Opinion
Off the Pace: Scheduling towards full fields
In a new “Off the Pace”: Mike Valiante proposes a new schedule for Mid-Atlantic racing designed to promote full fields and minimize disruption.
Off the Pace: Catching up with Chris Sobocinski
In a new “Off the Pace”: Mike Valiante catches up with Chris Sobocinski, linemaker and PR maven for Delaware Park.
Off the Pace: Catching up with Eric Pignataro
In a new “Off the Pace”: Mike Valiante catches up with Eric Pignataro, former jai alai player-turned-jockeys’ agent plying his trade at Delaware Park.
Off the Pace: A quartet of memorable Preakness stretch runs
In a new “Off the Pace”: Mike Valiante remembers four editions of the Preakness where the final quarter-mile proved absolutely thrilling.
Rich Strike offers argument for Triple Crown change
Rich Strike’s defection from the Preakness is one more argument for changing the series’ configuration to acknowledge changes in horsemanship.
Off the Pace: Triple Crown schedule just fine
In a new “Off the Pace”: Mike Valiante shares snippets of more than 50 years of Kentucky Derby memories, from heartwarming stories to impossible upsets.
Opinion: Bob Baffert and the ol’ razzle-dazzle
Bob Baffert and his legal team have decisively won the public relations war over Medina Spirit’s Derby DQ. But they’re not likely to win in the courts.
Opinion: In Maryland, time to make a splash
That four of Maryland’s linchpin stakes are less prominent than they were 10 or 15 years ago is a problem that requires fixing: it’s time to make a splash.
Derby points update: What’s missing here?
The race for Kentucky Derby points is well underway, with 14 races already complete and another up this weekend. So why are 40 points unawarded?
Off the Pace: Top Midlantic stories of 2021
In a new “Off the Pace”: Mike Valiante recaps a baker’s dozen of the top Midlantic racing stories of 2021.
Off the Pace: Catching up with John Hiraldo
In a new “Off the Pace”: Mike Valiante catches up with Midlantic-based rider John Hiraldo, one of the year’s leading apprentice riders.
Off the Pace: Dear New Delaware Park Owners
In a new “Off the Pace”: Mike Valiante offers Delaware Park’s new owners the perspective of a horseplayer with nearly a half-century of experience.
Opinion: Breeders’ Cup the bad and good of racing
This Breeders’ Cup was the sport of Thoroughbred racing writ small. The humans at the top screw it up, and the horses redeem it. Lather, rinse, repeat.
At Colonial Downs, successes both fresh and familiar
The return of live racing to Colonial Downs after a challenging 2020 meet went better than just about anyone could have hoped.
Off the Pace: Rich Glazier a “genuine everyman”
In a new “Off the Pace”: Mike Valiante remembers Delaware Park’s Rich Glazier as a “genuine everyman” who truly loved what he did.
What we have is a failure to communicate
Bob Baffert won’t have a horse in the Belmont, but all anyone can talk about is Bob Baffert. It’s exhausting, and another whiff.
Mattress Mack: Bet where it counts most
Where you bet matters, says Mattress Mack, Jim McIngvale, in this opinion piece, and if you care about the future of racing, you should bet on-track.
Off the Pace: The aftercare challenge
In a new “Off the Pace”: What to do with end-of-career horses is a problem with many causes, and many solutions, and people working to enact them.
Genaro: The hits that keep on coming
It’s been one thing after another in racing the last couple of weeks, and our Teresa Genaro wonders if it’ll all be enough to make racing take action.
Home is the horseman
The trainer who died in 1949 and the dog who died in 1974 are among the many, many ghosts of Pimlico who’ll need a place of honor when renewal comes.
