Kentucky Derby
They're still trying to figure out what to do about the U.S. Open. In March, much like Aqueduct, Flushing Meadow found itself requisitioned as a temporary hospital. As that facility is dismantled and disinfected, however, the USTA must decide whether to stick to their original schedule, behind closed doors; or postpone the tournament, and perhaps move it somewhere like Indian Wells. American tennis is fortunate, at least, that its premier annual engagement with a mass audience is entrusted to a body guided only by the long-term interests of the overall...
A few weeks ago, the GIII Matt Winn S. was added as a points race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, reconstituted when Churchill Downs relocated the 2020 'Run for the Roses' to Sept. 5. The race took on added importance earlier this week, when officials at Belmont Park announced that its marquee race, the GI Belmont S., would be the first of this year's Triple Crown races and take place June 20. Saturday's first graded stakes of the season beneath the Twin Spires therefore takes on added importance...
Maxfield's stall sits across from Barn 42's office, where trainer Brendan Walsh can keep a close eye on his star pupil at his Keeneland base. It's been a whirlwind of an early career for the Godolphin-owned colt, but he is now primed to make his sophomore debut this Saturday in the $150,000 GIII Matt Winn S. The son of Street Sense launched his juvenile season last year by breaking his maiden on debut before going on to take the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity by over five lengths. But then three...
Authentic has already carved one significant milestone for his sire, his debut success at Del Mar last November having qualified Into Mischief as the first North American stallion to accumulate 200 individual winners in a calendar year. If he can also become a Classic winner, however, he will need a chapter to himself in the Spendthrift phenomenon's epic tale. Because the rise of Into Mischief, sealed by a first general sires' championship in 2019, has primarily been powered by speed. As his books have gained in quality, the last big...
What has traditionally been the final leg of the Triple Crown will now be the first. The GI Belmont Stakes will be run June 20 at the distance of a mile and an eighth, NYRA announced Tuesday. In a year where the coronavirus has caused tracks across the country to scramble and adjust their racing calendars and stakes schedules, the Triple Crown, in order, will now consist of the June 20 Belmont, the GI Kentucky Derby Sept. 5 and the GI Preakness Oct. 3. "The Belmont Stakes is a New...
The GI Preakness S. will be run at Pimlico on Oct. 3, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced on NBC Saturday on what would have been Preakness Day under normal circumstances. The announcement confirmed a report from earlier in the week from WBAL, the NBC affiliate in Baltimore. With Churchill Downs having announced that the GI Kentucky Derby will be run Sept. 5, among the Triple Crown races, only the GI Belmont S. has yet to be scheduled. While NYRA officials have not made an official announcement regarding the timing of...
Major Fed (Ghostzapper), second in the GII Risen Star S. and fourth after a slow start in the GII Louisiana Derby, completed his last major workout on Saturday morning at Churchill Downs with a half-mile move in :51.40 (16/16) prior to taking aim at next Saturday's GIII Matt Winn S. Meanwhile, 72 miles east of Churchill Downs, unbeaten GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity winner Maxfield (Street Sense) worked a swift half-mile in :47.20 (3/22) at Keeneland. The Matt Winn is worth 50-20-10-5 points to the top four finishers on the Road...
Most Irishmen that go to Kentucky didn't plan to stay there. And yet, the story seems to be ripped from a template that is repeatedly recycled: they knew someone working on a farm there and decided to go for six months to a year. And then made it another year. Then 10 or 20 more. Many end up staying their whole lives. Dr. Michael Hore may have followed a well-trodden path from his birthplace in County Wexford to Lexington, but in the ensuing 15 years he has set himself apart...
Stronach Group Chairman and President Belinda Stronach and Maryland Governor Larry Hogan will announce the rescheduled date for the 145th GI Preakness S. on NBC Sports Saturday. NBC Sports will present a special show on NBC at 5 p.m. ET this Saturday, May 16--the original date for the race--headlined by American Pharoah's memorable Preakness S. win five years ago. The one-hour special--The Middle Jewel: American Pharoah's Run to the Triple Crown--will look back at American Pharoah's dominating win in the 140th Preakness S. Just prior to post time in 2015,...
Few felt the jarring absence of the GI Kentucky Derby, or indeed any racing at all, on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs more acutely than a Louisville native. Add to that being a horseman who relies on the track's customary spring/summer meet to make your living, throw in having a Derby hopeful in your barn to boot, and one can understand why longtime Churchill-based trainer Greg Foley was so excited to be back home this week, with racing set to resume Saturday beneath the Twin Spires. "It's...
Churchill Downs Racetrack released a preliminary list of races Tuesday that could be used for the extension of the "Road to the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve," pending agreeable race placement by the host tracks. The first race in the extended series, the $150,000 GIII Matt Winn S. May 23 at Churchill Downs, will have top four points raised from the previously announced 10-4-2-1to 50-20-10-5. "Based on measured interest from horsemen and limited racing opportunities for 3-year-olds across the country, the Matt Winn at the home of the Kentucky...
Keeneland Race Course will be seeking a short summer race meet after losing its spring season to COVID-19 closure. Yet management at the Lexington track is trying to be mindful that such a move would have a ripple effect not only on Ellis Park, which traditionally has the Kentucky circuit all to itself during that time frame, but also the horse populations and stakes programs at Saratoga and Del Mar, the bi-coastal heavyweights that dominate American racing in the mid-July through Labor Day window. "We're looking to run an abbreviated...