The Wire

Aside from the big names, a few internationals not as well-known stateside are worth a look....

Nuggets of information from Del Mar that could yield dividends during Breeders' Cup weekend....

There are multiple deserving favorites on Breeders' Cup weekend, but also some that could be vulnerable....

The Breeders’ Cup trustees have decided that embattled trainer Bob Baffert will be permitted to run his horses in the 2021 Breeders’ Cup races at Del Mar. The potential public-relations damage to horse racing is huge. Mr. Baffert has the highest name recognition in American horse racing and is arguably...

We get questions all the time from readers about rumored drug positives or possible suspensions of trainers. It's seldom easy tracking down official rulings since there is no single, all-encompassing resource that provides timely, up-to-date information on such things. In another era, Daily Racing Form was the go-to publication for...

Starting to come off the Far Hills high, but just. Awesome day of racing, albeit smaller fields for lesser purses but still refreshing to be back at American steeplechasing’s championship day.  Now, it’s back to work. Nothing like going back to work after a weekend winner.  City Dreamer won the...

Victory in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland made Rattle N Roll the first Grade 1 winner for his …Continue reading →...

Yesterday, for the second week in a row, the sportsbooks got killed. Public teams like Dallas pretty much sealed their fate. Chip must be pretty excited for those Boys, and I think he should be. The last team I watched get pass rush protection like that were the Panthers, and they...

I've been thinking about wagering, handicapping and gambling content this week. The topic has been front and center with Nico's great twitter thread about gambling versus picks, and Woodbridge's thoughts on the sports betting content space.  With so much corporate-type content, sometimes it's hard to find pure gambling content, in...

Real Writing on Racing 💯...

Christmas Eve. The Far Hills Steeplechase is tomorrow.  Like everyone involved in American steeplechasing, the New Jersey race meet has rocked my world from the beginning. Back when we called it Essex and it was a country meet, complete with pony races and mud slides down the hill. My dad...

Detailed analysis of the 2021 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup field by Vance Hanson of TwinSpires....

The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation is our industry's oldest charitable organization devoted to aftercare, launched in 1982 by Monique Koehler and providing sanctuary or second careers to thousands of horses in the decades that followed. Aftercare has grown significantly since the TRF's founding, in the number of organizations that provide opportunities...

Annually in October, racing returns to Kentucky’s storied Keeneland track that is now celebrating its 85th year. On this day of October 15th in 1936–a Friday–Keeneland launched its inaugural race meeting lasting nine days and premiered its tote board, the first of its kind utilized in the state of Kentucky. The...

There was a pretty decent discussion on the twitter last night about making better ticket decisions with your handicapping. There's a school of thought out there that learning to find value is difficult (it is), so newer players would have a super-difficult time with it and go broke faster. IOW,...

Bob Baffert is factually the most accomplished American trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses in the long history of the sport.  Similarly, Urban Meyer coached three collegiate football teams to national championships, which puts him in the upper echelon of college coaches historically.  John Gruden is not in the “great” category of...

We've been waiting a long time for a high-class son of Unbridled's Song to make a statement at stud and stick around to carry his name forward in pedigrees, and that horse appears to be Lane's End's Liam's Map, who got his fourth Grade l winner over the weekend. Unbridled's...

In winning the premier events for 2-year-old colts on each coast in the U.S. over the weekend, Corniche (by Quality Road) …Continue reading →...

Beautiful day of racing at Virginia Fall Saturday. Perhaps, the biggest crowd I’ve seen there, the cars stretched over the hill and into the knoll of general admission, the tailgates went up and toward the last fences. Overcast skies. Good ground. Competitive racing. Storm Team jumped electrically to win the...

Keeneland's meet began yesterday and I got to watch a couple of races. Fields were deep and the crowd seemed to be good. The meet started off fairly well. During the polytrack phase, where chalk would win around 1 of 3 races, there'd be some grumbling based on curious results. I...

Braves vs. Pirates. Nine o'clock start. Catharpin.  Virginia Fall Races. One o'clock start. Glenwood Park. Perfect.   Miles in the opener. Lemonade Thursday and Tweny Years On in the finale.  In the words of my friend, George Baker, must dash. Enjoy the day. For more from The Inside Rail, check out the...

Fans of the sport and others involved in racing have to listen to a lot of foolishness from those with …Continue reading →...

Detailed analysis of the 2021 Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes field by J. Keeler Johnson of TwinSpires....

What does it mean when a racetrack – as opposed to a board of stewards or racing commission – suspends or excludes a trainer from its facilities? That's what happened a week ago when Gulfstream Park suspended five trainers for allegedly violating house rules regarding the use of clenbuterol. This...

Three quarters down, one to go. Minus five days of course....