By Jarrod Horak I’m back with my latest Road to the Kentucky Derby breakdown, and this time I’m diving into the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland. This $1.25 million Derby prep is one of the final and most important stepping stones on the trail, with three-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles on the main […]
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By Jarrod Horak The Road to the Kentucky Derby rolls through Aqueduct with the Grade 2 Wood Memorial, a $750,000 test for three-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles on the main track. As the 12th race on the card, this is a pivotal Derby points race, and I’m looking to separate contenders from pretenders based on […]
By Jarrod Horak The Road to the Kentucky Derby rolls through South Florida with the Grade 1 Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park. This $1 million test at 1 1/8 miles is one of the most important final preps, offering critical points toward qualifying for Churchill Downs. With a mix of proven stakes winners and improving […]
By Jarrod Horak The Grade 2 Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn Park is the next Kentucky Oaks prep race on the calendar. With a $1 million purse and 200 total Oaks qualifying points on the line, this mile-and-a-sixteenth test for three-year-old fillies drew a compact field of six headed by even money favorite Explora. I broke […]
By Jarrod Horak I’m breaking down the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park, a key Kentucky Derby prep worth 100-50-25-15-10 points to the top five finishers. This $777,000 race is contested at 1 1/8 miles over the all-weather surface, and it’s a fascinating mix of proven synthetic runners, turf shippers, and developing three-year-olds […]
By Jarrod Horak This is one of the more intriguing Kentucky Oaks prep races on the calendar, and the 2026 Bourbonette Oaks at Turfway Park shapes up as a wide-open betting race. With a $300,000 purse, Oaks points on the line, and a full field of developing three-year-old fillies, this mile-and-a-sixteenth test on the synthetic […]
By Jarrod Horak The Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks is one of the most important final stepping-stone races on the road to the Kentucky Oaks. Run at 1 1/16 miles at Fair Grounds Race Course on Louisiana Derby Day, the race brings together a competitive group of three-year-old fillies chasing valuable Kentucky Oaks qualifying points. […]
By Jarrod Horak Santa Anita Park features a Pick 6 carryover of $32,111 for Sunday, March 15, and the sequence begins in Race 4. With a modest carryover and a sequence that appears fairly chalky on paper, the goal here is to structure a lean $16 ticket while still giving ourselves a realistic shot at sweeping all six […]
By Jarrod Horak The Road to the Kentucky Derby continues with the $500,000 Virginia Derby at Colonial Downs on Saturday, March 14. This Kentucky Derby points race brings together a field of three-year-olds traveling one mile and one-eighth around one turn on the main track. In this breakdown, I’ll first walk through the field, then […]
By Jarrod Horak The Road to the Kentucky Oaks continues on Sunday at Santa Anita Park with the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel Stakes. This $100,000 event for three-year-old fillies covers one mile and one-sixteenth on the main track and serves as an important Kentucky Oaks qualifying race. For this race, I’m using data from the […]