#Essential Quality

Item: Malathaat, the undefeated winner of the Kentucky Oaks, will not race next month in the Belmont Stakes. So much for the battle of the sexes. Item: Because of his ongoing medication contretemps, Bob Baffert and anyone associated with his stable have been ordered to stay away from New York Racing Association tracks. That means Kentucky Derby…

Essential Quality, shown winning the Grade I Travers, is among the favorites in a Breeders' Cup Classic field announced this week. Photo courtesy of New York Racing Association Oct. 29 (UPI) -- It's a week for looking forward as horse racing around the globe nears its annual champion-making events and youngsters get in final licks to make a case…

Headlined by classic winners Authentic, Swiss Skydiver and Tiz The Law, 184 horses were drawn Monday afternoon into 14 fields for the $28 million Breeders' Cup championships Friday and Saturday at Keeneland. The morning lines were determined by handicapper Mike Battaglia. [] Below are the fields and odds for the 14 Breeders' Cup races in reverse…

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - On another first Saturday in May, the beauty of America's oldest sport battled neck and neck down the stretch with its unseemliness as a colt named Medina Spirit elegantly held off a determined challenge from Mandaloun. They moved in tandem like four-legged ballet dancers - effortlessly, beautifully. No one here who loved…

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…

Now we are talking Kentucky Derby preps. This time we mean it. Life Is Good can race across, up and down or diagonally through the San Felipe. Greatest Honour can close on pedestrian fractions in the Fountain of Youth. Concert Tour can be anointed prince of the Bob Baffert Invi … er … Rebel Stakes. Essential Quality can be forgotten with his…

The Kentucky Derby is one of the most iconic sporting events in the world. Every year, millions of fans tune into NBC to watch top race horses from around the globe compete in "The Most Exciting Two Minutes In Sports." The 2021 Kentucky Derby will air on May 1 from 12 to 2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN and from 2:30 to 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC. Coverage is also…

Brad Cox's Essential Quality opens as the 2-1 favorite for the 2021 Belmont Stakes ahead of Preakness winner Rombauer (3-1). Essential Quality and Rombauer will break side-by-side from the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, respectively. The 153rd Belmont Stakes airs on Saturday, June 5 from 3-5 p.m. ET on NBCSN and from 5-7 p.m. on NBC. Coverage is also…

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Latest on the 147th running of the Kentucky Derby (all times local): 5:15 p.m. Thousands of spectators are gathered in the infield at Churchill Downs, many not wearing face masks required amid the coronavirus pandemic. Hundreds stood in lines that were not spaced out to use ATMs or buy food. Unlike some Derby tickets this year…

Brad Cox's favorite Essential Quality ran down a furious pacesetting Hot Rod Charlie down the stretch to win the 153rd Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park. New York regular Luis Saez was in the irons. United Arab Emirates ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum owns Essential Quality. The victory by Essential Quality could bring extra scrutiny of…

Breeders' Cup Classic hero Knicks Go has been named the Longines World's Best Racehorse at an online ceremony hosted from the National Racing Museum in Newmarket. The International Federation of Horseracing Authority's panel of handicappers awarded Knicks Go an end-of-season rating of 129, 2lb clear of a three-way tie featuring European Horse of…

Knicks Go capped a Horse of the Year season late Saturday afternoon, winning the $6 million Breeders Cup Classic by 2¾ lengths over provisional Kentucky Derby champion Medina Spirit in the finale of the two-day event at Del Mar. Former Del Mar riding champion Joel Rosario guided the third choice in the field of eight to his third Grade I win of the…

There is no complete Triple Crown at stake this year when the 154th Belmont Stakes is run this Saturday, June 11 (post time 6:45 p.m. ET, NBC). But after missing the Preakness Stakes following his shocking Kentucky Derby win, Rich Strike will return to the field to try to take a non-consecutive second jewel. While Preakness winner Early Voting and…

May 9, 2021 update: Medina Spirit has reportedly failed a drug test. Should those result be confirmed, the horse will be retroactively disqualified from the Kentucky Derby, forfeiting its first-place finish and winnings. Medina Spirit is the winner of the 147th Kentucky Derby at famed Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The horse entered the…

For the first time since 2015, there will be no rain falling on the Twin Spires of Churchill Downs for a Kentucky Derby held on its traditional date in Louisville, Ky., on the first Saturday in May. The 2020 Run for the Roses was contested under clear skies and a fast track on Sept. 5, with no fans in the grandstand due to the coronavirus pandemic…

The 147th running of the Kentucky Derby is set to take place this afternoon, and sports bettors are jumping on the opportunity to buy into the most exciting two minutes in gambling. This year's Kentucky Derby betting odds list Essential Quality as the+275 favorite in this year's Run for the Roses, as the undefeated horse boasts a pair of Grade 1…

The Saratoga Race Course meet has a deeply ingrained reputation as one of North America's major proving grounds for the mettle of a freshman sire, offering some of the deepest 2-year-old competition for both maidens and graded stakes horses. As one of the meets on the calendar that has the full attention of breeders and stallion operations alike,…

According to Churchill Downs' Mike Battaglia's opening odds, thoroughbred contender Cyberknife is a 20-1 shot for Saturday's Kentucky Derby. Even if he doesn't win, his owner deserves a bouquet of roses or at least a glass of champagne. You see, Al Gold had more important things on his mind when he named his Chestnut colt. The prostate cancer he…

The colt who appears likely to be named the official 2021 Kentucky Derby winner returns to the races Sunday afternoon. Mandaloun headlines a five-horse field going 1 1/16 miles in the $150000 Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park. Post time is 4:50 p.m. EDT, with TVG to broadcast the local prep for next month's Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Stakes. When…

A points-based system determines which 20 horses will load into the Churchill Downs starting gate on the first Saturday in May. Generally, the prep races that offer the most points are the most impactful. A total of 37 races comprise the USA Road to the Kentucky Derby schedule. The first 21 of those races is considered the Kentucky Derby prep…

Jockey John Velazquez, riding Authentic, celebrates winning the Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., on Saturday. Photo by John Sommers II/UPI | License Photo Nov. 9 (UPI) -- The Breeders' Cup World Championships, just as they were designed to do, nicely wrapped up some issues for the 2020 racing season, including the "Horse of the…

The Longines Breeders' Cup Classic is the marquee race for the upcoming World Championships for US Racing. Since it started in 1984, the 1¼m race has ascended to one of the most important races on the global racing calendar. The Classic regularly draws the best horses from across the world that love the dirt track. The race has seen numerous…

The Road to the Kentucky Derby is back to its more traditional format after the pandemic forced last year's iteration to be heavily modified. This time, 46 prep races spread out over North America, Europe, Dubai and Japan will award points to the top four finishers in each designated race. Three of those prep races arrive this weekend - the Wood…

One of horse racing's biggest events runs this weekend - the Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar Racetrack. Our ponies ace has you covered with a full breakdown of the field and her trifecta in our Breeder's Cup picks and predictions. Breeders' Cup weekend is upon us with a stacked card kicking things off Friday, featuring the top fillies and mares,…

The 2022 Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) at Saratoga offers a purse of $600000. It is the premier local prep for the Travers Stakes (G1), The Spa's flagship race for three-year-old dirt routers. Though the 2022 Jim Dandy only drew a field of five horses, the group is long on talent. The second- and third-place finishers in the Kentucky Derby (G1), Epicenter…

As the private planes of horse owners started to stack up at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in advance of the Kentucky Derby, five members of the Hot Rod Charlie ownership group took a Sunday morning Southwest Airlines flight from Raleigh, N.C., connected through Atlanta, before landing some four miles from Churchill Downs. Only two…

Of the 270 horses in Las Vegas' most recent Kentucky Derby futures, only four sires have seven or more hopefuls. Here is a look at the four and their potential runners for the roses. Into Mischief - 15 Retired in 2008 with a 6: 3-3-0 record, his biggest win came in the Hollywood Futurity (G1) at Hollywood Park. He is the sire of 2020 Kentucky Derby…

Even if you are successful in the sport of horse racing in North America and around the world, you are not guaranteed to win one of the famous and well-known races. So if you haven't entered the winner's circle for the feature race on the first Saturday in May, the pursuit is not likely to waver until you get there or until the day comes that…

Clockers' Corner was not as crowded as it was two springs ago, but it still felt lively Thursday morning. Trainers Carla Gaines and Vlad Cerin brought around their dogs, who playfully breached whatever canine protocols there are for social distancing. Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux was the best-dressed gent in the joint, sporting a colorful…

Coming in off huge victories in the Pegasus World Cup (G1) and Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1), Life Is Good will look to conquer new worlds when he headlines a field of 11 older males set for Saturday's $12 million Dubai World Cup at Meydan Racecourse. A son of Into Mischief, trained by Todd Pletcher, Life Is Good will not only be making his first…

One horse won the Kentucky Derby and now faces disqualification (maybe) and banishment (definitely). That would make a second horse the new winner. A third horse won the Preakness. Then there is last year's 2-year-old champion, who lost as the Derby favorite this month, and a filly who has been beating every challenger among her gender and now may…

Ray Acevedo-USA TODAY Sports Breeders' Cup Juvenile offers a first look at potential runners for the Kentucky Derby 2023 Bob Baffert's Cave Rock looks like a solid favorite in the betting The Breeders' Cup is nearly upon us, as the world's very best racehorses descend on Keeneland for two days of high-quality Grade 1 action. The competitive races…

There may not be as much fanfare for the 2021 Belmont Stakes with no Triple Crown up for grabs, but there will be a crowd, which will be a welcomed sight for race officials. Last year's event was held behind closed doors, but roughly 11000 spectators will be inside Belmont Park for the 6:49 p.m. ET post time on Saturday evening. The Belmont Stakes…

Nine of the top horses in the world are set to enter the starting gate at the 2021 Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, Calif. The Breeders' Cup Classic 2021 field includes a pair of 2021 Triple Crown winners. Belmont Stakes winner Essential Quality will break from the No. 4 post. Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit,…

It's time for the final leg of horse racing's triple crown this weekend, as the Belmont Stakes, and one thing for sure is there will be no payday like we had in the Kentucky Derby five weeks ago. As usual, this is the smallest field of the three races with only eight horses scheduled to come out of the gate in Elmont, N.Y., on Saturday afternoon at…

Experts handicap Saturday's 147th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Post time is approximately 6:57 p.m. The Post's lead horse racing handicapper 1. Midnight Bourbon: From the man who gave you Nyquist (2016), Maximum Security (make no mistake he won it in 2019) and Authentic (2020), comes Midnight Bourbon. Tiznow-bred colt has…

The 153rd Run for the Carnations is getting set to go as eight horses will load in the gates at 6:49 p.m. ET on Saturday for the 2021 Belmont Stakes. Essential Quality is the 2-1 favorite in the latest Belmont Stakes 2021 odds, but being the favorite hasn't always translated to success in recent races. From 2010-19 -- as last year's postponed race…

The horses for the 147th running of the Kentucky Derby 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. King Fury was scratched Friday with a fever. All horses to his outside will move in one spot the new 20-horse starting…

One of the most interesting races to be held at the Breeders' Cup 2022 will be the Breeders' Cup Juvenile 2022. It will give us a first look at some of the leading contenders for the 2023 Kentucky Derby, as a field of horses aged two compete over a distance of 1 1/16 miles. Famous winners of the race include Timber Country, Street Sense, and…

The 2021 Breeders' Cup organizers are doing their darn best, in the form of the stellar weekend's $31 million in purses, to bring both this series and the sport at large back to the fore, despite the rough-and-tumble of the second year of the pandemic. The Classic brings us quite the bright nosegay of favorites in Medina Spirit, whose hardy Derby…

Nest (white bridle), shown winning the 2021 Demoiselle at Aqueduct, returns as a heavy favorite in Saturday's Suncoast Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, a Kentucky Oaks prep. Photo by Joe Labozzetta, courtesy of New York Racing Association Feb. 11 (UPI) -- Potential Kentucky Derby candidates are in action from California to Florida and all the way to…

The oldest stakes race in the country for three-year-olds will have its 153rd running on Saturday when the 2022 Travers Stakes will take place at Saratoga Race Course. First held in 1864, this 1 1/4 miles race is nicknamed the Midsummer Derby and offers a $1.25 million prize to the winner. The 2022 Travers Stakes field is stacked with multiple…

Saturday marks the 147th edition of the Run for the Roses, and there is plenty of history that could be made in the 2021 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Louisville-born trainer Brad Cox will send out Essential Quality and Mandaloun in his first Derby appearance, as he seeks to become the first local trainer to win horse racing's biggest prize.…

All 13 of the Triple Crown winners in horse racing history earned that signature victory at Belmont Park, which hosts the 2021 Belmont Stakes on Saturday evening. But none was greater than Secretariat's run in 1973, as the Triple Crown winner smoked the field by 31 lengths and set both the Belmont Stakes and world record for a 1 1/2-mile race in a…

Churchill Downs has hosted the Kentucky Derby continuously since 1875, making it the longest-running major American sporting event, but last year it faced one of its most serious challenges because of the coronavirus pandemic. The race was postponed to September and no fans were allowed in attendance, but the Kentucky Derby 2021 brings back…

There are several horses with Triple Crown experience taking part in the 2022 Belmont Stakes on Saturday, but an inexperienced horse is the favorite. We the People, who has only raced four times in his career, is the 2-1 favorite in the 2022 Belmont Stakes odds. He is joined by Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike (7-2) along with Churchill Downs…

Despite qualifying for the Kentucky Derby, trainer Chad Brown opted to hold Early Voting out of the first leg of the Triple Crown with designs on keeping him fresh for a run in the 2022 Preakness Stakes. It's a strategy that paid dividends for Brown in 2017, when he did the same with Cloud Computing, who went on to beat Classic Empire by a head.…

Longshot Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike will try to match the feat of his father, Keen Ice, when he leaves the starting gate in the 2022 Travers Stakes on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course. In the 2015 Travers, Keen Ice, a 16-1 longshot, rallied past Triple Crown hero American Pharoah to post one of the most shocking upsets in the history of the…

In its field, the 2022 Travers resembles that cute little neighborhood restaurant that you think you've kept a secret until you turn around one evening and realize that everybody who's anybody in town has shown up. That Rich Strike and Early Voting, Kentucky Derby and Preakness winners, didn't make the cut into the top three morning line favorites…

Jockey Flavien Prat has one Kentucky Derby victory and one Preakness Stakes win on his resume, but he remains in search of a triumph in the third leg of the Triple Crown. The 29-year-old Frenchman came close to completing the hat trick last year with Hot Rod Charlie, who was 1 1/4 lengths behind Essential Quality for a runner-up finish. Prat will…