The 2009 Kentucky Derby trail is under way, and you can already hear this year's three-year-old Thoroughbreds busting out the rhymes, "I got my mind on my money, my money on my mind". Only the top 20 horses with the most earnings from graded stakes races can get into the starting gate for the world's most famous horse race, the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, which will have its 135th running on Saturday, May 2nd. Here are the contenders with the biggest bankrolls on the 2009 Derby Trail Graded Earni... Read More

0 comments View Entry

Square Eddie, winner of the Grade 1 Lane's End Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland, will run in the Grade 3 San Rafael Stakes at Santa Anita Park on January 17.

Square Eddie skipped the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity, prompting backstretch taunts of "Be there or be 'Square'" from the contenders of that race. In his last start, Square Eddie finished second to Midshipman in the Grade 1 Breeders Cup Juvenile.

A Canadian-bred son of Smart Strike, Square Eddie is trained by Doug O'Nei... Read More

0 comments View Entry

The Tropical Park Derby (G3 Turf), traditionally held on New Year's Day as the first graded stakes and Derby of the year for new three-year-olds, is one of three graded stakes that Calder has cancelled for its Tropical meet. The races were cancelled to help Calder balance its purse account after business declines. The $100,000, Grade 3 Tropical Park Derby was won by Barbaro in 2006, and by Todd Pletcher trainee Cowboy Cal in 2008.

As a Derby trail enthusiast, I'm disappointed to see any... Read More

0 comments View Entry

Garrett Gomez will ride Pioneerof the Nile in the Grade 2 CashCall Futurity on December 20th, which means he has dropped Real Quiet Stakes winner Chocolate Candy. In fact, Gomez's agent Ron Anderson explained to the Daily Racing Form that they think Pioneerof the Nile--most recently fifth in a crowded run to get a piece of the money in this year's Breeders Cup Juvenile--might be a 2009 Derby horse.

Pioneerof the Nile has been trained by Bill Mott for Zayat Stables, and with the horse's... Read More

0 comments View Entry

The Kentucky Derby trail is my favorite season in horse racing, and with the Breeders Cup over--and this year's Kentucky Derby winner, Big Brown, already retired to a stud farm--I'm ready to start keeping track of horses that may show up on the 2009 Derby trail, and in the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009.

What kind of horses are we looking for?  Many agree it's about who has the pedigree to go 1 1/4 miles, although every year we see top trainers tryin... Read More

2 comments View Entry