{Thursday, March 31, 2011} ONLY A HANDFUL OF TRUE DERBY CONTENDERS After watching and reviewing all the prep races for this year's Kentucky Derby, including several in person, I am convinced that there are only a handful of horses

{Tuesday, March 29, 2011} GRADED STAKES EARNINGS IN SPOTLIGHT Increasingly, as the May 7 Kentucky Derby nears, earnings in graded stakes races will become a focal point of attention, and that critical factor got ratcheted up several notches

{Monday, March 28, 2011} Twice the Appeal upsets Sunland Derby at 25-1 With $400,000 up for grabs to the winner of Sunday's $800,000 Sunland Derby (G3), a field of 11 sophomores lined up in the starting gate, each hoping to stamp his ticket

{Sunday, March 27, 2011} THE DERBY CONTENDERS: HOT, MEDIUM & MILD We are less than seven weeks away from the first Saturday in May and the picture is still fuzzy as to who will run for the roses in Louisville. After a careful Post Time

{Friday, March 25, 2011} SPIRAL STAKES CAN BEGIN OR END DERBY DREAMS Springtime, and the dreaming is easy. Horsemen have flocked to Turfway Park with the notion that if you can just sneak one in here Saturday by winning the Vinery Racing

{Thursday, March 24, 2011} FRIDAY AT FAIRGROUNDS Every great act deserves a decent warm-up. That’s the mindset of most racetracks in regard to their showcase events, and it’s why Fair Grounds has carded five $75,000 stakes on Friday, the day

{Tuesday, March 22, 2011} IS ELITE ALEX UNDER THE DERBY RADAR? In Robert Burns's poem, To a Mouse, the author notes 'the best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft a-gley [often go awry].' We shall hope, for Elite Alex's sake,

{Monday, March 21, 2011} PICKING UP DERBY MOMENTUM Don't look back, Uncle Mo. Something might be gaining on you. The reigning 2-year-old champ is heavily favored in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, and he'll likely head for Louisville

{Sunday, March 20, 2011} Hilda's Passion easily wins Inside Information in track-record time Starlight Partners and C.E. Glasscock's HILDA'S PASSION (Canadian Frontier) carried her speed to a facile victory in Saturday's $150,000 Inside

{Friday, March 18, 2011} REBEL STAKES PREVIEW Dips might be fun when riding a roller coaster, but when it comes to getting on a swaybacked racehorse, sometimes it's not much of a joy ride. 'I've ridden a couple that were so bad it felt

{Thursday, March 17, 2011} A DERBY TOP 10 It's all about Uncle Mo. Ranked at the top of this list since my first ranking on Jan. 2, the champion of the crop last year is still wearing that crown.

And it is firmly in place

{Sunday, March 13, 2011} Miss Match just edges Switch in Santa Margarita Matthew Cloros' MISS MATCH (Arg) (Indygo Shiner) entered Saturday's $300,000 Santa Margarita Invitational (G1) at Santa Anita already owning a Group 1 victory from

{Thursday, March 10, 2011} Brethren seeks to remain unbeaten in Tampa Bay Derby Juvenile colt champion Uncle Mo (Indian Charlie) was entered in Saturday's $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby (G2) as a precaution in case the Timely Writer

{Tuesday, March 08, 2011} WAITING ON UNCLE MO Along with everybody else, the New York Racing Association's racing department will be paying close attention to what Uncle Mo does this weekend, wherever he makes his 3-year-old debut. The connections

{Monday, March 07, 2011} STAY THIRSTY & THE BIG CAP Stay Thirsty ran well winning Saturday’s Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct. The Gotham was far from the strongest Kentucky Derby prep run so far this year, and with a preliminary

{Sunday, March 06, 2011} STAY THIRSTY ESCAPES UNCLE MO'S SHADOW While obviously happy to be his owner, Mike Repole was starting to get a little tired hearing and reading only about Uncle Mo. That’s because Repole is also the owner of Stay

{Friday, March 04, 2011} HANDICAPPING INSIGHTS With the winter we have had, it's hard to imagine that there is only nine weeks to the first Saturday in May with most of the major contenders only having one or two races before the Kentucky

{Thursday, March 03, 2011} STAY THIRSTY GETS CHANCE IN THE GOTHAM Stay Thirsty will try to step out of the shadow of his more heralded stablemate Uncle Mo and step onto the Triple Crown trail when he heads a field of nine entered to run in

{Tuesday, March 01, 2011} A BREATH OF SPRING AT AQUEDUCT Though it doesn’t officially arrive for more than two weeks, it will feel a lot like spring in New York this week. Post time at Aqueduct reverts back to 1 p.m. as racing resumes