Multiple grade I winner is Giant Causeway's leading runner on dirt.
Monday, January 02, 2012
Sent off at 41-1, Afleet Again ran down Birdrun and Giant Oak in deep stretch to pull a shocker in the opening race on Day 2 of the Breeders' Cup World Championships Nov. 5 at Churchill Downs.
Saturday, November 05, 2011A. U. Miner, third in last year's Breeders' Cup Marathon, draws post 11 for this year's renewal. The opener to the Nov. 5 program to be run at 1 3/4 miles.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Third at mid-stretch, former claimer Headache closed steadily to edge Where's Sterling by a half-length in the $500,000 Hawthorne Gold Cup (gr. II) in Illinois Oct. 8.
Saturday, October 08, 2011
Grade I winner Giant Oak faces stiff competition from nine challengers in Hawthorne Racecourse's marquee fall event.
Wednesday, October 05, 2011
Will Havre de Grace beat the boys? If not, then who's the winner?
Havre de Grace will face males for the first time in the $750,000 Woodward (gr.l) Sept. 3 at Saratoga, where she will meet seven rivals.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tizway picked up his second consecutive grade I victory Aug. 6 at Saratoga when he took over approaching the quarter-pole and breezed to an easy score in the $750,000 Whitney Invitational Handicap (gr. I).
Saturday, August 06, 2011
Jason, Tom, and Ed DeRosa of TwinSpires.com, handicap the Whitney Invitational Handicap and West Virginia Derby.
Will a Rail Trip make a Mission Impazible for Friend Or Foe running Flat Out?
The handicap division has taken its lumps this year for not being especially deep, but its competitive nature has led to one of the more intriguing recent editions of the $750,000 Whitney Handicap (gr. I), which drew 11.
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
Alex Lieblong's Duke of Mischief topped the list of horses working at Saratoga on the morning of July 31 for the $750,000 Whitney Invitational (gr. I), turning in a bullet half-mile breeze over the main track in :46.88.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
William S. Farish Jr.'s Pool Play, making his first start on dirt in his 28th career start, pulled a 36-1 shocker in the $561,300 Stephen Foster Handicap (gr. I) June 18 at Churchill Downs.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Jason, Tom and Steve from TwinSpires.com handicap the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs.
Eleven are scheduled to compete in the grade I Stephen Foster. Can you predict the order of finish?
Nearly six months into the season, the handicap division is still looking for a clear-cut leader. With a breakout performance in the Stephen Foster Handicap June 18, there is an opportunity for someone to assume that role.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011An injury suffered during a June 13 workout has taken Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider's Bind out of consideration for the Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs and could sideline him for the rest of the year.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Giant Oak, winner of the Donn Handicap (gr. I) earlier this year, tops a field of 11 entered in the May 6 Alysheba Stakes (gr. III) that is part of the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) undercard at Churchill Downs.
Thursday, May 05, 2011
It was just a matter of time before Giant's Causeway reached the 100 mark by number of stakes winners.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Mission Impazible, who scored the biggest win of his career at Fair Grounds exactly a year ago, returned to his winning ways with a victory over a strong field in the $400,000 New Orleans Handicap (gr. II) on March 26.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Giant Oak will face six rivals in the 1 1/8-mile dirt contest, including the top three finishers of last month's Mineshaft Handicap (gr. III).
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Two-time Champion Gio Ponti tops the list of early nominees to the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic. He could face last year's winner General Quarters in the grade I race May 7.
Friday, March 04, 2011
Rudy and Virginia Tarra hit the heights with Giant Oak
Daniel Sullivan, president of The Illinois Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Foundation, announced Feb. 14 that Giant Oak had been named the state's 2010 Horse of the Year and champion older handicap male.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Giant Oak, Vox Populi Award, Zazu and more from a weekend of racing!
Giant Oak, who won the Clark Handicap (gr. I) via disqualification last out, validated that win by posting a rallying victory in the $500,000 Donn Handicap (gr. I) Feb. 5 at Gulfstream Park.
Saturday, February 05, 2011
Nick Zito trainees Fly Down and Morning Line, both thought to be among the top handicap horses in 2011, could wind up as the top two choices in a star-studded Donn Handicap (gr. I) Feb. 5 at Gulfstream Park.
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
Three probable starters in the $500,000 Donn Handicap (gr. I) Feb. 5 at Gulfstream Park -- Giant Oak, Eldaafer and Rule -- posted workouts during the morning of Jan. 30.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Giant Oak picked a good time to break his 14-race losing streak, as he was placed first in the $500,000 Clark Handicap (gr. I) when stewards disqualified favored Successful Dan for interference Nov. 26 at Churchill Downs.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Jason, Tom, and James Scully of twinspires.com preview the Clark Handicap (gr. I) at Churchill Downs on November 26.
Blocked in the stretch, Gran Estreno exploited an unexpected opening at the rail to win the $120,000 Washington Park Handicap (gr. III) for the second year in a row at Arlington Park Sept. 4.
Saturday, September 04, 2010
Gran Estreno, who posted a mild upset when winning the 2009 edition of the Washington Park Handicap (gr. III), returns in search of a repeat as part of a seven-horse field in the $150,000 race Sept. 4 at Arlington Park.
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
The only thing Blame needed to officially become a star was a grade I win. The son of Arch accomplished that June 12, overcoming a wide trip while running down pacesetter Battle Plan to score the Stephen Foster Handicap.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Jason, Evan, and Les Instone of twinspires.com preview the Stephen Foster (gr. I) at Churchill Downs on June 12.
Favored Dubious Miss, icily ridden by Calvin Borel, led nearly all the way to register his third consecutive win over Keeneland's Polytrack in the $150,000 Ben Ali Stakes (gr. III) April 18.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Awesome Gem, the California-based gelding with recent success as an invader, has been installed as the 5-2 morning-line choice for the $300,000 New Orleans Handicap (gr. II) March 27 at Fair Grounds.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Daniel Sullivan, president of the Illinois Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Foundation, announced that Giant Oak has been selected its 2009 Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old male.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Stonehouse shocked odds-on choice Friesan Fire in the Mineshaft Handicap (gr. III) and Blues Street was too much to handle in the Fair Grounds Handicap (gr. IIIT) at the New Orleans track Feb. 20.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
The first three finishers in the Jan. 23 Louisiana Handicap at Fair Grounds are set to battle again in the Feb. 20 Mineshaft Handicap (gr. III) at the same 1 1/16-mile distance over the New Orleans oval.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
10 older horses will line up in Saturday's Fair Grounds Handicap (gr. III), headed by recent winners Acting Zippy and Blues Street.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Parading returns to the scene of his most lopsided stakes victory earlier this year when he takes on nine rivals in Keeneland's $150,000 Fayette Stakes on Oct. 31, closing day for the Lexington track's short fall meet.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009Misremembered made his first start outside of California a memorable one, as he took over in the stretch and held on for a half-length victory in the $512,600 Indiana Derby (gr. II) Oct. 3 at Hoosier Park.
Saturday, October 03, 2009
Grade II winner Misremembered makes his first start on a dirt surface for trainer Bob Baffert when he faces a full field of 3-year-olds in the $500,000 Indiana Derby (gr. II) at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino Oct. 3.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Thirty-two nominations are pretty good for a race that, up until six weeks ago, wasn't even on the schedule. Thistledown officials Sept. 23 said that's the number of nominees for the grade II Ohio Derby Oct. 3. The purse is $150,000, down from $300,000 last year.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Ashbrook Farm's Reb, winner of the three straight including the American Derby (gr. IIT), and Irish invader Black Bear Island, who has a group II victory in England this season, lead a wide-open field of 11 in the $400,000 Secretariat Stakes (gr. IT) for 3-year-olds Aug. 8 on the Arlington Park turf.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Einstein, who stumbled at the start and finished fifth in last year's Arlington Million (gr. IT), drew the inside post for this season's prestigious turf race at Arlington Park, which will be held Aug. 8.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Last at the sixteenth pole, Reb unleashed a furious drive under jockey Julien Leparoux to nail No Inflation at the wire to win Arlington Park's $300,000 American Derby by a head in his stakes debut July 11.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Virginia Tarra Trust's homebred Giant Oak, successful in his seasonal turf debut while winning the Arlington Classic last out, will look for his first graded stakes win July 11 in the $300,000 American Derby (gr. II) at Arlington Park.
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Euphony and Vacation earned their first graded wins on a big stakes day at Arlington Park May 23.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Two grade III stakes to be contested on Polytrack -- the $150,000 Arlington Matron and the $100,000 Hanshin Cup -- join with a pair of top-notch grass events to provide a quality afternoon of racing at Arlington Park on May 23.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
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