Thu, 02/09/2012 - 14:21

Q&A: Dave Flanzbaum, National Handicapping Championship runner-up

Horsephotos.com

Finished second two weekends ago in the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas, missing first place by one dollar. He won $150,000, compared to $1 million for the victorious Michael Beychok.

Birthdate: Sept. 22, 1966, in Chicago, Ill.

Family: wife, Lisa; sons, Joe and John; daughter, Samantha

Thu, 02/09/2012 - 14:09

Q&A: Michael Beychok, National Handicapping Championship winner

Horsephotos.com

Won the $1 million first prize two weekends ago at the Daily Racing Form/National Thoroughbred Racing Association National Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas.

Birthdate: Aug. 1, 1963, in Baton Rouge, La.

Family: wife, Rochelle; sons, Bradley, Matthew, daughter, Brooke

Thu, 02/09/2012 - 13:40

Romans ready for an encore after career-best 2011

Barbara D. Livingston
Dale Romans gets ready to high-five Robby Albarado after Court Vision’s victory in the BC Mile, one of Romans’s career-best six Grade 1 victories in 2011.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. − There were years in which he won more races, and one year in which he captured more graded stakes. But as far as Dale Romans is concerned, 2011 was the best of his 26-year training career.

Romans, 45, won a personal-best six Grade 1 races with five horses in 2011. He won his first classic, the Preakness, with Shackleford, and his second Breeders’ Cup race when Court Vision upset the Mile at 64-1. Two of his horses, Shackleford and two-time Grade 1 winner Sassy Image, were finalists for Eclipse Awards.

Wed, 02/08/2012 - 11:38

Kentucky Derby Future Wager: Field a heavy favorite, Algorithms at 8-1 on morning line

Barbara D. Livingston
Algorithms is the top separately listed entry at 8-1 on the morning line for Pool 1 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – As legendary as he has become, Barbaro was something of an outsider at 19-1 in Pool 1 of the 2006 Kentucky Derby Future Wager before going on to win.

[MORE: PPs for Future Wager horses]

Michael Matz, who trained Barbaro and trains arguably the top separately listed entry in the 2012 Derby Future Wager in Union Rags, said he remembers nothing about the future wager that year.

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 16:02

Del Mar expresses interest in hosting Breeders' Cup

Del Mar Thoroughbred Club outside of San Diego has sent an informational package to Breeders’ Cup expressing interest in hosting a future edition of the organization’s year-end event, the Breeders’ Cup’s chief executive said on Tuesday.

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 15:58

Team Valor acquires standout miler from Uruguay

Team Valor and Richard Santulli have purchased Brujo de Olleros, a Uruguay-based standout miler who is scheduled to be imported to the U.S. on Feb. 20, according to a Team Valor release. Brujo de Olleros will join trainer Graham Motion’s stable at the Palm Meadows training center in Florida upon clearing quarantine.

Brujo de Olleros, a 4-year-old Brazilian-bred son of Wild Event, has won 4 of his 5 starts – all in Uruguay – including a track-record setting 14 1/4-length victory in his most recent race, the Group 1 Gran Premio Pedro Pineyrua at Maronas.

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 15:34

Triple Crown nominations: Cyber Secret added to list

And then there were 398.

Three days after announcing that 397 3-year-olds were nominated to this year’s Triple Crown, that number was increased by one on Tuesday when Cyber Secret was added to the list of early nominees, which was originally released on Saturday. Cyber Secret was mistakenly left off the list because of a clerical error, according to a Churchill Downs press release.

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 09:58

Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 1 set to open Friday

The first of three pools in the 2012 Kentucky Derby Future Wager will open Friday at noon Eastern at tracks and wagering outlets throughout North America.

The mutuel field, the 24th or “all others” wagering option, most likely will be favored again this year, just at it has been for Pool 1 in every year since Churchill Downs began offering parimutuel futures in 1999. Union Rags will be pegged as the top separate interest on the morning line when the Pool 1 lineup is released Wednesday afternoon.

Mon, 02/06/2012 - 14:52

Kentucky Derby 2012: Under the Radar - El Padrino

Barbara D. Livingston
El Padrino started his 3-year-old campaign with an impressive allowance victory over Take Charge Indy on Jan. 29 at Gulfstream Park.

On a quiet Saratoga morning last July, champion trainer Todd Pletcher sent a pair of promising unraced juveniles to the gate over the hallowed main track. Both babies shared the “bullet” designation after completing their five-furlong workouts in 58.89 seconds.

Mon, 02/06/2012 - 14:10

Aqueduct business off to strong start in 2012

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Good weather and a slight increase in field size have led to a strong opening month of 2012 business-wise for the New York Racing Association.

Ontrack handle on Aqueduct’s races was $16,136,236, up 8.1 percent over $14,926,169 in 2011. The average daily ontrack handle of $806,811 is up 2.7 percent from a year ago.

Total handle, including wagering from simulcast outlets, on Aqueduct’s races is up 6.6 percent to $117,841,942 from $110,556,714 wagered last year. Average daily total handle is up 1.2 percent.