Churchill Downs

The last man to take a horse to Belmont with a chance to snag the elusive final gem in the Triple Crown has some advice for Doug O'Neill. Stay true to the horse. "I think trainers going around asking other people what they should do, looking for how to handle it, that's stupid," Rick Dutrow, trainer of Big Brown in 2008, said in a phone interview Sunday. "It's got to be about your horse. Whatever anybody else did doesn't matter. You know your horse. " O'Neill, trainer of Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner I'll Have Another, has already disregarded common wisdom over the past three weeks.

ESPN's Jeannine Edwards started her TV career as an in-track host at Pimlico and Laurel in the early 1990s. “It allowed me to learn television, because I came from a background of  training horses and had no TV experience,” she says. “So I owe a lot of my success and a debt of gratitude to the people in Maryland for giving me a start.” Edwards, who still calls Maryland home, is covering the Preakness for ESPN and ABC this week. Her reports will start appearing Friday on the sports channel and continue through the weekend.

As trainer Doug O'Neill spoke of winning a Triple Crown outside his Churchill Downs barn early Sunday morning, police investigated the suspicious death of a man 100yards away. Louisville metro police were made aware of the body shortly before 5 a.m., the morning after the Kentucky Derby attracted a record 165,307 people to the historic track. Investigators at the scene found evidence of an altercation and suspected foul play, police spokesperson Alicia Smiley said. They have no suspects at this time and are waiting for a report from the coroner's office to identify the victim.

Kentucky Derby winner I'll Have Another is one regal-looking horse, a real show-stopper with a distinctive white, diamond-shaped patch on his forehead. As he moved around a back barn at Pimlico Race Course on Wednesday, the chestnut colt trained by Doug O'Neill made the other horses look like fly-ridden plow nags. Now the question is: is he just another attractive Derby winner that will wilt in the pressurized environment of the Preakness a week from Saturday? Or can he duplicate the amazing run he had at Churchill Downs five days ago and make the Preakness special by giving us a legitimate Triple Crown hope?

ESPN's Jeannine Edwards started her TV career as an in-track host at Pimlico and Laurel in the early 1990s. “It allowed me to learn television, because I came from a background of  training horses and had no TV experience,” she says. “So I owe a lot of my success and a debt of gratitude to the people in Maryland for giving me a start.” Edwards, who still calls Maryland home, is covering the Preakness for ESPN and ABC this week. Her reports will start appearing Friday on the sports channel and continue through the weekend.

HORSE RACING Tiz Chrome euthanized after collapsing at Churchill Downs Tiz Chrome, a 3-year-old horse training for a final Kentucky Derby prep race, was euthanized after collapsing during a workout at Churchill Downs. Trainer Bob Baffert said the colt had a fatal fracture of the left front sesamoid during a workout Sunday morning. Tiz Chrome was scheduled to run in the Derby Trial on Saturday. Baffert said the colt was working with another horse and the two were heading into the far turn on the one-mile track when the injury occurred and Tiz Chrome fell, sending exercise rider Dana Barnes tumbling to the track.

Rachel Alexandra, who won the 2009 Preakness, will run in the Grade II FleuDe Lis at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., on Saturday. "Rachel Alexandra continues to turn in strong works," owner Jess Jackson said in a statement released this morning. "As long as she continues to progress, we intend to race her with the expectation that she will obtain her fitness level of last year. Our ultimate goal and hope is to enter the Breeders Cup in November." Winless in two starts this year, the reigning Horse of the Year last raced in late April, finishing second to Unrivaled Belle in the Grade II La Troienne at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby weekend.

Bob Baffert joked this week that, if it rained on race day, he was going to instruct his wife, Jill, to go to the betting window and put $500 on Twice the Appeal, just because Calvin Borel was riding him, and over the past few years, no jockey has looked better on a wet and muddy track than Borel. He's won three of the last four Derbys, and two of them (2009 and 2010) came on a track that was less than considered sloppy. Borel -- whose nickname is "Bo-rail" because he likes to hug the rail whenever he gets a chance -- has already seen a ton of early action from betters this year, dropping Twice the Appeal's odds from 30-1 on Wednesday to 7-1 on Saturday.

Hansen does not need to try to be noticed. The nearly all-white colt always stands out among his peers. Yet on Thursday morning, the Breeders' Cup juvenile champion did all he could to draw the attention of a robust crowd on his first day this week at Churchill Downs. A 10-1 choice on the morning line for the 138th Kentucky Derby, Hansen's antics didn't leave trainer Mike Maker concerned. "Looks like he really had his eyeballs on Take Charge Indy out there," Maker said.

Most of the entries in the 138 th Kentucky Derby galloped at Churchill Downs this morning, staying loose in front of a growing crowd. Creative Cause, the striking grey horse who caused some intrigue when he didn't come out to the track the last two days, looked very strong. Hansen, the near-white colt who won the Breeder's Cup Juvenile here last year, looked small but athletic and playful. “He eats everything,” trainer Michael Maker said. “None of it sticks. He goofs around too much.” Hansen mostly appeared to vacilate between antagonizing other horses and preening for photos.

As trainer Doug O'Neill spoke of winning a Triple Crown outside his Churchill Downs barn early Sunday morning, police investigated the suspicious death of a man 100yards away. Louisville metro police were made aware of the body shortly before 5 a.m., the morning after the Kentucky Derby attracted a record 165,307 people to the historic track. Investigators at the scene found evidence of an altercation and suspected foul play, police spokesperson Alicia Smiley said. They have no suspects at this time and are waiting for a report from the coroner's office to identify the victim.

It's Oaks Day at Churchill Downs, and the color pink has grown over the vast grandstand and the sprawling infield. The “Pink Out” will help raise money for cancer charities, as it has done in recent years. That's all part of what the track has dubbed its “Ladies First” theme. Rosie Napravnik, who went to high school in Maryland and had a stint as the state's top jockey (winning all four titles in 2006), is hoping to become the first woman to win the race for top 3-year-old fillies.

Most of the entries in the 138 th Kentucky Derby galloped at Churchill Downs this morning, staying loose in front of a growing crowd. Creative Cause, the striking grey horse who caused some intrigue when he didn't come out to the track the last two days, looked very strong. Hansen, the near-white colt who won the Breeder's Cup Juvenile here last year, looked small but athletic and playful. “He eats everything,” trainer Michael Maker said. “None of it sticks. He goofs around too much.” Hansen mostly appeared to vacilate between antagonizing other horses and preening for photos.

Reaction to the draw at Churchill Downs for the 138th running of the Kentucky Derby was almost universally positive. None of the favorites were put in an unfavorable position. Union Rags isn't in the most perfect spot at No. 4, but if he's really going to become the horse he was projected to become he'll have to prove he can get through traffic at some point. Why not the Kentucky Derby? With all of the horses seemingly healthy -- and you know how quickly that can change -- the focus here will be on the style of the race.

Hansen does not need to try to be noticed. The nearly all-white colt always stands out among his peers. Yet on Thursday morning, the Breeders' Cup juvenile champion did all he could to draw the attention of a robust crowd on his first day this week at Churchill Downs. A 10-1 choice on the morning line for the 138th Kentucky Derby, Hansen's antics didn't leave trainer Mike Maker concerned. "Looks like he really had his eyeballs on Take Charge Indy out there," Maker said.

A year ago, Shared Account arrived at Churchill Downs for the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf as an outsider. Oddsmakers made her a 46-1 long shot, and her response was to win. This year, she's back to defend her title in the $2 million Grade I race. Do the oddsmakers love her? Not exactly. They've given her 30-1 morning-line odds, a fact that has Sagamore Farm general manager Tom Mulligan sending out a warning. "The field is deep, and it's another tough ask of her," Mulligan said.

It's Oaks Day at Churchill Downs, and the color pink has grown over the vast grandstand and the sprawling infield. The “Pink Out” will help raise money for cancer charities, as it has done in recent years. That's all part of what the track has dubbed its “Ladies First” theme. Rosie Napravnik, who went to high school in Maryland and had a stint as the state's top jockey (winning all four titles in 2006), is hoping to become the first woman to win the race for top 3-year-old fillies.

Representatives of Churchill Downs and a group calle Virginia Racing Associates met in Richmond, Va., yesterday for about 2 1/2 hours to discuss the concept of forming a joint venture to build a racetrack in the Old Dominion."

King Leatherbury said Tuesday he will not be taking Ben's Cat to the Breeders' Cup next week at Churchill Downs. "I made the rule from the beginning, if I could not raise the [supplemental] $100,000 entry fee, I wasn't going," the legendary Maryland horse trainer said. "I couldn't raise the money, so the decision was made for me. I am a little disappointed, but I have a race here. " Ben's Cat qualified for the Breeders' Cup Grade II, $1 million Turf Sprint by winning a "Win and You're In" qualifying race.

Bob Baffert joked this week that, if it rained on race day, he was going to instruct his wife, Jill, to go to the betting window and put $500 on Twice the Appeal, just because Calvin Borel was riding him, and over the past few years, no jockey has looked better on a wet and muddy track than Borel. He's won three of the last four Derbys, and two of them (2009 and 2010) came on a track that was less than considered sloppy. Borel -- whose nickname is "Bo-rail" because he likes to hug the rail whenever he gets a chance -- has already seen a ton of early action from betters this year, dropping Twice the Appeal's odds from 30-1 on Wednesday to 7-1 on Saturday.