#Bret Calhoun

Three stakes winners plus a debut runner caught my eye last week. Each of them bred in Louisiana, and each of them with the talent to potentially face open company going forward. Let's start with the debut runner from Ron Faucheux's barn who ran on Thursday, Kyle Beauty. It didn't take an expert eye to be awed by this first-time-starter. After…

Jeff Landry, courtesy Louisiana Attorney General's office National HBPA Press Release LEXINGTON, Ky. - Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry will be the keynote speaker at the National HBPA's annual conference March 6-10 at the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans' historic French Quarter, the horsemen's organization announced. The conference, which is…

Kentucky Derby second-place finisher Mandaloun (pink cap) wins Sunday's Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park. Photo courtesy of Monmouth Park June 14 (UPI) -- Maybe it's a little early to crown Belmont Stakes winner Essential Quality as best 3-year-old in the nation, especially after Mandaloun's impressive victory in Sunday's Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth…

Fair Grounds News: Bron and Brow Highlights 1st Gary P. Palmisano Stakes From the Fair Grounds Media Team: Gary Barber's Bron and Brow enters the 1st running of the $75000 Gary P. Palmisano Memorial Stakes after showcasing his best effort to date in a second-level allowance on Dec 15. A field of nine Louisiana-breds will take to the court in…

The nation's newest wager premieres this Saturday and Sunday when the Coast-to-Coast Pick Five ties together races from Gulfstream and Santa Anita. The $1 pick five bet will be offered each weekend in January, February, March and April and has a low 15% takeout. Races selected for the weekly wagers will be announced each Wednesday (for Saturday)…

The 145th running of the Grade-1, Kentucky Derby will take place on Saturday, May 4, at historic Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. This is the only race in the U.S. with a 20-horse field and it can provide great wagering opportunities for bettors. The favorite has won the run for the roses the last several years, but even with the top choice…

The Preakness Stakes is traditionally the second leg of the American Triple Crown but in this most unusual of seasons, the 2020 Preakness concludes the series this year at Pimlico on Saturday (10.45pm BST). Routinely flanked by the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes, this renewal of the Preakness moves from second to third in the Triple Crown…

No less than 10 stakes races, including the first step toward the 2023 Florida Derby, will be held New Year's Eve and New Year's Day at Gulfstream Park this Saturday and Sunday. The New Year's Eve card includes 6 stakes, 5 of them graded, with a strong dose of grass action slated. New Year's Day features the one-mile Mucho Macho Man Stakes for…

Don Alberto Stable's Forza Di Oro gets the honors of morning line favorite at 7-2 in the $100000 Tenacious Stakes Monday at Fair Grounds, but last year's Tenacious exacta returns in the form of Estate of James J. Coleman Jr.'s Chess Chief and Lothenbach's Happy American, who is cross-entered in the $100000 Buddy Diliberto three races earlier on the…

The principal action for Kentucky Derby 148 occurred more than 2000 miles west of Churchill Downs Thursday morning as Santa Anita Derby (GI) winner Taiba worked six furlongs in 1:12.80. "It was very straight forward," trainer Tim Yakteen said. "He worked three-quarters from the five-eighth pole. It was a typical Taiba work and we accomplished what…

Turf racing returns for Monday's "Road to the Derby Kickoff Day" card at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots in New Orleans, La. With the portable rail set at 34 feet, starters will be limited to eight runners for the $100000 Buddy Diliberto Memorial and the female counterpart, the 1 1/16 miles $100000 Blushing K.D. (Race 6). With the same parameters,…

Bal Harbour (#4 rail) outbids Last Samurai (#1) for the win. (Coady Photography) Jennifer Hoyt/Oaklawn Racing HOT SPRINGS, Ark.- Trainer Robertino Diodoro, Oaklawn's leading trainer in 2020, is off to a fast start at the 2022-2023 meet, picking up his second stakes win since the Dec. 9 opening and his second straight $200000 Tinsel Stakes victory…

Keeneland Barn Notes: Basin Gets Final Prep for G2 Blue Grass Stakes (Trainer Steve Asmussen / Photo by Holly M. Smith) From the Keeneland Media Team: GRADE 1 WINNER BASIN WORKS FOR TOYOTA BLUE GRASS Toyota Blue Grass (G2) hopeful Basin, who races for Terry Green's Jackpot Farm, was the first horse to breeze over Keeneland's fast track Monday when…

The horses for the 146th running of the Kentucky Derby, which was moved to Saturday from May 2 and will have no spectators present because of the coronavirus pandemic, are listed in order of post position, with comments by Joe Drape and Melissa Hoppert of The New York Times. The morning-line odds were set by Mike Battaglia of Churchill Downs. Tiz…

When a heavy favorite enters any athletic contest, the best strategy can sometimes be to never let the underdog get into the game. Echo Zulu employed that exact game plan to perfection in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies on Friday at Del Mar, and all but guaranteed herself an Eclipse Award at the end of the year. The 2-year-old Gun Runner filly…

Havnameltdown wins Sunday's Bob Hope Stakes for 2-year-olds at Del Mar. Benoit photo, courtesy of Del Mar Turf Club Nov. 21 (UPI) -- One of the more interesting subplots of late-year racing is the emergence of late-blooming 2-year-olds and Del Mar's weekend program featured two of those -- Havnameltdown among the colts and Justique in the filly…

An inside look at how the 145th Kentucky Derby will shape up: Trainer: Mark Casse Jockey: Tyler Gaffalione Current form: Won the Rebel by a measured two lengths to make it three straight. But gate issues and a wide trip resulted in his first loss on dirt in the Louisiana. Worth a wager? Willed his way to impressive streak. Does best running early…

With stable star Ova Charged showing the way and Spirited Beauty chasing her home in second, the Brittlyn Stable Star Guitar fillies filled out the exacta in the first running of the 6-furlong $75000 Happy Ticket Stakes for older Louisiana-bred females, one of three restricted stakes run on the opening day Friday program at Fair Grounds Race Course…

For me, one main attraction to superfectas is that a superfecta probable payout pool is not displayed,making this bet an unknown endeavor relative to an exacta and even trifectas in some circumstances where the probable payouts are available. However, if you observe the pool results over a long period of time, you will realize the heavily wagered…

The co-feature of "Future Stars Friday" on Breeders' Cup weekend is the $2 million NetJets Juvenile Fillies. The country's top 2-year-old fillies will travel 1 1/16 miles on the dirt main track at Del Mar for the right to be called a Breeders' Cup champion. The Grade 1 race is scheduled as the seventh race on the card with a listed post time of…

The fall meet at Churchill Downs rolls on with a 10-race Wednesday program, and all events are scheduled for the dirt. Here are my five favorite heats on the card. Best bet: Summer Splash (race 3) Best value bet: Flyin Bessie (race 8) Race 3 No. 7 Summer Splash (3-1) demolished a similar field at Remington on Sept. 17 before finding allowance foes…

For years Saratoga has been known as the Graveyard of Favorites. Whether it be Thursday's first race, or a grade one event on the weekend, an upset is always more than a possibility. Saturday's feature is more than just a big race. The Whitney Stakes was once declared by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities as the top grade one…

Big money and Breeders' Cup berths will be on the line on both turf and dirt this weekend all over North America. We'll start at beautiful Belmont Park where a pair of rich turf races for 3-year-olds will lead the way. The $1 million Jockey Club Derby offers a "Win and You're In" for the Breeders' Cup Turf, while the $700000 Jockey Club Oaks closes…

Churchill Downs' Barn Notes: Mr Wireless Was Well Connected On Friday (Mr Wireless / Coady Photography) From the Churchill Downs Media Team: It was a sentimental win Friday at Churchill Downs for Jon Lapczenski and JIL Stable's Mr. Wireless. Just days before his allowance victory, his co-owner/breeder John Kerber passed away at age 86. Kerber, who…

One year ago, trainer Todd Pletcher's filly Malathaat started her 3-year-old campaign with a late rally to win Ashland Stakes by a head. The victory launched her to an Eclipse Award-winning season that also included Grade 1 wins in the Kentucky Oaks and Alabama Stakes. Pletcher will hope for similar things Friday and beyond with Nest (2-1),…

It showed up like clockwork last week in my email. Remember email? About 240 of us voters for the Eclipse Awards received our annual packets of digital information, complete with the usual advice to tamp an eagerness we may have to cast an early ballot. "It is strongly encouraged," the instructions said, "that you consider waiting to vote until…

Led by the unbeaten and highly regarded La Crete, a field of eleven 3-year-old fillies will look to prove worthy to remain on the Kentucky Oaks trail in Saturday's Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra Stakes at Fair Grounds. A very impressive debut winner at Churchill Downs, La Crete lived up to expectations last time in her stakes debut when she battled back…

Decisions, decisions, decisions. A few weeks ago, Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen acknowledged Pneumatic would show up for the 145 Preakness (G1) on Oct. 3, giving the trainer a shot at victory No. 3 in this classic to go with wins by Curlin in 2007 and Rachel Alexandra in 2009. In the past few days, Asmussen came up with two more Preakness…

Fresh off a big performance in winning the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes, Epicenter will be the horse they all have to beat when a field of nine Kentucky Derby hopefuls head to the post in Saturday's $1 million Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds. Trained by Steve Asmussen, Epicenter has been the top 3-year-old male on the grounds in New Orleans this…

Fulsome Could Break Out in Saturday's Ack Ack Stakes From the Churchill Downs Media Team: (Fulsome / Photos by Holly M. Smith) COX HOPES FULSOME FINDS PACE IN ACK ACK - Juddmonte's multiple graded stakes winner Fulsome will attempt to tally his third victory at Churchill Downs in Saturday's $300000 Ack Ack, and trainer Brad Cox hopes the 4-year-old…

LOUISVILLE, Ky.- Juddmonte's multiple graded stakes winner Fulsome will attempt to tally his third victory at Churchill Downs in Saturday's $300000 Ack Ack, and trainer Brad Cox hopes the 4-year-old Into Mischief colt will have a good pace set-up in the one-mile event. Fulsome has won eight races in his career and most recently closed from three…

The post positions are set for all the races at the 2018 Breeders' Cup, and while many horse racing fans are looking forward to Saturday's Classic, there are five key races that will start the event on Friday. The races include the Juvenile Turf Sprint, Juvenile Fillies Turf, Tito's Handmade Vodka Juvenile Fillies, Juvenile Turf Mile, and the…

Belmont Stakes and Travers Stakes winner Tiz the Law will break from the No. 17 post in the 146th Kentucky Derby as the strong favorite with 3-5 opening odds. The top three horses will all start next to each other on the far outside with 5-1 Honor A. P. starting to Tiz the Law's left and 8-1 Authentic on his right. The 2020 Kentucky Derby, which…

Swiss Skydiver takes on a talented field of 12 colts in Saturday's $600000 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes; Six fillies vie for Kentucky Oaks points in the $400000 Central Bank Ashland (G1) LEXINGTON, Ky. - Peter Callahan's Swiss Skydiver will try to put herself on the Kentucky Derby (G1) trail Saturday when she takes on males in a field of 13 horses…

LOUISVILLE, Ky.- Hidden Brook Farm's Hidden Connection reaffirmed that her flashy 7 ½-length debut win at Colonial Downs wasn't a fluke as she rolled to a 9 ½ length victory over Mama Rina in Saturday night's 53 running of the $300000 Pocahonatas (Grade III) for 2-year-old fillies at Churchill Downs. Trained by Bret Calhoun, Hidden Connection ran 1…

Keeneland Barn Notes: Champ Letruska Returns to Regular Work (Letruska / Photos by Holly M. Smith) From the Keeneland Media Team: CHAMPION LETRUSKA RETURNS TO KEENELAND WORK TAB St. George Stable's Letruska, who made Keeneland her main base of operations during an Eclipse Award-winning campaign in 2021, worked 5 furlongs in 1:02.40 over a fast…

Betting on the fourth and final Kentucky Derby Future Wager will open at noon Friday and close at 6 p.m. Sunday. The Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which features $2 win and exacta wagering, provides fans the chance to place bets on possible entrants in the Kentucky Derby at odds that could be far greater than those available on the day of the…

Cox Hopes That Set Piece Is "Set" For Saturday's G1 Arlington Million Stakes (Set Piece / Photos by Holly M. Smith) From the Churchill Downs Media Team: Set Piece (GB) arrived in the United States two years ago to the care of multiple Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox and since then owner Juddmonte has been rewarded with seven victories. The…

Churchill Downs' News: Santin, Smooth Like Strait May Be Showdown in Saturday's G1 Arlington Million (Santin / Photos by Holly M. Smith) From the Churchill Downs Media Team: Godolphin's Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic (Grade I) winner Santin will face six fellow turf specialists, including Cannon Thoroughbreds' 2021 Shoemaker Mile (GI)…

The question everyone wants to know in Saturday's $400000 Twinspires.com Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) in New Orleans, La.: what will 2021 juvenile filly champion Echo Zulu do for an encore in 2022? Since hitting the racetrack last summer at Saratoga, the Gun Runner filly has been everything and more for her owners, L & N Racing and Winchell…