Al Gold was on a family vacation in the Catskills in the summer of 1972 when he visited Monticello Raceway, a Standardbred track in that part of the upstate New York region.
“The place was packed – completely different from the way it is today – and it was enjoyable,” Gold said.
The following day, Gold was in the gym of the hotel his family was staying at when he overheard a conversation between two men discussing how a particular race was going to play out that night at Monticello.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Summer Is Tomorrow had a quiet Tuesday morning, walking at the quarantine barn that houses the international candidates for the Kentucky Derby a day after turning in his final breeze toward the race, and a day after drawing a post position that will make his early moves key in the run to the first turn.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Epicenter, no worse than second choice for the Kentucky Derby, galloped one mile just after the Churchill Downs track opened for training on a rainy Tuesday morning. The Louisiana Derby winner came out of a five-furlong workout Sunday in good shape and after tack-walking on Monday quickly returned to galloping, a good sign for his Derby chances.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Zandon drew post 10 and was made the 3-1 morning-line favorite, and Epicenter landed post 3 and was installed the second choice at 7-2, as a full field of 20, plus two also-eligibles, had posts assigned Monday afternoon at Churchill Downs for the 148th Kentucky Derby on Saturday.
Ron Winchell and David Fiske know what it’s like to see a young sire start from modest beginnings and raise his game in meteoric fashion. After all, the Winchell colorbearer Tapit entered stud for a $15,000 fee in 2005, and is now one of the nation’s perennial leading sires and influential classic sires.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – When the colt Justify came to the Kentucky Derby in 2018, one might have mistaken the racing pages for tales of classical mythology or reports on the late-60s space program.
“Apollo.” You couldn’t walk down the hall for a drink of water without hearing that name. It was 1882 when a colt named Apollo won the Kentucky Derby, and 136 years later he still was the only Derby winner who hadn’t raced as a 2-year-old.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The gang’s all here!
All 20 starters for this year’s Kentucky Derby were on the grounds before dawn Monday, with the final arrival of Florida Derby winner White Abarrio, whose long van ride from Gulfstream Park ended at the Churchill Downs stable gate at 4:30 a.m. He joined recent arrivals Messier and Taiba from Santa Anita, fellow Floridian Simplification, and Happy Jack, who vanned over from Keeneland on Sunday.
Eclipse Award champions Arrogate and Gun Runner were rivals on the racetrack, both taking their turn in the spotlight, with Arrogate starting a streak of momentous performances in the summer of their 3-year-old season, and Gun Runner nearly unbeatable from that fall onward – only defeated by Arrogate.
GEORGETOWN, Ky. – The paved road on which visitors make their entrance bisects paddocks that this time of year – having been fed by rain in preceding months – are a shade of green that make your eyes hurt. Inside those prominent paddocks are horses who won major stakes and millions of dollars. There are many horses like that here at Old Friends Farm, many too who weren’t famous at all.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Tim Yakteen had been to the Kentucky Derby before, back when he was an assistant trainer to Charlie Whittingham, but never before like this, with two top contenders who only came to his barn weeks ago owing to the suspension of six-time Derby-winning trainer Bob Baffert.
As would often happen in years past with Baffert upon his initial arrival here Derby Week, Yakteen was the center of attention on Monday morning in the Churchill Downs stable area, his first day here after Messier and Taiba arrived on Sunday from California.
