Archive for the ‘Featured Articles’ Category

By ROBERT KIECKHEFER UPI Racing Writer Metaboss traveled to northern California to join the list of Kentucky Derby hopefuls this weekend while much of the other racing action involved the fillies and mares. Internationally, wizardry was in the air in Dubai and Gold-Fun spun his mastery at an unaccustomed distance in Hong Kong. But Harp […]

By ROBERT KIECKHEFER UPI Racing Writer Weekend racing gave a good shake to the bag of Kentucky Derby contenders with a top 2-year-old defeated, a European grass sprinter winning on the all-weather, a filly being eyed for the big race and a second-time starter stepping up in Florida. In California, graded stakes put a little […]

By ROBERT KIECKHEFER UPI Racing Writer Add Upstart and — maybe — Barbados to the list of Kentucky Derby prospects after weekend racing and move Able Friend up yet another notch on the list of international stars. There was no shortage of action even though abysmal weather forced cancellation of Saturday’s cards at Laurel Park […]

By ROBERT KIECKHEFER UPI Racing Writer After a spirited debate, last year’s Kentucky Derby winner has been named 2014 U.S. Horse of the Year — just as this year’s crop of Derby contenders is getting fully revved up to see if they can follow in those hoofprints. California Chrome was named both Horse of the […]

By ROBERT KIECKHEFER UPI Racing Writer Some budding stars burst on the horizon in weekend racing from Florida to California while tracks in the Northeast and mid-South struggled with nasty weather. Hoppertunity and Lea on the dirt, Mshawish on the turf and Parranda among the turf distaffers all showed promise of exciting campaigns during the […]

By ROBERT KIECKHEFER UPI Racing Writer El Kabeir moved to the top of the Kentucky Derby rankings with an impressive weekend victory while several other young 3-year-olds hinted they also might be ready for the big time. Laurel Park and Santa Anita had a smattering of good races for the older horses during the weekend. […]

By ROBERT KIECKHEFER UPI Racing Writer Best wishes for a happy 2015. May they all come back safe and may all the photos go your way. The “Horse of the Year” discussion didn’t get any easier this weekend as Shared Belief won a tough renewal of the Grade I Malibu Stakes on opening day at […]

By ROBERT KIECKHEFER UPI Racing Writer Dortmund won the Futurity in California and Danon Platina won the Futurity in Japan in a big weekend for the 2-year-old Thoroughbreds. In Florida, Sky Flight looked like a late-blooming star in the turf ranks while winning the Tropical Park Derby. A new race caller was announced for Churchill […]

By ROBERT KIECKHEFER UPI Racing Writer Flintshire was the only foreign winner as Hong Kong dominated its biggest day of racing while, in America, a few more juveniles made their presence known in weekend preps for next year’s Kentucky Derby and Oaks. With winter settling in, Hong Kong was the focus as the Longines Hong […]

By Robert Kieckhefer UPI Racing Writer The Claiming Crown produced some big payoffs in Florida while the third time was the charm in Japan for the winner of the Champion Stakes. Meanwhile, some new talent surfaced in the early furlongs of the Kentucky Derby trail. Woodbine wound up its season with the appropriately named Valedictory […]