Tampa Bay Downs hosts its first Kentucky Derby points race Saturday with the1 1/16-mile Sam F. Davis Stakes. A springboard to the March 8th Tampa Bay Derby, the Sam F. Davis is also a solid first step toward a starting spot in the May 3rd Run For The Roses as it awards 20-10-6-4-2 qualifying points to the top 5 finishers. Here’s a brief look at … Continue reading Who Wins The Sam F. Davis Stakes?
The Road to the Kentucky Derby makes the first of three stops at Gulfstream Park Saturday with the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes. The race will offer 20 qualifying points to the Winner as top 3-year-olds compete to accumulate points and earn a place in the gate for the first Saturday in May. Inaugurated in 1990 as the Preview Stakes, the race was re-named in honor of … Continue reading Holy Bull !
The Road to the Kentucky Derby makes a stop in Arkansas on Saturday with the running of the million dollar, Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park. Aside from the $1 million purse, the contest will also award 20-10-6-4-2 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top five finishers. Last year’s Southwest Stakes Winner MYSTIK DAN used the race as a springboard on his way to Win the Run … Continue reading The Southwest Stakes
On Saturday Gulfstream Park will host the $3 million dollar Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes. The 1 1/8-mile dirt race has been a centerpiece of the winter season since it was rebranded in 2017. The contest annually brings together some of the best older dirt horses in training to compete. Here is a brief look at this year’s field: 1. MIXTO [ML 10-1] Jockey: Frankie Dettori. … Continue reading Who Wins The Pegasus?
Saturday is the Grade 3, $250,000 dollar Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds. The race is the second of four stops at the New Orleans venue on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. For a race that carried a mere $40,000 purse as recently as 1996, it’s impressive how quickly this contest has developed into an important stop on the Derby Trail. The race is named in honor of … Continue reading The Lecomte Stakes
The 2025 edition of the Pegasus World Cup Day at Gulfstream Park is Saturday, January 25th. The event is the winter season’s first truly monumental day of racing and wagering. Pegasus World Cup Day is one of the year’s premier days of Thoroughbred racing featuring a total seven Graded Stakes races with total purses of more than $5 million dollars. The feature race is the … Continue reading Pegasus World Cup
Prior to 2013 the traditional qualifying factor for horses wanting to participate in the Kentucky Derby was total Graded Stakes purse earnings- the more money an eligible horse Won, the increased chance of entering the starting gate. But beginning in 2013 Churchill Downs refined the classic earnings method in favor of a points based system which revamped the traditional prep races. These prep races were officially … Continue reading Ease On Down The Road (To The Kentucky Derby)
Happy New Year to all our fellow horseplayers Whether you make a living playing the horses or do it as a side-hustle the one resolution you should consider (if you haven’t already) is to work on being mentally strong. Being mentally strong sets apart the Winning horseplayer from the perpetual ticket-tearing loser. Here are five examples of a Winning mind-set. If you already adhere to … Continue reading Happy New (Winning) Year
If you weren’t aware, in two days it will be Friday, December 13th. This isn’t a holiday harbinger, rather just another reminder that horseplayers can be a superstitious group. The seasoned railbirds know that these unfounded beliefs have no basis in reality. That whatever the outcome, it can (usually) be explained away, yet they hang on to their sorcery believing it gives them an edge. … Continue reading Friday The 13th…Are you Superstitious?
The $500,000 dollar, Grade 2 Cigar Mile is Saturday at Aqueduct Park. It is the final Graded Stakes race of the year on the NYRA circuit. The one-turn mile brings together a couple different groups of horses: ones that usually run in sprints at a mile or less, and the others that often run in longer races around two turns. The Cigar Mile Handicap began in 1988 … Continue reading The Cigar Mile
