Every year we come back and see again: this is the best week of racing in the world. It's a massive social event, too, with a sea of people who looked like they walked off the set of AMy Fair Lady,@ but for the professionals that's a pleasant sideline. It's really about the racing. Impossibly [...]

Let's begin with the failed attempt–the 13th in a row since 1978, counting I'll Have Another in 2012–by California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit) to win the Triple Crown. One of the great things about this game is that we can all watch the races with our own eyes, in my case on television from 3,000 miles [...]

By Bill Oppenheim When all was said and done, this year's Saratoga Select Yearling Sale on the Fasig-Tipton grounds just across from the race track, didn't look so very different from the previous two years. Monday started out with a nearly unprecedented 90% sold from the 71 yearlings sent through the ring, but that figure [...]

Bill Oppenheim In last weekend's two English Guineas Classics, the winners were by Europe's number two and three sires: Dubawi (Ire) (Dubai Millennium {GB}) is the sire of the shock (note the pun) 40-1 winner of the G1 English 2000 Guineas, Night of Thunder (Ire), while Dansili (GB) is the sire of Miss France (Ire), winner of the G1 English 1000 Guineas. [...]

This coming Saturday, June 7, is the biggest day of the racing year so far, because that is the day we find out if California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit) becomes the 12th Triple Crown winner, or the 12th to make the race and fail in the 36 years since Affirmed followed Secretariat and Seattle Slew as [...]

It's interesting to look at the TDN Year-to-Date General Sire List (click here) just now. Four NA/EU sires have 2014 progeny earnings over $5 million. Of course one's immediate thought is what impact the three races on Dubai World Cup night might have had: the $10-million G1 Dubai World Cup, with $6 million to the [...]

Two years ago, I'll Have Another (Flower Alley) had the Triple Crown at his mercy going into the GI Belmont S., only for injury to intervene and force his retirement less than 72 hours before his scheduled coronation. I think California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit) faces a much tougher task this year. Though he has not [...]

The fireworks from second-crop European sires are continuing. Leading second-crop sires by 2014 progeny earnings at this moment (click here) is the Coolmore sire Thewayyouare (Kingmambo) by virtue of Toast of New York's $1.2-million payday in the G2 UAE Derby at the end of March. Thewayyouare was bought as a yearling by agent Herve Barjot [...]

In last weekend's two English Guineas Classics, the winners were by Europe's number two and three sires: Dubawi (Ire) (Dubai Millennium {GB}) is the sire of the shock (note the pun) 40-1 winner of the G1 English 2000 Guineas, Night of Thunder (Ire), while Dansili (GB) is the sire of Miss France (Ire), winner of [...]

The first blockbuster classic weekend of 2014 kicks off Friday with Winchell Thoroughbreds' Untapable (Tapit), who won her two races at Fair Grounds this winter (GIII Rachel Alexandra S. and GII Fair Grounds Oaks) by a combined 17 lengths, likely to go off at nearly even-money in the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs. [...]

We first planned to run the statistics on the sires of all-weather runners before the Keeneland meet began, so TJCIS (The Jockey Club Information Systems) ran them for us on Apr. 2, after Dubai World Cup night. Since then, Britain had its first racing ever on Good Friday, highlighted by a ,1-million card on Lingfield's [...]

Two years ago Newmarket trainer John Gosden got a flying start to the 2012 flat season after a mild winter and spring in England, and he finished up as champion trainer for the season, demonstrating that an early start doesn't mean you can't keep going. He's had a mild spring to work with in 2014 [...]