Trip handicappers figure to be all in on Sacred Thunder in Saturday’s $100,000 Miracle Wood Stakes at Laurel Park.
Last month, when third in the seven-furlong Spectacular Bid Stakes, Sacred Thunder bore out some at the start, was stuck on the inside down the backstretch, steadied going into the far turn, found traffic at the quarter pole, was blocked behind horses at the three-sixteenths, and shifted into the six path inside the eighth pole. He ended up beaten a half-length.
We have less than three weeks remaining in the college basketball regular season.
That means March Madness is right around the corner.
Below we examine the current men’s national championship odds from the leading online sportsbooks along with the top five national title contenders. All odds cited are the best-value moneylines at the top sportsbooks as of Wednesday, Feb. 19, and are subject to change.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – While Grade 1 winner Nakatomi will be heavily favored if he goes in Saturday’s $140,000 Gulfstream Park Sprint and trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. will have four of the other six starters in the race, it is Gordian Knot who may prove the most intriguing member of the lineup.
In the mid-1990s, when he was working as a farm manager for owner/breeder John Franks, Lonnie Briley took a shining to a weanling colt by the Grade 1 winner Lively One.
Briley, apparently, was in the minority of the group evaluating the horse who eventually became Answer Lively.
U.S. commercial gaming continues to thrive.
In 2024, industry revenues soared to a record high of $71.92 billion, the American Gaming Association reported Wednesday in a news release.
That total includes revenue from traditional gaming (brick-and-mortar casino slots and table games), sports betting and iGaming (online casinos).
Just Ruthless is coming off an impressive win in her Turfway Park debut. She now looks to rule supreme in her stakes debut in a large and well-matched field for the $175,000 Cincinnati Trophy on Friday night at the Florence, Ky., track.
Del Mar is raising overnight purses by approximately 8 percent this summer compared to the corresponding meeting in 2024, the track announced on Wednesday.
The increase in overnight purses puts prize money levels closer to summer meetings in 2022 and 2023.
The 31-day meeting runs from July 18 to Sept. 7, and includes 38 stakes. The stakes schedule does not include the Grade 3 Cougar II Handicap, a $100,000 race at 1 1/2 miles that has been put “on hiatus,” according to racing secretary David Jerkens.
Sandman has had just one work leading up to the Rebel on Sunday at Oaklawn, and that’s by design, according to his Hall of Fame trainer, Mark Casse.
The horse, who finished a troubled second in the Southwest in his last start Jan. 25, worked back on Feb. 9, drilling five-eighths in 1:01.40.
“That was a significant work,” Casse said. “He breezed five-eighths of a mile and galloped out three-quarters. He’s ready.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – A year after failing to succeed on the Triple Crown trail, Crazy Mason seems to be developing into a useful come-from-behind sprinter.
With an eye toward the Grade 2 Carter in April, Crazy Mason seeks his second straight win around one turn in a second-level allowance/optional $62,500 claiming race which serves as the Friday feature on an eight-race card.
ARCADIA, Calif. – A veteran gelding and a pair of lightly raced 3-year-old fillies try to extend the season-long trend of winning favorites in a trio of races Friday at Santa Anita.
Cowboy Mike looks like a slam dunk in race 6, a second-level allowance at one mile on dirt. Canto Della Terra stretches to one mile on turf in race 7 following an impressive maiden win in her U.S. debut. Fast-working firster Brilliantly launches her career in race 8, a maiden sprint on dirt.
