A pair of graded stakes highlight a solid, 11-race Saturday card in Louisville which gets underway at 1:15pm.

From Opener to Nightcap…

Race 1 — Eccentric Girl, Go Go Diablo
Race 2 — Meritocracy, Our Dancer, Special Event
Race 3 — Boston Cat, Miami Ali, Splendorella
Race 4 — Visible Truth, Forebearer, Cya Later Bert
Race 5 — Keltish Lass, Fancy Fusaichi, Classic Tiara
Race 6 — Ridge Royale, Badger Bret, War Ruler
Race 7 — Crimson Comic, E Z Phone Home, Bandolier
Race 8 — Secret Gypsy, Keep the Peace, Acoma
Race 9 — Seaside Retreat, Yate’s Black Cat, Inca King
Race 10 — Elite Squadron, Indian Chant, Noonmark
Race 11 — Press Leak, Lucky Flyer, Slewgenes Humor

Memorial Day is one of — if not THE — best holiday day of racing throughout the year (I also enjoy Thanksgiving Day, although the quality doesn’t match). Great cards at Belmont, Churchill and Hollywood Park (more…)

Think NYRA ever breathed an anxious moment?

They no doubt had plenty of interest in the Preakness outcome as Belmont Park will now be filled on June 7 in anticipation of the first Triple Crown winner in 30 years.

And luckily for them, there appears to be some competition in the form of Casino Drive. Yet is this Japanese sensation truly a legitimate threat to Big Brown? (more…)

Trainer Rick Dutrow strolled into Louisville two weeks ago eager to prove to the world just how good Big Brown was.

Breaking from post 20 – a stall no horse had won the Derby from in 79 years — and charting a wide journey throughout, his authoritative victory accomplished just that.

Now, Dutrow arrives in Baltimore for the Preakness Stakes simply hoping to pass this second jewel of the Triple Crown with a chance to make history on the first Saturday in June still in tact.

It’s not that Dutrow lacks confidence in his colt’s chances, although the bravado has certainly been toned down from the days preceding the Derby, and five of the last six odds-on Preakness favorites have fallen.

Big Brown entered the Run for the Roses (more…)

On paper, Big Brown can regress significantly and still dominate Preakness 133 — and it doesn’t take reviewing a racing form for more than 2 minutes to figure that out.

On the other hand, identifying those closest to the big favorite — or even “slay the dragon” as track announcer Vic Stauffer brilliantly called in last week’s turf stake at Hollywood Park — takes a bit more consideration. (more…)

As I mentioned in my pre-Derby blog, it is tempting to pinpont flaws in the Kentucky Derby favorite and instead search for that obscure “dark horse” who nobody else will have. In the end, the public got it right as Big Brown proved that he is in fact just lengths better than the remainder of this class.

As a result, he will apparently take on an entirely new cast of characters at Pimlico next — a group no more scary than the 19 he dusted at Churchill Downs.

Yet in the aftermath of Derby 134, much is being made of the tragic loss of Eight Belles. (more…)