Archive for June 2016

2016 Black Tie Affair Handicap and Mike Spellman Memorial Handicap Preview

Throughout the week, Picks & Ponderings has been on the green and pondering races from across the pond at Royal Ascot.   And Picks & Ponderings previews the action from Royal Ascot, with Nicolle Neulist diving into the Friday and Saturday action.  Back stateside, the marquee big event is the Stephen Foster Handicap Day at Churchill... Read more »
By Paul Mazur,
June 16, 2016 at 10:36 pm
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Royal Ascot, Day Four: Commonwealth Cup and Coronation Stakes Preview

Today, Picks and Ponderings returns to Royal Ascot for the second to last day of the meet.  The day’s card features a pair of Group I races for sophomores: the Commonwealth Cup for open three-year-old sprinters, and the Coronation Stakes for filly milers. Saturday’s final day of Royal Ascot features one final Group I race... Read more »
By Nicolle Neulist,
June 16, 2016 at 6:20 pm
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2016 Stephen Foster Handicap Day Preview

The Triple Crown season is over. Now what? Horse racing moves from its spring season to its summer season, and there’s a Kentucky Derby winner to celebrate. Trainer Doug O’Neill, who campaigned 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist, will be on hand to accept his Kentucky Derby Trophy.  In fact, O’Neill’s appearance is mixed with the... Read more »
By Paul Mazur,
June 16, 2016 at 12:37 pm
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Royal Ascot, Day Three: Gold Cup

Welcome to Day Three of our Group I previews for Royal Ascot.  Here we focus on Thursday’s sole top-level event: the Gold Cup.  Friday features two Group I events for three-year-olds: the Coronation for fillies at a mile and the Commonwealth for open sophomores at six furlongs.  Saturday closes out the five-day festival with the... Read more »
By Nicolle Neulist,
June 15, 2016 at 6:22 pm
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Royal Ascot, Day Two: Prince of Wales's Stakes

Picks and Ponderings returns to Royal Ascot for the second day of the five-day meet.  This piece focuses on the day’s sole Group I race: the Prince of Wales’s Stakes, with a short yet select field of older horses going ten furlongs.  Thursday’s Group I is the Gold Cup, a true marathon at two and... Read more »
By Nicolle Neulist,
June 14, 2016 at 6:19 pm
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Royal Ascot, Day One: the Queen Anne, the King's Stand, and the St. James's Palace

Every duke, earl, and peer is at Royal Ascot this week…and so is Picks and Ponderings. Ascot runs races much of the year, but its marquee event is the Royal meet.  It features a week of top-class turf racing, with the richest prizes of the year.  This year’s meet runs from Tuesday, June 14 through... Read more »
By Nicolle Neulist,
June 13, 2016 at 10:10 pm
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Speed Rules in the Illinois-Bred Sprint Stakes

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS — In both of the sprint stakes races on this brutally hot Saturday at Arlington Park, the public figured that a speed horse from the Larry Rivelli barn would be able to take the field gate to wire. In both races, it was the horse who went along with the favourite on their... Read more »
By Nicolle Neulist,
June 11, 2016 at 8:52 pm
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2016 Met Mile Preview and Saturday Belmont Park Stakes Selections

Here at Picks and Ponderings, we turn our attention to stakes races at a pair of tracks: Belmont and Arlington. Our Belmont coverage starts on Friday, though, with our New York Stakes preview and Friday selections.  It continues Saturday.  This preview will focus on Saturday’s Met Mile — and the bottom of the page contains... Read more »
By Nicolle Neulist,
June 9, 2016 at 8:28 pm
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2016 Addison Cammack Handicap & Isaac Murphy Handicap Preview

Arlington International continues its tour of the state-bred stakes divisions with a pair of stakes on its card.  Illinois-bred sprinters are the focus in a pair of stakes with purses of $50,000-added.  For the open group, there is the Addison Cammack Handicap.  The ladies will go in the Isaac Murphy Handicap.  Both stakes are set... Read more »
By Paul Mazur,
June 9, 2016 at 5:47 pm
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2016 Belmont Stakes Preview

The Belmont Stakes.  The Test of a Champion.  The third and final jewel of the American Triple Crown. This time around, there is no Triple Crown on the line after EXAGGERATOR turned the tables on Nyquist in the Preakness Stakes.  While Nyquist had an elevated white blood cell count and is passing this race, EXAGGERATOR... Read more »
By Paul Mazur,
June 8, 2016 at 10:26 pm
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