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Orb Will Be A Tremendous Underlay
Orb is great Orb is this and Orb that, c'mon people, the horse won in the goop. I've been handicapping races for a long long time and one of my steadfast rules is to not rate off track races unless it is the only race the horse has in its past performances, and if that is the case, do so with extreme reluctancy. Show More Summary
Lady Liberty, Redeemed
An essential part of Kentucky Derby winner Orb’s origin story is that he almost didn’t exist. His dam, Lady Liberty, seemed a subpar producer after three foals, only one a winner. Ogden Phipps wanted to sell. Others within Phipps Stable and Claiborne Farm believed in the Unbridled mare, and so Lady Liberty visited Malibu Moon. [...]
More Recent Preakness History
Chris Rossi looks at the three Preakness Stakes winners in the last 20 years who didn’t start in the Kentucky Derby and finds a few commonalities. Related: Recent Preakness history: How have Kentucky Derby winners and favorites fared in the second leg of the Triple Crown since 2001? See also: Paul Moran ponders jockey Eddie [...]
Have you been keeping up with The Racing Biz?
Have you been keeping up with The Racing Biz? If not — well, there’s no time like the present! Here’s what you’ll find there today: The Racing Biz, Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred, and the Maryland Horse Breeders Association have joined forces to give away two tickets to the Preakness — plus a $1,000 win wager on the … Continue reading »
Sporting
Bill Shanklin on the upcoming Orb vs. Departing Preakness Stakes: This refreshing scenario means that racing, at least in the eyes of the connections of Orb and Departing, is more of a sport, rather than a business, and the objective is to see who has the fastest horse on a given day … Orb worked [...]
The Consensus and the Contrarian
A week before the Preakness Stakes, the Baltimore Sun considers the question of why modern-day contenders in Triple Crown races may be slower than past generations. Thoro-Graph founder Jerry Brown disagrees that they are: Brown’s studies have found that track surfaces are significantly different than they were in the 1970s, with as much as an [...]
Keep ‘Em Going
Part two of the six-part series on drugs in racing by Ryan Goldberg for the TDN considers the current, not-so-pretty situation (PDF): It seems a trainer would have to be crazy to use illegal drugs when so many legal ones are at his disposal. Before the days of pharmacological drugs, the goal was to “hop [...]
The Unethical Report
Sometimes I miss the Thoroughbred Times, and not just for their reporting and analysis, but because TT staffers and contributors were some of the few in racing media who pushed back on the Paulick Report and its unethical aggregation practices. Since its launch in 2008, the Paulick Report has succeeded by publishing its own original [...]
Recent Preakness History
Preakness winners 2001-2012, where they finished in the Kentucky Derby, and their Preakness odds / Kentucky Derby winners, where they finished in the Preakness, and their Preakness odds / = Preakness post-time favorite About a dozen have been declared as likely starters in the Preakness Stakes, with seven plus Orb coming out of the [...]
Shug School
Andrew Beyer on the philosophy behind Orb’s Kentucky Derby win: The old school believes a trainer should not manage a horse to fulfill the personal ambitions of the owner or trainer. The old school believes a trainer should be guided by the development and the capabilities of the animal. The old school believes judicious handling [...]
Classic Orb
Kentucky Derby winner Orb is already on his way back to New York, where he may breeze once at Belmont Park before shipping to Pimlico early Preakness week. The colt was given a Beyer speed figure of 104 for his 2 1/2 length win over the sloppy Churchill Downs track — a nice jump forward [...]
Orb Comes From Behind to Win Kentucky Derby
(LOUISVILLE, Ky.) — Orb splashed through the slop to win the Kentucky Derby, giving Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey his first victory in the 3-year-old classic. (PHOTOS: The 139th Kentucky Derby, In Pictures) When the field turned...Show More Summary
The 139th Kentucky Derby, In Pictures
From the Churchill Downs pageantry to the fastest two minutes in sports, Kentucky Derby day infatuates America. Here are this year’s iconic moments.
Who’s Your Derby Pick?
A handy shortlist/chart of who likes who for the 2013 Kentucky Derby: Also handy, and great for parties: The Hello Race Fans Derby Cheat Sheet. Click on the links in the left column for more info on things like White’s Derby strikes system, which ranges from zero (no strikes) to four (a statistically bad bet), [...]
Obligatory Kentucky Derby Post
The Kentucky Derby, the most hyped 2 minutes in sports, goes off today, hosted by an organization that doesn't give a rats behind when it comes to growing horse racing. OK enough with the negativity truth, lets move on to my analysis. I have to stick to my handicapping guns. Show More Summary
2013 Kentucky Derby Selections and Cramming Session
Derby tomorrow?!? I'm practically still wearing mittens!When post positions were announced yesterday, I was rather dismayed - I only recognized a handful of names! Golden Soul?? Who's that? Am I truly supposed to recognize a horse who...Show More Summary
Mid-Atlanticers this Derby weekend, plus much more, at The Racing Biz
Here’s what you may have been missing if you’re not reading The Racing Biz… Looking for mid-Atlantic connections this Derby weekend? Sure, you are – and here they are! Nick Hahn remembers the last Virginia-bred to win a Triple Crown race, Colonial Affair. That was also the first — and to date only — time … Continue reading »
The Triple Crown Streak You Don’t Know
If this isn’t the foundation for a Vegas prop bet, it should be: Surprisingly, particularly given recent trends in the sport, even more rare is an outcome not witnessed once in the “modern era” of the spring classics: No Triple Crown since 1926 has seen nine different horses hit the board in the race’s three [...]
In Defense of Horse Racing
Sportswriters, op-ed scribes and cultural critics have been drafting horse racing‘s obituary for years. Attendance at U.S. tracks has plummeted to distressing, all-time lows. Drug problems — in both humans and horses — plague the industry. Show More Summary
#DerbyMediaProblems
Churchill Downs opened the Mansion to the press on Wednesday, giving turf writers who knew the sixth-floor space as the Joe Hirsch Media Center a chance to check out the open bar, modern art, and chandeliers that will be enjoyed by 320 Kentucky Derby-goers whose tickets — purchased for $7,500 to $12,000 apiece — guarantee [...]
