by Chelsea Hackbarth|09.21.2023|4:11pm Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: ‘Bumps In The Road’ Can’t Stop Demeritte’s Derby Dream Trainer Larry Demeritte’s dream has always been to make it to the Kentucky Derby, and he’s now one step closer after 2-year-old colt West Saratoga (Exaggerator) won Saturday’s Grade 3 Iroquois Stakes beneath the Twin Spires. “When I was growing up in the Bahamas, I always watched the Kentucky Derby, and I said, ‘In order […]
by Chelsea Hackbarth|09.12.2023|6:34pm Neither Rocks Nor Hard Training A ‘Smoking Gun’ For Churchill Fatalities; HISA’s Lazarus ‘Optimistic’ About New Initiatives The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority revealed Tuesday that its investigation into the 12 equine fatalities during Churchill Downs’ 2023 Spring meet led to no singular “smoking gun” explanation. Still, the resulting 197-page report did reveal some interesting findings. Apparently, there was an issue early in the meet with rocks on the dirt racing surface. […]
by Chelsea Hackbarth|09.07.202309.08.2023|4:46pm10:36am Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: The ‘Surreal’ Moment Prince Maverick Became A King There’s a spot near the rail at Woodbine where you’ll find Ericka Rusnak on race day afternoons, a place at which her long-range camera allows her nearsighted eyes a clearer view of the action. Those well-worn footprints have seen their fair share of heartache, to be sure, but on Aug. 20, 2023, that is where […]
by Chelsea Hackbarth|08.10.202308.10.2023|5:28pm5:33pm Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: For DeMasi, ‘Just Being Around The Horses Is So Enjoyable’ It isn’t always success on the biggest stage that keeps horsemen enjoying the task of waking up in the earliest hours of the morning. For 60-year-old Kathleen DeMasi, the first female trainer inducted into the Parx Hall of Fame, it’s something much less tangible that keeps her love of the sport alive. There’s a moment […]
by Chelsea Hackbarth|07.31.202307.31.2023|5:39pm5:42pm Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: ‘Resiliency’ Keeps California Breeder Adrian Gonzalez Looking Forward California breeder Adrian Gonzalez got quite the thrill when Yo Yo Candy, bred by his family’s Checkmate Thoroughbreds, jumped up to win a graded stakes race at Saratoga on July 15. The 2-year-old son of Danzing Candy paid $94 for his unlikely victory in the Grade 3 Sanford Stakes, but his win also represented a […]
by Chelsea Hackbarth|07.13.2023|4:26pm Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: 61-Year-Old Jockey Beats All Odds For Milestone Victory Longtime jockey Cindy Murphy was just seven wins away from her milestone 2,000th victory last June at Prairie Meadows, but a pre-race incident left her with injuries severe enough that that goal could easily have been ripped from her grasp forever. Riding the 2-year-old filly Crypto Mo, trained by her husband Travis, Murphy was approaching […]
by Chelsea Hackbarth|06.29.2023|6:58pm Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Special Juvenile Filly Keeps 73-Year-Old Trainer ‘Smiling’ Over the past four or five years, there have been moments when trainer Steve Specht has found himself contemplating retirement. Those thoughts rarely last long, especially when that year’s 2-year-olds come into the barn; wouldn’t you just know it, it always seems that at least one of them can run a little bit! “I’d probably […]
by Chelsea Hackbarth|06.01.202306.02.2023|8:52pm8:56am Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: ‘I Love Horses; That’s The Bottom Line’ It had been nine long years since Randy Morse had last saddled a graded stakes winner, leaving the trainer to walk into the Pimlico saddling paddock on May 19 with plenty on the line for the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes. He was preparing Taxed, the 3-year-old filly by Collected Morse had claimed on behalf […]
by Chelsea Hackbarth|05.18.202305.18.2023|5:27pm8:01pm Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: With Promising 3-Year-Old, Antonucci Focused On ‘What Really Matters’ To the outside world, it may appear as though the winner’s circle is the ultimate goal for horse racing participants. For trainer Jena Antonucci, however, a trip to the winner’s circle is just a byproduct of her actual goals. Just a few days after sending out perhaps the biggest winner of her career, 3-year-old Arcangelo […]
by Chelsea Hackbarth|05.06.202305.06.2023|7:34pm9:15pm ‘Little Horse With A Big Heart’: Mage Provides The Magic In Kentucky Derby 149 On an overcast afternoon beneath the Twin Spires, both in terms of the weather and the shadow cast over the track by a total of seven equine fatalities in the past nine days, it was a little horse with a big heart that brought happy tears to the eyes of hundreds of connections in the […]