{Tuesday, March 30, 2010} PICTURE PERFECT
by John Piesen  If I had a vote for Eclipse Photo, it would go to a fellow named Louis Hodges Jr. for his compelling page-one photo in Wednesday's editions of Daily

{Monday, March 29, 2010} EIGHT IN THE GATE In 2007 Todd Pletcher saddled five Kentucky Derby starters. Though none of them would wind up hitting the board, Pletcher was the main focus of attention in the week leading

{Sunday, March 28, 2010} Mission accomplished in Louisiana Derby Twin Creeks Racing Stables' MISSION IMPAZIBLE (Unbridled's Song) wore down the stubborn pacesetter A Little Warm (Stormin Fever) to capture Saturday's $750,000

{Friday, March 26, 2010} THE ELITE EIGHT Clearly, the man has no conscience. While trainer Todd Pletcher's Big Four of Eskendereya, Rule, Super Saver and Interactif take the weekend off, his Little Four will be in action

{Tuesday, March 23, 2010} A DANDY DOUBLE Never has a jockey accomplished so much with so little. The jockey of whom we speak is Jose Lezcano. The day was Saturday. The venue Gulfstream Park. They ran five stakes Saturday

{Sunday, March 21, 2010} Hot Dixie Chick scores sharp comeback win Hot Dixie Chick, an Eclipse Award finalist last year at 2, ran to her 1-5 odds on Saturday, when she easily won her first start in more than six months in the $60,000 Prima

{Friday, March 19, 2010} John's Gone 1-for-3 On Wednesday & Thursday...
And is ready for both Friday and a big Derby Prep day on Saturday! A NEW BALLGAME I must confess that Rule was a John Piesen

{Monday, March 15, 2010} RACHEL'S LOSS A SETBACK FOR HORSE RACING Rachel Alexandra lost Saturday, proving that even a queen can disappoint. A throng turned out to see the reigning Horse of the Year: People filled the Fair Grounds' grandstand

{Sunday, March 14, 2010} ZENYATTA ROLLS; RACHEL UPSET Zenyatta made a successful return to the races yesterday, winning the $250,000 Santa Margarita Handicap in Arcadia, Calif., by 1 1/4 lengths and extending her career victory streak to

{Thursday, March 11, 2010} Awesome Act still has plenty to prove in Wood Despite Awesome Act's visually impressive victory in Saturday's Grade 3 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct, his connections have not contracted too strong a case of Derby fever.

{Tuesday, March 09, 2010}   AN OSCAR FOR ALPHIE
by John Piesen  No disrespect to Andy Beyer, whom I consider second to Ray Kerrison as the best turf writer of our generation, but I often question the fascination with the Beyer

{Monday, March 08, 2010} Alphie's Bet Romps In Sham Trainer Alexis Barba and owners Ellen and Peter Johnson completed a sweep of the day's stakes races for 3-year-old males on Saturday at Santa Anita when Alphie's Bet, in his graded stakes

{Friday, March 05, 2010} CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN  Let's be honest here. This has not been a good week on the racing front, what with word that the mutuel handle was down double-digits nationally for February, that NYRA

{Thursday, March 04, 2010} Q&A WITH KEN MCPEEK Out of sight, out of mind. That's the way it is on the Kentucky Derby trail when 3-year-olds that win prep races are elevated to higher status and those

{Tuesday, March 02, 2010} ALL ABOUT LUCK
by John Piesen Today's column, boys and girls, is all about luck. Let me explain. First... They ran the Battaglia last Saturday at Turfway, and since the Sham

{Monday, March 01, 2010}  RACE FOR THE AGES COMING TOGETHER Exactly six weeks from today the "Race for the Ages" is supposed to take place at Oaklawn Park. Whether or not Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta meet in the Apple