Sharing with you my fascinating discoveries about Thoroughbred racing, sales, fashion, food, beverage, tips and more.
Thoroughbred U is sharing with you its ponderings on the Preakness. This Saturday, May 21, 2022, is the 147th edition of the Preakness Stakes! Prepare to compare the fine nine contenders.
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The race, 148 years in the making, is upon us! The Run For The Roses, the $3 Million, Woodford Reserve, Grade I, Kentucky Derby is set for Saturday. Twenty contenders have been awarded entry, while only one will win. Don’t miss these details and the Kentucky Derby developments.
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Get pumped up for the Pegasus! This Saturday, is the 3rd annual Pegasus World Cup Invitational. It is a race card that you won’t want to miss. 9 stakes races on a card of 12 offer huge purses of over $16 million dollars. These are the richest races in North America. Who will win the prized Pegasus?
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Are you ready for The World’s Richest Race? Don’t despair. Read on and I’ll break it down and make it real simple for you. This is your portal to The Pegasus World Cup.
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The cream of the crop have been crowned! The 2017 edition of the Eclipse Awards was held tonight, 1/25/18. There was a most deserving horse selected in all equine categories. Read on to learn how your favorite athlete’s performance on the track led to the most prestigious award in North American Thoroughbred racing.
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Although it seems we have only just begun, Keeneland initiates its final week of the Fall meet today. The meet is brief but jam packed with quality racing. Thoroughbreds took to the track for live racing on October 7th and will continue to race there until the 28th. I will be present for the final two days of action. There have been several stand out horses, trainers, jockeys and owners involved in this October racing season. I met and had my picture made with one of my long time favorite jockeys, Big Money Mike Smith. A stand out trainer I have been following this Fall, at Keeneland, is Steve Asmussen.
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Though only a sparse seven sophomores dare to try, each contender for the Haskell Invitational Stakes has already achieved graded stakes success. A 1st place finish in this race secures a nice purse, a stunning trophy and an automatic berth into the Breeders’ Cup Classic. The 50th running of the Haskell is going to be sensational!
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Good morning, racing fans! The action never stops. Last weekend was a wrap for the Triple Crown series. Congratulations to Tapwrit for winning the Belmont Stakes. Now, we can turn our attention towards the collecting of contenders for the next Breeders’ Cup World Championships as the Challenge Series is underway.
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Wake up sleepy heads! It is well worth being an early riser today. The Dubai World Cup (DWC) card starts at 7:45 A.M. EST on Saturday, 3/25/17! California Chrome represented the United States well last year when he romped in the DWC. Will Arrogate win for America in this year’s race? Which Thoroughbred will pick up 100 points on the road to the Kentucky Derby in the UAE Derby? The “richest day in racing” carries $30 million dollars in prize money and features 9 Group 1 and 2 races. This day of racing is every bit as delightful for me as my love for the University of Kentucky Wildcats is at NCAA tournament time. In Meydan today, we have March Madness!
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Mr. Z, above, lovable and yet a bit of a nibbler. In the D. Wayne Lukas stable in June, 2015. The benefit is worth the risk if you are lucky enough to meet him.
Happy Thanksgiving! I have so much to be thankful for this year and the blessings will keep coming. Churchill Downs has a very nice closing weekend lined up for us. 11/24-11/27 brings 4 days of racing with 7 nice stakes including the Grade 1 Clark Handicap!
Mr. Z, above, in the Ack-Ack Handicap in October, 2016.
The Clark Handicap is one of America’s older races. Occurring annually in the Fall, at Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY, this year’s addition takes place on Friday, 11/25/16. The race is named for the founder of the Louisville Jockey Club, Colonel M. Lewis Clark. The Louisville Jockey Club built much of Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby. The 142nd running of the Clark Handicap is a dirt race of 1 and 1/8 miles (9 furlongs) for horses age 3 or older. The purse is $500,000. The Clark Handicap will post at 6:24 p.m. EST. We will be treated to a field of 10 horses on a card of 12 races. The competition is as follows by post, horse, jockey,trainer and morning line odds :
There are a lot of big talent horses in this race and a few more obscure Thoroughbreds as well. Any horse will be lucky to win but historically some Clark winners have really clinched the title and hit it twice. Hodge won in 1915 and 1916. Bold Favorite was 1st in both 1968 and 1969 and Bob’s Dusty won in 1977 and again in 1978. Hoppertunity and Effinex will both have the chance to win their second Clark Handicap in tomorrow’s race. Looking to the trainers, Bob Baffert will have a chance to win his 4th Clark Handicap, which would make him the trainer with the most wins. Currently, Ben Jones, Smiley Adams and Bob Baffert have all won the Clark thrice.
Mr. Z, above in the Hagyard Fayette Stakes in October 2016.
Gun Runner is the KY bred colt of Candy Ride and Quiet Giant. He is 3 years old. Gun Runner has won 5 of his 11 career starts. He is experienced at Churchill Downs and was 3rd in the 2016 KY Derby.
Effinex is the 5 year old son of Mineshaft and What a Pear. Bred in NY, he has won 9 of his 27 races. His only race at Churchill has been the Clark Handicap in which he dominated in 2015. He had a surprisingly late finish in the BC Classic this year. Can he win the Clark again?
Are You Kidding Me is a KY bred 6 year-old. He was born to Run Away and Hide and Sweet Awakening. He has won 9 of 31 races and holds the 2015 Sovereign Award for Champion Older Horse. He has primarily raced at Woodbine but he finished 5th at Churchill in the Stephen Foster Handicap this past June.
Shaman Ghost has not raced in 3 months. He had to scratch from the Breeders’ Cup Classic due to a brief illness. He is a ON bred colt by Ghostzapper and Getback Time. Shaman Ghost is trained by Jerkens, winner of the 2015 Clark. He has won half of his 12 starts and he holds the Sovereign Award for 2015 Champion 3 year Old Colt.
Hawaakom is a 6 year-old KY bred gelding born to Jazil and Nafisah. Hawaakom has won 7 of his 30 career starts. He has experience at Churchill, including a second place finish in the Lukas Classic in October.
Noble Bird is trained by Casse and I have had the extreme pleasure of visiting this KY bred horse while he was stabled at Keeneland. This 5 year old colt is sired by Birdstone. His dam is Anyhow. Noble Bird’s jockey, Leparoux, won the Clark in 2008 with Einstein. Noble Bird has won 7 of 19 starts. He frequents both Keeneland and Churchill. He won stakes races at both in October.
Breaking Lucky is another ON bred colt. He is the 4 year-old son of Lookin At Lucky and Shooting Party. He has won 3 of 15 career starts. His last time out was his only Churchill race where he finished 8th in the Lukas Classic.
Mr. Z is the KY bred 4 year-old colt of Malibu Moon and Stormy Bear. He has had 22 career starts including two Breeders’ Cup entries. Mr. Z broke his maiden in his first race, that was at Churchill Downs in 2014. He also won the Ohio Derby. He is clearly my favorite horse in this race and trained by my favorite trainer, D. Wayne Lukas. If Lukas wins this race and Baffert does not, it would put Lukas in as one of the few 3 time Clark winning trainers. Lukas won the 2013 Clark with Will Take Charge.
Hoppertunity won the Clark in 2014 and finished second in 2015. He is a KY bred horse by Any Given Saturday and Refugee. Hoppertunity has won 6 of 23 starts. He recently finished 4th in the BC Classic. Is it his turn to clinch a second Clark?
Prayer for Relief is the oldest horse in the race at 8 years-old. He is a KY bred horse by Jump Start and Sparklin Lil. He has raced an amazing 44 times with 8 wins. He raced in the Clark Handicap in 2011, 2013 and 2014. It must be a favorite race for him by now. His trainer, Romans, won with Shackleford in 2012.
Mr. Z, above, in the paddock before the 2016 Ack-Ack at Churchill Downs.
I hope everyone has plenty of blessings that they can be thankful for today. Enjoy your family, friends, lots of food and the last live races at Churchill Downs of 2016. I’ll be rooting for Mr. Z. I enjoy watching some of the more experienced horses in the game taking another shot at a nice stakes race. Happy Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for all of my readers and the support you have shown me. Thank you!Share This: