In a stunning reversal, Ahmed Zayat filed for bankruptcy protection this week, just five years after American Pharoah, a colt he bred and owned, captured the Triple Crown,
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Mike Brunker
Mike Brunker is an assistant city editor at the Review-Journal and he writes a weekly horse racing column. The column is posted on Thursday's and appears in Friday's print edition. He previously covered horse racing for the San Francisco Examiner, the Thoroughbred Times and NBCSports.com. Follow @mike_brunker on Twitter
Betting the Kentucky Derby at Las Vegas racebooks Saturday was a hit-or-miss proposition, with different wagering schemes and payoff caps in place at various resorts.
The 3-5 morning line favorite in the delayed Derby has all the attributes you look for in a major league racehorse: natural speed, quick acceleration and proven stamina.
The buzz is building among racing fans over Tiz the Law, the expected heavy favorite in the 146th running of the race on Sept. 5 and a potential superstar.
Nevada gaming regulators are considering an 11th-hour intervention that would allow the state’s racebooks to have betting on this year’s Kentucky Derby.
It’s rare to see a 3-year-old colt dominate to the degree that Tiz the Law has in four races this year, including last weekend’s Travers Stakes, the Belmont Stakes and Florida Derby.
Saturday’s $1 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga, usually the next big thing for 3-year-olds after the Triple Crown, this year lands smack dab in the middle of the series.
Many players fail to follow up their paper handicapping with a visual review of a horse’s previous race or races. That puts them at a big disadvantage.
Several tracks this week imposed new policies prohibiting jockeys from riding at other racetracks as a measure to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Trainer Bob Baffert will fight any adverse ruling by Arkansas racing authorities after two horses were “unknowingly and innocently exposed” to lidocaine, his lawyer said.
That would be crazy talk in any year but 2020, but this year, when the Breeders’ Cup will follow hard on the heels of the Derby and the Preakness Stakes, it makes some sense.
A unique handicapping factor in this year’s Belmont is the fact that four of the 10 horses will enter the race with layoffs ranging from a couple months to more than five.
Meanwhile, the field for next weekend’s Belmont Stakes is taking shape, with eight likely starters and one potential add-on as of Thursday.
Many Las Vegas Valley casinos have reopened their racebooks, and app-based horse wagering — cut off during the 78-day closure — should be running again by the weekend.
Two of trainer Bob Baffert’s horses tested positive for lidocaine after recent races in Arkansas, including Belmont Stakes contender Charlatan, according to reports.
