| Name | Source | Points | Prize Shop Value |
|---|---|---|---|
The field for Sunday's $500,000 Woodbine Oaks drew nine contenders. The Morning Line favorites include, Dixie Strike, Northern Passion, and Irish Mission. Dixie Strike, a convincing winner of the Selene Stakes will be tough if she duplicates that effort.
The 1 1/16-mile Grade 3 $100,000 Affirmed Handicap at Hollywood Park features a field of seven led by Liason and Holy Candy. Liason was last seen finishing a respectable sixth in the Kentucky Derby.
I'll Have Another, who will seek to become the first Triple Crown winner in 34 years in the June 9 Belmont Stakes, continues to show good energy in his morning gallops and likely won't get an official timed work, or a “breeze,” between now and the Triple Crown's final jewel, trainer Doug O'Neill revealed.
A very talented field has assembled for Monday's Grade 1, $750,000 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park. There is no clear favorite in a race that features Cigar Mile and Westchester Mile winner To Honor and Serve, last year's Preakness winner Shackleford, as well as Jackson Bend and Caleb's Posse who just finished noses apart in the Grade 1 Carter at seven furlongs.
We're in the midst of a Triple Crown frenzy. At the same time, we have begun our extensive marketing campaign which includes a big partnership with NBC Sports (our own navigational tab in their horse racing section) as well as our TV campaign. For the next four months, we are sponsoring the Spotlight Weekend Races on TVG.
The Grade 3, $100,000 Louisville Handicap at Churchill on grass features a field of eight. Tahoe Lake and Simmard finished second and third in the Elkhorn Stakes at this 12-furlong distance last time out, which was also on turf. Cease certainly has ability, but might be better on dirt.
Saturday's 1 1/8-mile $150,000 Grade 3 Arlington Matron at Arlington Park features a field of seven, headed by Upperline who is coming off a win in the Grade 3 Bewitch at Keeneland at 1 1/2 miles. Now she cuts back in distance to 9 furlongs. She finished fourth in this race last year.
When a Thoroughbred sells for only $11,000, a mere pittance in a game nicknamed “The Sport of Kings,” a racing career at one of the nation's dozens of minor-league tracks is almost certain to follow. That certainly wasn't the case with I'll Have Another, however.
Belmont Park, the June 9 site of I'll Have Another's bid at Triple Crown glory, can pose a myriad of problems for horses and jockeys competing in the Belmont Stakes because of its unique layout. In fact, history is littered with examples of jockeys getting swallowed up by “Big Sandy.”
If you missed our national TV spot that ran Preakness Day on NBC at approximately 6:39 pm EDT, don’t worry you can watch the commercial right now. It was an exciting experience for us and we want to thank our partners – Preakness.com and their parent company, Maryland Jockey Club, and MI Developments – specifically Frank Stronach, the man behind the entire operation – an incredible individual whose love for horse racing is surpassed by no one, and, of course, the rest of his executive racing team who believe in new technologies to build racing fans. This amazing organization that we’re privileged to work with provided us a national spot in front of over 15 million people Preakness Day. This was the opportunity to test the waters to see what kind of demand is out there for a program like ours. Tens of thousands of people visited the site on our busiest day ever and thousands of new accounts were created.
The future of horse racing lies with the next generation. Horse racing is an exciting sport and now has tremendous opportunity to rebuild its fan base. We look forward to participating and helping partners like MI Developments, the Maryland Jockey Club, and their individual racetracks to create more awareness and demand for this wonderful sport.
LW