Last of the Cajun Jockeys
It is hard to believe that on Saturday when they go to the post for America’s signature race, the Kentucky Derby, there only will be two Cajun riders in the irons.
From Seabiscuit to Blind Vanity
Derby fever gets its name from what is clearly America’s horse race, but it doesn’t just live within the borders of Churchill Downs.
The Bittersweet Derby Dreams of Sunny’s Halo
It is a magnificent story of courage and perseverance. Would that its post script could be as happy.
Agua Caliente and the First Derby Future Book
Churchill didn’t get into the futures business until 1999, more than four decades after the greatest innovator of them all showed the way.
All Those Carry Backs
If Jack Price hadn’t worked for himself, we never would have had a colt like Carry Back.
The Lady Is a Champ
Decades before Penny Chenery earned her reputation in the 1970s as a female pioneer with Riva Ridge and then Triple Crown winner Secretariat, Isabel Dodge Sloane became the first woman in history to head the owners’ list by earnings.
Canonero II: He Came from Caracas
This Saturday, we will honor the 40th anniversary of a Kentucky Derby moment so rare, so bizarre you couldn’t make it up if you tried.
Lost and Found: The Life and Death of Isaac Murphy
Here was a jock who rode with his hands and his heels and his heart; the soft crooning of his voice was a siren’s song to the mounts beneath him.
Catching Up with Old Heroes
John Scheinman and filmmaker Jeff Krulik traveled to Bonita one April afternoon to catch up with Deputed Testamony and Go for Gin.
Great Redeemer, the Knife at the Gunfight
When Grover “Buddy” Delp, who trained Spectacular Bid, heard the details unfolding, he said “Well, there are 999 ways to lose the Derby. Maybe we just found another.”