All News

July 04, 2012
Saratoga 2-year-old maiden sprints limited to eight starters
The New York Racing Association will limit the number of starters in 2-year-old maiden sprint races to eight at the upcoming Saratoga meet.
July 03, 2012
Del Mar offering higher purses for upcoming meet
Del Mar has raised purses in most categories for its upcoming meeting, with an added emphasis on higher prize money for maiden special weight and allowance races.
June 29, 2012
Hovdey: 'Photo Finish' a hot summer read
By Jay Hovdey
It is a delight to report that John McEvoy’s fifth work of racetrack mystery fiction has hit the shelves just in time to be added to the summer reading pile.
June 28, 2012
Hovdey: McAnally mining more talent from South America
By Jay Hovdey
Trainer Ron McAnally hopes to hit the high road with his new fighting weight and a pair of potential stars from South America.
Tuley: O'Neill cashes his 200-1 Kentucky Derby future ticket
By Dave Tuley
Doug O’Neill has been the face of horse racing for the better part of two months. But on this day, he was just a regular horseplayer all excited about cashing a Kentucky Derby future-book ticket.
June 27, 2012
Hovdey: Black Caviar's Royal Ascot race a case study
By Jay Hovdey
Luckily for Luke Nolen, Australia is a big country. There are plenty of places to hide, beginning with the Australian Outback, which is about two and a half million square miles of not a whole lot.
June 22, 2012
Hovdey: Delahoussaye - the man behind the stakes name
By Jay Hovdey
Eddie Delahoussaye was expecting the call. There was justifiable concern for his health. After all, a jockey usually does not get a stakes race or a memorial award named in his honor unless he has suffered some terrible trauma, like dying, preferably ...
June 21, 2012
Tuley: Las Vegas race books lament lost Belmont Stakes opportunity
By Dave Tuley
With the Triple Crown races behind us and getting ready for the dog days of summer (when the sports books here are), it’s time to clean out this reporter’s notebook:
June 20, 2012
Hovdey: Maryland has opportunity to further revise history
By Jay Hovdey
As long as the Maryland racing commissioners are erasing the mistakes of 1973, I would like to suggest they might want to revisit a couple of other decisions that could have sent racing history in very different directions.
June 15, 2012
Crist: Kentucky Derby qualifying plan a good start, but needs adjustments
By Steven Crist
There is an old proverb that “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.” So is the new “Road to the Kentucky Derby” system of qualifying horses for America’s most famous race. A lot of it works, but there are new glaring problems with serious ...
Hovdey: Kentucky Derby process needs 20-20 vision
By Jay Hovdey
Apparently the deck chairs on the Titanic needed rearrangning – again. Word arrived this week that there would be a new system in 2013 to qualify for a place in one of the starting gates for the Kentucky Derby.
June 14, 2012
Hovdey: Racing spotlight shifts from New York to Churchill Downs, Hollywood Park
By Jay Hovdey
the hard-working players who put on the show last weekend in New York will be back on stage this weekend in Louisville and Los Angeles in a cluster of events every bit as significant in their own way as the Belmont Stakes.
June 13, 2012
Hovdey: Hall of Famer Jerkens keeps going at age 83
By Jay Hovdey
On the morning after the Belmont Stakes, in a state of renewed bewilderment, a pilgrim hastened to the Belmont barn of Allen Jerkens to ask the burning question. Jerkens, being to Thoroughbred racing what Delphi is to oracles, figured to be the right ...
June 08, 2012
Beyer: O'Neill handled himself admirably throughout a difficult Triple Crown run
By Andrew Beyer
Doug O'Neill withstood criticism during this year's Triple Crown with more grace than most human beings could muster. And when he was deprived of his shot at the greatest prize in American racing, he took the setback calmly.
Hovdey: Sad day for I'll Have Another, but not a tragic one
By Jay Hovdey
The injury sustained by I’ll Have Another, forcing his scratch from the 144th Belmont Stakes the following day, was a deep wound to the heart of the sport, poised as it was to welcome the first Triple Crown winner since 1978 to the ranks of the 11 ...
June 07, 2012
Tuley: I'll Have Another's odds to win Triple Crown settling in at 8-5
By Dave Tuley
What are the odds that I’ll Have Another completes his sweep of the Triple Crown series? If you're betting in Las Vegas, you should be able to get higher odds than I'll Have Another's 4-5 price on the track's morning line.
June 06, 2012
Hovdey: Frankel prepared pupil Chad Brown well
By Jay Hovdey
There is really no way to practice training a horse to run in the Belmont Stakes other than actually running a horse in the Belmont Stakes, which is why Chad Brown, at the ripe old age of 33, will be glad to at least get the ball rolling on Saturday.
June 04, 2012
Beyer: Triple Crown drought result of change in breeding priorities
By Andrew Beyer
As I’ll Have Another tries to become racing’s first Triple Crown winner in 34 years, plenty of casual fans will be asking: Why is this feat so difficult? Why is it more difficult than it was in the 1970s, when three different horses in a span of six ...
June 01, 2012
Hovdey: Triple Crown history laid to rest
By Jay Hovdey
Carmen Barrera was laid to rest at the age of 87 on Thursday, and with her passing went another living reminder of the Triple Crown being celebrated at this particular moment as Derby and Preakness winner I’ll Have Another attempts to become the first ...
Crist: Triple Crown gods play no favorites
By Steven Crist
For all their battle-scarred cynicism about an often unpredictable game, horse-racing fans can also be romantically credulous about the justice of the racetrack when it comes to the Triple Crown.