Classic winner and successful sire Summer Squall was euthanized Tuesday, Sept. 22, at William S. Farish's Lane's End Farm near Versailles, Ky., because of complications from the infirmities of old age.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Lane's End stallion Summer Squall was euthanized today because of complications from the infirmities of old age.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
The Maryland Jockey Club unveiled the 2010 Preakness logo Sept. 17. The middle leg of the Triple Crown, a $1 million race at 1 3/16 mile, will be run May 15 at Pimilco.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Superstar Rachel Alexandra will be honored with her own line of limited wines, which will be available during the holiday season.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Mark Allen, the co-owner of Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner Mine That Bird, said the gelding will appear in New Mexico in September.
Monday, July 20, 2009
BlackBerry Preakness Stakes (gr. I) winner Rachel Alexandra worked five furlongs in 1:01.38 over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga Racecourse July 13.
Monday, July 13, 2009
We tend to always knock weathermen, but they have been spot on with their predictions for Belmont week. The day before the final leg of the Triple Crown, as predicted, was as miserable as it gets, but race day itself, again as prognosticators said it would, dawned bright and beautiful.
Saturday, June 06, 2009
Mr. Hot Stuff worked a bullet five furlongs over Polytrack at Keeneland Race Course on May 26 in preparation for a start in the 141st running of the 1 million Belmont Stakes (gr. I) June 6 at Belmont Park.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
It was a day for racing royalty at Churchill Downs on May 20 as Blackberry Preakness (gr. I) and Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) winner Rachel Alexandra returned to track for a gallop, and Mine That Bird, winner of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) and a fast-closing runner-up in the Preakness, continued to show his spirit during his first gallop since the race.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
NBC's ratings for the May 16 BlackBerry Preakness Stakes (gr. I) rose substantially, scoring the highest numbers for the program's race portion in the past five years.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
After two days off and a 9 1/2-hour van ride from Baltimore, Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner Mine That Bird returned to the track at Churchill Downs for a light jog Tuesday, May 19. Meanwhile, Rachel Alexandra walked under Asmussen's shedrow on her second day back at Churchill.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Rachel Carson, author of "Silent Spring," wrote: "One way to open your eyes is to ask yourself, 'What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again'?"
Monday, May 18, 2009
Wagering was up on several segments of the Preakness day card, according to data released May 18 by Maryland Jockey Club officials, fueled in part by the showdown between Kentucky Derby Presented By Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner Mine That Bird and Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) victress Rachel Alexandra.
Monday, May 18, 2009
There will be no Triple Crown winner in 2009, but there is a possibility of a showdown in the June 6 Belmont Stakes (gr. I) between the winners of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) and Blackberry Preakness Stakes (gr. I).
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Rachel Alexandra's star turn in the Blackberry Preakness Stakes (gr. I) drove TV ratings of the race to their highest overnight ratings in five years.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Calvin Borel made the right choice and history was made May 16 at Pimlico, when for the first time the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) winner not only ran in the Preakness Stakes (gr. I) but won the race in convincing fashion. Rachel Alexandra finished first and Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands winner Mine That Bird was second.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
With slightly more than two hours until post for the middle jewel of the Triple Crown, the filly Rachel Alexandra is the 2-1 favorite. Four other horses are single-digit odds.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
No Advantage and jockey J.D. Acosta bided their time, and then made their winning move coming out of the turn to take the William Donald Schaefer Stakes (gr. III) by 2 3/4 lengths at Pimlico May 16.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
As of about 6:45 a.m. EDT, every horse was on the grounds at Pimlico Race Course for the May 16 Preakness Stakes (gr. I), the middle jewel of the Triple Crown.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
How much did the addition of the filly Rachel Alexandra mean to the dynamics of the May 16 Preakness Stakes (gr. I)? According to the patrons at Pimlico Race Course the day before the middle jewel of the Triple Crown, it meant everything.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
If the payoffs for the daily double involving the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (gr. II) and Preakness (gr. I) are any indication, the filly Rachel Alexandra will be the big favorite for the middle leg of the Triple Crown.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Tom Ludt was sitting on top of the world. It was the morning of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), and after I Want Revenge was scratched, Friesan Fire became the new favorite in the classic. Ludt is the general manager of Tom Simon's Vinery, which owns Friesan Fire in partnership with Rick Porter's Fox Hill Stable.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Can Rachel Alexandra come back in two weeks and beat the boys after earning outrageous speed figures that suggest a bounce is imminent? Was Mine That Bird's shocking Kentucky Derby score a fluke or the birth of a superstar?
Friday, May 15, 2009
Papa Clem, the Arkansas Derby (gr. II) winner who turned in a lackluster five-furlong work in 1:05 at Pimlico on Tuesday, was given a sharp blowout by trainer Gary Stute Friday morning.
Friday, May 15, 2009
With all the rain recently in Kentucky, and with a minor business matter requiring him to be out of town over the weekend, Calvin Borel had an important project to finish before leaving town. The morning of May 15 he was mowing his grass.
Friday, May 15, 2009
TVG will broadcast live from Pimlico Race Course this week, airing television's most comprehensive pre- and post-race coverage of the 134th Preakness Stakes (gr. I), including a special preview show.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Join a 2 hour live blog with BloodHorse.com staff on May 16 at noon Eastern time.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
There was little new activity Thursday morning, although Pioneerof the Nile did have his first feel of the Pimlico track. Rachel Alexandra went unseen, walking the shed at around 4:30, but did show up for all to see in the afternoon, schooling in the paddock before the fourth race.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
A field of 13 is set to line the gates at Pimlico Race Course May 16 for the 1 3/16-mile classic. It is shaping up to be one of the most intriguing Preakness Stakes in recent memory.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
If the forecast is accurate, winner Mine That Bird and other horses that competed in the May 2 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) may face a similar off track in the May 16 Preakness Stakes (gr. I).
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Horse owner and breeder Jess Jackson said May 13 that entering super filly Rachel Alexandra against males in the Preakness Stakes (gr. I) is not a battle of the sexes but rather a sporting gesture designed to have the best horses racing against each other.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) winner Rachel Alexandra drew post 13 and was installed as the solid 8-5 morning-line favorite for the $1-million Preakness Stakes (gr. I) May 16 at Pimlico.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
The exodus of Churchill Downs-based contenders for 134th running of the $1-million Preakness (gr. I) was completed May 13 when major contenders Rachel Alexandra and Pioneerof the Nile stepped onto separate vans around 12:30 p.m. EDT for the short trip to Louisville International Airport for their flight to Baltimore.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Mine That Bird arrived at Pimlico Tuesday looking to annex the Preakness (gr. I), the second jewel of racing's Triple Crown, after shocking the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands at 50-1.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
There is no denying that Ahmed Zayat started a firestorm of controversy when he went on HRTV and TVG to announce and then take back his intentions of trying to keep Rachel Alexandra out of the Preakness Stakes (gr. I). The predicted fallout occurred, but it is now time to cut him some slack.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Papa Clem, the fourth-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), worked a leisurely five furlongs in 1:05 under exercise rider Emundo Cedeno shortly after 7 a.m. (EDT) over a fast Pimlico main track May 12 in his final breeze for the May 16 Preakness (gr. I).
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
A few minutes after 9 a.m. EDT on May 12, Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine's Mine That Bird rolled out of the Churchill Downs barn area headed for Baltimore and the second leg of racing's Triple Crown.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Following a workout at Pimlico Racecourse on Tuesday, May 12, trainer Larry Jones reported that Friesan Fire is fit and ready for the May 16 Preakness Stakes (gr. I).
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
The Black-Eyed Susan (gr. II) headlines a day of stakes races one day before the running of the Preakness.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Derby Trial Stakes (gr. III) winner Hull, who is undefeated in three career starts, will bypass the Preakness Stakes (gr. I) and will run instead in the seven-furlong Woody Stephens Stakes (gr. II) on Belmont day. Also trainer Chip Woolley confirmed that Mike Smith will ride Mine That Bird if Rachel Alexandra runs in the Preakness.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Big Drama, disqualified winner of the Swale Stakes (gr. II), was the only contender for the Preakness Stakes (gr. I) to post a workout at Pimlico on Monday, May 11.
Monday, May 11, 2009
HorseRacing TV's coverage of the May 16 Preakness Stakes (gr. I) begins with live broadcasts from the Baltimore track on Wednesday, May 13.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Zayat Stables' homebred Pioneerof the Nile, second in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), breezed a half-mile in :47 3/5 at Churchill Downs May 11 as the Empire Maker colt prepped for the May 16 Preakness Stakes (gr. I). The time was fourth-fastest of the morning among 48 horses working four furlongs.
Monday, May 11, 2009
General Quarters and Flying Private, the respective 10th- and 19th- place finishers in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), worked at Churchill Downs May 11 as they tuned up for the May 16 Preakness Stakes (gr. I).
Monday, May 11, 2009
Trainer Chip Woolley, who had said Mine That Bird would not have a workout prior to the May 16 Preakness Stakes (gr. I), called an audible and breezed the son of Birdstone at Churchill Downs on the morning of May 11.
Monday, May 11, 2009
John Hendrickson, husband and racing and breeding manager for Marylou Whitney, said neither he nor Marylou have ever spoken to Ahmed Zayat, and although they plan on running Luv Gov in the Preakness (gr. I) at the request of trainer D. Wayne Lukas, they would withdraw him if it meant excluding Rachel Alexandra.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
After being besieged with unfavorable comments regarding his earlier decision to enter enough horses to prevent Rachel Alexandra from running in the Preakness Stakes (gr. I), Ahmed Zayat, owner of Pioneerof the Nile, said on TVG that he has decided to reconsider and will not enter any other horses.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Possible Preakness (gr. I) candidate Rachel Alexandra, a record-smashing 20 1/4-length winner of the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I), tuned up for a possible bid in the second leg of the Triple Crown with an easy four-furlong work on May 10 at Churchill Downs.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
The prospective field for the May 16 Preakness (gr. I) received a boost in star power when assistant trainer Scott Blasi informed Maryland Jockey Club director of horsemen's relations Phoebe Hayes that Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) winner Rachel Alexandra is scheduled to fly to Baltimore May 13 for the May 16 $1 million classic. A decision on whether she actually gets on the plane will not be made until the filly works.
Saturday, May 09, 2009
A decision as to whether Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) winner Rachel Alexandra will be supplemented into the field for the $1 million Preakness (gr. I) could be made May 10 or 11 after the filly works for her new trainer, Steve Asmussen.
Friday, May 08, 2009
