Derby poses special kick for graybeard
We became known as the "Arkansas mafia," a select group of in-state media who annually covered the Kentucky Derby.
We became known as the "Arkansas mafia," a select group of in-state media who annually covered the Kentucky Derby.
Few wrote longer about horse racing and with more eloquence than Joe Hirsch.
A day after winning his ninth Oaklawn stakes race of the 2023-24 season, Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen went to Louisville, Ky., on Sunday to watch some o…
Some are known as "Saturday horses" because of a tendency to top out in the biggest races, most held on that day of the week.
Skippylongstocking just might be the best horse in training that the casual racing fan knows nothing about. But the 5-year-old is close to becoming a horse for…
Whatever its other attributes -- Grade 1 status and $1.5-million purse immediately come to mind -- the Arkansas Derby is a formful prep for the Bath House Row …
The second running of the $200,000 Bath House Row today carries with it a fees-paid berth to the second jewel of the Triple Crown May 18 at Pimlico in Baltimor…
He has to do it on the track, of course. But on breeding alone, Highland Falls might swamp his Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap opponents today.
A judge's ruling Thursday left Arkansas Derby winner Muth and trainer Bob Baffert no closer to Kentucky Derby 150 than before, only with a higher court becomin…
Whitey Herzog filled out lineup cards for enough bad teams to recognize a good one on sight.
Just as a major college should consider someone other than an ex-football coach as athletic director, racetrack executives should know more than to compose a g…
Staging two graded stakes races on one card, like Oaklawn did Saturday with two divisions of older campaigners, makes perfect sense. No matter how many starter…
With defections in the field, trainer Brad Cox might have three horses in the 150th Kentucky Derby.
Bob Wisener
Often, more effort is put into writing about an athlete's college signing than clearing up one salient point: the school's location.
With the crowd cheering Saturday, Ricardo Santana Jr. let Skelly savor perhaps his finest performance at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort.
Bob Baffert has no equal in racing for draining the suspense from a million-dollar horse race.
What headline-making feat at Oaklawn can Bob Baffert pull off next?
How dare anyone call today's eighth race at Oaklawn an undercard event, no more important than welterweights trading punches before Ali and Frazier answer the …
He may never wash Kentucky completely out of his hair, but John Calipari may not be loved more by Razorback Nation than this present moment.
One could think of a dozen people to call for a reaction Thursday to the news that O.J. Simpson was dead.
All Arkansas people ask of a coach, I think, is that he or she likes being "one of us" and puts up with a minor inconvenience or two.
Horses are running at Oaklawn for record local purses but making little national impact, according to a recent survey.
The curtain is falling on a bizarre Kentucky Derby season, with Bob Baffert not welcome and Chad Brown training one of the favorites. No, it's not been convert…
As home run hitters go, at least in the realm of celebrity coaching hires, John Calipari is Shohei Ohtani, if not George Herman Ruth.
Call it a light snack if you wish, but two past champion trainers at Oaklawn sated the fans' desire for an appetizer before a Camp David summit of sprint horse…
If the fillies could talk, they might have looked at each other a few yards across the wire and exchanged pleasantries.
Contesting a horse race, selling an automobile or running for political office can wear out the hardiest soul. Steve Landers can relate.
When Jerome Tang's name came up as a possible Arkansas successor to Eric Musselman, another coach's name kept crashing my brain.
With four combined meet victories, Haulin Ice and Hush It Honey meet today at Oaklawn for the first time.
Factoring in Muth's ineligibility and Timberlake's unavailability, both Oaklawn winners of seven-figure Kentucky Derby preps are out of the May 4 classic at Ch…
Some think Eric Musselman is all wrong for leaving Arkansas. Run a check on that after the new coach's first year or two in the Southeastern Conference and the…
The first or second April Monday has produced magic moments in college basketball, many involving UCLA, Kentucky and North Carolina, a few with the University …
Sorry, no roses for the Arkansas Derby winner at Churchill Downs, but Muth is eligible to collect black-eyed Susans in Maryland and carnations in New York for …
Cinderella, two chalk plays and an SEC entry that builds statues and names stadiums for championship-winning football coaches.
Muth may not be a flower child given initial reaction to the winner's blanket in the 88th Arkansas Derby Saturday at Oaklawn.
A friend in Louisville, Ky., supplied a proper coda to the 88th Arkansas Derby. Her opening remarks weren't shabby.
Houston played a man short and lost to Duke Friday night in the NCAA Midwest Region semifinals.
Whatever his relations with Churchill Downs, Bob Baffert treats Oaklawn as a home away from his native California.
The cloud under which trainer Robertino Diodoro began the Oaklawn meeting settled again over the track Friday, threatening to overshadow its marquee race.
The last filly to enter the starting gate crossed the finish line first in the 52nd Fantasy Stakes.
A Showtime documentary about Truman Capote looked appealing until it turned into a weak parody of "Mommie Dearest," which no one ever said needed a rewrite.
Three Oaklawn stakes races today have combined purses totaling $1.5 million. The signature race today, and of the meeting, is worth that alone.
A previous winning trainer of Oaklawn's Temperence Hill Stakes -- they might as well call it a marathon -- did it again Friday with another horse going around …
Fifty years ago, on my first day at the races, I watched my first Arkansas Derby live.
Like the U.S. Open in golf for Phil Mickelson, the Fantasy Stakes is one Oaklawn jewel that's eluded Darrell Wayne Lukas.
From a spelling standpoint alone, Temperence Hill always presented problems.
Three stakes winners, two victorious at Oaklawn, stand out in the 10-horse Arkansas Derby, says Horse Racing Nation analyst Matt Shifman.
Catching Freedom, by winning the Louisiana Derby, would be the leading Triple Crown prospect in most stables. Things are not that simple in trainer Brad Cox's …
After two days of the NCAA tournament, with 68 teams on Tuesday down to 32 as of midnight Friday, the Southeastern Conference looked like it had invested with …