Archive for October 2015

Breeders' Cup Saturday: Play or Pass

We tackled Friday’s Breeders’ Cup races withe a series of Play or Pass video previews, in which both halves of Picks and Ponderings pointed out one horse we were eager to play in each race, and one horse we would be quite happy to leave out of our tickets. Here, we do the same for... Read more »
By Nicolle Neulist,
October 29, 2015 at 10:55 pm
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Breeders' Cup Classic: Play or Pass

Saturday’s featured race at Keeneland is one of the featured races on the American racing calendar: the Breeders’ Cup Classic.  Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, his Travers conqueror Keen Ice, top-notch distaffer Beholder, and dual Two Thousand Guineas hero Gleneagles are among the ten horses who will face this ten-furlong test. Both halves of Picks... Read more »
By Nicolle Neulist,
October 28, 2015 at 11:46 pm
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Breeders' Cup Friday: Play or Pass

Friday, the Breeders’ Cup gets underway at Keeneland.  Though Keeneland has a ten-race card that day, only four races that day are Breeders’ Cup races: the Juvenile Turf, the Dirt Mile, the Juvenile Fillies Turf, and the Distaff.  Those will be the focus of our first group of video previews. We tackle these races in... Read more »
By Nicolle Neulist,
October 28, 2015 at 11:16 pm
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Two Stakes, Three Winners at Hawthorne

STICKNEY/CICERO – After a dry spell and a week of extremely speed-friendly turf, rain finally fell over the Hawthorne grass course Friday night and into Saturday morning.  Not enough rain fell to make the course soft, but enough came to make it slightly less hard.  After a day like yesterday, when 45/1 shot Inguagiata wired... Read more »
By Nicolle Neulist,
October 24, 2015 at 10:03 pm
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2015 Stickney Handicap and Cicero Handicap Video Preview

This week, Picks and Ponderings previews both stakes races at Hawthorne: the Cicero Handicap for Illinois-preferred open company, and the Stickney Handicap, its fillies’ and mares’ complement.  Unlike in previous previews, when one of us tackles a specific race preview, we both make our picks and analysis in both of the races. Also, unlike our... Read more »
By Nicolle Neulist,
October 22, 2015 at 11:33 pm
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Lucky Lindy Avoids Trouble, Flies Home in the Hawthorne Derby

STICKNEY/CICERO — LUCKY LINDY has been one of the most consistent three-year-olds in Canada this year.  In five starts through the summer, he never missed the board, working his way up from breaking his maiden to hitting the board in the Breeders’ Stakes (the third jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown) to winning his first... Read more »
By Nicolle Neulist,
October 17, 2015 at 8:49 pm
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2015 Canadian International Day Preview

Sunday’s card at Woodbine features four graded stakes races.  The October 18th card includes a pair of Grade I races: the Canadian International for open-company turf routers, as well as the E. P. Taylor for turf route fillies and mares.  That pair of races are the last two Grade I events this year at Woodbine,... Read more »
By Nicolle Neulist,
October 17, 2015 at 12:02 am
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2015 Raven Run Stakes Preview

This Saturday’s featured race at Keeneland is the Grade II Raven Run Stakes.  The race has been run since 1999, and has always been a seven-furlong sprint for three-year-old fillies over the Keeneland main track.  It earned Grade III status in 2002, and gained its current Grade II  designation in 2006.  The race takes its... Read more »
By Nicolle Neulist,
October 14, 2015 at 9:46 pm
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2015 Hawthorne Derby Preview

After a one-year hiatus, the Hawthorne Derby returns to the Chicagoland graded stakes calendar. It goes for the fiftieth time this year and is the focus of this piece for Picks & Ponderings. Picks & Ponderings also has coverage of this weekend’s G2 Lexus Raven Run from Keeneland furnished by Nicolle Neulist and a co-mingled... Read more »
By Paul Mazur,
October 14, 2015 at 7:24 pm
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2015 Knickerbocker Stakes Preview

This weekend, Picks and Ponderings goes nine furlongs on the grass.  We previewed Saturday’s Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (GI), a nine-furlong turf race for sophomore fillies at Keeneland.  Here, we continue with that theme, but catch up with the older males at Belmont in the Knickerbocker Stakes (GIII). This race takes its name from... Read more »
By Nicolle Neulist,
October 8, 2015 at 7:29 pm
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