Yahoo! Sports

Go West Bert wins Churchill Downs feature (AP)

Wed, 14 May 2008 20:29:52 PDT

Go West Bert raced to a 14-length victory over Bobby Blue Eyes in a $43,100 allowance feature Wednesday at Churchill Downs. The winner, ridden by Calvin Borel, ran 1 1-16 miles in 1:46.88 over a sloppy track. The race for 3-year-olds was originally scheduled for turf, but rainfall prompted the move to the dirt.

Wake Up Maggie wins feature (AP)

Wed, 14 May 2008 18:05:46 PDT

Irish-bred Wake Up Maggie beat Heathersdaddysbaby by 1 lengths Wednesday in the $65,000 feature race for fillies and mares at Hollywood Park. Ridden by Joseph Talamo, Wake Up Maggie ran a mile on the lakeside turf course in 1:35.14 and paid $4.60, $2.80 and $2.40. The 5-year-old mare was third last month in her U.S.

Derby winner Big Brown is odds-on Preakness favorite (AP)

Wed, 14 May 2008 17:47:18 PDT

Running on the outside has been very good to Big Brown. Now the Kentucky Derby winner gets to try things from the middle. He was installed as the 1-2 early favorite for Saturday's Preakness, and a victory could set up a Triple Crown try three weeks later in the Belmont Stakes. A field of 13 3-year-olds was entered Wednesday, with Big Brown drawing the No.

Big Brown has Big Wait in Preakness debut (AP)

Wed, 14 May 2008 17:44:12 PDT

Big Brown was late for his big arrival at the Preakness. The Kentucky Derby winner finally arrived early Wednesday night at Pimlico. Poor weather in Louisville, Ky., delayed the colt's flight and he finally was led off the van and into famed Stall 40 shortly after 8 p.m. Big Brown was installed as the 1-2 early favorite for Saturday's Preakness, and a victory could set up a Triple Crown try three...

Derby winner Big Brown draws seventh post for Preakness (AFP)

Wed, 14 May 2008 17:02:14 PDT

Big Brown will break from the seventh post in a field of 13 Saturday in the Preakness Stakes, as he continues his bid to become the first Triple Crown winner in 30 years.

Preakness often makes for strange day at Pimlico (AP)

Wed, 14 May 2008 16:50:11 PDT

Strange things always seem to happen at the Preakness. A drunken fan runs onto the track and punches at speeding horses. Barbaro breaks down in 2006. A race day power outage costs Pimlico millions of dollars. It's enough to make everyone hold their collective breath when the gates open Saturday for Big Brown's attempt at winning the second leg of the Triple Crown.

Big Brown gets seventh post in Preakness (Reuters)

Wed, 14 May 2008 16:50:00 PDT

Kentucky Derby champion Big Brown will break from the seventh post position in the Preakness Stakes and was installed as the 1-2 favorite on Wednesday.

Big Brown owners IEAH are on a roll (AP)

Wed, 14 May 2008 15:39:12 PDT

It's all about risk and reward for Michael Iavarone. First as an investment banker on Wall Street, now as a millionaire owner in the high stakes world of thoroughbred racing. In just his fifth year as co-president of International Equine Acquisition Holdings, Iavarone is on an ultimate high: Two weeks ago his 3-year-old colt Big Brown blew away the field to win the Kentucky Derby, and now the big...

Big Brown heavy favorite in Preakness (PA SportsTicker)

Wed, 14 May 2008 15:30:04 PDT

BALTIMORE (Ticker) - Big Brown will continue his trek toward becoming the first Triple Crown winner in 30 years as the overwhelming favorite for Saturday's 133rd Preakness Stakes.

Zito has modest goals for Stevil in the Preakness (AP)

Wed, 14 May 2008 13:45:04 PDT

Trainer Nick Zito has a modest goal for Stevil in the Preakness on Saturday. "I think he'll be in the money," Zito said. "I'll be surprised if he's not and I don't usually say that. That's all I could ask for." Against Big Brown, the dominant winner of the Kentucky Derby, snaring a smaller piece of the $1 million purse is a realistic target.

Ready's Image wins Belmont's Adjudicating Stakes (AP)

Wed, 14 May 2008 13:04:39 PDT

Ready's Image, a multiple stakes winner last year, rallied to capture his season debut Wednesday, the $74,950 Adjudicating Stakes for 3-year-olds at Belmont Park. Recovering from a bobble at the break, Ready's Image beat Desert Key by three-quarters of a length to improve his record to 4-for-7. His previous stakes wins include the Tremont at Belmont and the Sanford at Saratoga.

Monmouth Park Barn Notes - Friday, May 9 (PA SportsTicker)

Wed, 14 May 2008 12:38:51 PDT

www.monmouthpark.com

Belmont Park Backstretch Notes - Wednesday, May 14 (PA SportsTicker)

Wed, 14 May 2008 11:57:53 PDT

www.nyra.com

Gayego gets another shot at Big Brown in Preakness (AP)

Wed, 14 May 2008 02:26:28 PDT

Gayego is a go for another shot at Big Brown. Gayego is the first Kentucky Derby rival coming back for more at the Preakness, the only one of 19 horses beaten by Big Brown in the Derby to seek a rematch Saturday at Pimlico Race Course. Gayego finished 17th in the Derby two weeks ago as part of an also-ran field that was overmatched and outclassed by undefeated Big Brown.

Top stallion Storm Cat retires from breeding (AP)

Tue, 13 May 2008 15:46:00 PDT

Storm Cat, one of the top stallions in thoroughbred racing history, has been retired as a breeder. Ric Waldman, a stallion consultant at Overbrook Farm where the 25-year-old horse was born and stood at stud, said owners made the decision Tuesday because of a steep drop in Storm Cat's fertility rate. Last year he produced 32 mares in foal, compared with just three this year -- the latest Halo...

Durability vs. speed in horse breeding (AP)

Tue, 13 May 2008 14:03:38 PDT

Big Brown figures to produce big green as a stallion, which is why the Kentucky Derby winner most likely will retire young, just as his parents did. "We'll never know how sound he could be," said Ken Carson, a pedigree adviser in Pilot Point, Texas. "He could run 100 more times, but given what he's done at the racetrack, that won't happen.

Gayego to run Preakness Stakes (PA SportsTicker)

Tue, 13 May 2008 12:40:25 PDT

Gayego will run in Saturday's Preakness Stakes, joining Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown as the only two horses to participate in the first two legs of the Triple Crown.

Kentucky Bear enjoys solitude at Pimlico (AP)

Tue, 13 May 2008 11:32:37 PDT

For the better part of a week, the only sounds around the stakes barn at Pimlico Race Course have been raindrops, a few birds chirping and the clomp-clomp-clomp of one horse strutting around the stable. Until being joined by Hey Byrn on Tuesday morning, Kentucky Bear was the lone Preakness entrant in the barn.

Kentucky Bear handlers like their Preakness chances (Reuters)

Tue, 13 May 2008 09:14:08 PDT

The handlers of Kentucky Bear said on Tuesday it would be a mistake to believe Kentucky Derby champion Big Brown was a certainty to win Saturday's Preakness Stakes.