2008 Triple Crown Archive

Please understand that as time goes on some links might become inactive. We have no control over that.

They are listed in chronological order by day/date as they appeared in their various publications with the latest being at the top of the list.

Triple Crown history:
Winners...
Near-misses... Winners of 2-legs

Derby Trail map 1990-2007

Preakness:

>>> Gayego steps up
>>> Kerrison: Fig-maker warns that Big Brown set to regress
>>> Haskin's Preakness Report: Target Brown
>>> Davidowitz: The level and the depth of competition however is not Big Brown's biggest obstacle. The number one concern is his history of hoof problems
>>> Zito on Stevil: "I think my horse will put in a great performance."
>>> Preakness infield: "It's like Mardi Gras without the floats."
>>> Jeremy Rose looking forward to Preakness shot on Ichabad Crane
>>> Dutrow's NY Post Preakness Diary/Wed: "We might use different tactics than we did in the Derby."
>>> Preakness notes from Tuesday
>>> Cutting-edge care, team commitment helps Big Brown overcome quarter cracks
>>> Look back: Owner of Gate Dancer recalls '84 Preakness, "He was just the bad kid on the block."
>>> NBC's Preakness coverage to include panel discussion putting sport under the microscope
>>> Japanese Triple Crown competitors: This moment has been in the making for quite some time
>>> AP: Durability vs. speed in horse racing industry
>>> Paulick: Big Brown vs Big Red? Don't make me laugh
>>> USA Today: The five best Preakness Stakes I've attended...
>>> Light-hearted: Derby vs Preakness... Which has the better song, better celebs attending, etc?...
DRF: 20YO jock Gabriel Saez -- Shaken, young star retains his focus
>>> Jockey Edgar Prado on Eight Belles' and racing: "I would love to see it devise a single set of rules, in effect nationwide, governing the use of medication and overall treatment and care of horses."

Tuesday 5/13:

>>> Harlem Rocker out... Gayego possible
>>> Chart: Chalky faves only 6-14 in Preakness over past 50 years
>>> Profile: IEAH's Michael Iavarone [Big Brown]: Left behind a shot at the big leagues and wound up winning the Derby
>>> Bozich: Welcome to Rick Dutrow's increasingly hectic world...
>>> Kentucky Bear receives star treatment at Pimlico
>>> Ad Age: Crisis-management PR firm's VP says racing needs to beat PETA to the punch by launching an ad campaign "demonstrating the care and loving way" these horses are treated featuring lawmakers, regulators and high-profile people with an affinity for the sport
>>> Beyer: "Until the industry faces the medication issue seriously, all of its efforts to address equine safety will be misguided."
>>> NY Times: Big Brown is perfect. His trainer, Rick Dutrow, admittedly is not... "I'm no role model."
>>> VIDEO: Larry Jones and Rick Porter on Fox's 'Your World with Neil Cavuto'... Proceeded by Cavuto talking with PETA rep: Cavuto, "You value the horse more than the jockey?"... PETA: "I don't care about the future of that jockey, no."
>>> Aussie newspaper: Eight Belles causing self-examination Down Under as well... Oz breeder, "Maybe there should be an international forum to address this before we find ourselves in an irreversible situation. Maybe we've created a recipe for disaster."
>>> Zast: Ying and yang for horse-racing over next two weeks -- "Big Brown conquered his competition with amazing alacrity in the one race that everyone watches," and "...there are two more nationally-televised events that pose the direst of possibilities."
>>> Big Brown eschewed 'blanket of roses' after the Derby

Monday 5/12:

>>> Pletcher on Harlem Rocker: "His work [Sunday] morning was very, very good. I'm going to recommend to the Stronachs that he runs."
>>> Frankel on Big Brown: "It's good to be in the position of having a really good horse that isn't facing top-class opposition."
>>> Eisenberg: Monday before Preakness -- typically not much to see
>>> BRIS: Preakness news
>>> AP: Big Brown beatable?
>>> Indiana comment: "PETA is looking to point the blame at someone with no real merit behind it, and that's unfair to... the entire sport of horse racing."
>>> Philly Inquirer: With added focus on fragility, horses head for Pimlico

Weekend brings yet more reaction to Eight Belles' fatality:

SUNDAY:
>>> Courier-Journal: "Ever seen an entire sport hold its breath? That's what you can expect from horse racing this week."
>>> Drape: Breeding for speed, ignoring durability
>>> Philly Inquirer: Breeding thoroughbreds -- Is durability possible?
>>> Exec dir of the Illinois-based Hooved Animal Humane Society, "Our organization isn't for banning racing; we're not that radical. I don't see anything wrong with the racing industry, per se."
>>> Maese: Triple Crown schedule -- add a week of intrigue and push back the second and third legs
>>> Hong Kong's Nader: The perception problem facing racing is real
>>> San Antonio Express-News: Why does it mean so much?... Death of a horse tugs at our humanity
>>> Chicago Trib: A look at the big picture puts the horse-racing casualties in perspective
>>> Pennsylvania editorial: The sport needs some deep inward reflection, and perhaps central oversight -- both for its own future, and for these majestic animals
>>> Balt Sun: Horse racing on the fast track to a 'crisis'?... Some say breeding horses for speed leads to injuries

Massachusetts newspaper:
>>> Point: Horse racing needs fixing, not banning
>>> Counterpoint: End the mistreatment of race horses

SATURDAY:
>>> Powell: "I was on the phone during the [Derby] day's races with some friends in the industry and we all agreed that this was a dangerous racetrack... If we are going to have dirt tracks, we have to stop sealing them to the point of being dangerous."
>>> Pricci: "American racing must take stock of the way it conducts itself and do something before government, responding to public outcry, has a notion it can do it better."
>>> ...And more from Pricci: "If the racing industry is about more than lip service, if it truly cares about the animal and not the money, it needs to start all over again."
>>> Wow... San Diego Union-Trib's racing columnist Hank Wesch: Just a guy... "A guy who is totally in favor of putting horse racing on society's hit list of multibillion-dollar enterprises that need elimination."
>>> Lex Herald-Leader: What's wrong with race horses?... As durability decreases, no clear cause emerges
>>> Jones: Racehorses "do, quite frankly, what they were put on this earth to do and many live the life of luxury for doing so."
>>> Gender gap?... Scientific look at boy vs girl on the racetrack
>>> Catastrophic injuries: What do we know?
>>> Aspen Times: "In life, some of us have an infallible gyroscope that attempts to desecrate everything of beauty and danger by calling for prohibitions against this and that."
>>> Comment: "Political extremists won't be placated by any reform short of the sport's abolition, but they become irrelevant if good-faith attempts to protect horses turn the emotionally suggestible into the emotionally cloyed."
>>> Comment: "You can't have a Secretariat without an Eight Belles or a Barbaro. You can't keep the beauty and eliminate the risk."
>>> Daley: Let's not rush to judgment, focusing instead on the larger issues rather than isolated instances
>>> Ky comment: PETA and the rise of stupidity

AND -- tension at the water-cooler?:

Duelling columnists: Wednesday column in 'Evening News and Tribune' [Indiana] critical of horse-racing triggers heated response on Saturday:
>>> Cress: "The mainstream pays attention for six weeks a year, and then it goes back to the 'enthusiasts,' otherwise known as degenerate gamblers."
>>> Huffman-Branham: "Matthew Cress has now joined a growing list of people -- phoney know-nothings -- who watch a handful of horse races every year (at best) and honestly could not care less about 'fixing' the horse racing industry."

Sunday 5/11:
>>> Courier-Journal samples industry insiders' reactions to Eight Belles' fatality... Changing surfaces, breeding practices, drug use among things on the table
>>> Sports TV columnist critical of Costas' handling of Eight Belles fatality
>>> Psychic claims to have 'foreseen' Ky Derby trifecta -- sees Big Brown running second in the Preakness
>>> Owners excited about new Detroit-area racetrack: "This will be one of the super tracks in the country."
>>> Curlin, Big Brown 1-2 on latest "World's Leading Horses" list
>>> Sat preview: 3YOs try to emerge from 'second-string' in G3 $400K Lone Star Derby
>>> What is the future of Pimlico if slots come to Maryland?... What will happen If slots don't come to Maryland?

>>> Profiling Kent Desormeaux: Importance of family and drive to win the Crown, "I can't wait to get out there and try. This is the pinnacle. This is why we ride."
>>> Big Brown's 'da man'!... When he sees the exercise rider enter with the saddle in her hands, ''He just kind of blows up. He goes from a size 30 waist to a size 40 waist because he knows it's time to go."
>>> Preakness notes: Sunday

Saturday 5/10:
>>> Recapturetheglory out of Preakness
>>> Icabad Crane heading to the Preakness
>>> Gauntlet thrown down: Trainer of Kentucky Bear, "[Big Brown] beat those horses, but it certainly doesn't make him better than anybody else."

Friday 5/9:
>>> Dutrow on Preakness: "Most likely, as long as nothing bad happens, we are going to get this one."
>>> Kentucky Bear gets a feel for the Pimlico strip
>>> Balt Sun: Economic fallout at the Preakness... Sponsors cutting back; impact expected to be small

Thursday 5/8:
>>> Recapturetheglory and Racecar Rhapsody are in
>>> Colonel John to return to California

Wed 5/7 news:

>>> Seven confirmed for Preakness
>>> Derby win by Big Brown bittersweet for horse's first trainer, "I could've used the exposure this horse would have given me"
>>> Plonk: The convicted drug offenders have now swept racing's Holy Grail... The inmates officially are running the asylum
>>> Ky Derby draws its 2nd-largest TV audience in 17 years
>>> Ky Derby TV ratings 1975-2008
>>> Former trainer [now synthetic surface salesman] Michael Dickinson has called for Churchill Downs to switch to a synthetic surface

WEDNESDAY/More Eight Belles reaction:

The outcry -- reasoned, and not-so-much -- continues:

>>> Trainer Larry Jones orders autopsy to test for steroids... "I guarantee you no steroids were used on this horse."
>>> McNamara: "When there's a big-race catastrophe, a few columnists get on their high horse. These self-appointed moral compasses rarely are seen at a track."
>>> Modesti: "Here's what I'll confess to: When I think of racetrack tragedies, I think of jockeys first and horses next."
>>> Layden: Sorting out the key issues from the tragedy
>>> Moran: Let's take a deep breath here and put the tragedy thing in perspective
>>> NY Times' Rhoden weighs in again: "If ever a sport needed a commissioner or a chief executive, it is horse racing."
>>> Wash Times: PETA prez once said: "Humans have grown like a cancer. We're the biggest blight on the face of the earth." [page 2 of article]
>>> Vet Bramlage: Critics' "facts are wrong. It's been scientifically looked at that horses that train as two year olds race more times more successfully, earn more money and make more starts than horses that don't train until they're 3."
>>> Scripps News: Horse racing needs fixing, not banning
>>> Churchill prez issues statement on the loss of Eight Belles
>>> Canada editorial: "Thoroughbreds are bred to race -- and, compared to most horses, are treated very well."
>>> Jenkins: "Individual fault-finding doesn't address the larger question of just what kind of 'sport' horse racing is or intends to be going forward."
>>> Jensen: Horse racing at a sadly familiar juncture
>>> St Pete Times: "Although cruelty is not the intent of horse racing, that does not excuse the sport from its negligence or culpability in the deaths of too many animals."

Tues 5/6 news:

>>> Preakness update: Big Brown doing well... Stevil preps
>>> DRF: El Gato Malo to Lone Star Derby
>>> Crist charts Beyers figs for top three Derby finishers 2000-2008... "Those who like to see speed figures adjusted for ground loss will further upgrade Big Brown's performance since he was wide on both turns."
>>> Haskin's Derby Recap: Highs and lows
>>> Preakness: Small field likely to challenge Big Brown
>>> Eight Belles' owner would like to see a racing commissioner: "Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying the accident could have been avoided if we had a commissioner," but having an authority figure could "get everybody on the same page."
>>> NTRA prez asks fans to respond: "I would appreciate hearing your thoughts on what you believe racing should do in the wake of Eight Belles' death."
>>> Wall Street Journal: Good idea slow to progress... Database that would allow breeders "to help identify which bloodlines are inclined to produce horses that are durable" still not complete 19 months after initiation, "I will admit to some disappointment that we haven't been able to produce it quicker."
>>> Sulky side is safer: "Harness horses don't have the same bone structure as thoroughbreds."
>>> Eight Belles' jock issues statement: "I remain heartbroken..."
>>> Lexington newspaper editor reacts to reader response to Eight Belles photos: "A picture is worth a thousand words, and images can move people more readily than words alone."
>>> Wall: Debate on track surface revived
>>> Synthetic tracks safer, but have their drawbacks
>>> Q&A: UC Davis equine specialists debate thoroughbreds' safety: "To people who know horses well, today's race horses also look different. They tend to have heavier muscles behind and lighter bones in their lower leg."
>>> UC Davis works to end fatal horse injuries... Lab has fifteen scientists hoping to prevent deaths
>>> Racing deaths have industry looking for some answers... Horse durability, track surfaces are studied; no quick fix likely
>>> PETA protest in Ky on Tuesday countered by equal number of racing supporters
>>> Canadian scribe sniffs at Derby's winning trainer: "The history [at Woodbine] is the problem even more so than Dutrow's career list of suspensions, which is long and impressive."

>>> VIDEO: Trainer Larry Jones adddresses the media on Tuesday [sidebar column]

TUESDAY/More Eight Belles reaction:

Three days later reaction is becoming [mostly] more tempered, as level-headed "fix it" replaces knee-jerk "ban it":

>>> The industry does respond... When breakdowns took an upturn at Emerald Downs, they responded to a study and added "an inch of sand to the track prior to the 2008 season to dilute the clay content and soften the surface."
>>> Euro trainer offers perspective: "In the interest of clarity, I’d like to point out a few facts about racing across the pond..."
>>> Scott: "What is needed now is a serious effort to breed sounder racehorses."
>>> Arthur Hancock III: "Breed unsound horses and you get unsound horses."
>>> Crawford: "It's time to stop looking down at the dirt and to start looking in at the blood."
>>> Finley: Five steps racing must take...
>>> Forde: Among the items that should be up for serious discussion...
>>> Pa newspaper: "Calls to ban the sport are nonsensical."
>>> Sun-Sentinel: "The knee-jerk reaction is eventually tempered with the knowledge that these horses are born and bred to run."
>>> Daily Gazette [NY]: "I am an animal lover... but I see PETA doing more to hurt the cause than help it."
>>> PETA spokesperson flops in radio interview
>>> Virginia-Pilot: PETA gallops into the fray and gets it wrong - again
>>> West: Moralists' reaction to Eight Belles' death is rush to judgment
>>> Seattle times columnist: "The sport isn't barbaric... That said, this sport is walking dangerously along the line between tradition and stupidity."
>>> Eight Belles' owner, "I support horse racing 1,000 percent."
>>> Palm Beach Post: "Keep racing. Keep competing. That doesn't mean we can't keep trying to make the sport safer."
>>> Louisville Courier-Journal editorial: "Those who love [horse racing] and those who profit must make clear their unqualified commitment to the safety and welfare of the thoroughbred."
>>> Philly Inquirer opinion: "The racing industry needs to look at [the synthetic track] option more seriously."
>>> NY Times editorial: "The first rule of racing must be the welfare of these horses. Nothing else is acceptable."
>>> Minnesota: "Modern breeding practices, fueled by human greed, have created a more fragile thoroughbred."
>>> Arkansas paper: "Just like a death in boxing, what happened Saturday will raise some legitimate questions..."

And some harsher responses still being made -- with some surprisingly from inside the racing game:

>>> NoCal trainer Gilchrist: "There aren't horses out there. They're pawns. Whenever you get corporations involved... it's the bottom line. And greed takes over."
>>> Del Mar prez, "Every year it becomes tougher and tougher to justify what we're seeing out there on these race tracks."
>>> Alabama: "What is clear is that Eight Belles' death is another blow to the sport of horse racing."
>>> T-bred retirement farm owner, "I can't watch [horse races]. They run them to death."
>>> NoCal trainer Art Sherman, "Years ago you didn't have as much racing; now you have it year-round and horses don't get a break."
>>> Tampa: Horse racing isn't dog fighting. The object isn't to kill these great creatures. But what does that matter if they're dying anyway?
>>> CEO of Humane Society: Racing industry, "Deal with your problems, or animal advocacy groups and others not all that interested in horse racing will be forced to weigh in."

CBSSports.com columnist conflicted:
>>> Doesn't like horse-racing: "This is the sport of kings? Not any king I'm willing to serve."
>>> Doesn't like PETA: Where PETA went wrong: It opened its mouth

KENTUCKY DERBY

>>> Free PPs: DRF basic [pdf]
>>> Free PPs: DRF w/Moss pace figs [pdf]

>>> Official Kentucky Derby website
>>> Past Derby charts... Includes video replay when available
>>> Churchill weather forecast
>>> 2008 Derby field silks graphic [pdf]
>>> Quick list of past Ky Derby winners
>>> Fastest winning Derby times
>>> Free PPs: 2007 Derby contenders... From BRIS
>>> Free PPs: Derby contenders... From DRF
>>> Free PPs Derby winners '93 - '05... Plus list of final preps for Ky Derby winners
>>> 2006 PPs [Barbaro]
>>> 2007 PPs [Street Sense]
>>> Video replays: Derby trail preps [click on race name to get to video link for each]
>>> Prep schedule/results
>>> Latest graded earnings
>>> Courier-Journal's DataTrack tool
>>> Final odds: Future Pool 3 [pdf]
>>> Final odds: Future Pool 2 [pdf]
>>> Final odds: Future Pool 1 [pdf]

>>> DRF Derby coverage
>>> Bloodhorse Triple Crown coverage
>>> TTimes Triple Crown coverage
>>> Louisville Courier-Journal Derby coverage

>>> VIDEO: Pre-Derby coverage from WLEX-TV and Bloodhorse
>>> Ky Derby odds at end of Friday's advanced wagering
>>> Oaks/Derby double will pays
>>> Lyrics: My Old Kentucky Home
>>> Sound of the Downs: Louisville band plays 'My Old Kentucky Home'
>>> Graphic: Derby field -- silks, trainers, jocks [pdf]
>>> NY Post's 'Bettor's Guide' with comments and all pertinent stats for all entrants
>>> NY Daily News' Derby Guide with horse-by-horse notes -- plus success of various post positions [pdf]
>>> Courier-Journal's graphic: 'Guide to Churchill Downs' [pdf]
>>> Crist blogs live during Derby Day action

>>> Big Brown insured for $50 million
>>> Beyer: "The sport is not inhumane. It is not brutal. It is not barbaric," however, "America's breeding industry is producing increasingly fragile thoroughbreds."
>>> Bozich: Eight Belles' death escalates debate on racing's future
>>> Churchill, "We're studying the synthetic surfaces, but we want to see data for four or five years because the technology is evolving all the time."
>>> Larry Jones, "It wasn't the fact she was in with 19 boys and they beat her up and bruised her. She never touched another horse in the race."
>>> Blogger checks newspaper headlines from the 'day after': Finds that, perhaps in contrast to the perception, a majority of newspapers "played down the death of Eight Belles on their front pages, choosing instead to focus on the winner."
>>> Kerrison: "A superstar, a horse for the ages, a Triple Crown immortal - or a one-day Kentucky Derby flash?"
>>> Big Brown "has a chance to put thoroughbred racing back on the map."
>>> Ziegel: Triple Crown? "There was new and ample evidence yesterday that we have the right horse at last."
>>> Big Brown floats above the rest in chart of Beyer figs for derby and preps
>>> Dutrow less confident, "With just two weeks, I don't know. So we're going there (to the Preakness) with expectations, but not like yesterday."
>>> USA Today 'TV Sports' columnist on NBC's Derby coverage: NBC made correct call to not air Eight Belles' agony
>>> NY Times columnist: "I think NBC erred in two areas..."
>>> Virginian-Pilot columnist: "You can credit NBC with being discreet, but it's just as likely that the network's skittish decision was a craven act."
>>> Ky Derby TV ratings 1975-2007
>>> Derby also-rans not interested in rematch with Big Brown, "I don't see anything stopping him."
>>> Balt Sun blog: Preakness chatter will be as much about safety as Big Brown
>>> Palmer: Racing's ritual encompasses both life and death
>>> DRF: Derby betting down 3.2 percent
>>> PETA wants Eight Belles jockey suspended
>>> Trainer defends jockey against PETA's claims

AFTERMATH: Critical [over-wrought?] reaction to breakdown

Reaction - cooler heads?/Monday:

>>> NY Sun editorial: "Horse-racing is a spirit raising gamble for both horses and humans."
>>> NY Sun: "We should continue to ask that breeding be somewhat reformed; perhaps we can return to thoroughbreds bred to run, bred for stamina."
>>> Blogger: "If you are a [racing] devotee, you've signed up for all the good and bad that comes with it... But if the question refers instead to how these fatalities can be made to occur far less frequently, then the answer is that the industry is at least trying to do something."
>>> Matthews: "Fillies don't become racing legends by winning the Kentucky Oaks... It wouldn't be fair to criticize the people who called the shots for Eight Belles."
>>> Blogger: "There's a lot wrong with racing, and it's the responsibility of those of us who love the sport to press those with influence and authority to ask hard questions and demand answers."
>>> Celizic: "The solution isn't to ban a sport that’s been practiced for as long as horses have been domesticated, which goes back thousands of years."
>>> Zast: The Chinese concept of 'Yi Jing' contends that change doesn't come until problems become totally unmanageable, and then it's unavoidable

More critical reaction/Monday:

>>> USA Today: There will be questions with few answers
>>> Wisconsin comment: It may be time for those who run the legendary Churchill Downs to take a look at installing a synthetic track
>>> Lopresti: In public perception, horse racing sometimes finds itself on a thin line between competition and exploitation
>>> Squires [breeder of Monarchos]: "It may take a long time before we learn to raise more durable thoroughbreds, restrain greed or slow down the human rush to self-destruction."
>>> Frantz: Racing "has deteriorated through the centuries into little more than officially sanctioned animal abuse for the entertainment and profit of humans."
>>> Rosenberg: Conflicted... "This is not just about horse racing. It cuts to the heart of our relationship with animals."
>>> Baumbach: "Think this sport would get approved in 2008?"
>>> ABC News: Is horse-racing too dangerous?
>>> Edmonton Journal: "Thoroughbred racing is either the sport of second and third chances for the wayward of the earth or one that unconscionably doles out wrist slaps for serious drug offences."
>>> St Pete Times columnist: "How many more horses have to break down and be euthanized before we abolish all horse racing?"
Reaction/Sunnday:

>>> Wash Post: "Thoroughbred racing is in a moral crisis, and everyone now knows it... Horses are being over-bred and over-raced."
>>> USA Today: Eight Belles' death renews horse racing questions
>>> NY Times: "The sport is at least as inhumane as greyhound racing and only a couple of steps removed from animal fighting."
>>> Slowly, the sad news makes the rounds: Another horse is down, "Excuse me, I'm sorry, I'm crying."
>>> Louisville Courier-Journal: Eight Belles is latest heartbreaker
>>> Author Jane Smiley: "As a longtime very ambivalent fan of horse racing and a lover of thoroughbreds, I can’t help seeing what happened as a kind of paradigm of Thoroughbredness..."
>>> Time magazine: "Horse racing, a struggling sport, can't catch a break. Another debate will rage in Eight Belles' wake. Is horse racing inhumane?"
>>> Forde: "There isn't a huge appetite in this country for sports in which animal death is a routine part of the equation."
>>> Sports editor: "Isn't it time we stop the carnage?"
>>> Utah local TV sports producer blogs: "Let's shut this foolish nonsense down once and for all."
>>> Delaware fans react, "I guess 'disturbed' is the best word for how they felt, especially around here."

>>> VIDEO REPLAY: Ky Derby
>>> Chart: 2008 Ky Derby [pdf]

Sunday 5/4:

>>> In a laugher!... Big Brown validates trainer's confidence with easy Derby victory

>>> Louisville Courier-Journal's complete 'day after' coverage
>>> Lexington Herald-Leader's Derby coverage
>>> Colonel John out of step, doesn't pass muster
>>> NY Times: Graphic -- Ky Derby turn by turn
>>> Dutrow's Derby Diary/Sunday: "I told you Big Brown couldn't lose!... And now I want the Preakness."
>>> Quotes: How the jocks saw the race
>>> Desormeaux savors third Derby victory
>>> Desormeaux becomes 8th jockey to win three Derbys
>>> DRF Derby coverage
>>> Bloodhorse Triple Crown coverage
>>> TTimes Triple Crown coverage

Photo galleries:

>>> Courier-Journal: Derby and weekend photo coverage
>>> NY Daily News
>>> Seattle Times
>>> USA Today
>>> Fashion

Derby Day at other venues:

>>> Cracked Claw: Words of wisdom, "It's always better to bet who you think is going to win."
>>> Indiana OTB: "I won $200, so I'm happy."
>>> Presque Isle Down: It was a mob scene inside
>>> Illinois OTB: "We only come here on Derby days. It's like being a Catholic on Easter and Christmas."
>>> Interestingly mistaken notion by reporter at Florida dog track: But no matter what you bet on or which race you bet in, all the money stays here in Southwest Florida even though the Derby is miles away

Post-race breakdown casts somber tone on Derby aftermath:

>>> Filly Eight Belles breaks down after 2nd-place Derby finish... Jock, "When we passed the wire I stood up. She started galloping funny."
>>> DRF: Jones, "She went out a champion."
>>> Trainer Larry Jones: "This mare was not under any kind of distress at all in the race, it looked to me. As she galloped around the turn, I saw that her ears were up. She was watching Big Brown and following him around."
>>> Trainer Larry Jones: "We've taken criticism. We're going to be criticized and second-guessed."

Wisconsin scribes debate:
>>> Point: "The Kentucky Derby remains a premier sporting event."
>>> Counter-Point: "The Kentucky Derby... has become an anachronism."

Selections:

>>> Merrow [equidaily.com]: Colonel John, Adriano, Monba, Z Fortune, Pyro
>>> Beyer [Wash Post]: 1. Pyro. 2. Z Fortune. 3. Gayego
>>> Eng [Las Vegas Review Journal]: Z Fortune, Pyro, Colonel John
>>> Powell [BRIS]: My betting strategy for Saturday is a large win/place bet on Denis of Cork. Next will be...
>>> O'Donnell [Chicago Sun Times]: Z Fortune, Colonel John, Pyro, Gayego
>>> McCurdy [Mansfield News Journal]: Gayego, Cool Coal Man, Pyro, Tale of Ekati
>>> Kerrison: I'll bet Big Brown, Colonel John and Pyro on top of some longshots like...
>>> S Finley [USA Today]: Bet Colonel John win and place, then key the Colonel in exactas and trifectas with...
>>> Byk [Sirius satellite]: 1. Smooth Air, 2. Denis of Cork, 3. Pyro
>>> Fortus [Times Picayune]: 1. Pyro, 2. Colonel John, 3. Z Fortune, 4. Court Vision
>>> Daley [Lowell Sun]: Big Brown, Colonel John, Court Vision
>>> Dougherty [Seattle Times]: Pyro, Colonel John, Big Brown, Court Vision
>>> Clancy [Hartford Courant]: Denis of Cork, Z Fortune, Big Brown
>>> Layden [Sports Illustrated]: Colonel John, Denis of Cork, Tale of Ekati
>>> Kaplan [Sun Herald]: 1, Pyro... Here's how I'll play the race...
>>> Brunker [MSNBC.com]: I'll put $20 to win on Denis of Cork and box him in $2 exactas with...
>>> Palmer [Seattle P-I]: I got $100 on the nose says Big Brown makes big news on this Derby Day
>>> West [Fort Worth Star-Telegram]: 1. Pyro, 2. Colonel John, 3. Monba
>>> Lousiville Courier-Journal staff [and others]
>>> Finley [ESPN.com]: After Big Brown, the race is a crapshoot, so the sensible thing to do seems to be...
>>> Kling [Troy Record]: 1) Colonel John, 2) Z Fortune, 3) Gayego, 4) Big Brown, 5) Pyro
>>> Cronley [ESPN.com]: Pyro, Tale of Ekati, Monba, Colonel John

Saturday 5/3:

>>> Haskin's Derby analysis: Figuring it out
>>> The pace: Cruise or get caught speeding?
>>> History doesn't favor inexperienced Derby horses
>>> Final prep times often tell who's got best chance
>>> How they did in 1 1/8-mile prep races
>>> Dutrow's Derby Diary/Sat: "I was planning to bet a lot of money on 'Brown,'... But maybe I won't bet at all... There's enough at stake. I don't want any bad karma."
>>> Hype around Big Brown sheds light on horse racing's dark side
>>> Kerrison: Super trainers could deliver with longshots
>>> Eoin Harty credits Sheik Mohammed, "He plucked me from obscurity. If it wasn't for him, I'd still be training for Bob [Baffert]."
>>> For Dutrow: Derby is a potential validation of an unlikely resurgence, in work and in life
>>> Derby runners' names: There's usually something in it, a tribute to someone or some thing
>>> Trainer Dutrow says there's little chance Big Brown will lose Derby
>>> Drape: Derby might have a sprint at start and the finish
>>> Big Truck's owners hoping for big things at Derby
>>> Ziegel: At Derby, even the longshots can dream
>>> Eight Belles out to ring up another ladies' day

Friday 5/2:

>>> Dosage/Dual Qualifiers - 2008 Ky Derby starters
>>> Big Brown to wear front bandages... Trainer, "I don't like doing it because it'll bring up a lot of questions, but it's only because he burned a little bit on his right front heel."
>>> Gary Stevens on post osition #20: "I consulted on that decision, and I think Rick made the right choice."
>>> Migliore on Bob Black Jack: "You can make a case that he looks like a sprinter, but actually on the second dam side there's a great deal of stamina influence."
>>> Smooth Air owners: Derby will be the latest step-dance in a long association with racing
>>> Monmouth clockers offer Derby opinions... "I'm not a handicapper... we bet the watch."
>>> Colonel John's trainer comes from long line of jockeys
>>> McNairs keep high hopes for Cowboy Cal in Derby
>>> Ocala farm owners rooting for Denis of Cork -- foaled on their farm, "We just love that, we love the whole birthing process and taking care of the foals."
>>> Tampa-based owner hoping for success with Adriano, "It would truly be one of the highlights of my life."

Thursday 5/1:

>>> Big Brown works in :35.2 on Thurs
>>> Dutrow's Derby Diary: If Big Brown wins, he should be appreciated as a Derby winner. That's the story, not that I got suspended years ago for a drug test
>>> White: Horse-by-horse analysis of top ten Derby contenders... And final 'Key Derby Factor' strike list qualifiers
>>> Good Derby draw takes heat off Eight Belles owner, "Churchill prez) Steve Sexton told me he wished I wouldn't cross-enter and we knew he wouldn't like it, but I said, 'I've got to do it, Steve.'"
>>> Dutrow on post position #20: "Actually, I'd rather have this post than a lot of other ones."
>>> What should a bettor do with Pyro?... Which do you throw out, the horse or the Blue Grass?
>>> Adriano stays calm... Now he's ready to run
>>> Arkansas sports scribe remembers Derbies past -- as trip to Louisville is cut from budget this year, "The truth is, I was blessed to cover 26 Kentucky Derbies and have more than enough memories to last a lifetime."
>>> Forde: The least predictable sporting event in the world is more unpredictable than ever in 2008
>>> Beyer: The Louie and Ronnie Show is back
>>> Trainer James Kasparoff [Bob Black Jack] living the Ky Derby dream with five-horse stable
>>> Derby entrants must re-learn to run on dirt
>>> Desormeaux has 'come full circle'... Former top jockey riding winners again
>>> Bill Mott seeks first Ky Derby win, "I feel pretty good about both horses."
>>> Arkansas Derby now a major stepping stone on trail to Triple Crown
>>> IEAH has 'Big' dreams
>>> Pletcher ships in as late as possible, "You had to be here [Wednesday]. I would have come Friday or Saturday if they'd let me."
>>> DW Lukas [won Derby with Winning Colors] on chances of Eight Belles, "I think it's a stretch for her in the Derby."
>>> Pyro regaining his old fire
>>> Gayego... From Castro's jails to Ky Derby owners' box
>>> Will #8 be great for Visionaire?
>>> Smooth Air at 100 percent
>>> Derby week quotes
>>> Derby notes - Wed

Wed 4/30

>>> Transcript: DRF Derby chat with Andy Beyer, "I'll throw out Big Brown and Colonel John, dive into the tri and super pools, spread quite a bit and try to come up with a monster payoff."
>>> Foaling dates of Derby contenders
>>> Crist: Here's a little Beyer Speed Figure scorecard for this year's prospective Derby field and last year's edition
>>> Six homebreds vying to extend Derby-winning trend... Homies have won last four Derby's
>>> Dutrow's father is said to have stated of his trainer son, "He'll either wind up in the Hall of Fame or in the state pen doing life. He's going to wind up being a lifer somewhere."
>>> Jockey Q&A: Derby day a physical and mental challenge
>>> Gayego could give Lobo a thrill ride... Small-time trainer from Brazil has his Ky Derby shot
>>> AP: Barclay Tagg having more fun at this Derby
>>> VIDEO: Derby tradition begins at dawn
>>> Tagg hopes Tale of Ekati won't face the slop
>>> Cowboy Cal to run for a good cause
>>> Big Brown gets celebrity treatment
>>> Fortus: Sudden proliferation of synthetic racetracks complicates handicapping dirt races such as the Ky Derby
>>> Rees: Which horses will take to dirt?... Varying surfaces make handicapping Derby harder
>>> Wesch: Can horses raced on Polytrack adapt to Churchill Downs?
>>> Bozich: Racing can't sweep drugs under the rug
>>> OUCH! Virginia columnist declares: "The Kentucky Derby belongs to a growing list of sports relics."
>>> Haskin's Derby Report: Early thoughts
>>> List: Which celebs are attending the Derby this year...
>>> Derby handicapping: Sports scribe says, "I have developed a list of eight questions that should be applied to every Derby entrant..."
>>> Photo gallery: Tues
>>> Pyro cools down, but Derby might be his race
>>> Profile: Robby Albarado races hard and lives large
>>> Drape: Trainer frets in matching his horse with rider
>>> History: Derby almost was losing bet 100 years ago
>>> History: Leisurely train ride home for winning owners after 1936 Derby triumph
>>> Social: Guide to the pre- and post-race party scene

Tuesday 4/29:

>>> Plonk: What we've watched Derby Week (so far)
>>> Christine: Cutting through the chaff, I've broken down the field into four groups...
>>> Dutrow's Derby Diary/Tues: "I can't say I'm looking forward to the media crush that's coming up this week."
>>> Q&A with DRF's Derby clocker Mike Welsch... "A good work is one in which the horse finishes well and gallops out strong without any pressure from his or her rider."
>>> DRF clocker's report - Tues
>>> Blue Grass also-rans have recent history against them
>>> Charting the contender's prep race Beyers
>>> Blogger's system to identify key statistical factors and trends in pointing to Derby contenders vs pretenders
>>> USA Today: For Pletcher, perennial Derby hopes rise again
>>> Todd Pletcher's Derby record
>>> Zito continues going with positive approach, "I'm hoping the form (Anak Nakal) had in the Ky Jockey Club is something he has in the Ky Derby. Cool Coal Man also won on the track."
>>> Team Pyro: A throng instrumental in getting him to this point
>>> NY Times: Filly is ready to take on the colts, but will she?
>>> Drape: Until Big Brown hits the racetrack Tuesday morning, Colonel John wears the title Best in Show
>>> Kerrison: If there is one horse who has everyone confused and frustrated it is Pyro
>>> Tale of Ekati is dream fulfilled for Ky Derby
>>> Big Brown's trainer says he has 'best horse'... UPS-named colt gaining admirers
>>> Eight Belles could be a rare Derby filly... First since 1999
>>> Former jock Kris Prather's backstretch blog: "Pyro has done everything that has been expected of him."
>>> Derby has been thorn for great horses, trainers
>>> Barclay Tagg [Funny Cide] back with two chances, "I like the way they're coming along. If I didn't, I wouldn't be bringing them."
>>> Sprint star Bob Black Jack ready to stretch out
>>> Blogger checks in with "backstretch stories you won't get anywhere else..."
>>> Pre-Derby photo gallery
>>> Photo gallery: Lexington Herald-Leader
>>> Photo gallery: Louisville Courier-Journal

Monday 4/28:

>>> Behindatthebar out... Denis of Cork in
>>> Brunker: This year's Derby "has more questions than a 4-year-old who got into Daddy's No-Doze."
>>> Borel back in Derby on Denis of Cork
>>> NY Post: Dutrow's Derby Diary... "He just must be a really good one. That's what I'm thinking."
>>> Asmussen back -- a year after Curlin -- with two shots in the Derby, "I do realize how hard it is to win."
>>> Colonel John bound by honor... Named for Iraq War veteran, he's a stable favorite
>>> Personalities: Trainer Louie Roussel has returned from a 4-year hiatus to work Recapturetheglory into a Derby contender
>>> Roussel-Lamarque back with the appropraitely named Recapturetheglory... Twenty years ago, racing's odd couple were at Churchill in the company of Risen Star
>>> Diamond prospector's gem will 'run for the roses'... Canadian millionaire's prized 3YO, Tale of Ekati, earns a Derby start
>>> AP: Derby owners a diverse group
>>> Kerrison: With Eight Belles in, "Suddenly, the run for the roses has a whole new look."
>>> Pletcher has two shots to end slide
>>> Little hoopla this year surrounding Pletcher, "Maybe it's better this way."
>>> Rooting interest: Four horses have charity on board
>>> Iowa State lab helps keep the Kentucky Derby horses clean
>>> Daily Derby Notes: Monday
>>> Clocker's report -- Sun... Colonel John passes test

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