Tom Law

Bernie Flint lingered in the main winner’s circle for a few minutes, waiting for his horse, waiting for another winner. Eventually he got word the winner’s presentation for Friday’s Hilliard Lyons Doubledogdare Stakes at Keeneland would go down where other graded stakes presentations go down – on the turf course in front of the tote board.

A nearly full moon still in the sky at sunup and a growing number of early-rising onlookers greeted Kentucky Derby favorite Nyquist as he turned in his second bit of serious work in advance of the big day in two week’s time.

Spring rolls right along, Keeneland’s spring meet is down to single digits remaining and the Kentucky Derby looms large on the not-so-distance horizon. A mere 14 days until the start of the Triple Crown and the complete madness of the season and a lighter-than-usual schedule for this week’s Saturday Special presented by Pin Oak Stud, home of Alternation, Broken Vow and Cowboy Cal.

ST Publishing Inc.’s Joe and Sean Clancy were honored during the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders’ annual awards luncheon with the Charles W. Engelhard Award Thursday at Keeneland Race Course.

A white Toyota Forerunner with Illinois plates rolls into the driveway a shade past 1:30 p.m. last Wednesday at Hurstland Farm about a mile from downtown Midway, Kentucky. The three men inside the small SUV – Fasig-Tipton’s Boyd Browning Jr., Bill Graves and Dennis Lynch – were due at the farm a half-hour later but thanks to a lighter-than-usual schedule they’re a bit early.

Julien Leparoux knew Lightstream was a filly of genuine quality when he showed up at Brian Lynch’s barn at Palm Meadows Training Center one morning this winter. The two men had teamed for some recent success – namely winning graded stakes with Heart To Heart and Baciami Piccola in the early months of 2016 – so Leparoux knew he could trust the assessment.

Remember back in late August, not all that long ago in the grand scheme of life, and some rued the bad luck being sent in the direction of Tepin and her connections. Who could forget really, after the daughter of Bernstein was dealt back-to-back losses by the combined margin about the length of a school kid’s foot-long ruler in graded stakes at Saratoga Race Course.

The big slate of Triple Crown preps went down the last two weekends but don’t skip over this week with the Arkansas Derby and Lexington Stakes on tap for Saturday. The corresponding cards at Oaklawn Park and Keeneland Race Course offer plenty of interesting supporting events and we’ve got the preview in this week’s Saturday Special presented by Pin Oak Stud, home of Alternation, Broken Vow and Cowboy Cal.

Doug O’Neill answered all the questions from the small group of reporters, responding with all the usual and expected things the trainer of the Kentucky Derby favorite might say. Fans and other interested onlookers whipped out their smartphones and snapped away, while the more legit photographers and videographers did their thing to capture the scene on a beautiful morning in the Bluegrass at Keeneland.