Secretariat Archives - Page 4 of 4

August 5, 2015

Saratoga’s Sweet Summer

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Saratoga is having a big summer! I won’t be able to make it there myself, but our regularly contributing handicapper friend did. He spent the end of the week and last weekend visiting and got us some great pictures. Saratoga is the place to be for Thoroughbred racing right now.

Saratoga Race Course was established in 1864 in Saratoga Springs, New York. It had its first race over 150 years ago. Today, 8/5, the city of Saratoga Springs will celebrate its Centennial. The city was founded in 1915. The Saratoga Sales, put on at Fasig-Tipton, will take place in Saratoga Springs on August 10th and 11th. This Saratoga race course meet started on July 24th, with live racing, and will remain open through September 7th. Above we see a welcoming sign and the backyard where Saratoga’s sweet summer is savoured. The race course motto is, “Health, history and horses”. The racetrack is located on 350 acres of land. The main track is 1 and 1/8th mile. The turf track is 1 mile in length. Other smaller courses are located throughout. In the many stables, there are over 1,800 stalls. The facility can hold about 70 thousand fans but the record attendance has exceeded that. The largest one day handle was over 10 million dollars. That was on Travers Day in 2003 which brings us to yesterday’s big news. American Pharoah’s next race will be the grade 1 Travers Stakes on August 29th!

AmericanPharoah just won his 8th straight graded Stakes race while at Monmouth Park in New Jersey this past weekend. He easily beat out Keen Ice in the grade 1 William Hill Haskell Invitational Stakes on Sunday, 8/2. Keen Ice riden by Kent Desormeoux and trained by Dale Romans put in a great effort. Keen Ice was 7th in the KY Derby and 3rd in the Belmont is showing improvement. That race gave the park a record crowd of over 60 thousand fans. Meanwhile, over 3 million viewers tuned in to television to watch the live race on NBC. The plan is to race American Pharoah in the Breeders Cup in October at Keeneland in Lexington, KY. We are all waiting on pins and needles to see where he goes next, in the meantime. For now, we know he made it safely back to Del Mar in California and he will make his Saratoga debut later this month in the Travers.

Back in Saratoga last week, Thursday was a bit wet and the live racing that day included the John Morrissey won by Moonlight Song with Jose Ortiz riding. Friday Saturday and Sunday featured some big races too but those weren’t limited to just the horses. There were several activities to raise money for the Permanently Disabled Jockey Fund and one of those events was a jockey foot race. Above, see a photo of the gates being loaded for a soggy Thursday race and a shot of the jockeys running.

When the fans weren’t watching PDJF events or Thoroughbred racing they could check the Walk of Fame. Above we see a display for Angel Cordero, Jr. and D. Wayne Lukas. Cordero was born May 8, 1942 in Puerto Rico. He had over 7 thousand career wins as a jockey. He won 3 Kentucky Derby races, 2 Preakness Stakes, 1 Belmont Stakes and 4 Breeders’ Cup races in addition to many other graded stakes. He has 3 Eclipse Awards, he is a member of the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame, he was the leading rider at Saratoga for 13 years and he was the jockey for Triple Crown winning Seattle Slew when Cordero had his best ride ever in the 1978 Marlboro Cup Handicap. I have had a lot of good things to say about D. Wayne Lukas before and I met him in June and covered that in my post Birthday, Breezing, Betting and Backside. I also met several of his horses that day too. One was Hillbilly Style who ran 2nd in a claiming race at Saratoga this weekend. Lukas also took the stage in the finale of the jockey karaoke fundraiser for the PDJF this weekend. He will have another entry in at Saratoga on 8/7 in a maiden special weight allowance optional claiming race. Lukas is a top trainer and top class in my book.

So, what about those big races at Saratoga last weekend? Well, Texas Red beat out Frosted in the grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes seen in the two pics above. Texas Red was riden by Kent Desormeaux and trained by the jockey’s brother. He is looking like a fine runner and has placed in multiple graded stakes including a win in the Sentient Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in 2014 and ranked 16th in earnings that year. Frosted, sired by Tapit, a descendant of Secretariat, riden by Joel Rosario and trained by Kiaren McLaughlin has a fine racing history as well with a win in the grade 1 Wood Memorial Stakes, 4th in the KY Derby and 2nd in the Belmont Stakes. Not pictured, but I must mention, Rachel’s Valentina’s win in the Maiden Special Weight at Saratoga too. I am excited about this Todd Pletcher trained and Joel Velazquez riden daughter of Rachel Alexandra. Rachel Alexandra won the Kentucky Oaks, Mother Goose and Haskell in 2009. She was an amazing runner in her day. I hope her little girl does as well. Her sire, Bernardini swept the Preakness, Jim Dandy and Jockey Club Gold Cup in 2006 with a 2nd place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic that year too. Another big filly win at Saratoga this past weekend went to Stopchargingmaria over Untapable in the grade 3 Shuvee Handicap. Stopchargingmaria won the Black-Eyed Susan, Alabama Stakes and the Coaching Club of American Oaks last year. Untapable has an Eclipse Award and a win in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff as well as a win in the Kentucky Oaks and Mother Goose. That was quite a showdown of great fillies.

I wish to extend thanks to our friend and tipster with the photos. I hope someone wants to share some info on the Saratoga Sale and other fine races ahead. Tapit has yearlings for sale with hips 24, 34, 51, 70, 160, 177, and 182. The Tapit filly at Fasig-Tipton’s July Sale brought in the most money. I hope you all enjoyed this peek at Saratoga as much as I did. Have a great week!

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July 31, 2015August 4, 2015

Horse Park Happenings

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Time flies! I can’t believe it has almost been a week since I spent a day at the world famous Kentucky Horse Park. On July 25th the park hosted Hats Off Day to salute Kentucky’s Horse Industry and to benefit the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation and the Kentucky Equine Humane Center. Both are fantastic charities.

The KY Horse Park was built in Lexington, KY in 1978. The park is both a horse farm and an educational facility. Many competitions take place here as well. I arrived at lunch and had a nice picnic taking in the views of the last of the white fences. I have fond childhood memories of visiting and even camping at the park. It has always had endless looking acres of white fences with lush green grass and horses everywhere. About 18,000 horses visit the park annually and some live here permanently. Very recently the decision was made to start painting the fences black as the white paint is too expensive to maintain. I could see some of the new fence work in place. It seems a little sad.

After lunch, I began photographing the beautiful statues and plaques in place to honor some of the most famous Thoroughbreds. I also toured some barns and the museum. I could write all year about the things I saw here but a picture is worth a thousand words. Here are some Secretariat pics.

Also, some nice Man O’ War photos.

I got some Alysheba and John Henry pics too.

Then, I saw my favorite part of the day! My parents said it was like taking me to Disneyland. We saw the Hall of Champions featuring Funny Cide, Go For Gin and Da Hoss. The KY Horse Park is the only home of 2 live Kentucky Derby winners. Funny Cide won both the 2003 KY Derby and Preakness as well as an Eclipse Award that same year. Go For Gin won the KY Derby in 1994 and ran 2nd in both other parts of the Triple Crown in 1994 too. He is the oldest living KY Derby winner. Da Hoss won the 1996 and 1998 Breeders’ Cup Mile. I got to see each of theses beauties in the barn and the show presentation.

I had such a great trip last weekend. There was some great racing going on this weekend. Saratoga, in New York, featured several graded stakes including the Grade 1 Diana and Grade 1 Coaching Club of American Oaks. Go For Gin showed 3rd at Saratoga in the Forego in 1994. Forego lived in Funny Cide’s stall until he passed away in 1997. Forego won 8 Eclipse Awards. Funny Cide has a Saratoga race named for him that will take place August 28, 2015. Da Hoss finished 1st place in the Fourstardave Stakes at Saratoga in 1996. The race I am most excited about is this Sunday, 8/2/15, at Monmouth Park, in New Jersey. It is the first time our Triple Crown winner, American Pharoah will race since he won the Belmont Stakes. The race he will be in is the $1.75 Million William Hill Haskell Invitational. Funny Cide showed 3rd in this same race back in 2003. For sure there will be great Thoroughbreds making history this weekend that will someday be memorialized or perhaps even come to live at The Kentucky Horse Park!

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June 27, 2015June 27, 2015

Mother Goose

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I am horsing around today for sure. I got an early start this morning at the Thoroughbred Center watching the horses breeze and petting them and a barn cat. Tonight, I am attending Downs After Dark at Churchill Downs for some live racing, including some graded stakes. In between, I am watching the Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park. It is a busy day for this blogger and I will share some trip photos and stories later but now let’s focus on the Mother Goose Stakes.

The Thoroughbred Center

Downs after Dark

The Mother Goose Stakes started in 1957 and was named for Mother Goose, herself. She had the distinction of being the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Futurity in 1924. The Grade 1 stakes race is 1 and 1/16 miles on dirt. It is currently held at Belmont Park in New York, where we recently saw American Pharoah win the Triple Crown. The Mother Goose is for 3 year old fillies. The purse is $300,000. At different periods, in our nation’s history, this race has been considered part of the filly triple crown or triple tiara. The other legs were usually the Acorn and the Coaching Club American Oaks. Those two races and the Alabama Stakes are currently considered the New York Triple Tiara. The fastest and largest margin to win the Mother Goose was Rachel Alexandra. She also won the Kentucky Oaks and the Preakness. She holds the record for the largest win at the Kentucky Oaks too. She was the first filly to win the Preakness in 85 years. She has the record for speed at the Mother Goose and was less than a second from Secretariat’s speed record. Tonight at 5:28 pm, the Mother Goose Stakes will be race 9 at Belmont. The Acorn and Coaching Club American Oaks won’t take place until late July and August. It has only been 3 weeks since the Acorn. Curalina won the Acorn Stakes and she will not be participating in the Mother Goose. In fact, only one horse in this stakes race was entered at the Acorn. The 10 featured horses are:

Embellish the Lace
Include Betty
Hot City Girl
Munasara
Chide
Pleasant Tales
Money’soncharlotte
Danessa Deluxe
Eskenformoney
Wondergal

Embellish the Line won both of her 2 starts this year. This will be her 1st stakes race. Include Betty came in 8th at the Kentucky Oaks and 2nd in the Black-Eyed Susan stakes. She is the horse with the experience to win this, having 9 career starts including 4 graded stakes, 1 of which she won. Hot City Girl is one of only 2 New York bred horses in this race, the rest are from Kentucky. She has 7 starts but just 1 win, back in January, and none of her races have been graded stakes. Munasara is my favorite. She is undefeated but she has had just 2 entries. The last win was at Belmont Park. I like her tainer Kiaran McLaughlin and her jockey John Velazquez. Her jockey won the Mother Goose last year on American Champion 3 Year Old, Untapable. Chide has won 2 of her 3 starts. Her last two races were at Churchill Downs. Pleasant Tales has been in a total of 4 races at Churchill, of her 8 starts, and she won her last race there. Moneysoncharlotte came in lucky 13 in the Kentucky Oaks. That was her last race of 7 career starts. Danessa Deluxe was 4th in the Black-Eyed Susan when she had John Velazquez for a jockey. Tonight, Manuel Franco will ride her. She has not won in 2015 but she has 7 lifetime starts, with the last 3 being graded stakes. Eskenformoney came in 10th in the Kentucky Oaks. She has had 10 starts with 3 of them being graded. In those graded stakes she was third and then 2nd before her Kentucky Oaks race. Finally, Wondergal is considered the favorite. She is the other New York filly. She was 3rd in the Acorn as well as the 14 Hands Winery Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies race. 5 of her 6 starts were graded stakes.

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June 16, 2015June 22, 2015

Chromies Will Miss Out On Crown Again

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Before American Pharoah took home the much anticipated Triple Crown in 2015, there was another California horse that tried his best to do so last year. The 2014 Horse of the Year, California Chrome, came in 1st in both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes only to find disappointment in the Belmont Stakes, when he ran 4th place. His loyal fans, lovingly called the California Chromies, didn’t lose faith. California Chrome continues to race very well and he was going to run in the Royal Ascot’s Prince of Wales Stakes tomorrow, Wednesday, June 17th, 2015 until a foot bruise that showed up on Monday resulted in an abscess. The Royal Ascot was started by the British monarchy and continues to be attended by the Royal Family annually. Queen Elizabeth II is said to be a Chromie herself. It is a shame that now we won’t know if California Chrome has what it takes to win a royal race and he will miss this crowning moment.

California Chrome is a 4 year old chestnut colt, with white markings, bred and born in California. He came into this world on February 18, 2011 as the foal of Lucky Pulpit, his sire and Love the Chase, his dam. His sire, from Kentucky, placed in multiple graded stakes. His dam came from Maryland and only had 1 win in 6 lifetime starts. Both parents had reported breathing issues. People made fun of breeders and owners Perry Martin and Steve Coburn for this breeding choice and the men turned the bullying around choosing to name themselves DAP for Dumb A## Partners and appropriately putting those initials and a donkey on their purple silks. The white markings on a horse can be called chrome. That gave rise to the horses name. He ran his 1st race in April of 2013 at Hollywood Park where he placed second with Alberto Delgado as his jockey. California Chrome had an amazing career in 2014. He won the 1st two legs of the Triple Crown but getting stepped on, at the Belmont Stakes, he injured his heel and that may have been what cost him the race. That did not stop him though. He went on to run 6th in the Pennsylvania Derby, then 3rd in the Breeder’s Cup Classic, followed by a win in the Hollywood Derby. That year he ranked 2nd in earnings and 46th in wins. He ran with the now Triple Crown winning jockey, Victor Espinoza in most of 2014 and early 2015. In addition to the Eclipse American Horse of the Year title he also won American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse. The Kentucky Derby win was called the National Thoroughbred Racing Association’s Moment of the Year. He also obtained the Secretariat Vox Populi Award. This year he has ran 2nd in both the San Antonio Stakes and the prestigious Dubai World Cup. After the missed Royal Ascot race he will return to the United States to race more and try for contention in the 2015 Breeders’ Cup. He has a few more races to get in before 2015 wraps when he is expected to retire to stud in Kentucky.

The Royal Ascot was founded by Queen Anne in 1711. It takes place in Ascot, at a race course of the same name, located in Berkshire, England just a few miles from Windsor Castle. The event lasts 5 days, Tuesday (today) thru Saturday. Over 300,000 visitors are expected to attend. The Prince of Wales Stakes , created in 1862 for King Edward VII, is a Group 1 turf race of 1 mile and 2 furlongs. There will be 30 races in all. California Chrome was to be the most anticipated horse. The overall purse for the event is 5.5 million pounds.

It is rumored that Perry Martin, being the 70% owner of California Chrome, had pushed to enter this race. Trainers Art and Alan Sherman, a father and son team, were not fans of this choice. California Chrome has only ran 1 turf race prior, he did win that race but also the surface is a lot choppier at Ascot.

If California Chrome had raced in England he would have used jockey William Buick. Buick won the Prince of Wales Stakes last year riding The Fugue. Jockey, Buick, has had major wins in 7 countries including the United States where he won the Arlington Million with Debussy in 2010.

I have been preparing for this post for over a week and it is a shame it has now taken such a different direction. I was very excited, hoping to see California Chrome compete on an international level. Most importantly, I pray the wound heals quickly and we can get our beloved champ home to race a little bit longer and win a few more big races. I would love to see him run in the Breeders’ Cup in Lexington, KY this October and then have him stick around for his retirement thereafter. This Chromie won’t give up on hope!

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June 6, 2015June 22, 2015

Pharoah’s Crown?

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I am six months in on blogging now and I must say this is the most excited I have been for a race thus far. It is time for The Test Of The Champion, The Run For The Carnations, The Triple Crown, The Belmont Stakes! I’m literally waiting on pins and needles to see if we finally have a Triple Crown winner.

The field of 8 horses is strong but I really just want to see American Pharoah win. Not since Affirmed won it all in 1978, have we had a new champ to add to the list of only 11 horses to win all three parts of the triple crown; The Kentucky Derby, The Preakness Stakes and The Belmont Stakes. The horses who have won it all include Sir Barton, Gallant Fox, Omaha, War Admiral, Whirlaway, Count Fleet, Assault, Citation, Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Affirmed. Secretariat holds the record at 2:24.

The Belmont Stakes race is the 147th running for 3 year olds of 1 and 1/2 miles on dirt. It is a Grade 1 race with a purse of 1.5 million dollars. The race is named for 19th century banker and 1st president of The Jockey Club, August Belmont Sr. The Belmont was 1st held in 1867 making it the oldest leg of the Triple Crown. The location of the race has varied but there is a 200 year old white pine in the paddock, at Belmont Park, that marks the original location and it is now held annually at this track in Elmont, New York. The race will take place at 6:50 P.M. EST today, June 6, 2015. The event is a to p attended Thoroughbred race in North America and holds high television viewing as well. It can be seen live on NBC.

In terms of traditions this race too has a song, a drink, a blanket, and a trophy. The song has been changed a few times over the years. Some think all the changes have brought on bad luck but currently they play the theme from “New York, New York”.

The drink has changed too. It used to be the White Carnation, then the Belmont Breeze and now it is the Belmont Jewel. Get the recipe here: Belmont Jewel. The blanket is the same. It is made of 700 white carnations glued to 7 yards of green velvet. The flower represents luck and love. It takes 5 hours to construct this blanket. Personally, I think there should be a real crown too. Perhaps, made of carnations, for the horse, if it is a Triple Crown winner. The trophy is the August Belmont Memorial Cup made by Tiffany and Co. The winning owner gets to keep it for a year. It is silver with a representation of 1869 winner Fenian on top. On the bottom are Herod, Eclipse and Matchem, the grandsons of the original Thoroughbreds; The Byerly Turk, the Darley Arabian and the Godolphin Barb. The owner, jockey and trainer of the winner get to each keep a mini version too.

Only 8 horses are racing to win the Belmont Stakes. Just American Pharoah can compete for the Triple Crown based on his past 2 wins. See what we knew about these horses going into each leg here Derby Dreaming and Preakness Planning. This is our field now:

Mubtaahij
Tale of Verve
Madefromlucky
Frammento
American Pharoah
Frosted
Keen Ice
Materiality

Mubtaahij won the United Arab Emirates Derby which is huge but then he just ran 8th in the Kentucky Derby and skipped the Preakness altogether. Supposedly, the surface at the Belmont will be more his preference than at Churchill. He has got in 6 workouts at Belmont and had more time to adjust to the environment at that track. His best hope is probably that he has Irad Ortiz for his jockey. Ortiz was 2014 leading New York rider. His odds are right about middle 5th off the best end, 4th off the worst. Tale of Verve did not qualify for the KY Derby but popped into the Preakness as the long shot and fetched 2nd place. He only has one win to his name which he got at Keeneland. It might have been the muddy field that helped him out at the Preakness. His current odds have him tied for 2nd to being the long shot once again. Madefromlucky is one of two Todd Pletcher owned horses in this race. He did not participate in either of the 1st two legs of the crown. He did, however, just win at Belmont in the G2 Peter Pan Stakes less than a month ago. His odds are slightly better than Mubtaahij. Frammento ran 11th in the KY Derby, he did not run in the Preakness. He has not raced since the KY Derby and has not won a race this year. He is the long shot for this race. He has only won one time ever and that was at Keeneland last October. American Pharoah…what needs to be said? He won the KY Derby by a length and the Preakness by 7 lengths. In 6 of 7 races he has ran at speeds of 100 or better. The talk is that he appears to be gaining weight and showed no signs of wearing out in his 2 workouts since his Preakness win. He drew a good post position too. My fingers are crossed that he will be our Triple Crown winner. Frosted is the biggest threat. He has the 2nd best odds and I fear he is the major challenger. He had throat surgery that really seemed to help him out. Competing against American Pharoah is about speed and this guy has it. In the G1 Wood Memorial Frosted came in first with a speed of 103. He came in 4th in the KY Derby, clocked at 100. He did not run the Preakness. He has placed at Belmont before. Keen Ice has only one win in 8 starts. He is tied 2nd for worse odds. He came in 7th at the KY Derby and then skipped the Preakness. One advantage, not to discount, is he does have Curlin for his sire. Last but not least, Materiality is ranked with the 3rd best odds. This is our other big threat. He is another Pletcher horse. He ran 6th in the KY Derby and skipped the Preakness. He is a speed horse. Materiality won all 3 off his other races. 2 at speeds of 102 and the G1 Florida Derby at 110.

So what will it take to stop American Pharoah from winning? 13 horses since Affirmed have come into the Belmont with wins in the first 2 legs to lose in the Belmont. The reasons ranged from a safety pin in the foot, a few losses by a nose, a couple of un-explainables, one didn’t take his Lasix, a couple of leg injuries, tumbling at the start, a sloppy track, too much congestion, fatigue, distance and one jockey flat out stopped a horse whom the vets said had no injuries. Anything can happen!

It is all luck and talent from here. Good luck American Pharoah, I hope you get your crown!

Update: My dreams came true. American Pharoah won the Belmont stakes and thus is our 1st Triple Crown winner in 37 years. Frosted placed 2nd, followed by Keen Ice at 3rd and finally Mubtaahij at 4th.

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February 2, 2015June 22, 2015

Like Super Bowl For Thoroughbreds

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Super Bowl 2015 is now just a fading memory. All of those weeks spent cheering on the best teams in professional football came to an end last night. It was the most-watched American television program of all time, with 114.4 million viewers. Thank goodness, our four legged 3 year old athletes are hard at it now, preparing for what we can only hope for, a Triple Crown victory.

Currently, we are 16 races in on determining who will compete in the Kentucky Derby. The Triple Crown is comprised of the Kentucky Derby, The Preakness Stakes, and The Belmont Stakes. The “Test of the Champion” race will take place on June 6, 2015. The last horse to win the Triple Crown was Affirmed in 1978. There were 10 other prior winners, the first horse won in 1919. 22 other horses have won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, and 29 horse have won 2 of the 3 races. Secretariat won all 3 races in 1973. He holds the world record for the fastest 1 and 1/2 mile dirt race at 2 minutes and 24 seconds, which he earned while winning the Triple Crown. The highest TV rating for The Belmont Stakes was 21.9 million viewers in 2004.

The Kentucky Derby will be run on May 2, 2015. It is a dirt race of 10 furlongs (1 and 1/4 mile). The “Run for the Roses” began in 1875. The winning horse is blanketed in red roses at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Only 20 horses will qualify to run this race. These horses are three year olds that earned the highest point value in the 35 preceding qualified races. The first of theses races was held September 6, 2014. It was the Iroquois Stakes, a Grade 3, race on dirt and 1 and 1/16 miles. That race originated in 1976 and is run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY. LuckyPlayer won the race. He is a colt trained by Steven M. Asmussen, riden by Ricardo Santa Jr. and owned by Jerry Durant. His sire was Lookin at Lucky and his dam was Janetstickettocats by Stormcat. My tip: when all else doesn’t work, pick a horse with cat or kitten in its name or the name of its parents. The 19 races of the prep season end on February 16, 2015. That is the Southwest race atOakland Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Then on February 21st the first of the 16 championship series races begin with the Fountain of Youth race at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida and end with the Lexington race in Lexington, Kentucky on April 18th, at Keeneland. The prep races give a score of 10 to the winner, 4 to the horse placing, 2 to the showing horse, and 1 to fourth place. The championship races score’s range from 100 points down to one point depending on the race.

Horses that earned purse money in the Kentucky Derby or otherwise qualify may run in the Preakness Stakes. This is a Grade 1 race, on dirt at 9.5 furlongs (1 and 3/16 miles). This race, for 3 year olds, is at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. “The Run for the Black-Eyed Susans” began in 1873. Black-Eyed Susans are the state’s flower. The winning horse’s blanket is made of yellow flowers that are altered to appear as Maryland’s flower. Just 2 weeks after Derby, on May 16, 2015, fourteen horses will compete in this race. Kentucky Derby purse money winners and horses with the highest lifetime earnings in graded stakes will make up the first 7 entries. The next 4 horses have the highest earnings in all non-restricted stakes. The final 5, which included the also-eligibles, have the highest lifetime earnings in all races. If there are too many qualifying horse then determination is made by lot. If a horse is scratched before the deadline the next most eligible horse takes its place.

Thoroughbreds that earned purse money in the Derby or Preakness as well as other qualified horses will compete in the “Run for the Carnations”. The winning horse will receive a blanket made of white carnations. This is the oldest of the three races beginning in June 1867. This race takes place 5 weeks after the Derby on June 6, 2015. 3 year olds will run on the 12 furlong (1 and 1/2 mile) dirt track. 16 horses will start. The first 8 will be chosen from Derby and Preakness purse money earners and the horses with the highest earnings in graded sweepstakes of a mile or longer in length. The next 5 horses will come from those with the highest earnings in all non-restricted sweepstakes. The final 3 horses are those with the highest earnings in all races. Ties will be settled by lot.

It is time to start following the qualifying horses now. 429 horses have already been selected as early nominations for the Triple Crown. Early nominees were due January 17th for a $600 fee. Waiting until March 23rd will cost $6,000. If the horse is not nominated until the Derby, Preakness or Belmont it costs $200,00 or $150,000 or $75,000 respectively. I hope we see a Triple Crown winner in 2015!

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