Sunday Morning Coming Down

The last two derby prep races will be run on Saturday at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas and Keeneland in Kentucky. The Arkansas Derby is a $1,000,000 race ad winning it will give you enough points to enter the Kentucky Derby. Many really good horses have run and won the Arkansas Derby, and gone on to win the Kentucky Derby.  The first Arkansas Derby was run in 1936.  Two of the biggest names in horse racing ran in the Arkansas Derby and deserve special mention : American Pharoah who went on the be the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years and Curlin who was a two time Horse of the Year in 2007 and 2008 after winning the Preakness Stakes, the Breeder's Cup Classic in 2007 and the Dubai World Cup in 2008. The 2018 Arkansas Derby will feature the top three finishers in the Rebel Stakes: Magnum Moon, Solomini, and Combatant and the winner of the Tampa Bay Derby Quip.  The winner will most likely come out of that group. The Lexington Stakes is a $200,000 race worth 20 point...

The Wood Memorial, the Santa Anita Derby, and the Bluegrass Stakes will be run Saturday and if all goes well Good Magic will win the Bluegrass Stakes at Keeneland, Bolt d'Oro will win the Santa Anita Derby on the West Coast, and Enticed will win the Wood Memorial which is run at Aqueduct in New York. The Arkansas Derby will be run next Saturday at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas and the probable favorite in that race will be Solomini. The Wood Memorial is named after Eugene Wood, the President of Jamaica Raceway where the race was originally run.  Irish War Cry won the 2017 Wood Memorial.  The race is worth $1,000,000. The race at a 1 1/8 mile will have nine contenders and the other potential winners along with Enticed are Fireneze Fire and Vino Rosso. The Bluegrass Stakes will have a full field of 14 hoping to get enough points to get to the Kentucky Derby.  The winner of the 2017 Bluegrass was Irap and it has been a while since a horse won the Bluegrass and the Kentuck...

There are two major prep races for the Kentucky Derby this weekend.  The Sunland Park Derby will be contested on Sunday and the Louisiana Derby will take place on Saturday.  Sunland Park is located near El Paso, Texas while the Louisiana Derby will be held at the Fair Grounds which is in New Orleans, Louisiana. Sunland Park's derby is an $800,000, 1 1/8 mile affair.  Mine That Bird is probably the most notorious horse to have run at Sunland Park.  In the days before points Mine that Bird finished 4th in Sunland Derby and 2nd in the Borderland Derby in 2009.  He went on to win the Kentucky Derby, finish 2nd in the Preakness, and 3rd in the Belmont. The 2018 Sunland Derby is a very very wide open race. The comment from Horse Racing Nation say it all:   "All Out Blitz and Hollywood Star look like the logical top win contenders here, with either of them ready to prove themselves Kentucky Derby-ready. The former has shown consistency and should ...

There are three Kentucky Derby Prep races this weekend that have points to qualify for the Derby.  The Risen Star will be run at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans, the El Camino Real Derby, at Golden Gate in Berkley, and the Southwest Stakes, at Oak Lawn Park in Hot Springs. The Risen Star, formerly known as the Louisiana Derby Trial, was renamed the Risen Star in 1989 after the horse won the Preakness andd Belmont Stakes in 1988.  Gun Runner won the race in 2016 and went on to win almost $16,000,000.  Installed Regard is the morning line favorite in 2018 and the purse is $400,000.  The winner gets 50 points towards qualifying for the Derby. The Southwest Stakes which was the Southwest Handicap has been lengthened to 1mile and 1/16 and is also a prep for the Arkansas Derby.  The purse is $500,000.  Mourhino is the probable favorite in a race with some other good horses. The winner will receive 10 points towards qualifying for the Derby. The El Camino Re...