NEW YORK - Can War Emblem's bid for the Triple Crown rekindle general interest in racing for more than a day or two? That probably depends more on how long War Emblem sticks around after Saturday's Belmont Stakes than whether he actually wins the race.
The previous three racing seasons have featured a star 3-year-old who was supposed to be a magnet for the game, but all three stories had highly unsatisfying endings.
ELMONT, N.Y. - She's been there and done that.
The principal challenge for the fillies and mares who will line up here Saturday in the $150,000 Sheepshead Bay Handicap at a mile and three furlongs on the turf course is staying the trip.
Stamina seems to be in short supply today, but going long has never been a problem for Sweetest Thing. She has run in five stakes at a mile and a half, won twice, and was a close second the other three times.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Niall O'Callaghan's phone has been ringing off the hook lately, and it has nothing to do with the prospects of Lone Star Derby winner Wiseman's Ferry taking on War Emblem in the Belmont Stakes next weekend.
"I've had thousands of Irish people call me - well hundreds - to tell me what a big bunch of crybabies us Cork fellas are," said O'Callaghan, whose family hails from the southern Irish county.
ELMONT, N.Y, - Does Swept Overboard have distance limitations?
It is a pertinent question in the wake of his smashing victory here on Memorial Day in the $750,000 Metropolitan Handicap at one mile. Before the Met Mile, Swept Overboard, a 5-year-old gray by the Forty Niner stallion End Sweep, had never attempted more than seven furlongs and never won beyond 6 1/2. With a surge from off the pace, a style that has distinguished his top efforts in the past, he slammed an outstanding Metropolitan field, winning by almost five lengths and racing the mile in a spritely 1:33.34.
ELMONT, N.Y. - When Sunday Break was forced to miss the Kentucky Derby because of insufficient earnings in graded stakes, his people were disappointed. Chances are they feel differently now, in the wake of his impressive victory in Saturday's $200,000 Peter Pan for 3-year-olds.
ELMONT, N.Y. - For the better part of a century, racing's signature holiday program in New York has been the Memorial Day card that includes the Metropolitan Mile, and there have been some memorable moments.
Traffic Judge's victory over Dedicate was special and Gallant Man was brilliant in beating Bold Ruler. Gun Bow's win over Chieftain, Arts and Letters's score over Nodouble, and Forego's tally over Master Derby were spectacular in their way.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Under normal circumstances, Corey Nakatani would be looking forward to a big holiday card at Hollywood Park on Monday with Special Ring in the $500,000 Shoemaker Mile and Voodoo Dancer in the $500,000 Gamely Handicap.
But nothing has been particularly normal in the life of the 31-year-old jockey since the afternoon of May 2. That's the day Nakatani made it barely an eighth of a mile into the third race, a maiden claimer for 2-year-olds, before being drilled into the ground from atop a stumbling Whirlwind Trip.
NEW YORK - What are the chances that War Emblem will win the Belmont Stakes June 8 and become racing's 12th Triple Crown winner? You could argue that the historical likelihood is closer to either 15 percent or 50 percent, depending on how you choose to interpret the ambiguous history of Triple Crown bids in the 20th century.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - My oh my. Is that a prize-winning American Yorkshire hog tethered to the statue of George Woolf? Are those really Welsh Mountain Badger Faced sheep grazing in the far corner of the infield? And look, beneath the sculpted olive trees in the paddock gardens, can that be a pen full of Tennessee Fainting goats?
Afraid so, folks. Get ready for the Santa Anita Fair. If the California Racing Board rubber stamps the latest request from Magna Entertainment, the jewel of California racing will be magically transformed into Old MacDonald's Farm for