HorseRacingNation.com NewsWire

Kentucky Rain

Sat, 04 May 2013 16:25:32 GMT

The skies over Louisville were gray and forboding as Kentucky Derby Day began. As soon as racing began rain fell forcing patrons to find cover and horses to run in rain-soaked conditions. The Churchill tracks which started the racing day as fast and firm where quickly downgraded to sloppy and yielding.

Many Derby runners were facing a wet track for the first time as well as 10 furlongs. In this video see how the day began before racing's biggest day.

Zen and the Art of Finding a Kentucky Derby Winner

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:10:40 GMT

So you want make a winning Kentucky Derby wager? Well it’s going to take more than basic handicapping skill, knowledge of the culture, customs and lingo of horse racing and/or a lifetime spent watching horses run around a circular track to cash a winning Derby ticket. In fact, sometimes none of that matters and lucky numbers, names will do. See Kentucky Derby of 2009 when absolutely no “professional” pundit I know of picked the winner, Mine That Bird.

But there is an art form toward finding and cashing a winning Derby ticket for most runnings, if you’re willing to put in the work and then cancel out all the white noise that comes with the most wagered on race in America. We start with the state-of-mind that intersects with your talent and knowledge to make that winning bet – Zen.

The Urban Dictionary defines Zen this way:

a total state of focus that incorporates a total togetherness of body and mind. Zen is a way of being. It also is a state of mind. Zen involves dropping illusion and seeing things without distortion created by your own thoughts.

Kentucky Derby Field 139 - First Look

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 09:08:57 GMT

So here we are with the majority of the 139^th Kentucky Derby field set. It’s taken years of optimism, months of hope, four last-gasp qualifiers (and maybe another next week) and more time, money and prayer than you or I will ever know. The makings of a Derby champ are founded in speculative markets mirroring the price of pork bellies and grounded in rudiments of animal husbandry. Take a flyer on a $225,000 Lion Heart colt at a spring sale or pair your mare with the just right crosshairs of ancestry, stamina and speed and who knows?

What we do know is the odds are against even the most well-bred equine athletes or those picked up a bargain-basement prices with less than perfect confirmation to make a May trip to Louisville. Given this year’s crop of freshly groomed (or doomed never to win) three-year-olds number just north of 27,000 (a down year by Thoroughbred breeding standards), having one of the 20 to enter Churchill’s Derby gate conjures up a just right recipe, equal parts management, magic and good health.

In stark difference to the recent histor

Mark Hennig: Live Lively's Trainer Talks

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 07:47:22 GMT

Trainer Mark Hennig has deep and rich roots in the horse training world. He grew up with his siblings in his father, John’s, racing stable. His early equine education was picked up by a couple of Hall of Famers in Jack Van Berg and D. Wayne Lukas. When Hennig finally went out on his own, he quickly went on to win a series of Grade I races from coast-to-coast.

On the eve of his filly, Live Lively’s start in the Grade II Gulfstream Park Oaks, Hennig chatted about his beginnings in the Thoroughbred horse racing world, what he’s learned along the way and how it feels to win a big race. Our conversation occurred just after Live Lively received a visit from NFL ProBowl defensive linemen, Vince Wilfork – interesting to say the least.

Tony Bada Bing: You’re training resume is filled with Grade I wins, many of which kicked off your training career in 1993 – Arlington Million, Santa Anita Derby and United Nations, to name a few – how were you able to attain such success so quickly and did those successes build a level of expectation for continued success from a younger y

20 in the Gate Makes the Kentucky Derby Great

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 05:30:50 GMT

Horse racing is a sport, in which opinions matter more than most. It's one of the few athletic endeavors in which wagering is widespread and legal, an outcome either backing said opinion or refuting it happens in a timely manner - 25 minutes in preparation - and usually it takes less than two minutes to determine whose bets/opinions are right. Sure, you and I might disagree about who will win the NCAA Division I basketball tournament whilst filling out a bracket in an office pool with a few bucks, but it's certainly not legal and it takes more than three weeks to decide a champion/winner. (Unless you took Valparasio to win it all…)

With the immediacy and intimacy of bettors hanging at the track, OTB or on social media, there's bound to be disagreements with friends and adversaries alike. This brings me to challenge my friend - both in person and online - in his assurance that the Kentucky Derby would be a better race if the gate were limited to 14 entries. I speak of the wise and well-versed Matt Shifman, New York State of Racing blogger. Matt is definitely a savvy bettor and st

Twenty in the Gate Makes the Derby Gate

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 05:30:47 GMT

Horse racing is a sport, in which opinions matter more than most. It's one of the few athletic endeavors in which wagering is widespread and legal, an outcome either backing said opinion or refuting it happens in a timely manner - 25 minutes in preparation - and usually it takes less than two minutes to determine whose bets/opinions are right. Sure you and I might disagree about who will win the NCAA Division I basketball tournament whilst filling out a bracket in an office pool with a few bucks, but it's certainly not legal and it takes more than three weeks to decide a champion/winner. (Unless you took Valparasio to win it all…)

With the immediacy and intimacy of bettors hanging at the track, OTB or on social media, there's bound to be disagreements with friends and adversaries alike. This brings me to challenge my friend - both in person and online - in his assurance that the Kentucky Derby would be a better race if the gate were limited to 14 entries. I speak of the wise and well-versed Matt Shifman, New York State of Racing blogger. Matt is definitely a savvy bettor and stu

Gary Contessa has Derby Dreams with Rydilluc

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 11:01:12 GMT

Leading New York-based trainer Gary Contessa has been in the Thoroughbred horse racing game for 40 years. He started out assisting Jimmy Picou, conditioner of Willow Hour, upset winner of 1981 Travers Stakes over that year's Kentucky Derby winner, Pleasant Colony. Johnny Campo, who trained that near Triple Crown winner, was a consistent sourse of advice to the young Contessa.

Contessa led the NYRA circuit four consecutive years from 2006-2009 and his horses earned a career best of $6.3 million in 2006. He's comfortable training from maiden claimers all the way up into stakes company. He has yet to have a Derby starter, but this year his hopes rest with Rydilluc, a son of multiple grade one winner, Medaglia d'Oro, who has progressed nicely on turf with three straight impressive wins.

Rydilluc's next scheduled start is Keenland's Grade I prep, the Blue Grass Stakes on April 13. If he runs well and earns enough points, Rydilluc will not only have Contessa doing a little Derby dreaming, but he'll think…you'll have to read on to find out.

Tony Bada Bing: Y

Caught in the Eye of Breaking News

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 14:44:16 GMT

On Saturday morning I planned to speak with Fair Grounds-based trainer, Keith Desormeaux, a blue collar trainer who found himself with a horse capable of starting, and thus possibly getting a piece of the ever-coveted Kentucky Derby Pie. A dream for any trainer, but I thought especially so, since Desmormeaux has been plugging away at this game since 1991 and had never had anything close to a Derby prospect. A nice feature story for my Horse Racing Nation blog and an opportunity for me to get back to my journalist roots.

Instead of proceeding as planned just a few minutes before my 10:15 scheduled interview, Desormeaux learned that Ive Struck a Nerve was likely out of the Derby picture with an unexpected ankle injury. And I found myself in the midst of an actual news story, that I could have broken and almost did. Imagine an elementary school principal who moonlights as a Thoroughbred blogger simply on vacation with his wife making a side trip to the track and then, holding information that no one else in the horse racing media had.

Here's the timeline of my storied Saturd

Kentucky Derby Out for Ive Struck a Nerve

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 12:12:02 GMT

The Kentucky Derby dream of hometown horse, Ive Struck a Nerve, a 135-1 upset winner of the Risen Star Stakes, has been derailed this morning when he came back with an ankle injury following his first workout since his stakes victory two weeks ago.

Fair Grounds-based trainer, Keith Desormeaux, said that his first legitimate Derby contender in 23 years of Thoroughbred training came back from the track with an ankle that his veterinarian will examine. "I'm disappointed, not down," Desormeaux said this morning from the Fair Grounds backside.

Desormeaux said the injury came out of nowhere as the three-year-old son of Yankee Gentelman had been giving every indication of good health. This morning's four furlong workout that Desormeaux timed in 48.4 seconds and watched as Ive Struck a Nerve changed leads on cue from regular rider James Graham and then galloped out strong. Following a post race walk and bath, Desormeaux noticed his horse was not 100% sound.

"We were well on our way. We only had only one race to go and our horse was a 100 percent sound. Even me knowing

Tampa Derby, Future Pool and Such

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 12:24:43 GMT

So with only two months to go before 20 Thoroughbreds make their Run for the Roses, let me share my fleeting thoughts on the Tampa Bay Derby, take stock of where my Kentucky Derby future picks sit this weekend and a few random Derby thoughts...

While nine, three-year-olds look to punch Kentucky Derby tickets in the Tampa Bay Derby, trainer Todd Pletcher's curious courses to get his trainees to the big dance continues. Verrazano, much touted through two starts, makes his two-turn debut and will likely go off at as the heavy favorite. Sure a 16-length allowance win in just his second start stamps this horse something, but a Derby favorite really. At a 4-5 morning line and a few of the eight others having a chance to improve, I'd strongly suggest you take a pass.

Among the strongest in the group to "upset" Verrazano are the top two returning from the Tampa Bay Derby prep, Sam Davis Stakes, Dynamic Sky (4-1) and Falling Sky (10-1). Falling Sky was scheduled to start and then scratched from the Fountain of Youth after his Sam Davis Stake win while Dynamic Sky is more highly