In the spirit of March Madness, we are conducting a little experiment to determine how racing fans would evaluate the “best”, “greatest” or “most popular” (or any other criteria you think is applicable) horse of the last 5 or so years. Think of this as the “People’s Choice Awards” for racing. Use whatever criteria you think best determines which horses advance from round to round.  Let us know how you arrived at your conclusions. How it works:  Each day from March 16 through the end of the month, we will feature one matchup. We will post career specifics and some highlight races on our site to help you in your handicapping. Then you the fans will vote– favorite the tweet if choosing horse A, retweet if selecting horse B. Voting windows will close by 10:00 p.m. each night. The horse with the most votes will advance to the next round. 

Continue reading Horse Madness: CHAMPIONSHIP- (1) Zenyatta v. (1) Wise Dan →

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In the spirit of March Madness, we are conducting a little experiment to determine how racing fans would evaluate the “best”, “greatest” or “most popular” (or any other criteria you think is applicable) horse of the last 5 or so years. Think of this as the “People’s Choice Awards” for racing. Use whatever criteria you think best determines which horses advance from round to round.  Let us know how you arrived at your conclusions. How it works:  Each day from March 16 through the end of the month, we will feature one matchup. We will post career specifics and some highlight races on our site to help you in your handicapping. Then you the fans will vote– favorite the tweet if choosing horse A, retweet if selecting horse B. Voting windows will close by 10:00 p.m. each night. The horse with the most votes will advance to the next round. 

Continue reading Horse Madness: Elite Eight – Wise Dan v. Game On Dude →

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In the spirit of March Madness, we are conducting a little experiment to determine how racing fans would evaluate the “best”, “greatest” or “most popular” (or any other criteria you think is applicable) horse of the last 5 or so years. Think of this as the “People’s Choice Awards” for racing. Use whatever criteria you think best determines which horses advance from round to round.  Let us know how you arrived at your conclusions. How it works:  Each day from March 16 through the end of the month, we will feature one matchup. We will post career specifics and some highlight races on our site to help you in your handicapping. Then you the fans will vote– favorite the tweet if choosing horse A, retweet if selecting horse B. Voting windows will close by 10:00 p.m. each night. The horse with the most votes will advance to the next round. 

Continue reading Horse Madness: Elite Eight – Rachel Alexandra v. California Chome →

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In the spirit of March Madness, we are conducting a little experiment to determine how racing fans would evaluate the “best”, “greatest” or “most popular” (or any other criteria you think is applicable) horse of the last 5 or so years. Think of this as the “People’s Choice Awards” for racing. Use whatever criteria you think best determines which horses advance from round to round.  Let us know how you arrived at your conclusions. How it works:  Each day from March 16 through the end of the month, we will feature one matchup. We will post career specifics and some highlight races on our site to help you in your handicapping. Then you the fans will vote– favorite the tweet if choosing horse A, retweet if selecting horse B. Voting windows will close by 10:00 p.m. each night. The horse with the most votes will advance to the next round. 

Here is the Bracket.

Today, we feature what looks like a lopsided matchup on paper, but who knows how it will shake out when it comes to voting.  Shared Belief, a two seed (who had a strong argument for a one seed) goes up against Havre de Grace.  Havre de Grace was undoubtedly one of the best fillies of her generation, and famously took on – and beat – the boys, but today she runs into an absolute dynamo.  Shared Belief is the “now” horse of horse racing, and could very well be undefeated if it weren’t for some roughhousing by Bayern at the start of the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Classic.  Let’s break it down.

Shared Belief

Since his winning debut in October 2013, you really can’t argue with anything that this horse has done.  He has won every single time out with the notable exception of the Breeders’ Cup Classic.  And in that race, even the most strident Baffert/Bayern apologists have to admit that Shared Belief faced “extenuating circumstances.”  I will never be able to prove this, but I firmly believe that if the start of that race went smoothly, and Moreno was able to take off as expected, we would be talking about Shared Belief as an undefeated super horse.  But let’s move on from that.  Shared Belief’s Pacific Classic last year was sublime, and he has opened this year with consecutive wins in the San Antonio (over California Chrome) and the Big ‘Cap.  He is unquestionably horse racing’s current star.  Further, as a gelding, I am hopeful that we will get to enjoy his work for years to come.  Havre de Grace is in real tough here.

Here are Shared Belief’s near perfect stats.

You can watch his unforgettable domination in the Pacific Classic here.

Havre de Grace

Havre de Grace’s coup de grace was her victory in the 2011 Woodward Stakes.  She  triumphed in gritty fashion over Rule and Flat Out, showing yet again that a filly could take down the colts at Saratoga.  But though that race was her crowning acheivement, her resume includes far more than that.  She had 9 wins in 16 lifetime starts and finished out of the money just twice in her illustrious career.  Conditioned by Larry Jones and ridden by Ramon Dominguez, she also took down wins in the Beldame and the Apple Blossom, both Grade 1s.

Here are the stats for Havre de Grace.

Watch her turn back the boys at Saratoga here.

Who’s going to move on to the next round?  Vote on Twitter, and tune back in tomorrow to find out.

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In the spirit of March Madness, we are conducting a little experiment to determine how racing fans would evaluate the “best”, “greatest” or “most popular” (or any other criteria you think is applicable) horse of the last 5 or so years. Think of this as the “People’s Choice Awards” for racing. Use whatever criteria you think best determines which horses advance from round to round.  Let us know how you arrived at your conclusions.

How it works:  Each day from March 16 through the end of the month, we will feature one matchup. We will post career specifics and some highlight races on our site to help you in your handicapping. Then you the fans will vote– favorite the tweet if choosing horse A, retweet if selecting horse B. Voting windows will close by 10:00 p.m. each night. The horse with the most votes will advance to the next round. 

Here is the Bracket.

Befitting of the first Saturday of the NCAA basketball tournament, we have a dandy of a matchup for you today in #HorseMadness.  This matchup features two of my personal favorite horses of the past decade — Rachel “the Super Filly” Alexandra against “The People’s Champion” Mucho Macho Man.  I will admit that I have a huge pro-Mucho Macho Man bias.  I have loved that horse from the beginning of his career all the way through his curtain call in the 2014 Santa Anita Handicap.  And who doesn’t love Rachel Alexandra?  While many people point to her fantastic Preakness victory, or her absolutely Secretariat-esque Kentucky Oaks performance, I will never forget her scintillating Woodward victory at the end of the 2009 Saratoga meet.  I honestly don’t know which of these two I will be voting for.  I guess I have until 10:00 pm to figure it out.  Here’s the breakdown:

Rachel Alexandra

Rachel Alexandra is one of the most beloved horses of the past decade.  Her 2009 season was an exhibition of unparalleled dominance that included: (i) a Preakness win over colts (sidenote: the Preakness that year was sponsored by BlackBerry… LOL); (ii) a victory in the Kentucky Oaks by nearly 21 lengths; (iii) the Mother Goose Stakes by nearly 20 lengths (under wraps); and (iv) the Woodward Stakes against older males.   She notably skipped the Breeders’ Cup that year because of her owner, Jess Jackson, did not care for the Santa Anita synthetic surface.  Turns out, he was just a few years ahead of his time.  Although race fans missed out on seeing Rachel in the World Championships at the peak of her powers, it doesn’t take away from her unblemished 2009 record.  She is a sure-fire Hall of Famer.

Here are Rachel’s career stats:  Rachel Alexandra Career Profile

And here is her win in the 2009 Woodward: She is indeed Rachel Alexandra, THE GREAT!

Mucho Macho Man

Mucho Macho Man was a bit of a late bloomer, with an early habit of always being a bridesmaid rather than the bride.  In fact, after his 7th place finish in the 2011 Belmont Stakes he had won but twice — a maiden contest and that year’s Risen Star Stakes at Fairgrounds.  But in that same period, he had already racked up three place and three show efforts.  After the Belmont, however, it seems that his connections really figured him out, and he really hit his stride.  He began taking several months between starts, and the layoffs helped — he almost always brought his “A” race.  In fact, other than a DNF in the 2013 Sunshine Millions Classic and his 4th place finish in the 2014 Big Cap, he never again finished off the board.  In that time, he won the Sunshine Millions Classic twice, the Suburban, the Awesome Again and, of course, the Breeders’ Cup Classic.  He also finished an extremely game second in the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Classic to Fort Larned.

Here is the key information on Mucho Macho Man:  Mucho Macho Man Stats

And here is Mucho Macho Man’s fantastic Breeders’ Cup victory at picturesque Santa Anita Park:  Mucho… MACHO … MAN!!

Check back tomorrow to see which one of these two moves onto the Elite 8…

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It’s a new year, and that means we have a new dope Thorobros series for all of you who have been missing us after the post-Breeders’ Cup hiatus. This series, cleverly named Derby Prep-onomics, is intended to evaluate each of the Kentucky Derby prep races which award Kentucky Derby qualifying points. Our goal is to evaluate the tracks that will host Kentucky Derby prep races to see what they are doing from a marketing and promotion standpoint. We will also hope to gauge the impact that hosting a Derby prep race has on the host track from an attendance, handle and publicity standpoint.

Continue reading Derby Prep-onomics: Sham Stakes, Santa Anita, Jan. 10, 2015 →

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