Archive for August, 2010
Celebration Mile preview
Aug 27th
Sir Michael Stoute has a good record at Goodwood, with a 21% strike-rate, but his track record in the Group Two totesport.com Celebration Mile is exceptional. He has trained six winners of the race in the last 10 years and Main Aim can make it seven this time. The field of four is a disappointing [...]
Travers Stakes preview
Aug 27th
Rather like the ageing star, the Travers Stakes is finding itself upstaged by a relative upstart as this year’s Saratoga meeting reaches its climax. Given that the Travers predates even the Kentucky Derby, and has been the magnet race that has drawn crowds to the Spa track for most of its 146-year history, it would [...]
Sales pitch cannot buy prestige dream
Aug 27th
According to the song from the musical Cabaret “money makes the world go around”. The autumn yearling sales season in full swing and so is the sales-race season. This breed of contest, with their bumper prize cheques, has multiplied at some speed over the last 15 years but the purists have often questioned their place. [...]
Field of five in Personal Ensign Stakes
Aug 26th
Rachel Alexandra has been drawn in stall two of a field of five for the Grade One Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga on Sunday. The reigning Horse of the Year is the odds-on market leader for what is her first run in a Group One race this season, with Calvin Borel in the saddle for [...]
Fran Berry keen on Laughing Lashes
Aug 26th
Jessica Harrington may be best known for her major jumps winners, like Moscow Flyer and Macs Joy, but her Flat string is becoming a highly profitable sideline. Pathfork underlined his claims as one of Ireland’s leading juvenile colts when he won the group Two Futurity Stakes at the Curragh last Saturday and now stable companion [...]
Foreign runners may not make Melbourne Cup
Aug 26th
Australian racing may be fiercely proud of its most treasured prize but it appears that the foreign challengers for the 150th running of the Melbourne Cup have as much to fear from the bureaucrats as the local horses. The Victoria Racing Club has done it best to make this year’s anniversary renewal of the Cup, [...]
Sixteen left in St Leger
Aug 25th
A year ago he was a bit-part player, five months ago he was the new kid on the block and by next month he could be a Classic-winning trainer. Mahmood al Zarooni’s could crown his swift rise as Godolphin latest recruit to its training roster by winning the Ladbrokes St Leger at Doncaster next month. [...]
Todd Pletcher’s Saratoga double
Aug 25th
Picking winners is never easy – just look at all those short-term loan adverts on the television – but the marketing gurus at the New York Racing Association are pushing a special double wager for Saratoga this weekend. Just find the winners of both the Grade One features, the Travers and Personal Ensign Stakes, which [...]
Ryan Moore still not back yet
Aug 24th
Ryan Moore’s expected return to the saddle has been delayed once more. The champion jockey has been out of action since a fall at Windsor on August 9th. There have been various dates set for a return, which had included the Ebor meeting at York, but Moore has not felt sufficiently recovered from a wrist [...]
Rachel Alexandra runs on Sunday
Aug 24th
As befits one of the two divas of American horse racing, Rachel Alexandra will be upstaging the main event at Saratoga this weekend. The Travers Stakes may usually be the hot ticket for the entire Saratoga meeting but it is having to take a back seat this year. Whether Rachel Alexandra makes the main event [...]
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