In baseball, a no-hitter is tallied when a pitcher mows down 27 batters in nine innings, yielding zero bases for a perfect game. In bowling, a dozen consecutive strikes results in a score of 300, the maximum possible. In hockey, a hat trick occurs when a player scores three goals in a single game. In horse racing, the ultimate achievement is to win the Triple Crown, representing victories in the three highest-stakes races of the season, crammed into a five-week window during the Spring: The Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. Continue Reading

The mint julep has long been the ‘unofficial’ drink of the Kentucky Derby, and of course it only takes a little bit of brand sponsorship and product placement to make it the *official* drink. For the 25th consecutive year the ‘official drink’ of the 2011 Kentucky Derby isn’t just any mint julep, but Early Times Whisky’s version of the drink. Continue Reading

That’s the big question among horse racing cognoscenti this week–can the Bob Baffert trained The Factor carry his blistering speed over the longer distances he’ll face in the Kentucky Derby, Belmont and Preakness? To paraphrase the ‘Magic 8 Ball’ “signs point to yes”.
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Several highly touted contenders for the Belmont Stakes and the other Triple Crown races will take the next step on Saturday as they compete in the Grade 2, $300,000 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park.  Heading the field is morning line favorite The Factor, with a pair of other promising three year olds–JD’s Gusto and Sway Away–also in the mix.
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Brethren entered the Tampa Bay Derby undefeated in his career and as a prohibitive 1-2 favorite. At the end of the 1 1/16 mile race, Brethren’s Triple Crown contender stock had taken a huge hit as he scrambled to finish third behind a couple of big longshots.
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Premier Pegasus vaulted into the ranks of Triple Crown race contenders with an impressive performance in winning the $250,000 Grade 2 San Felipe at Santa Anita on Sunday. The big disappointment of the day was Runflatout, who did anything but ‘run flat out’ en route to a last place finish.
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He’s only raced once, but over the last 48 hours the John Sadler trained Runflatout has become a ‘trendy pick’ for the Triple Crown races including the Belmont Stakes.  We’ll learn a lot about whether he’s ‘the real deal’ based on his performance in the Grade 2 San Felipe at Santa Anita on Saturday.
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Winning the Triple Crown is arguably the most difficult challenge in all of sports and victory in the Belmont Stakes is a monumental achievement in itself. The connections of highly touted Flashpoint are demonstrating that just working out the best prep race schedule to set up a Triple Crown run is a significant intellectual challenge as well.
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While most serious horse racing observers are well aware of the ability of Stay Thirsty, he’s not quite as well known by the general public–in fact, he’s not even the most famous horse in his stable.  Trainer Todd Pletcher is hoping that a strong performance in the Gotham Stakes will help the son of Bernardini shake the long shadow of stablemate Uncle Mo and establish him as a candidate for the Belmont and Triple Crown races.
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Off an impressive victory in last Saturday’s Fountain of Youth (G2) at Gulfstream Park, Soldat is being pointed to the Florida Derby for his next race on the Triple Crown prep trail.  The Florida Derby is a Grade 1 race to be run back at Gulfstream Park near Miami on April 3 and a strong performance there could give current Kentucky Derby favorite Uncle Mo a new rival.
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