Stacks of stakes at Fair Grounds

Last Saturday's loss is this Saturday's gain at Fair Grounds Race Course.

Most influential horses of the decade

My run on ESPN.com began in 2000 with the opening of the new millennium and it's hard to believe there have been 10 years of bylines.

Rags To Riches blew fans away with her Belmont Stakes win in the summer of 2007

Sponsor deals not smooth as silks

An argument that once centered on "the tradition of the turf" is now based on a more practical disagreement -- revenue sharing.

Sporting an Anheuser-Busch logo on his pants, Jose Santos rode Funny Cide in the 2003 Belmont Stakes

The Year of the Filly lives on

The best horse of the Caribbean will be decided on the track, in the 42nd running of the Clasico del Caribe on Sunday, December 6th, when Camarero Racetrack in San Juan, Puerto Rico, hosts the premier horse-racing event of the region.

Summer Bird OK after surgery

Summer Bird, the nation's leading 3-year-old in 2009, underwent successful surgery to mend a nondisplaced fracture of the cannon bone of his right foreleg on Friday and could return to trainer Tim Ice's winter base in Arkansas by the middle of this week.

Just getting started

...the Dec. 6 Japan Cup Gold provided there are American starters such as this year's Belmont Stakes winner Summer Bird. Stirred slightly by the efforts of runners in the Dubai World Cup, racing...

Bobby Frankel with Empire Maker after the 2003 Belmont Stakes

Missing Bobby

It was quiet this summer on the Oklahoma Oval, and no throngs of horsemen gathered outside Barn 72. This used to be a meeting place, one of the first stops a Turf writer would make in the Saratoga mornings.

Bobby Frankel dies at 68

Bobby Frankel, who rose from the streets of Brooklyn to become one of the most successful and respected trainers in the history of Thoroughbred racing, died early Monday morning at his home in Pacific Palisades, Calif., from complications of lymphoma.

Lookin at Lucky's star still shines

Despite losing the Breeders' Cup Juvenile by a head, Lookin at Lucky has emerged as the top 2-year-old in North America and will be widely considered the winter favorite for the Kentucky Derby.

Man of Iron captures Marathon

They went 1 3/4 miles, and yet it was only an inch or two that separated victory from defeat Friday in the $454,500 Breeders' Cup Marathon.

Summer Bird back for more?

It's been a whirlwind journey for trainer Tim Ice to the Breeders' Cup Classic with Summer Bird. And if Ice has anything to do with it, they'll be back again next year.

Peppermints please

...and Tim Ice. Of course the latter is an easy one; Ice here with one entrant, Belmont Stakes winner Summer Bird. I popped by the barn and checked in with groom Leon Hernandez. He...