Archive for 2015

BY ROBERT KIECKHEFER UPI Racing Writer While the world awaited the excitement of the coming weekend, Treve started her push for a third straight Arc victory in France, challengers surfaced in both Japan and France and there was plenty of turf racing in America. Also, a Breeders’ Cup champion fell short in his seasonal debut. […]

Memorial Day Edition By ROBERT KIECKHFER UPI Racing Writer Preparations are well under way for the Investec Derby at Epsom Downs and American Pharoah’s assault on the Triple Crown at Belmont Park — races that go to the post only hours apart on Saturday, June 6. American Pharoah is back at Churchill Downs where trainer […]

By ROBERT KIECKHEFER UPI Racing Writer American Pharoah heads for New York with his once-in-a-lifetime chance to win the Triple Crown after backing up his hard-fought Kentucky Derby victory with a romp in Saturday’s rain-drenched Preakness. For jockey Victor Espinoza, it will be a third chance to win the Triple Crown; for trainer Bob Baffert, […]

By ROBERT KIECKHEFER UPI Racing Writer An exciting weekend of Thoroughbred racing left a lot of question marks in the wake of some sizeable upsets. Twilight Eclipse finally got his first Grade I win after being eclipsed by Main Sequence all of last year. But Beholder missed her weekend start at Santa Anita, leading to […]

May 4, 2015 – “Trust your hunches. They’re usually based on facts filed away just below the conscious level.” Dr. Joyce Brothers

May 2, 2015 – “Pleasure is more in contemplation than in realization.” Malcom Forbes

By ROBERT KIECKHEFER UPI Racing Writer It’s on to the Preakness as Kentucky Derby winner American Pharoah seeks to become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978 and trainer Bob Baffert sounds optimistic. After showing off the Derby winner Sunday outside his barn at Churchill Downs, Baffert said American Pharoah “was just born […]

By ROBERT KIECKHEFER UPI Racing Writer Wit the Kentucky Derby in “calm before the storm” mode, a battle of international titans in Hong Kong took center stage in weekend racing. Churchill Downs, meanwhile, got Derby Week proceedings under way successfully with a new sprint for 3-year-olds. Some of the aspirants to contention in the Classic […]

By ROBERT KIECKHEFER UPI Racing Writer An apparently minor injury cost top-rated American horse Shared Belief his second career loss Saturday while 3-year-olds were on display from Japan to Illinois to Maryland to England. Graded stakes in many divisions around North America provided diversion. And a trio of old guys went 1-for-3 on the East […]

By ROBERT KIECKHEFER UPI Racing Writer With American Pharoah’s romping win in Saturday’s Arkansas Derby, the Kentucky Derby field is just about set. More about that in a minute, though, because there was a lot more going on during a busy weekend of Thoroughbred racing. Two races run within minutes of each other on Friday […]