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Tom Law 
The attraction to Smarty Jones was nearly unavoidable in 2004. Even if you tried it was next to impossible not to root for the Pennsylvania-bred colt with the catchy name, humble connections and powerful running style.
Lacey Gaudet, who saddled Marabea to victory in last weekend’s $125,000 Claiming Crown Tiara at Gulfstream Park, grew up in a racing family in Maryland and was very much caught up in the craze for Smarty Jones.
The signs of the pending winter season are everywhere. Leaves are gone from the trees, Christmas trees are being toted around town on the roofs of cars and in the beds of pickups, holiday lights are up or going up, Black Friday is in the books and public tree lighting events going on from coast to coast.
Lacey Gaudet is rolling. The 28-year-old Maryland-based trainer is in the midst of a career year nearly four times over, she’s locked in a battle for leading trainer honors at Laurel Park and she’s preparing to run three horses in Saturday’s Claiming Crown at Gulfstream Park.
Just in case you didn’t get enough fill on Thanksgiving Day the world of racing offers up another smorgasbord of action from Doncaster to Newcastle, Aqueduct to Del Mar and Churchill to Tampa. Another loaded day and Saturday Special presented by Pin Oak Stud previews all the action.
Tom Howard thought back Monday afternoon to the days leading up to the March 6, 2014 waiver-claiming race at Oaklawn Park where he and Lewis Mathews Jr. were able to land Ivan Fallunovalot for what now looks like a bargain price of $25,000.
Top Striker continued his late-season push, added a second consecutive graded stakes win and spoiled Rawnaq’s bid for a perfect 2016 campaign with an emphatic victory in the 47th running of the Grade 1 Colonial Cup Saturday at Springdale Race Course in Camden, S.C.
Just when you thought things might slow down a bit – with the Breeders’ Cup two weeks in the books and Thanksgiving right around the corner – comes the third Saturday in November. Nearly 30 stakes are on tap in North America, including loaded cards at Laurel Park and Delta Downs, and we’ve got it covered in Saturday Special presented by Pin Oak Stud.
Axelle Angeliaume brought a unique skillset and experience portfolio when she came to the United States to work in racing after starting her career in her native France.
Evidence of the love and enthusiasm for off-the-track Thoroughbreds was easy to see during the last week of October in Central Kentucky. In Lexington, hundreds of such OTTBs, their owners and admirers gathered to celebrate the second careers of former racehorses at the Retired Racehorse Project’s Thoroughbred Makeover.
Jim Bond clicked his stopwatch, stuffed it in his jacket pocket, spun on his heel and made his way toward the clocker’s stand at the finish line of the Oklahoma Training Track.
Heat poured from an open window as Joe Williams and Dave Lynett looked out, ready to provide Bond with the time of his last two breezers of the day. Bond beat them to the punch before they could rattle off the splits.
