Thu, 04/28/2011 - 14:21

Kentucky Derby questions: Horses to bet against

Which horse can't you wait to bet against?

Thu, 04/28/2011 - 14:17

Kentucky Derby questions: Live longshots

Which horses are live longshots, and what should their approximate odds be?

Thu, 04/28/2011 - 14:13

Kentucky Derby questions: Uncle Mo and the Wood

After Uncle Mo's disappointing third in the Wood Memorial, does he deserve another chance?

Thu, 04/28/2011 - 13:41

Breeders' Cup still faces hurdles with debt

In 2009, Breeders’ Cup Ltd. tapped a $5.9 million line of credit at a time when the value of its investment portfolio had plunged 31 percent and its nominations revenue was expected to plummet because of the recession. The run to the bank was a troubling signal. Members were critical of the organization’s financial management and its hasty decision – quickly reversed – to drop a $5 million program providing purse supplements to stakes races.

Thu, 04/28/2011 - 13:08

Q&A: Steve Cauthen

Photo by Z
Hall of Fame jockey Steve Cauthen (right), with brother Kerry, now runs a breeding operation in Kentucky.

The last jockey to sweep the Triple Crown, aboard Affirmed in 1978, Steve Cauthen now breeds racehorses on his Dreamfields farm in Verona, Ky.

Birthdate: May 1, 1960, in Covington, Ky.

Family: wife, Amy; daughters, Katelyn, Karlie, and Kelsey

Thu, 04/28/2011 - 08:02

Kentucky Derby works: Dialed In has easy breeze at Palm Meadows

Your browser does not support iframes

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. - The Kentucky Derby favorite worked on Thursday. Not just any favorite but one trained by a two time Kentucky Derby winner. But something was definitely missing.

A crowd.

Wed, 04/27/2011 - 15:00

Larry Collmus to replace Tom Durkin as Triple Crown announcer

Bill Denver/Equi-Photo
Larry Collmus, the race caller for Gulfstream and Monmouth Park, will replace Tom Durkin.

Larry Collmus, the Monmouth Park and Gulfstream Park race caller, has never called a 20-horse field in his life. He has 10 days to master the art.

Collmus, 44, was announced by NBC Sports on Wednesday as the new race caller for the notoriously challenging Kentucky Derby and the two other races in the Triple Crown, replacing Tom Durkin, the longtime New York race caller who elected to step aside from the Triple Crown broadcasts as of this year.

Tue, 04/26/2011 - 15:56

Durkin steps down as Triple Crown announcer, citing stress

Barbara D. Livingston
Tom Durkin has called the last 30 Triple Crown races on network television.

Three days before last year’s Kentucky Derby, track announcer Tom Durkin found himself on a couch in a Louisville psychiatrist’s office getting hypnotized. Though he had called the world’s most famous horse race 13 previous times – nine for NBC Sports – Durkin was feeling stressed out.

“It’s always been stressful,” said Durkin, who was prescribed Inderal, a beta blocker, to deal with the anxiety.

Tue, 04/26/2011 - 15:23

Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation getting funds earmarked for special needs

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Thoroughbred owner Paul Saylor has designated that funds raised for the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation in his late daughter’s honor will go to horses with special needs, the foundation announced Tuesday.

According to the retirement foundation, the funds will be put toward caring for “specific horses requiring special or geriatric care,” including some removed from two of the foundation’s satellite farms in Oklahoma that critics alleged had neglected horses.