The Classical
Standing on a cement platform outside barn 40 on the backstretch of Belmont Park, Frazil made for an imposing sight. His groom, Jose Meza, was bathing him, carefully spraying warm water on his body as Frazil stood there, calm and composed. It was easy to see why he had won 7 of the 12 races he had entered 2012. He was a big, handsome gelding—a rangy animal whose grace and elegance presented itself with remarkable, unmistakable lucidity. Even as he stood there, relaxing after a tough morning workout, with his big ears pinning out, he made for a grandiose sight, with his bay coat glistening in the midday sunlight. He looked every bit an athlete—he was all muscle and he was perceptibly bigger than the other racehorses in the barn. There was a rare imperiousness ...
Possessing a moniker familiar to infield revelers and non-racing fans alike, I’ll Have Another will be a popular favorite to duplicate his Kentucky Derby performance in the Preakness Stakes, second jewel of... more »
Last summer, the trainer Doug O’Neill was formally sanctioned after one of his racehorses at Hollywood Park in California tested positive for illegal drugs. A year before, in 2010, O’Neill was punished for administering an ... more »
BALTIMORE -- Few things related to the consumption of sports have changed more in the last decade than their measurability. The fan (or the writer) knows more now about what he has seen than ever before. This is a deliciously... more »
They wake up, and then they sing. Team O'Neill — as Kentucky Derby winner Doug O'Neill and his group of assistants and grooms are called — rises early, like all horsemen. In Baltimore, where the crew is preparing I'll Have... more »
The crowd began to swell outside Barn 3, the home of I’ll Have Another, winner of Kentucky Derby 138, Sunday morning at Churchill Downs. Friends of winning owner J. Paul Reddam and trainer Doug O’Neill. Media folks ... more »
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