Curlin Wins Muddy Classic

Derby winner adds 'Midsummer Derby' to trophy case

(NEWSER) - Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense triumphed in the "Midsummer Derby" today at Saratoga, holding off longshot Grasshopper to capture the $1 million Travers Stakes by a half-length. The superstar 3-year-old, under regular rider Calvin Borel, paid $2.70 to win after the crowd at the sweltering Spa sent him off as the 1-4 favorite. More»

Comma To The Top is the people's champion

(NEWSER) - Looking for a rooting interest at Sunday’s Kentucky Derby? Well, you should be cheering for Comma To The Top, argues Edward McClelland of Slate , for one simple reason: "He can’t produce sperm." Which means he’ll be able to race for another three years. “If early favorite Dialed In wins, he’ll retire at the end of the summer, and follow in the hoofprints of 2010 winner Super Saver, who is currently servicing mares for $20,000 a spasm.” More»

The way we treat thoroughbreds is a disgrace, says Marlene Fanta Shyer

(NEWSER) - You might imagine that the horses who run in tomorrow’s Kentucky Derby live lives of "pampered luxury." But you’d be wrong, writes Marlene Fanta Shyer in the Christian Science Monitor . “The truth is often closer to years of abuse and a brutal end at a foreign slaughterhouse.” The vast majority of these horses are given Phenylbutazone, or “bute,” to help them run while injured, which can cause kidney damage, internal hemorrhaging, and other problems. More»

(NEWSER) - Kentucky Derby favorite I Want Revenge has been scratched because of an ankle injury, reports Newsday. The 3-year-old colt—the morning line had him at 3-1 odds to win today's race—showed soreness in his left front ankle after an early workout, said trainer Jeff Mullins. "We could tell he wasn't 100 percent." The new favorites: Dunkirk and Pioneer of the Nile at 4-1, followed by Friesan Fire at 5-1, notes the Online Gambling Paper. More»

His ashes lie below memorial

(NEWSER) - A bronze statue of the late Barbaro charging mid-air toward his 2006 Kentucky Derby victory has been completed in advance of next week's 135th Derby, the Courier-Journal reports. Buried below the sculpture are the ashes of the beloved colt, who was euthanized two years ago after struggling to recover from a leg that all but shattered in the Preakness. His supporters flocked to Churchill Downs yesterday to witness the statue's unveiling. More»