You, Too, Can Pick a Winner

Dead male found just 4 barns away from I'll Have Another

(NEWSER) - The day after I'll Have Another broke from the field to win the first leg of the Triple Crown, Kentucky police are investigating a man's body that was found at Churchill Downs this morning. The body was found in Barn 8, just four barns away from where the new Derby winner is stabled, though police tell the AP that he had no connection to I'll Have Another or Churchill Downs. Police are treating the death as a homicide. It's not the vaunted track's first brush with death: Jockey Michael Baze died of an apparent overdose near the stables about a week after last year's Derby. More»

Diet, prayer, breathing, going to a shrink didn't do the trick for Tom Durkin

(NEWSER) - "The Greatest Two Minutes in Sports" turned out to be the most hellish for the man who has been tasked with calling the race 13 times. Tom Durkin's annual preparation went well beyond poring over photos of horses and flash cards and toting around a notebook containing more than 2,000 colorful adjectives and phrases. It has also consisted of medication, prayer, breathing exercises, time on a psychiatrist's couch, diet, exercises, and anything else he could think of, as the anxiety over describing the pandemonium creating by 20 horses blazing down the track began to build months in advance. More»

Race expected to go on, just soggier

(AP) - Heavy rain has postponed early morning workouts at Churchill Downs, where all 20 Kentucky Derby horses are still expected to start. Most turf races were being moved to the main dirt track today, at least until late in the day. That sparked numerous scratches in minor races. Kentucky state veterinarian Bryce Peckham said he knew of at least 15-20 horses that wouldn't be running in the Derby undercard. More»

(NEWSER) - A year after second-place finisher Eight Belles had to be euthanized following the Kentucky Derby, safety has improved—but the inherent dangers of horse racing remain immutable, MSNBC reports. The industry has altered the rules regarding steroids, whips, and horseshoes, "but the bottom line is, not a lot of change," said a congressman critical of the sport's decentralized structure. 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»