This year's running of the Preakness Stakes is wide-open and lacks a clear-cut favorite. It might not be flashy, but it will be a great betting race on a great betting card at Pimlico. The 2019 Preakness should feature an evenly-matched 12-horse field that will not include either the actual Kentucky Derby winner, Maximum Security, or the DQ beneficiary who inherited the victory, Country House. The race seems primed for a better-priced winner this year, and should offer good value in the exotics if you can come up with the right horse.

Many of the horses in contention to win this…

To Those Who Say The Maximum Security DQ Was Correct – You Are RIGHT!To Those Who Say The Maximum Security DQ Was Incorrect – You Are RIGHT!Jim HurleyMonday, May 6

Both opposing positions are correct. How about that for taking a stand?

As you read my tongue wagging below, let me state for the record that regardless of the outcome, I had already discarded my losing Derby tickets. I had no, as they say, dog in the fight. Little could be done to salvage my Kentucky Derby wagering venture.

First let me state that there are two things which stood out during the…

LOVE THE ATTENTION TO RACING - REASONS COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER

John DaSilva<Monday, May 6

The 145th running of the Kentucky Derby no doubt will go down in history as the most memorable running of the Derby. While Maximum Security was very impressive when he finished first by 1 ¾ lengths over Country House, the actions after the race will go down in history as controversial and memorable.

First of all, Maximum Security was the best horse in the race. While handicapping the race and looking at the conditions heading into the day. Maximum Security just stood out as the horse to beat.…

The favorite has won the Kentucky Derby six years in a row, and that streak will be on the line when a full field of 20 3-year-olds takes to the track at Churchill Downs for the 145th Run for the Roses on Saturday, May 4.  This season, however, the real question will not be can the favorite win again? But rather, who will be the favorite at post time? Who deserves to be? The picture definitely did not get any clearer this week when morning line favorite Omaha…

Hank Goldberg – National Race MastersFriday, April 25

If you have only recently become a horse player, what I am going to talk about today might not be part of your method file. However, that does not mean that you should skip reading about this now abandoned but once locked-in-granite handicapping foundational blueprint players of a certain era once stood upon.

If you are a player who goes back more than a dozen or so years you will remember when less than a trio of 3-year old Derby preps was gospel and have clearly watched it crumble block by block since.

Now, since…

Triple Crown season is here again in the sport of Thoroughbred racing, and everyone who calls themselves a racing fan can't wait for the First Saturday in May.  While it's true that all horseplayers look forward to Kentucky Derby day, I think it's fair to say that few people wait for this day with quite as much anticipation as I do, probably because few handicappers have had the kind of success I have enjoyed in the Run for the Roses over the course of the past two decades as a public handicapper.  It's no secret there are always tons of…

With all the hub-bub in Thoroughbred racing focused on the upcoming Triple Crown, it can be easy to overlook that at the same time horseplayers are concentrating on the Kentucky Derby, the new season at Belmont Park is nearly here. The 2019 Belmont Park Spring/Summer meet opens on Friday, April 26 through closing day, Sunday, July 7. After months and months of Aqueduct, the New York circuit finally returns to Belmont Park and handicappers are more than ready for the move.

The biggest day of the Belmont meet, of course, will be the 151st running of the Belmont Stakes on Saturday,…

John Conte, National Race MastersThursday, 4/18

Every year more money is bet (by far) on the Kentucky Derby than any other North American horse race. It is no secret why. Literally millions of people who might bet horses three or four times a year seem to feel an obligation to bet this race. As though it is un-American if they don’t.

I can’t tell you how many people come up to me at an OTB, at the track, even on the street and want to discuss the Kentucky derby. I have to admit that every once in a while their questions might…

Jim HurleyThursday, April 18

Over the course of the next two plus weeks leading up to the 145th Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 4, I guarantee you that there will be occasions when you will hear pundits, bloggers and regular thoroughbred bettors in your orbit profess a similar line of thought.

It will go something like this.

“Did you see how well (fill in a name) has been closing in his prep races?He should love the extra distance of the Derby.”

Well, yes and no.

(Deep Closers Are A Liability As Kentucky Derby Winners)

There are dozens of attributes which a potential Kentucky Derby winner must…

Two of the Big 6 Kentucky Derby preps are down and there are still four more to go now as we truly head into crunch time in the quest to fill-up the starting gate for the 145th running of the Kentucky Derby, to be run four weeks from this weekend on Saturday, May 4.  This season even more than ever, these prep race results should prove super important because a standout or standouts have yet to emerge as the definitive horses to beat in this year's Run for the Roses.

The first pair of Big 6 preps to - the Louisiana…