#Steve Asmussen

In what will go down as the most surreal week in sports since 9/11, racing got a double spoonful of distasteful medicine. As the sports world - and the real world - come to grips with the spreading coronavirus, the horse world must also sort out the impact of the criminal bombshell that dropped Monday. Rival trainers Jason Servis and Jorge Navarro,…

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…

Even if a race does not carry qualifying points, if there are 3-year-olds running, it could end up being a prep for Kentucky Derby 2023. In addition to the Pasco Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, there are six other races Saturday that include 15 horses who already are in the Derby futures market in Las Vegas or are on the verge of being there. Maiden…

In this biweekly series, racing analyst J. Keeler Johnson shares promising horses from his handicapping watch list, reviewing runners who have recently caught his eye and previewing horses scheduled to run back in the near future. New to the Watch List Gun Pilot You know Saturday's fourth race at Oaklawn, an $80000 allowance optional claimer (post…

January is always a good time of year to search maiden special weight entries for promising 3-year-olds making their debuts. Often there are well-bred youngsters to be found. Such is the case this week. A half-sister to Dortmund and a colt produced by Dame Dorothy are two of the half-dozen notable names we're highlighting in Prospect…

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…

Potential Breeders' Cup Horses Work Lexus Raven Run Winner Caramel Swirl Returns To Churchill Downs Conditioner Cox's "Cool Little Horse" Perryville Winner He'smyhoneybadger LEXINGTON, Ky. - Charles Fipke's undefeated Lady Speightspeare, scratched at the gate for the Oct. 16 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) Presented by Dixiana, at Keeneland…

As Keeneland prepares to host the 2022 Breeders' Cup in two weeks, the Lexington, Ky., track continues its October meet Saturday with a graded stakes for filly sprinters. Smash Ticket (5-2) is morning-line favorite for the Grade 2, $350000 Raven Run Stakes. Post time from Keeneland is 5:16 p.m., with FanDuel TV to broadcast the seven-furlong sprint…

The biggest underdog at the 2022 Kentucky Derby, Rich Strike, stunned the racing world on Saturday to win the 147th edition of the legendary race. Heading into the week, Rick Strike was not even in this year's race. The horse was a first alternate and was added to the Kentucky Derby on Friday after Ethereal Road was forced to drop out. That one…

This will be the 39th renewal of the great transatlantic horseracing shemozzle that is the Breeders' Cup and, while some races are a lot newer than that, most have a historical profile worth noting. What follows are some observations based on what we've seen previously in the hope that it might help to predict what will happen in Keeneland on the…

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…

Lovely Ride wins Saturday's Pippin Stakes at Oaklawn Park Coady Photography, courtesy of Oaklawn Park Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Trainer Bob Baffert saddled the first three finishers in Sunday's $100000 Grade III Sham Stakes at Santa Anita, a "Road to the Kentucky Derby" race, while the other weekend qualifier went to a colt who might find the Derby distance…

Kentucky Derby 147 champ Medina Spirit will run from the No. 3 spot in the gate at Pimlico in the 146th Preakness Stakes on May 15 with Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert agreeing to a special set of conditions after the colt failed his post-Derby drug test. He opens as the 9-5 favorite. The 2021 Preakness Stakes will air on Saturday, May 15 from 2…

Top contenders for the 142nd running of the Kentucky Derby are listed in order of preference, with comments provided by Joe Drape and Melissa Hoppert of The New York Times. Churchill Downs has adopted a points system to determine the Derby field, with points being earned by the top four finishers in designated prep races. The odds are from the…

The Queens County Stakes is a 1 1/8-mile dirt stakes for 4-year-olds and up and this year a nearly full field of 11 has been entered including two trained by Norman Cash. The runners exit dirt races in 10 cases including five at Aqueduct, three at Laurel Park and one each at Parx and Keeneland with the final runner coming out of a synthetic race at…

The Road to the Kentucky Derby series opened in late September, but the prep season doesn't get into full swing until the New Year. And the first qualifier of 2023 took place at Oaklawn Park on New Year's Day, the Smarty Jones. Twenty-six additional point races will be offered for the May 6 Kentucky Derby (G1) over the next 3 1/2 months. Let's…

Handicapper J. Keeler Johnson shares picks and plays for Thursday, Jan. 5 at Fair Grounds and Turfway Park, along with horses to play in Aqueduct's $189198 Pick 5 carryover and Turfway's $4843 Super High 5 carryover. Fair Grounds $1000 Late Pick 5 Hit It and Split It: Hit the Late Pick 5 at Fair Grounds on any day of live racing from Jan. 5-31…

Colonel Liam, shown after winning the 2021 Fort Lauderdale Stakes at Gulfstream Park, returns to try for a repeat win Saturday. Photo by Lauren King, courtesy of Gulfstream Park Dec. 30 (UPI) - Eight horses celebrate their third birthday Sunday by lining up for the Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park - the holiday weekend's way station on the "Road…

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 2021 Preakness Stakes gets underway this evening, putting the second jewel of the horse racing Triple Crown up for grabs. Here is everything you need to know to enjoy the thrilling race that was preceded by the Kentucky Derby and leads into the Belmont Stakes. The Preakness Stakes 2021 is set to run on Saturday, May 15 with an approximate post…

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - There is a full field of 14 entered for the 147th running of the Travers Stakes on Saturday, including the Preakness victor Exaggerator and the Belmont champion Creator. Still, the Midsummer Derby, as the race is known, is a wide-open affair in a year in which the crop of male 3-year-olds seems evenly matched. The…

Stonestreet homebred Clairiere (Curlin) kicked home convincingly in Saturday's GI Cotillion S. at Parx to earn a first highest-level victory and snap a five-race winless streak while capping an exacta for her sire. A neck winner of the GII Rachel Alexandra S. in February, the Steve Asmussen pupil was second best to familiar foe Travel Column…

The Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., is one of more than three dozen prep on the road to the 2023 Kentucky Derby. The 1-mile race on Sunday, Jan. 1, is the first Derby prep of the calendar year, offers a $250000 purse, and is a prelude to three other Derby preps at the Arkansas track: the Southwest, Rebel and Arkansas…

Tiz the Law is the 6-5 morning line favorite for Saturday's 152nd running of the $1 million Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park. The Barclay Tagg-trained multiple Grade 1 winner will break from the eight post against nine competitors in the 1-1/8 mile test around one turn. Posts were drawn Wednesday. "It could have been worse. I was hoping to get five…

Sunday's $250000 Smarty Jones is the first of four stops on Oaklawn Park's road to the 2023 Kentucky Derby. The one-mile stakes race drew a field of eight which celebrate their racetrack birthdays on this day and will make their first start as 3-year-olds. As an official Derby prep race, points are available to the top five eligible finishers…

As we close the curtain on another year, let's take a look back at the top five horse racing stories of 2022: Simply put, he's a generational horse. It's a shame we didn't have the opportunity to watch him race at 5, but there's really no words to describe what he accomplished during the time he did race. Consider: 6 for 6, four Grade I victories,…

Maximum Security, the colt disqualified from victory in the Kentucky Derby, returns to the winner's circle Saturday at Belmont Park. Photo courtesy of New York Racing Association Oct. 28 (UPI) -- It was a very good weekend of horse racing for Japan as Lys Gracieux landed the Group 1 Cox Plate in Australia and Almond Eye returned to her dominant…

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…

Desert Encounter, winner of the 2018 and 2019 Pattison Canadian International, is back trying for a "three-peat" in Saturday's renewal at Woodbine. Photo courtesy of Woodbine Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Belmont Park returns to action this weekend with Irish and English horses, including Bolshoi Ballet, chasing the third leg of New York's rich turf…

A Triple Crown sweep lies silent this year with Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike side-stepping Saturday's Preakness Stakes. But a trio of big-time talents make this year's middle jewel a fabulous, triple-threat race. Kentucky Derby runner-up and beaten favorite Epicenter was installed as the 6-5 morning-line favorite by Pimlico oddsmaker Keith…

Anyone anticipating a return to normalcy in the Kentucky Derby got a dose of crazy Saturday when an 80-1 shot came charging up the rail to win at Churchill Downs. With favourite Epicenter and Zandon engaged in a duel at the front, Rich Strike stole the show with the second-biggest upset in the Derby's 148-year history. The chestnut colt beat 4-1…

Morello drawing away to a win in the $62000 Feature Allowance at Laurel Park, Oct. 8, 2022. (Jim McCue/MJC) NYRA Press Office OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Blue Lion Thoroughbreds, Iapetus Racing and Diamond T Racing's graded-stakes winner returns from a two-month absence in Friday's $135000 Gravesend, a six-furlong sprint for 3-years-old and up, at Aqueduct…

Letruska edges Monomoy Girl in Saturday's $1 million Grade I Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park. Photo by Coady Photography, courtesy of Oaklawn Park April 19 (UPI) -- Million-dollar races at Oaklawn Park produced a big upset and a potential star for the remainder of the year in highlights of horse racing this weekend. The Kentucky Derby field continued…

The horses for the 149th running of the Belmont Stakes 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 Eric Donovan of the New York Racing Association. Purse: $1.5 million guaranteed Distance: One and a half miles Track record: 2:24 (Secretariat,…

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Winchell Thoroughbreds' Epicenter, who came up just shy of Grade 1 glory twice this spring in the Triple Crown, secured both his first top-level victory and a place at the top of the sophomore division with an emphatic 5 1/4-length victory under Joel Rosario in the 153rd renewal of the 10-furlong Grade 1, $1.25 million…

Each week, this important article will provide the standings, power rankings, and recent transactions for every league member. Not only will you see the latest claims in the league (which will show you what horses might be up-and-coming), but you will also get updates on the runners as they prepare for their next starts along the Kentucky Derby…

Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella can add to his record number of wins in the Malibu Stakes when he sends out the speedy Forbidden Kingdom in the 2022 Malibu Stakes on Monday at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif. The 72-year-old Mandella has won the Malibu six times, most recently in 2019 with Omaha Beach. He goes for No. 7 with two-time Grade…

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…

Get the best Kentucky Derby plays from the horse racing experts at TwinSpires, including exacta, trifecta and superfecta picks. The 148th running of the Kentucky Derby will feature a fierce field of 20 horses set to race 1 1/4 miles on Churchill Downs' historic race track on Saturday, May 7. One undefeated runner, a Japanese-bred starter, and a…

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…

We're just over two weeks out before the 154th running of Triple Crown's third leg. Belmont Stakes will take place on June 11, 2022, at the same historic place, Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The Preakness Stakes was run without the Kentucky Derby-winning horse Rich Strike. Rick Dawson, Rich Strike's owner, felt the colt needed a break after his…

BALTIMORE (AP) - Secret Oath made another impressive move from the back of the pack, but couldn't close the gap. The filly who won the Kentucky Oaks a couple of weeks ago finished fourth in the Preakness Stakes on Saturday in a tough field featuring eight colts. The pace was not nearly as fast as the Kentucky Derby, and Secret Oath charged ahead…

The Triple Crown season resumes following the Kentucky Derby when The Preakness Stakes returns to its traditional position. This legendary race, also known as "The Run for the Black-Eyed Susans" will once again blanket the winning colt or filly in Maryland's state flower. When is the Preakness Stakes 2022? On Saturday, May 21, 2022, the 147 annual…

The undefeated Flightline can cement his legacy as one of the top horses in decades when he leaves the starting gate in the 2022 Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday at Keeneland Race Course. A perfect 5-for-5 in his career, Flightline has won his starts by a combined 62 ¾ lengths, an average winning margin of 12 ½ lengths. The 126 Beyer Speed Figure…

Saturday's 147th running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course lost a bit of luster with the defection of upset Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike. But the middle jewel of the Triple Crown series offers plenty of other compelling storylines and a solid mix of intriguing newcomers to face off against a couple proven in the Derby…

Wildatlanticstorm keyed a lot of firsts, winning the $400000 Springboard Mile on Saturday night, for trainer Ray Ashford at 15-1 odds. The large colt scored the biggest 2-year-old stakes race of the Remington Park season. For the third time in the past five years, a locally-based horse took on all shippers from around the country and got the best…

The Bob Baffert-trained Arabian Lion can strengthen his case as one of the top contenders for the 2023 Kentucky Derby when he leaves the starting gate on Saturday in the 2022 Los Alamitos Futurity at Los Alamitos Race Course in Cypress, Calif. A 2-year-old son of 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify, Arabian Lion has a win and a second in two career…

Each week, this important article will provide the standings, power rankings, and recent transactions for every league member. Not only will you see the latest claims in the league (which will show you what horses might be up-and-coming), but you will also get updates on the runners as they prepare for their next starts along the Kentucky Derby…

Winning connections celebrate after the inaugural running of the Royal Saint Lucia Turf Club's $150000 Pitons Cup on Friday. Photo courtesy of Royal Saint Lucia Turf Club Dec. 16 (UPI) -- On a horse racing weekend when "new" was the watchword from Japan all the way to Saint Lucia in the Caribbean, Instilled Regard and War Story provided a hint of…