HorseRacingNation.com NewsWire

Black Caviar: Perfection to the End

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:20:31 GMT

It’s official, Black Caviar has been retired. Usually the announcement of such a high profile horse being retired gives me cause to lament the loss of yet another star, but this time is different. Black Caviar was no ordinary star of the sport of horse racing, she took every test that was thrown her way and waltzed through it smelling like a rose. I guess I just feel that she’s done it all, there is nothing left to ask of her. All I feel is gratitude, not a hint of disappointment or regret. Few horses can instill the kind of confidence in their ability that the great race mare did in her massive global community of fans, but instill it she did, without once disappointing. From the moment she captured her first trial in March of 2009 to the moment she won her last race in the Darley T. J. Smith Stakes at Royal Randwick on April 13th 2013, she has been nothing less than perfection itself.

Under the expert and caring hand of trainer Peter Moody, Black Caviar blossomed from day one, taking down race after race, gaining a reputation for brilliance and speed that was u

The Gals are Moving Forward

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 04:26:19 GMT

Saturday’s Forward Gal Stakes features a diverse field of six fillies at Gulfstream Park, headlined by three-time graded stakes winner and brilliant sprinter Kauai Katie. The Malibu Moon filly will be making her second start of the month when she enters the gate in the Grade 2 event, having already impressively captured the Grade 3 Old Hat Stakes at Gulfstream on January 1st by 8 lengths in an excellent time of 1:09.66 for the 6 furlongs. In 2012 Kauai Katie won her first three starts by more than 22 combined lengths before finishing a credible 4th in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (Gr.1). She enters the Forward Gal off two consecutive 4 furlong works and will once again be ridden by John Velasquez as the solid favorite.

My Happy Face is one of the most intriguing runners in the Forward Gal field. The Tiz Wonderful filly finished a well beaten 2nd to Teen Pauline in her debut on July 25th at Saratoga and then returned one month later on August 31st to post one of the most impressive maiden victories of 2012, bar none. In that 5 ½ furlong contest, My Hap

My Miss Aurelia: A 2013 Forecast

Mon, 24 Dec 2012 08:46:47 GMT

The older female division for 2012 was certainly not lacking in talent, excitement and glamour. As exciting as 2012 was in the distaff division, 2013 is setting up to be an even more spectacular display of the nation’s best fillies and mares. Royal Delta added a second stellar year to her record and became the first back-to-back winner of the Breeders’ Cup Ladies' Classic, (Gr.1) since superstar Baykoa won back-to-back runnings in 1989 and 1990, in early November of this year. A failed attempt to win the Dubai World Cup did little to diminish her status as an elite runner and she finished up the year with two consecutive Grade 1’s, and will enter 2013 once again as the title holder for divisional honors. It doesn’t appear she has reached the limit of her potential and in fact, she looked better than ever winning the Breeders’ Cup Ladies' Classic, so it wouldn’t be considered absurd to predict another championship season from such a talented, capable filly. But many challenges lie in her path in the coming year if she is once again to conquer the championship. The talent p

Royal Delta Returns in the Fleur de Lis

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 10:55:58 GMT

2011 Champion 3-Year-Old Filly Royal Delta is back and she’s been looking better than ever. The 4-year-old Empire Maker filly leads a field of 6 fillies and mares on Saturday at Churchill Downs in the $150,000 Grade 2 Fleur de Lis Stakes. When last we saw the impressive daughter of Empire Maker she had made the ambitious pilgrimage to Dubai to take on some of the best thoroughbred colts and geldings in the world in the $10 million Dubai World Cup (gr.1). She ultimately finished 9^th in Dubai, struggling to find her best stride on the Meyden All-Weather track and trainer Bill Mott is ready for his filly to remind racing fans why she was voted an Eclipse Award winner last year.

In two starts this year Royal Delta has been unable to make it to the winners circle thus far, but all that could be about to change if her impressive series of works is any indication. In her last four workouts she has posted three straight bullet works and a speedy four furlong move that ranked the 3^rd fastest of 87 moves. On May 27^th she went five furlongs in :59.48 and then came back in just one week to p

Kentucky Oaks 138: Make Your Pick

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:12:15 GMT

2012 has truly been a year blessed with a multitude of talent among the 3-year-old crops of both fillies and colts in America. Even with the loss of such standouts as My Miss Aurelia and Algorithms, both the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby have compiled two of the most competitive fields in the last 15 years. An overflow field of 15 fillies were entered for the 138^th running of the Kentucky Oaks tomorrow at Churchill Downs but a maximum of 14 will actually contest the prized race. The Timothy Hills trained Oaks Lilly currently sits on the outside looking in as the first ever also-eligible to be entered in the Oaks.

The most solid contenders:

This edition of the Kentucky Oaks is probably the strongest field entered since the turn of the century. Grace Hall was installed as the 5-2 morning line favorite off the strength of her 6 ½ length romp in the Gulfstream Oaks Stakes (gr.2) which means that Empire Maker has sired the favorites for both the Oaks and Derby this year. It’s easy to look at Grace Hall’s most recent work of :52.10 for four furlongs and think that she

Closing in on the Kentucky Oaks

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 18:29:41 GMT

What’s not to like about the Kentucky Oaks? In 137 runnings, the Kentucky Oaks has produced some of the sports brightest stars and most thrilling memories and yet it still plays second fiddle to its world-famous counterpart, the Kentucky Derby. There are several upsides to rooting for the Kentucky Oaks and two especially big reasons to like it just as much as the Derby. First, the Kentucky Oaks is run at the same thrilling venue as the Derby but is restricted to a reasonable 14 horse field. This means it can be run as an actual race, with strategy and some amount of uniformity and not as mad-house 20 horse dash like the Derby. Ok, the Derby might not be that hectic, but there’s a whole lot more disarray once the field breaks from the gate than there is in the Oaks. Second, winners of the Kentucky Oaks, and participants in general, tend to have much longer careers on the track than winners and participants of the Kentucky Derby. Recent powerhouse fillies such as Rachel Alexandra and Blind Luck have provided some of the most exciting post-Oaks winning careers this decade. So I a

The Novel Nine: Grace Back on Top

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 14:39:26 GMT

There are less than three weeks left until the running of the 138^th Kentucky Oaks and the 2012 crop of 3-year-old fillies has continued to impress during their preparations. Since the last Novel Nine there has been some major shifting on the list but most of the names are familiar. Due to the amount of strong performances turned in thus far I found it impossible to list just nine fillies, so the Novel Nine becomes a “false” title this week and includes three more fillies as well as several honorable mentions at the bottom of the list. Taking a look at the Kentucky Oaks contenders, one thing has stood out very clear this year; pace is going to be a key factor. Of the twelve fillies listed, eight either run on the lead or rate as close to the pace as possible. Of the remaining four, all except for three prefer to run just behind the pace. The pace could wind up being extremely brisk this year and there are several very class fillies more than able to run a fiery 1 1/16 mile race that will all be gunning for the lead.

1. Grace Hall – She earned this spot with her overpowering vi

Three Tall Oaks: Gulfstream, Fair Grounds and Santa Anita

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 04:10:43 GMT

It is just 5 weeks until the 138^th running of the Kentucky Oaks on Friday May 4^th at Churchill Downs and this weekend has come up saturated with talented fields of improving sophomore fillies. In what is easily the most exciting weekend of Kentucky Oaks preps so far this year, no less than three graded stakes races will set sail from coast to coast with some of the most promising 3-year-old fillies lining up to do battle.

The Gulfstream Oaks:

We begin with the Gulfstream Oaks (gr.2) at Gulfstream Park this Saturday which features a return of the top three finishers from last month’s Davona Dale Stakes. It’s the top two finishers from the Davona Dale that will really be catching people’s attention at the betting windows though, as 64-1 Davona Dale surprise winner, Yara, and Breeder’s Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr.1) runner up, Grace Hall, square off once again after running a thrilling stretch duel in the Davona Dale that saw Yara prevail by a neck.

Grace Hall was the heavy favorite to win her 2012 debut in the Davona Dale but came up a little short of holding off Yara in the

Potential for Princess Arabella at Sunland

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:10:57 GMT

Last year Plum Pretty put the once obscure Sunland Park Oaks on the map with a massive 25 length romp that preceded a game winning effort in the Kentucky Oaks just six weeks later. This year Princess Arabella will attempt to tread the same path to Kentucky Oaks glory as she headlines a field of seven fillies in at Sunland Park on Saturday.

Feisty Flirt breaks from the inside post and attempts the 1 1/16 mile distance for the first time. She has won two of her six career starts, a maiden race at Zia Park last September and an allowance score in the middle of December at Sunland Park. Both wins came at the six furlong distance. Her most recent start was an uninspiring 5^th place finish in the Island Fashion Stakes on February 26^th at the 1 mile distance. Her last four works have been exceptionally slow.

Sophisticated broke her maiden by more than 6 lengths in her most recent start at Sunland Park on March 10th which means she’ll be returning off just 12 days rest. It took the Comic Strip filly three starts to break her maiden but she made it count once she did. Her fir

The Novel Nine: Kentucky Oaks Hopefuls

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:44:22 GMT

The colts have been stealing the headlines left and right this year as they make their preparations for the Kentucky Derby and prove that this is one of the most constant and talented crops to pursue classic dreams in quite some time. Sometimes the fillies tend to get shuffled into the background a bit as Derby fever begins to boil over, but from the moment My Miss Aurelia won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr.1) in an absolute waltz to remain undefeated last year, the fillies have been consistently proving that last year’s crop is still going strong. The 2012 Kentucky Oaks promises to have a field almost as exciting and dynamic as the Derby this year and if not for the fact that juvenile champion My Miss Aurelia is still sidelined with a shin issue and for the loss of both Now I Know and Weemissfrankie, the Kentucky Oaks would be garnering a lot more attention right now. As it stands now, the Oaks still has a multitude of talented fillies pursuing the coveted wreath of lilies and for the first time this year, the Novel Nine is finally back.

1. Millionreasons