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Here are my thoughts, afterthoughts, and somewhat whimsical thoughts of this year’s Breeders’ Cup, which, as usual, had plenty of storylines, both good and bad…

It is time for the Breeders’ Cup again, and although this will be another surreal event, all systems are go for a sensational two days of racing. Writing this on Thursday morning, I haven’t completed my handicapping, especially the Europeans, but this will provide a good overview with the focus on the Classic and some longshots at whom I am taking a serious look. I am also starting off with some interesting nuggets of information you might want to ponder…

This week I am looking back at the unforgettable — and parallel — careers of Allez France and Dahlia as an introduction to another powerful European invasion of the Breeders’ Cup…

No, Michael Blowen is not selling his farm, but he is selling memorabilia items of some of YOUR old friends who competed in the Breeders’ Cup. So read on and see what items are available and what memories they stir in you. Not only will you own a piece of history, but you will be supporting one of racing’s great institutions that provides homes for Breeders’ Cup horses to lowly claimers, all of whom become star attractions in their own right at Old Friends…

He had the unique distinction of defeating a Kentucky Derby winner and a Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner. He ran in the Kentucky Derby and was only 11-1, yet broke or equaled the track records of three of the fastest horses of the past half century. He broke Dr. Fager’s seven-furlong track record of 1:20 1/5 at Aqueduct that had stood for 31 years. He broke Groovy’s six-furlong track record of 1:07 4/5 at Belmont Park that had stood for 12 years. He equaled Mr. Prospector’s six-furlong track record of 1:07 4/5 at Gulfstream Park that had stood for 26 years. In his three record performances he earned Beyer speed figures of 123, 123, and 124. Of the two track records he broke, both still stand, as did his record-equaling performance at Gulfstream before they resurfaced the track. This is the story of a horse who had one of the most brilliant, yet oddest careers of any horse in memory…

This is the first installment of a new feature, titled “Great Racing Stories,” in which we will take a look at major stakes results over the years and uncover the untold stories of which most people are not aware, but add color and odd twists to the events behind these races. We begin with Ack Ack’s victory in the 1971 Santa Anita Handicap, which helped propel the 5-year-old to the first ever Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year…

Swiss Skydiver’s dramatic victory in the Preakness Stakes obviously stamped her as a contender for Horse of the Year, but where does that rank her on the popularity scale, especially with so many talented and popular fillies this year that the public can embrace?  Winx and Zenyatta are the only females to win the “Vox Populi” Award for most popular horse. Will we add another female this year? Check out all the candidates…

To kick off Preakness week, and with the virtual Secretariat Festival fast approaching on Oct. 10 and 11, I felt this was a good time to look back at the very first Preakness I attended and the memorable experience of witnessing Big Red’s record-breaking performance ~ Steve Haskin

I had seen Secretariat in person on several occasions before. I stood at the rail and watched him bull his way through horses to win the Bay Shore Stakes, his first start after his ground-breaking record syndication…

It is appropriate in some strange convoluted way that Birdstone is now at Old Friends Thoroughbred Farm in Lexington. The truth is, the little horse with the big heart doesn’t have many old friends. But it is hoped after being placed in the care of the irrepressible and energetic Michael Blowen he will soon have his share of new friends…

On March 26, 2012 at 3 a.m., Bob Baffert’s life changed forever. That is when he awoke in his hotel room in Dubai complaining of chest pains. His wife Jill immediately called paramedics who rushed him to City Hospital, where stents were inserted into his blocked arteries…