Features

Dream It Is, a 2-year-old daughter of Shackleford, announced her presence to the racing world in a big way last Friday, dominating Saratoga’s G3 Schuylerville Stakes by nine lengths. “To win by nine at Saratoga, you just don’t expect that,” said trainer Barbara Minshall, 60. “You don’t know that going in. We just went there […]

Typically this column features stories of Thoroughbreds and the after-the-track care they receive (and the lives they go on to lead) thanks to their committed caretakers. This, however, is a much different type of aftercare story, but one I think will resonate with readers just as much. This is not about Thoroughbreds, or even about […]

The 4-year-old chestnut Accelerate certainly outperformed expectations with his victory in Saturday’s Grade 2 San Diego Handicap. Already a winner at the G2 level and now an earner of $607,480, Accelerate placed third in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile last year, but few thought he had a chance against champion Arrogate. The gray son of […]

The highlight of this weekend’s graded stakes action is the return of champion Arrogate in the G2 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar on Saturday. The streaking gray son of Unbridled’s Song is racing for the first time since his Dubai World Cup victory in March, and looks to be on top of his game for […]

Overture earned her first graded stakes win when she went gate-to-wire in winning the G3 Indiana Oaks. While the Oaks was just the first graded stakes win for the 3-year-old daughter of Congrats, it was the 17th of the year for her jockey, Julien Leparoux. That places Leparoux in a tie for third with Jose […]

Last week on The Friday Show, we looked at five of the biggest challenges the Thoroughbred racing industry currently faces. This week, Scott Jagow and Ray Paulick examine trends that appear to be going in the right direction. What are some things in the racing business that are trending positive and should be capitalized upon? […]

What happens when you try in earnest to do the right thing for a horse you love, but something still goes wrong? Your attempt at finding him a soft spot to land when his racing career concludes turns to a desperate search for his whereabouts, due not to your own indifference for his well-being, but […]

The name “Victor Espinoza” has most of the racing community thinking of a certain Triple Crown-winning jockey. To anyone familiar with Brookdale Farm in Versailles, Ky., however, the name brings to mind a different individual. Brookdale’s Victor Espinoza epitomizes the spirit of Godolphin’s newest initiative, the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards. Intended to “to identify and […]

The European supersire Sadler’s Wells had a great weekend, both in Europe and in the States. Much of that success comes through the grand old stallion’s most influential son Galileo. Galileo’s son Gustav Klimt and daughter Clemmie won the Group 2 Superlative and G2 Duchess of Cambridge Stakes at Newmarket. Both are 2-year-olds with promise […]

The highlight of this Saturday’s racing action is the superstar filly Songbird, back in action in the G1 Delaware Handicap. A field of five other fillies and mares have lined up to challenge the champion daughter of Medaglia d’Oro, the most talented of which is G1 Ashland winner Weep No More. Earlier on the Delaware […]