drew a field of just five. Most of its entrants are new faces: four of the five fillies are last-out maiden winners who have never faced winners, much less stakes company. The only exception is Libby's Tail, who broke her... Continue Reading →
Picks and Ponderings: 2016 Cigar Mile Preview
Saturday's Cigar Mile (GI) at Aqueduct drew a field of ten, and I preview the race over at Picks and Ponderings. Watch how the track plays...if it's heavily for speed, it may chalk out. But, should the track be playing at least somewhat fairly, a price play has a good shot to break through at... Continue Reading →
