Saturday is the $400,000 dollar, Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds. It will be the first race of the season to offer the Winner 50 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. The contest will award a total of 105 points on a 50-25-15-10-5 scale. The race was first held in 1973 as the Louisiana Derby Trial Stakes. In 1989, it was renamed in honor of Louisiana-based … Continue reading The Risen Star
There have been 18 prep races so far on the 2023-2024 Road to the Kentucky Derby. Saturday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs marks the halfway point as the thoroughbred needle moves toward the first Saturday in May. This Edition of the Sam F. Davis brings a full field of 12, led by WEST SARATOGA, Winner of the Grade 3 Iroquois Stakes back in September. AGATE … Continue reading Who Wins The Sam F. Davis?
The Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on Saturday is the lone Kentucky Derby prep race this weekend. Inaugurated in 1981, the Sam F. Davis (G3) needed more than twenty years to earn its place as a meaningful Road to the Kentucky Derby prep race. But since achieving a six-figure purse in 2004, the Sam F. Davis has steadily risen in prominence while … Continue reading The Sam F. Davis Stakes
Saturday is the Grade 3, $250,000 dollar Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park. It is is the first of three Derby preps at the Florida venue, and 20-10-6-4-2 qualifying points are available to the top five eligible finishers. The 1 1/16-mile Stakes features the 2024 debut of FIERCENESS, last year’s 2-year-old Champion and Winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Here is a look at the lineup for the … Continue reading Who Wins The Holy Bully Stakes?
At 4 feet 11 inches tall and 98 pounds, it didn’t look like Bill Shoemaker could walk a big dog, let alone control a head-strong Thoroughbred Race Horse a dozen times his weight. Still, Shoemaker personified that mysterious bond between horse and rider. He communicated with an innate light touch on the reins, coaxing the horse into the action, gentling it with his hands. Horses would always … Continue reading Bill Shoemaker
Kentucky Derby Champions GO FOR GIN (1994), FUNNY CIDE (2003), and BARBARO (2006) have something else in common… All three used the Holy Bull (G3) at Gulfstream Park as a steppingstone toward career-defining Wins in the Run For The Roses. So, even though it’s early in the prep-race season, it would be worth your (Derby handicapping) while to take note of this contest Saturday at … Continue reading Holy Bull !
On Monday trainer Bob Baffert announced that he has asked his attorneys to dismiss the appeal of the MEDINA SPIRIT disqualification from the 2021 Kentucky Derby. The dismissal would bring an end to over two and a half years of litigation and administrative proceedings dating back to May 2021. Baffert’s statement on Twitter read in-part: “I have instructed my attorneys to dismiss the appeal related … Continue reading Baffert Bails On Appeal
The Kentucky Derby is not only the most anticipated, most watched Thoroughbred race in the world but an essential part of American sports culture. Memories are made with each Run For The Roses that over the passage of time become legend, not only to day-to-day followers of horse racing but to the general public. While the most memorable Derbys usually involve a heavily-favored horse Winning and thus … Continue reading Kentucky Derby Upsets
This years Kentucky Derby is Saturday, May 4th. It is the 150th anniversary for the landmark event. So it stands to reason that this year’s milestone race will be the richest in the history of America’s greatest race. The 2024 Kentucky Derby purse has been elevated to a guaranteed $5 million. The substantial $2 million increase to the 1 ¼-mile race for for 3-year-olds highlights a … Continue reading Derby Purse Increases
We’re 8 days into 2024, and anticipation is already building for what’s to come this year in the wonderful world of horse racing. There will be plenty of exciting contests, memorable moments, and great times to be had at tracks all across the country. Everyone (even horseplayers) make New Year’s resolutions; some are more successful than others. The Daily Racing Blog won’t add any undue … Continue reading A 2024 Wish List
