Sean's Blog

Busy Saturday. My cheat sheet runs to two columns, starting at Compiegne at 7:23, breezing through Royal Ascot, some stakes at Laurel, solid races at Churchill Downs, the Ohio Derby at Thistledown, the Canterbury Derby up north and finishing at Churchill Downs at 11:10. Good thing Miles is in Italy, … Read More

Home after a road trip to Lexington. Tough drive home yesterday. Storms off and on all the way. A white-knuckle drive. Glad to be home. Royal Ascot wrapping up its Friday card. I’ll nibble at Nightwalker in the King Edward VII. One day to go. I’ll wade into the Saturday … Read More

Road trip to Lexington to celebrate 25 years of The Saratoga Special as part of the Keeneland Library’s Lecture Series tonight at 6:30. An Evening with The Saratoga Special This is the 25th season of The Saratoga Special, which will be celebrated with Eclipse Award-winning Turf writers Sean Clancy, Joe Clancy and … Read More

Second. First. Seventh. Seventh. Fourth. Ninth. Tenth. Fourth. As always, the reasons for the defeats pile up like peanut shells on the floorboard of a pickup truck. Wrong spot. Wrong day. Wrong instructions. Wrong ground. Too wide. Too fresh. Too free. Too close. Too far back. Grabbed quarter. Displaced. It … Read More

A good start to the weekend with a winner and a second at Laurel yesterday. Koru broke sharply (way better than last time), found a sweet spot in third, moved through on the rail and won by a head. At 3/5, it was a little more tense than anticipated but … Read More

Eight entries over three days. Whew, we love action. And, yes, we looked at the weather. We’ll see what happens. FRIDAY: 12:10. Laurel Park. Race 1. Starter allowance turf. Roja Redemption. 1:06. Laurel Park. Race 3. Waiver maiden claiming turf. Koru. SATURDAY: 12:10. Laurel Park. Race 1. Maiden turf. Lorraine. … Read More

That was the headline of the Saratoga Special Sunday morning. Sovereignty dominated the Belmont Stakes. Check out the story. Page 6.

Who do you like? The Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty, the Preakness winner Journalism, the Derby third Baeza… Read The Belmont Special.

Awakened returned to the races with a solid third in the Grade 1 Beverly R. Steinman at Saratoga Wednesday. Owned by Riverdee and Ten Strike Racing, the 8-year-old slipped through on the inside, got in front and gave us a moment. The son of Curlin felt the burden of top … Read More