America's Best Racing. The Jockey Club.

It's so sad to think that we are almost finished with the 2013 Triple Crown. Heading into the third and final leg, the Belmont Stakes, we must come to terms that we aren't going to have that Triple Crown winner this year.

In 2009, a small gelding caught the attention of the press when he arrived at Churchill Downs in a trailer driven by his injured trainer.

For most observers, it came as a big surprise that D. Wayne Lukas won the Preakness Stakes. It shouldn’t have.

Synonymous with every party is food, and we’ve got you covered for all things Triple Crown. Benedictine spread, a.k.a. cucumber spread for most of you, goes hand in hand with any pony party.

The morning of the 138th Preakness Stakes I was sure it was going to rain. This was a problem. I had no seat to sit in, confined to the madness of the Pimlico infield and exposed to the elements (both natural and human). As the 100,000-plus fans streamed through the gates, security was taking their umbrellas and throwing them in the garbage.

Sixty-five years ago, Citation unleashed the greatest three-year-old season in thoroughbred racing. Blessed with genuine speed, staying power and a seemingly endless desire to win, Citation inspired his handler Jimmy Jones to boldly say: "My horse could beat anything with hair on it."

“Get your Preak on” – that’s the tag line for Preakness Stakes day, and it’s one that definitely fits the event. People are here to have a good time, no matter what that entails. Some fans are just here for the party; others are die-hard racing enthusiasts who love the spectacle of the races; some people are just here to listen to some amazing bands and some to show off their racing style. The great thing about the Preakness is that it’s the people’s race – it’s the leg of the Triple Crown that really is all about the fans and their experience.

Sorry that I didn’t have a blog yesterday for anyone that was looking for it; I literally spent all day clacking away at my computer, and there’s really nothing I can do to turn that into a decent photoblog. I will say this, though: I had dinner at a place in Timonium last night called Basta Pasta, and it’s really good – highly recommend!

Is the draw, alone, the greatest likely impediment to Orb winning the Preakness? Yes

The 13-race card was themed Black-Eyed Susan day and served to heighten awareness for breast cancer research by benefitting the Susan G. Komen for the Cure fund as the traditional Preakness colors of yellow and black gave way to pink.

So you like Orb to win the Preakness? You don’t say! Everybody is picking Orb, and why shouldn’t they? Not only was that race in the Kentucky Derby spectacular, but it’s only right for the public to back the Derby winner in the Preakness and root for a Triple Crown.

My day began with my phone’s alarm buzzing me awake at 4:30 AM – Orb was due out on the Pimlico Race Course track at 6, and I wanted to be there to see how he handled his new environment after his magnificent final breeze at Belmont Park on Monday.

Solemn and undisturbed, Native Dancer’s connections prepared the grey star’s train car for his trip from Louisville to his home base at Belmont Park. They went about their business without the fanfare of his pre-Derby arrival.

In the 2008 Florida Derby, the racing world saw a flash of brilliance when a bay colt with a white “speed spot” (marking) on his shoulder won his only Kentucky Derby prep by five lengths, stamping his ticket to the Derby.

The field for 138th running of the Grade 1, $1 million Preakness Stakes dwindled a bit since the days following the Kentucky Derby. At one time there were as many as 11 potential challengers to Derby winner Orb, but considering how dominant the son of Malibu Moon was two weeks ago there were just eight challengers entered.

At this point, you’ve enjoyed a Mint Julep (or 3) and are ready for some more fun, right?

Making the Grade, which will run right up until the Belmont Stakes, will focus on the winners of the big races, usually from the previous weekend, who could impact the 2013 Triple Crown. We’ll be taking a close look at impressive winners and evaluating their chances to win classic races based on factors such as ability, running style, connections (owner, trainer, jockey) and pedigree. This week we take a look at Departing, winner of the Illinois Derby on April 20 at Hawthorne Race Course.

Artificial surfaces have created a real problem for handicappers. Though they look like dirt, they tend to be friendlier to horses who prefer racing on turf rather than that messy, brown natural stuff. All of which can create a curveball of sorts when considering a filly like Emollient.

I had the great pleasure of having an Orb-filled day yesterday; well, more like Orb-adjacent, but it was still pretty awesome.

If you’re reading this, I’ll bet my own money that you saw the Kentucky Derby last weekend, or a replay or highlights not long after. I won’t know much more about you, save you have an interest in horse racing, be it a long-vested passion or that still-new excitement from having picked your first winner.

“GET YOUR PREAK ON!” may be the greatest tag line in horse racing, but that is exactly what Preakness day means, and every time I hear it I get excited.

On Hollywood Park’s first opening day, in June of 1938, Barbara Stanwyck awarded the trophy in the winner’s circle. Fresh off of a Best Actress Oscar nomination, Stanwyck was a huge star. She was helping Hollywood Park live up to its name as a favor to friends who had bankrolled the racetrack; friends who included Al Jolson, Bing Crosby, Walt Disney, and Jack Warner of Warner Brothers.

It’s that time again - when racing fans across the country look promisingly toward Baltimore (Pimlico, to be exact) with hopes of the promise of a potential Triple Crown winner. Fans were riveted last year when I’ll Have Another claimed the Kentucky Derby-Preakness double before he was scratched the week of the Belmont.

Jen Ferguson, an artist whose interest in depicting racehorses and track life goes back to early childhood, provides her unique preview of the Preakness Stakes.

The following blog is the writer’s depiction of an imagined racetrack-based story, an ongoing saga, which includes some of the characters depicted in the ill-fated “Luck” series …

If consistency is indeed a virtue, then there’s plenty to like about Scarlet Strike in Saturday’s Senorita Stakes at Betfair Hollywood Park.

The 59th running of the Grade 2, $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes is an important prep race for the Belmont Stakes in four weeks, especially for those aspiring 3-year-olds that either ran poorly in prep races for the Kentucky Derby or weren’t physically or mentally mature enough to take a shot earlier in the year on the Derby trail.

Triple Crown Watch for May 8

In almost any other crop, Street Sense would have been the best horse of his generation throughout his entire career. Instead, he had to settle for being a 2-year-old champion and Kentucky Derby winner, a pretty nice consolation.

History can often teach a valuable lesson – if you’re willing to listen. Case in point: Saturday’s Kentucky Derby. Thanks to the 20-20 vision of hindsight, it’s rather simple to put together what happened on a rainy day in Louisville when Orb splashed to a 2 ½-length victory as a 5-1 favorite.

The betting handle at this year’s Kentucky Derby was down from last year. That could have been the result of lower attendance at the track on Derby day due to heavy rains. The enormous crowd of 151,616 was down from last year’s record 165,307, but not by much when you consider the awful weather!

Games lie at the center of any successful party, and your racing bash should be no different.

Everything Orb did coming out of the Florida Derby - the way he cooled out, how he looked and trained the week after - told us what the next step should be should we choose to go that direction. We kept him at Payson Park Training Center longer than most of our horses because he really liked it there and he was obviously thriving.

The Kentucky Derby has many nicknames: among them, The Run for the Roses and “the most exciting two minutes in sports.” For racing fans, it’s the ultimate day: when we see the brightest stars of the three-year-old crop of horses go head-to-head over a mile and a quarter to achieve fame, glory and the honor of being called a Champion.

The following blog is the writer’s depiction of an imagined racetrack-based story, an ongoing saga, which includes some of the characters depicted in the ill-fated “Luck” series …

I woke up this morning with a grin on my face: it was Oaks day! The Kentucky Oaks is a truly historic race, attracting the top three-year-old fillies in the nation for the last 139 years. It’s also a total scene, with people dressing to the nines to enjoy a day of some of the best horse racing in the world.

On a dewy spring morning, in the darkness before dawn, a train rattled through Columbus, Ohio, en route to Louisville, Ky. On board a Thoroughbred trainer lay restless, his four horses sleeping under their grooms’ dedicated observation. Native Dancer – the stable star, the 1953 Kentucky Derby favorite, a national hero - was among the shippers.

Named after a rock star’s son, it was only fitting that Giacomo made a stir when he stepped on to the world stage.

Get in touch with you Martha Stewart side and spruce up the house for your next Triple Crown party. Go big or go home – isn’t that the saying?