Latest
Liaison wins overrated CashCall Futurity
Historically, the CashCall Futurity produces excellent prospects for the Triple Crown. Point Given, who won the race in 2000, went on to win the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes the following year. Before him 1997 winner Real Quiet won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness before... [Read more...]
Kentucky Derby
Uncle Mo likely for Timely Writer Stakes at Gulfstream Park
Uncle Mo, top juvenile of 2010, is penciled in for his 2011 debut in the Timely Writer Stakes at Gulfstream Park. The race is an overnight stakes event conducted at the distance of one mile. Holy Bull winner Dialed In was considered a possibility for the race until it was shortened... [Read more...]
Preakness
Welcome to Triple Crown Champ!
I’m glad to see you’ve found your way to my website. The focus of things here will be to discuss current news involving thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown, along with discussing the history and past of the three races. The Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes,... [Read more...]
Belmont
Kentucky Derby Preps
Brethren starts Kentucky Derby journey in Sam Davis Stakes
While we don’t have a strong field this year, there is reason to be excited for the $225,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes. Three of the last five winners of this race have gone on to win Grade 1 races later in their career (Bluegrass Cat and Any Given Saturday won the Haskell Invitational... [Read more...]
Triple Crown History
Kentucky Derby
Midnight Interlude splashes through the slop in final Kentucky Derby workout
It wasn’t the work Bob Baffert wanted, but it was the one he got nonetheless. That is the five furlong move put in by Santa Anita Derby winner Midnight Interlude over the sloppy Churchill Downs track. He covered his final tune up work in 1:00 4/5 B with Martin Garcia in the irons. Victor Espinoza will ride the son of War Chant in the Kentucky Derby.
Everyone knows how good Bob Baffert is with young horses. He is a three time Kentucky Derby winner with Silver Charm, Real Quiet and War Emblem. The master conditioner says that inexperience will be the biggest thing going against Midnight Interlude.
“He’s still green and he’s still learning how to run,” the trainer said. “Once he got in front of his workmate, he wanted to shut it down a little bit. He’s still figuring it out. The workmate could have kept him going a little farther, but I didn’t want to do too much with him (Mythical Power) because he’s running Friday (May 6), so he shut it down (after completing five furlongs).”
His lack of racing experience will hinder the colt significantly come Saturday, but I wouldn’t put anything past Baffert. If anyone could win the Derby with Midnight Interlude it is him. He won’t have my money though.
Read more about Midnight Interlude’s latest work as well as more from Baffert here: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/62805/midnight-interlude-cruises-through-the-slop#ixzz1LFEqRgtD
Bet the Kentucky Derby at the best online sportsbooks.
Preakness Stakes
Preakness Stakes covered in Stride Magazine
If you aren’t reading Stride Magazine yet then you should be. It contains the best photography and writing in the thoroughbred racing industry. Their spread of Lookin at Lucky taking the Preakness is one of the finest pictures I’ve seen this year. The latest issue’s cover story by Ryan Patterson recaps the Preakness in full detail. It includes quotes from Martin Garcia, Bob Baffert, Todd Pletcher, and Calvin Borel.
Another interesting story in this issue was about the Japan Derby. It was covered by Kate Hunter. Horse racing is very important in Japan and the purses are much larger than ours in most cases. If you haven’t read much about the Japanese Racing Assocation or some of their marquee events like the Arima Kinen and Japan Cup then I suggest doing so very soon.
This issue has a small piece about an outrider at Pimlico Race Course and his 20 year old mount, Bonivar. It talks about how he ran down Seeking The Title when she lost jockey Kent Desormeaux in the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes.
Click here to check out the latest issue of Stride Magazine.
Belmont Stakes
2010 Belmont Stakes in the books
I certainly didn’t see it coming, but Drosselmeyer crowned himself king in the Test of Champions. The colt shined like a copper penny giving trainer Bill Mott his first win in a Triple Crown race. Before the Belmont Stakes the son of Distorted Humor ran second to Fly Down in the Dwyer Stakes. Fly Down had traffic problems in the Belmont Stakes and finished second. First Dude set the pace and faded to third.
This year’s Triple Crown was very interesting. It will be fun to see who winds up winning the Eclipse Award for top three-year-old male. If I had to vote right now Super Saver would get my vote on virtue of his triumph in the Kentucky Derby. I don’t think he is the best though. I expect Preakness Stakes winner Lookin At Lucky to continue his winning ways in the Haskell Stakes and Travers. If he does so he will almost certainly be a lock for the award. Others to consider are Afleet Express, Fly Down, First Dude, and Sidney’s Candy.
For more information on the horses exiting the Triple Crown I encourage you to check out the latest issue of Stride MagOnline.
Triple Crown History
Assault: The 7th Triple Crown Winner
Although he was a son of leading sire Bold Venture, it didn’t appear that Assault would be much of a horse. His early years were plagued with illness and injury, and jockey Eddie Arcaro said he was “on the delicate side”. While he was still a young colt he stepped on a sharp object that went through his right front hoof, leaving it forever deformed. This earned him the nickname “Clubfoot Comet”. Born and trained in Texas, he was up against it from the start because the mass majority of top horses are bred in Kentucky. Let’s take a look at the career of the 7th Triple Crown winner, Assault.
It took Assault four tries to break his maiden and he finished 12th in his first race. After breaking his maiden he lost another race before posting a stunning four horse photo finish victory in the Flash Stakes. His two-year-old season ended with a record of 2 wins from 9 starts. He started to progress and turn into a contender early in his three-year-old season. He took the Wood Memorial, but finished off the board in the Derby Trial.
Assault wasn’t one of the top choices in the 1946 Kentucky Derby, but he trounced the competition by 8 lengths. This margin of victory is the largest in the history of the Run for the Roses. Barbaro and Mine That Bird came close to matching that margin in 2006 and 2009 winning by 6.5 and 6.75 lengths. Assault was sent off the favorite in the Preakness Stakes, but only registered a narrow neck victory after encountering trouble. The horse that nearly beat him in the Preakness, Lord Boswell, was made the favorite in the Belmont Stakes. Although he stumbled at the start in the Belmont Stakes, Assault came with one run and cruised by the competition to win by three lengths. This made him the 7th Triple Crown winner.
Assault would go on to win the Dwyer, Pimlico Special, and Westchester Handicap as a three-year-old. He had a few hiccups along the way, causing trainer Max Hirsch to switch jockeys from Warren Mehrtens to the legendary Eddie Aracaro. The son of Bold Venture was named Horse of the Year in 1946. He won 5 of 7 starts in the following year. He would race until the age of seven, but his form tailed off after his four-year-old campaign. He stayed in training because he was sterile and could not have a career at stud.
While he came from humble beginnings, Assault had a great career. He accomplished what horses like Silver Charm, Point Given, Smarty Jones, and Afleet Alex could not when he won the Triple Crown. He raced a total of 42 times and won 15 races. He was inducted into the U.S. Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1964. The “Club Footed Comet” was certainly one of the greatest to have ever raced.
