Archive for the ‘Featured Articles’ Category

By Jude T. Feld Tony Jones When the stars align, about as often as Halley’s Comet rolls through the sky, magnificent things happen – just ask Tony Jones, the winner of Keeneland’s $40,000 Handicapping Challenge contested on Saturday, July 28. Introduced to the Thoroughbred sport by high school friend Roger Gover, Jones has been visiting […]

By Jude T. Feld Yutaka Take The Thoroughbred Times reported Wednesday that Yutaka Take, the only Japanese jockey to ride in the Kentucky Derby (G1), surpassed Yukio Okabe on July 21 as the Japan Racing Association’s all-time leader in victories. Take scored with Hishi Once More at Kokura racecourse to register his 2,944th career victory […]

Jude T. Feld In less than a week’s time, Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm’s freshmen sire, Vindication, has produced two impressive winners – a filly at Del Mar and a colt at Saratoga. Being a son of Seattle Slew, out of a Strawberry Road (Aus) mare, he figured to have more winners in the fall but […]

By Jude T. Feld Del Mar’s first week is in the books and it was entertaining to say the least. Here’s a few notes I made along the way: Ten A Penny earned my best turf figure of the three Oceanside splits. His race was rated 3 points better than Knockout Artist’s effort and 11 […]

Wednesday, the Indiana Horse Racing Commission gave unanimous approval to a regulation that allows samples to be taken from any horse participating in the state’s racing program. Effective immediately, it applies to horses stabled on and off racetrack grounds. It is designed to detect and deter the use of blood doping agents such as Epogen. […]

Jude T. Feld Racing’s elitists are in action again. This time, it is the North American members of the Society of International Thoroughbred Auctioneers. The group has declared the minimum purse value to meet black-type catalog standards will increase from $45,000 to $50,000 in 2008. The increase, originally announced last July, was one of several […]

By Jude T. Feld Is it our fault that, “We’re on the precipice of a clusterfuck,” as the Bill Jacks character in John From Cincinnati so perfectly stated? What’s the first thing an owner does when he or she is looking for a trainer? They check the standings and usually pick the person on top, […]

California-bred runners are making a tremendous impact at the highest levels of racing this summer. In an eight-day stretch from Saturday, June 30 to Saturday July 7, Cal-breds won four Grade 1 races, including three in one day on two coasts; broke a track record in winning a Grade 3 stakes at Monmouth Park and […]

By Jude T. Feld How long has Calder been going on? Traveling to Miami to co-host the Horse Racing Radio Network’s coverage of the eighth annual Summit of Speed with Mike Penna, I couldn’t believe the first class treatment we received by our hosts at Calder Race Course. Considered by many to be “the redheaded […]

By Jude T. Feld Calder hosts the 8th annual Summit of Speed this afternoon. Brainchild of the late, great racing secretary, Bob Umphrey, the ‘Summit features most of the top sprinters in North America. There is a special Pick Five wager on races 7 through 11. Named for the million dollar-earning filly who was later […]