HORSE RACING HORSE TRACK BETTING ARTICLES

With so many of the racetracks in the north closing down for the winter, the Sport of Kings is just getting revved up down in the Sunshine State once again. Opening weekend at Gulfstream Park might not have any graded stakes races, but purses totaling well over $1 million will be handed out on Saturday alone, headlined by the Claiming Crown Jewel.... 

Thursday is for football and families, but Friday is for the horses. Seven are scheduled to take the one turn around Aqueduct Racetrack on Friday at the Go For Wand Handicap, one of the last major races of the year for fillies and mare sprinters.... 

Thanksgiving weekend at the races is always a good one, particularly at Churchill Downs. The Clark Handicap is the signature race of the weekend, a rare Grade 1 race run on a Friday between some of the best elder ponies in the world.... 

Two-year old fillies and colts will both be on display this weekend in the biggest weekend of racing at Delta Downs. The secondary race on the docket behind the Jackpot is the Delta Downs Princess Stakes, where two-year old fillies race for the right to go into the new year as one of the top dogs for in the chase for the Triple Tiara.... 

We might be at the end of the year for horse racing, but the two-year olds are starting to get revved up in their chase to get into the Kentucky Derby next year.The Delta Downs Jackpot isn't considered one of those top-flight races, but it's one which can propel a two-year old to the next phase of his career with sights on Churchill Downs in May.... 

Turf races this time of year in the northern tracks are always dangerous propositions and often produce unpredictable results. Some horses just don't take to the cold weather and generally slick surfaces all that well. That said, there's a lot to like about some of the horses running in the Red Smith Handicap on Saturday.... 

Churchill Downs is one of the few tracks which still has tremendous championship racing on its docket on a week in, week out basis this time of year, and this Saturday is no exception. Three-year old fillies which didn't run at the Breeders' Cup will have a shot at a prize pool exceeding $200,000 at the Mrs. Revere Stakes.... 

The best racing at most of the top tracks in the nation is now closed for the year, but Aqueduct is still going strong in spite of the fact that the weather is starting to really take a turn for the worse in the northeast.The Long Island Handicap is always a great featured race the week after the Breeders' Cup, and it takes center stage with its solid $200,000 purse to be given out this Saturday.... 

The Breeders' Cup is said and done with, and horse racing will slow down just a bit. Many of the top racers are going to be cast aside for the winter, but there is still some fine racing and some reasonably sized purses heading into the New Year.The Chilukki Stakes will see eight go to post at Churchill Downs on the turf in one of the handful of graded stakes races this weekend.... 

The Breeders' Cup Sprint always draws a huge field, and this year is no exception with 15 involved in the race. That said, even though there are 15 in the field, there are only two in Private Zone and Runhappy who are thought to have any chance of hitting the line first in the fastest race in the Breeders' Cup.... 

It isn't often that you see a two-year old champion go on to be a factor in the Triple Crown, but each and every year, he who wins the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at least starts off as the favorite to win the Kentucky Derby.... 

Ladies' night at Keeneland Park will take place this Friday for the Breeders' Cup Distaff. With Beholder electing to not run in this race and try her hand at the Classic instead, the field has really opened up. As a result, there are 15 entries, one beyond the maximum allowed of 14. Peace and War will be the alternative starter if anyone scratches between now and Friday morning, but whether she is or is not involved, this will be a fantastic race.... 

A year ago at this time, few had any idea who American Pharoah was. He had only run in a few races, winning the Del Mar Futurity and the Front Runner Stakes, but he hadn't evolved into much more than perhaps a lottery ticket to win the Kentucky Derby. Now, he has become the first horse in almost four decades to win the coveted Triple Crown, and he's going to look to add the Breeders' Cup Classic to his mantle as well in his final race before he is put out to stud.... 

The colts running in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile might not be the best of the bunch running on Saturday, but they've certainly got their place. With a healthy mix of veterans and those who are only recently off of Triple Crown competition in this field, the argument could be made that the Dirt Mile is going to be the most competitive of all of the races across the Breeders' Cup.... 

International ponies come across the pond all the time to race in the Longines Breeders' Cup, and they're often amongst the most difficult to handicap. In the case of the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf though, there's a definitive favorite coming from Europe who is very likely to win the race.... 

For decades, horse racing went without a hallowed Triple Crown winner. It was the most talked about story in the Sport of Kings. Could any three-year old colt ever overcome the odds of running three grueling races in a span of five weeks and winning all three against the best and brightest in his age class?... 

There's a ton of talk this year about American Pharoah at the Breeders' Cup. The three-year old champion and Triple Crown winner is set to retire once Halloween comes and goes, and the fact that this is his one and only shot to prove that he is the best thoroughbred of our generation is drawing gobs of attention.... 

As a society, we tend to speak in hyperbole quite a bit. That said, in the case of the Breeders' Cup, we certainly wouldn't be exaggerating saying that this could be the biggest two days in horse racing history.... 

Not all awesome two-year old horses end up at the Breeders' Cup, but that doesn't mean the ones who don't go end up being useless in terms of the Triple Crown. The Futurity Stakes at Belmont Park on Saturday is an undercard race for two-year olds, but this is the first shot for a lot of ponies to make a great first impression for their three-year old seasons.... 

Finger Lakes Gaming and Race Track isn't a track we generally talk about all that often, but this is the time of year where you can really get a good sense of who will be big shots on the NYRA circuit for some time to come. The winner of the New York Breeders' Futurity is going to have a great chance to move up the ranks next year as a three-year old and have a shot at qualifying for the Kentucky Derby through the Derby prep races.... 

This particular three-year old crop of fillies hasn't been largely noted, but those in the horse racing betting world realize that this is a truly elite crop of youngsters. The field racing in Saturday's Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes is good enough to challenge any previous field of three-year olds to enter this race, and the winner, if it is raced on short notice, could be a legitimate contender in one of the Breeders' Cup turf races.... 

The field at the Knickerbocker Stakes isn't quite as good as those running Belmont Park would have hoped, but there are still a lot of intriguing horses who could make a name for themselves the second Saturday of October.Let's take a look at Bookmaker's racebook odds for the Knickerbocker Stakes.... 

Purses of $1,000,000 and up generally get the attention of a ton of owners and trainers, but in the case of the Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes this Saturday, only six have decided to try their hand at the mile and a quarter run at Belmont Park, knowing that the Breeders' Cup is right around the corner.... 

Two-year olds are being given fewer and fewer races to prove themselves at the Triple Crown level, and typically speaking, the ones who end up racing this time of year aren't heard of again in the spring when it really matters.... 

This Saturday may as well be called "Super Saturday" for horse racing, as any colt, filly or mare trying to get into the Breeders' Cup that hasn't qualified yet has one more chance to get into the Fall Classic.Two-year olds will run 1 1/16 miles in their biggest test of their careers at Santa Anita this weekend in their last prep for the Breeders' Cup at the Frontrunner Stakes....