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  After holding off Hot Rod Charlie in a signature stretch duel to win the Belmont Stakes, Essential Quality burnished his place in Brad Cox’s mind as the best 3-year-old in his barn. That would make him even better than Mandaloun, who seems destined to win his biggest races through stewards’ decisions and medication rulings.   Now, more than three months before the racing year reaches its crescendo at Del Mar, certain bettors seem to agree with Cox. Essential Quality (5-1) is the global favorite at one foreign bookmaker to win America’s richest race.   Horseplayers who scoff and bel...

  Largely the underfinanced volunteer work of a dozen or so people who had a passion for racing, HANA was active for about 10 years as a collective voice for the horseplayer. It heightened awareness of hot-button topics from medication controversies to simulcast distribution. It even organized wagering boycotts of places that were seen as doing wrong by the average bettor.   The best thing HANA ever did was to hold racetracks accountable for their takeout rates. It was credited with having a vital role in Keeneland rolling back its percentages three years ago.   HANA’s detailed annual sp...

    I have never had a hole-in-one. I came within 4 inches once in Stockton, Calif. But I was there at the old Vet in Philadelphia in 2003, when Kevin Millwood threw his no-hitter against God’s team, the San Francisco Giants. I was there with my friend, Geoff Flynn, 30 years ago this month after driving 830 miles from San Diego to Ciudad Constitucion, Mexico, to see the solar eclipse. And 10 years ago this fall in Las Vegas, Tina and I got married.   For horseplayers, hitting a Pick 6 is a once-in-a-lifetime happening. All right, someone reading this will say, “I hit the Pick 6 all the...

Rumor — or perceptual reality — has it that the Churchill Downs calendar has three days on it. There is the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May. The day before is the Kentucky Oaks. And the day after lasts 8,712 hours, taking in all of three seasons and most of a fourth without much to write home about. It is easy for haters to use the calendar at the Home of Racing for target practice. Lord knows the racebook cartel in Nevada has been doing that for 606 days and counting. But days like Saturday — at the end of this week — belie the perception that Churchill Downs has only two...

Did it sneak up on everyone this year? Blame it on the pandemic. Or the president. Or a better than expected finish to the Triple Crown. Last year COVID-19 took the queen away from the racecourse that she had graced with her presence every June since 1946, back when she was a mere princess. Since her Gehrig-esque streak ended last year, and since she was busy with a couple of Bidens this week, it is understandable that she would miss the start of the Royal meeting. But what about the rest of us? If that stretch duel at the Belmont Stakes between Essential Quality and Hot Rod Charlie did not r...