by Jennie Rees|11.11.202211.11.2022|3:19pm3:34pm ‘Just An Amazing Animal’: Beverly Park Eyes 13th Win Of Year In Claiming Crown For those lamenting that horses today don’t run enough, meet Beverly Park. If ever there was a horse that the Claiming Crown was meant to showcase it’s the 5-year-old Beverly Park, who runs in the $100,000 Claiming Crown Ready’s Rocket Express in Saturday’s eighth race at Churchill Downs. Blue collar? Check. Work horse? Check. Helping […]
by Jennie Rees|11.10.202211.10.2022|7:46pm7:53pm ‘It’s Kind Of Our Breeders’ Cup’: Van Berg’s Plans For Claiming Crown Come To Fruition When Tom Van Berg runs in the Claiming Crown Saturday at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., it will be the culmination of a plan that started two years ago. Van Berg had just formed his Grit To Glory Racing syndicate. He thought an achievable goal would be to get his partners to the Claiming Crown, […]
by Jennie Rees|11.09.202211.09.2022|7:57pm7:58pm ‘Whatever Happens, This Isn’t The End Of The Story’: 28-Year-Old Jesse Cruz Enters Haskell Runner Benevengo In Claiming Crown Jewel Benevengo is a prime example of how young horses can change. Because of that, trainer Jesse Cruz has his first Claiming Crown horse with the 3-year-old colt — known as Benny around the barn — going in Saturday’s 1 1/8-mile Jewel at Churchill Downs. The race, for horses which have raced in a $35,000 claiming […]
by Jennie Rees|11.09.2022|7:53pm Claiming Crown: Digital A True Jewel For Kentucky HBPA President Rick Hiles Longtime Kentucky HBPA president Rick Hiles knows how big a deal it is for racing’s rank-and-file horsemen to participate in the Claiming Crown, the series of big-money starter-allowance races for horses that are or have been claimers. Hiles is one of those “every-day” horsemen — his words. While he once had a barn full of […]
by Jennie Rees|11.08.202211.08.2022|5:43pm5:43pm Claiming Crown: Moti’s Irish Owners Parlay Winnings To Visit America For First Time The Claiming Crown was created 24 years ago to serve as a Breeders’ Cup-style event celebrating the blue-collar horses that populate most of America’s racing programs. With the eight-race series coming to Churchill Downs for the first time Saturday, trainer Carl O’Callaghan is hoping the impressive showing by the Irish in last week’s Breeders’ Cup […]
by Jennie Rees|11.04.2022|10:10am ‘It Kind Of Put Us On The Map’: Harris Family Enjoying Ride With Classic Contender Epicenter Winchell Thoroughbreds’ Epicenter — born and raised in Bowling Green, Ky. — will attempt to cement his status as North America’s best 3-year-old and stake a claim as Horse of the Year in Saturday’s $6 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland Race Course. Epicenter is the 5-1 second choice in the morning line behind […]
by Jennie Rees|09.15.2022|5:27pm ‘We’ve Continually Set The Bar Higher’: Despite Weekend Weather Woes, Kentucky Downs Has Record Meet The FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs in Franklin, Ky., concluded Wednesday with record wagering topping $80 million for the seven-day run. Purses again set a record, reaching almost $18 million paid out to horse owners. With $12,896,355 bet on Wednesday’s closing card, total wagering on the meet reached $80,175,928, clipping Kentucky Downs’ previous record of […]
by Jennie Rees|09.14.2022|5:01pm Cleveland’s Tom Rapps Wins Kentucky Downs’ King Of The Turf Handicapping Championship Tom Rapps knows well that horse racing can be a game of inches. The 58-year-old from suburban Cleveland had to sweat out a pair of photo finishes determined by a nose, but luck fell his way to win the King of the Turf Handicapping Challenge with an aggregate total of $5,760.30 for the three-contest series […]
by Jennie Rees|09.13.2022|1:36pm Trainer Mike Maker Hoping To End Record-Setting Meet With A Bang With an unprecedented 11 wins and $2,048,712 in purse earnings, trainer Mike Maker already has enjoyed a record run at the FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs this year — with the opportunity to further pad his statistics. Maker, working on breaking his own record of six Kentucky Downs training titles, had five horses scheduled to […]
by Jennie Rees|09.09.202209.09.2022|5:07pm5:07pm ‘Incredible Ride’: Apprentice Jockey Gets Shot In $1 Million Stakes Gage Holmes is getting a rare experience for a jockey who just started her race-riding career in late January. The 26-year-old Penn State graduate is riding Cambus-Kenneth Farm’s Henrietta Topham in the Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf, whose $750,000 purse will increase to $1 million with the presence of Grade 1 winner Dalika in the field […]