Tom McCarthy is the feel-good story of the week, the 75-year-old high school principal who paid pennies for a horse that just happened to blossom into an entry in today’s 135th Kentucky Derby. Yeah, that’s what Wayne Lukas and Bob Baffert thought. At least until Tuesday’s trainers’ dinner, when they sat down with McCarthy and […]
Everyone has liked the wager that combines the winner of the Oaks and the winner of the Derby. It can pay better than expected, and with the many dollars in the pool, this may be the day to wager with both hands. In race #11 at 5:45 p.m. you may see one of the best […]
I remember the first time they turned off the sun and turned on the lights at the World Series. Game 4, 1971, Pittsburgh. Pirates 4, Orioles 3. Believe it or not, the NBA once played part of its Finals on weekend afternoons. Ditto for the NCAA with its semifinals at the Final Four. Lights didn’t […]
The Kentucky Derby has long been considered recession proof. It was not, however, Depression proof. But the Depression era saw great popularity for the Derby, three Triple Crown winners and an expansion of horse racing in general. “The quality of the race didn’t suffer. The recognition of it as a national sporting event didn’t diminish,” […]
A bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives last night that would eliminate the automatic 25 percent federal withholding on pari-mutuel winnings of $5,000 or more for bets that carry odds of 300-1 or higher. The “Pari-Mutuel Conformity and Equality Act” (PACE Act) was introduced by Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY). Rep. Charles W. […]
