Saturday Reads

 The chickens came home to roost and shit on Milo, who is apparently already gone from the US.

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Today's Travers Stakes was interesting to say the least:

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Preakness Stakes 2026

Napoleon Solo has won the 151st Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park.  Iron Honor tried to make a bid at the homestretch, he couldn't quite catch the winner.  Napoleon Solo won by 1 1/4 lengths. He had 7-1 odds.  It is his third victory.  Chad Summers is the winning trainer while Paco Lopez is the jockey.  Lopez has won 4,000 races, but today was his first Triple Crown win.  

The time was 1:58.69.

Local horse Taj Mahal led most of the way before the top two took over.

Chip Honcho was third, while Ocelli was fourth.

 Earlier:  Since the top two finishers in the Kentucky Derby will not be in today's race, just about any horse entered has a good chance to win.

As for me, there are few official collectible items available because this year's race is being held at Laurel Park.  Pimlico, like Belmont Park, is undergoing a major renovation.

The current odds can be viewed here.

The race via NBC Sports:

Kentucky Derby 2026 Results

 Golden Tempo has won the 152nd Kentucky Derby.  Jose Ortiz is the jockey.  It is his first Derby win.   This race is historic, for the  first woman trainer has won the Kentucky Derby.   Her name is Cherie DeVaux.   She is the second woman to win a Triple Crown race.   Renegade was second, with Jose's brother Irad aboard.   2:02.27 was the time.  The Phipps family owns this son of Curlin.   The Phipps family has been in the sport for decades.  Actually, a century.  They were the family at least half responsible for Secretariat, thanks to having owned Bold Ruler, the sire of Secretariat and the greatest sire of all time as far as I am concerned.  They owned Discovery, Bold Ruler, Easy Goer, Personal Ensign, Buckpasser, and other greats too numerous to mention.

So much of what women in this game as jockeys and as trainers have to do deal with is connections. The Phipps family is about as good as it gets in horse racing.  If women can't form connections with owners and/or trainers, they won't get far in this sport.  There is still a lot of prejudice out there. 

As for Golden Tempo, he came from behind, actually dead last,  to win the race by a neck.  Ocelli was third.  

Great White had to be scratched at the last minute for rearing and going over backwards, throwing his jockey.  There was a delay in the running as a result.  Both horse and jockey seemed okay.

Jose Ortiz also won the Kentucky Oaks yesterday.

The race:

Kentucky Derby Day 2026

 Earlier:  Here is the current odds.  There were many scratches this year with the result of no clear favorite.  Renegade and Commandment are the favorites going into this year's race at 5-1, the 65th I have seen since I was six years old in 1961 and watched Carry Back.

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Earlier in the day:

American Turf Stakes:

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Churchill Downs Stakes, which had a stunning surprise:

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From yesterday, the Kentucky Oaks:

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Old Bourbon Turf Classic:

Breeders' Cup Classic Results

 It was still a good race although Sovereignty had been scratched earlier this week.  Japan's Forever Young won today's race.

Sierra Leone was second and Fierceness was third.

The video (BC Championships//NBC Sports YouTube):

Forever Young has Secretariat on both sides of his pedigree.  He is also a descendant of Sunday Silence.  It was a big mistake for that horse to have ever been sent to Japan in the first place.

Breeders' Cup 2025: Day 2

 At Del Mar racetrack in southern California.  Videos NBC Sports via its YouTube channel or the official BC Championship YouTube channel.

Turf: Ethical Diamond     This horse set a course record.  Previous two-time winner of this race Rebel's Romance came in second.

Turf Sprint: Shisospicy

Sprint: Bentornado

Distaff: Scylla

Filly and Mare Sprint: Splendora

Mile:  Notable Speech

Dirt Mile: Nysos

Breeders' Cup 2025 Day 1

 At Del Mar track in southern California.

Results with video from  NBC Sports:

Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf:  Gstaad

Juvenile: Ted Moffey

Juvenile Turf Sprint: Cy Fair

Juvenile Fillies: Super Corredora

Juvenile Fillies Turf: Balantina

Some Saturday Reads

 Today was the Pennsylvania Derby:

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Obit:  Musician and songwriter Sonny Curtis, once a member of Buddy Holly's Crickets and who penned "I Fought the Law" and the theme song of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, died at the age of 88.

Snip:

Born in Meadow, Texas on May 9, 1937 to cotton farmers, Curtis learned to play the guitar at the age of 7, inspired by his musician uncles who formed a bluegrass group called the Mayfield Brothers. A childhood friend of Holly’s, the two began making demo recordings in the mid-50s, a collaboration that led to opening for the likes of Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash and soon spawned early iterations of what would eventually be the rock and roll band whose name inspired The Beatles’s nomenclature. Curtis joined the band a year after Holly officially founded The Crickets in 1957, shortly before Holly’s death in an airplane crash in 1959. Though Curtis was drafted shortly thereafter, he served as both lead guitarist and singer, writing hits “Walk Right Back” (The Everly Brothers), “More Than I Can Say” (Bobby Vee, Leo Sayer) and the seminal “I Fought the Law,” which was immortalized through covers by The Bobby Fuller Four, The Clash and Green Day.

Some Saturday Miscellaneous

 No surprise who won today's Jim Dandy Stakes (Gr. 2):

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Friday Night on the Obituary Page

 Obituary:  A horse said to be the oldest living thoroughbred in the United States has passed away at the age of 39.   The horse, New Years Eve, died in Pennsylvania.  He is said to have been the second-oldest U.S. thoroughbred ever:

We shared his story in March, shortly after his official birthday. Called 'Axl' by those closest to him, the beloved dark bay was foaled the same year as Sunday Silence and Easy Goer. History's oldest-known American Thoroughbred, a gelding named Dead Solid Perfect, died in 2022 at 39 years and 188 days. New Years Eve was 39 years and 57 days when he passed.

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And here is a belated obituary of the horse believed to have been the oldest thoroughbred on record, Dead Solid Perfect.

Snip:

Rush, foaled May 4, 1983, lived to 39 years and 188 days—far beyond the average life of a Thoroughbred of 25-28 years, according to various internet resources. Though records are not kept for the oldest Thoroughbred by The Jockey Club, due in part to the difficulties of needing death notifications from every Thoroughbred horse owner, Rush is widely believed to have been an American record setter.

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2024 Canadian Horse of the Year Patches O'Houlahan, a five-year-old, had to be euthanized because of complications resulting from an injury:

 Owner-breeder Frank DiGiulio Jr. announced Thursday that his 2024 Canadian Horse of the Year, Patches O’Houlihan, was euthanized, 12 days after suffering a serious suspensory injury while winning the Grade 2 Highlander on the main turf at Woodbine.

“After sustaining a soft-tissue injury while galloping out after winning the Highlander Stakes, it was hoped that he would recover well enough to be retired to pasture,” DiGiulio said. “However, in the time since then, his prognosis worsened. We consulted with veterinarians and surgeons on an ongoing basis, and it was determined surgery was not a viable option for a sustained quality of life.”

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On the human front:  I had wondered why I hadn't heard from commentator and former political adviser David Gergen.  Now I know, and it is horrible what he and his family went through.  Gergen died at the age of 83 in a Massachusetts retirement home.  I completely missed this, but his daughter had announced in December her father was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, which is a horrible way to go.

Gergen was an adviser to four presidents and was frequently seen on news shows.  He was always worth listening to.

“Watching the wrecking ball of Lewy body dementia careen into the fortress of my father’s mind has been devastating,” she wrote.

Gergen served under President Richard Nixon as a speechwriting director, and under Presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Regan as the White House communications director. Gergen then served as an official counselor to President Bill Clinton.

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Obituary: D. Wayne Lukas

 It was not unexpected, but Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, 89, passed away yesterday after he had declined treatment for suddenly developing an infection that was impossible to overcome otherwise.  His death came just a couple of weeks, if that, following his abrupt retirement from training as a result of the infection.  He went in hospice care and decided he was going out on his own terms.  Lukas had been in the business for nearly sixty years.  He was originally a high school teacher and head basketball coach in Wisconsin (hence the nickname "Coach" used by many of his fans), but he developed a love for horses early in his life.  Beginning in 1968, he began to train quarter horses, and in 1972, as noted in Ray Paulick's linked article, Lukas moved to California.  It took him a while to hit the big time though late in the 1970s he had top horses like Terlingua and Codex (who won the controversial Preakness in 1980).

Lukas with Winning Colors 

It was when he teamed with breeder/owner Eugene V. Klein, who had, among other business interests,  been the owner of the San Diego Chargers football team,  that he made a big splash in thoroughbred racing.  In the 1980s, he and Klein were everywhere, including the Triple Crown races and especially the Breeders' Cup races.  Klein left racing late in the 1980s due to poor health (he died in 1990 at the age of 69), but Lukas continued on, with success after success.

Lukas's horses were immediately recognizable on the track because they always wore white bridles.  That was a trademark of Lukas's.  

From the article:

Lukas passed Hall of Fame trainer Charlie Whittingham as the sport’s all-time leading money winner in 1988. He became the first trainer to amass $100 million in career earnings in 1990 and $200 million in 1999.

But there is a mark that might never be broken. In 1994-95, Lukas won a record six-consecutive Triple Crown races: 1994 Preakness (Tabasco Cat), ’94 Belmont (Tabasco Cat), ’95 Kentucky Derby (Thunder Gulch), ’95 Preakness (Timber Country), ’95 Belmont (Thunder Gulch) and ’96 Kentucky Derby (Grindstone). In ’95, he became the first and only trainer to sweep the Triple Crown classics in the same year with different horses. Lukas made it 7-of-8 in Triple Crown classics when Editor’s Note won the ’96 Belmont.

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His last classic winner was Seize the Grey, who won the 2024 Preakness.  Lukas then was 88 years old.

Lukas wasn't immune to tragedy, as his only child, Jeff, who had been his assistant trainer, nearly got killed back in 1993 when one of the Lukas stable's top horses, Tabasco Cat, got spooked and seriously injured Jeff.  He never fully recovered from the accident, and unfortunately he passed away nine years ago.

Belmont Stakes at Saratoga 2025 Results

Sovereignty beat Journalism in this year's Belmont Stakes at Saratoga.  It was a very exciting race.  Rodriguez set the pace for the winner to win handily in the homestretch.  It was cleanly run race, unlike the Preakness.

I liked the way the winning jockey was congratulated by the second-place jockey.  It showed real class.

The first three finishers of this year's Kentucky Derby finished in the top three this year.  Baeza was third, and Rodriguez finished fourth in the eight-horse field.

Sovereignty is the first horse in history to have won the Kentucky Derby, intentionally have skipped the Preakness, and won the Belmont.

A lot of people are going to criticize trainer Bill Mott for skipping the Preakness and losing a chance at the Triple Crown, but frankly, with the shorter distance of this year's Belmont, any Triple Crown win would have not meant much.  The real Belmont Stakes, long at a mile-and-a-half, is the Test of Champions.

The time for the mile-and-a-quarter Belmont was 2:00.69, a respectable time for this track and distance.  Of course, nobody in the media, including Fox Sports, was going to post the REAL  stakes, track, and world record at a mile-and-a-half.  The broadcast media don't even DO that anymore with the Triple Crown races.  I guess they feel there is no point to it since those records have stood for 52 years.

Sovereignty will likely win Horse of the Year.

The race is already up from Fox Sports YouTube channel:

Earlier:   Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty and Preakness winner Journalism will face off today at the Belmont Stakes, held this year at Saratoga as Belmont Park is undergoing renovations.

Eight horses are in this year's race.

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Preakness 2025 Results

 Journalism has won the 150th Preakness Stakes.  It was an extremely tight far turn into homestretch. I am happy nobody was hurt, but I think there might be an inquiry although the winner wasn't really affected. Michael McCarthy was trainer for his second Preakness win.  Umberto Rispoli is the jockey.

The results will stand despite the tightness at the top of the stretch.  

Journalism seemed completely out of it, but he was much the best horse as he caught Gosger at the wire.  Sandman came in third.  The time was 1:55.47.

The race via NBC Sports:

Blood Horse

Preakness Stuff

 Here are the current odds in this year's Preakness Stakes, the 150th edition and the last under the current  grandstand.

Journalism shares the favorite odds with Goal Oriented. Journalism, of course, came in second in the Kentucky Derby to winner Sovereignty, who is not running today.  Obvious, there is no Triple Crown winner.

We  will see if this guy's prediction of today's race will come to pass.

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Kentucky Derby 2025 Results

 On a somewhat off track, Sovereignty has won the 151st Kentucky Derby for Godolphin Stable.   Journalism, the favorite, came in second, while Baeza came in third.

Baeza, as longtime racing fans know, is named for jockey great Braulio Baeza (born 1940), who,  despite all his many wins, is perhaps best remembered for riding the second-place horse in the legendary 1973 Belmont Stakes, Twice a Prince.

The time was 2:02.31.  Impressive on this condition of track.  The early fractions were quite fast.

Bill Mott is the trainer.  Junior Alvarado is the jockey for his first Kentucky Derby.

The winner's pedigree is here.  Bernardini is the broodmare sire.  He won the 2006 Preakness and Travers.

The race via NBC Sports YouTube channel:

Blood Horse link

151st Kentucky Derby Miscellaneous

 At 31 years of age Silver Charm is still going strong at Old Friends in Kentucky.  He has been there for many years.   He is also the oldest living Kentucky Derby winner, having won in 1997.  

The race:

The horse who defeated him in the 1997 Belmont Stakes, denying him the Triple Crown, Touch Gold, is still alive and is also at Old Friends.

Snip:

Though Silver Charm led the Belmont with an eighth of a mile to go and looked poised to become the first Triple Crown winner in 19 years, Touch Gold accelerated past him in the last 75 yards to win by half a length. 

Now, Touch Gold lives one paddock over, where a romantic fan can at least imagine the two old rivals carrying on a decades-long argument about who was actually better.

Remarkably, they both still look robust and healthy, which is in no small part thanks to the detailed health care and nutritional support the horses receive at Old Friends. Even though Silver Charm is long past his athletic glory and his coat is much whiter than people remember from his racing days, he still makes a good impression and seems like a horse with plenty of life left in him.

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The morning line favorite  for this year's Kentucky Derby, my 65th is Journalism.

American Pharoah, who won this race on the way to the 2015 Triple Crown, has a son  in the race named Publisher.

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Last year, Steve Haskin wrote a piece for Secretariat.com analyzing and explaining why Secretariat's Belmont record will never be broken.

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Belmont Stakes 2024

 Dornoch, ridden by Luis Saez, has won the 156th running of the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga.  The time was 2:01.64 for the shortened distance of  mile and a quarter.   He was 17-1 and was bumped at the gate.

The trainer is Danny Gargan.  His father, Danny Gargan, Sr., rode Pvt. Smiles in the 1973 Belmont Stakes, won of course by Secretariat.  The senior Gargan died two years after the famed running in a car accident.

Second was Mindframe, and favorite Sierre Leone was third.

The race, via the NYRA YouTube channel:

Earlier:  Sierre Leone is the favorite for the 156th running of the Belmont Stakes, this year at The Spa, also known as Saratoga.  Derby and Preakness winners Mystik Dan and Seize the Grey, respectively, are also in this ten-horse field.

National Treasure won the Metropolitan Handicap, while Crupi won the Suburban earlier today.

From NYRA YouTube Channel:

Metropolitan:

Suburban:

Preakness 2024 Results

In a muddy track and time of 1:56.82, 88-year-old trainer D. Wayne Lukas has won the 149th Preakness with his grey horse, Seize the Grey.  Jaime Torres was the jockey.  The winner went wire-to-wire in the  race.  Derby winner Mystik Dan came in second.  The latter tried hard, but I think the mud tired him in the stretch and couldn't catch the winner.

Catching Freedom came in third, while Tuscan Gold came in fourth.

This was Lukas's seventh Preakness win. His first winner was Codex back in 1980 in a controversial win against Derby winner Genuine Risk.  There are around 2,570 owners of today's winner.  

Seize the Grey's sire was the late champion Arrogate and a member of his last crop before his untimely death in 2020.

The race, courtesy of NBC Sports:

Earlier:   Will Mystik Dan make it 2 for 2 in this year's Triple Crown, or will somebody else spoil his chances?  Here is the latest on today's race, complete with the current odds.

The earlier favorite, Muth, was scratched Wednesday because of a fever.

Kentucky Derby 2024 Results

 A PHOTO FINISH!!!!!

Mystik Dan and Sierra Leone were there for the photo finish.  To be decided.

Update:  Mystik Dan has won the 150th Run for the Roses.  He was 18-1.  Details to follow.

It was literally a bob of the head that made the difference.

Forever Young finished third.  The time was 2:03.3.

The margin was the closest since Grindstone won years ago.  I would argue it was closer.  It was the closest thing to a dead heat I have seen in this race.

Here is a photo of the finish:

Blood Horse report

THE race, courtesy of NBC Sports:

Earlier:  Today's race marks my 63rd viewing of the Derby.  I have watched every single one of these races live, with the exception of 1974, which was a delayed broadcast locally in Medford, Oregon, with my first winner being Carry Back in 1961, when I was six years old.

I am pushing 70, which I can't believe.

A live stream can be found via here, although I don't believe the actual race will be here given how NBC/Universal are about that sort of thing.  However, this is the official KD YouTube channel, so anything is possible.  It provides a link to a "free" livestream.

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Fierceness if the favorite for this year's race.

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A Few Reads for Saturday

 No surprise that the far right CPAC now has actual Nazis attending their annual  event.

The whole party is fascist in bent.  The days of the middle-of-the-road, country club Republican are long gone.

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A pair of studies trotted out by the antiabortion nutjobs have been retracted.

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You think, Gavin?  The antiabortion movement has always been about declaring a war on women for daring to control their own lives, including the right to say "no" to pregnancy.

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In an exciting Saudi Cup this year, Senor Buscador, a six-year-old son of Mineshaft, a son of A.P. Indy, which makes  him a male-line descendant of Seattle Slew and a descendant of Secretariat, eked out a victory at the wire:

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