I'm becoming a horse racing fan. help me understand the different races?

Question

i've always watched the kentucky derby, the preakness, and the belmont, but what other horse races are there? do they broadcast them on ESPN? i'm interested in the major ones (besides the 3 triple crown ones), not the very minor ones. thanks.

Answer 1

the big races (called Stakes) are graded by a national orginization.

Grade 1 races are the biggest races

Grade 2 are one step down

Grade 3 are even lower

then you have Listed Stakes, which are the lowest of the stakes races (there are lower races then stakes, such as Allowance and Claiming races)

ESPN does show a number of races, mostly on Saturday, you can go to the NTRA website and it will show you when the races are on.

There is also at the end of the season the Breeders Cup, which is a large number of Grade 1 races on the same day.

Enjoy the races!

Answer 2

Along with what Z.E. said, you can watch alot of stakes and graded stakes races on HRTV and TVG.  Both channels are available through Dish Network.

Answer 3

You've gotten good advice.

Keep in mind that some Grade IIs are as competetive as some Grade Is, especially when they are on the undercard of big race days like the KY Derby, Preakness, Belmont etc. The Triple Crown and Breeders Cup races are all Grade 1.

The undercards at Pimlico on Preakness Day and Belmont on Belmont day are filled with first class, important stakes races for other divisions. Same too for Arlington Million Day.

Just to fill in a bit....

Handicaps can be graded or ungraded, for fillies/mares or colts/geldings/horses, on turf or on dirt, and are usually for horses 3-4 and up.  If the Derby and Oaks horses last beyond their 3 year old campaigns this is where they will face the top competition. This type of race gets its name because entries are "handicapped" by being assigned different weights by the track handicapper. The favorite will carry the most weight with the longshots carrying the least.  

Some of the better Gr I and Gr II handicaps include the Oaklawn Handicap, Suburban, Metropolitan, Santa Anita Handicap, Stephen Foster, Apple Blossom, Woody Stephens, Delaware Handicap. Whitney, Pacific Classic, Shoemaker Breeders Cup Mile, Brooklyn Breeders Cup Handicap and Forego Handicap.

Top turf races include the Arlington Million, United Nations, Man O' War, Woodford Reserve and Eddie Read.

Three year olds aren't done yet - we even have more "Derbies" where you'll see the runner ups avoid Big Brown and try to earn some bucks: Lone Star Derby, Super Derby, Virginia Derby (turf), Ohio Derby, West Virginia Derby and Indiana Derby.

The upcoming Peter Pan Stakes will be used by horses skipping the Preakness as a prep for the Belmont.

The 3 year old fillies have some of their best yet to come: Black Eyed Susan, Acorn, Prioress, Alabama, Mother Goose, Del Mar Oaks and Darley Test Stakes.

Later 3 YO Stakes for colts include the Dwyer, Jim Dandy, Travers, Swaps Breeders Cup, Kings Bishop and American Oaks Invitational.

You can see next years KY Oaks and Derby contenders warming up in 2 year old stakes: Spinaway, Champagne, Remsen, Hopeful, Del Mar Futururity, Matron, Frizette and Demoiselle.

Next spring you can see those same colts and fillies as 3 year olds preparing for the 2009 Oaks and Derby in the Rebel, Southwest and Arkansas Derbies; Fantasy and Ashland Stakes; the Risen Star and Louisiana Derbies; Tampa Bay Derby; Florida Derby, Santa Anita Derby, Lanes End Stakes and Bluegrass Stakes.

Checl out the online racing mags:

www.bloodhorse.com, which has a complete stakes schedule, news and results.

www.thoroughbredtimes.com

www.throughbredchampions.com

horses and racing group here on Yahoo groups

The top class tracks tend to have the top class racing: Saratoga, Churchill, Keeneland, Belmont, Oaklawn, Fair Grounds, Gulfstream, Arlington, Santa Anita and Del Mar although good races and racing can be had at many other mide level tracks.

The Breeders Cup World Thoroughbred Championships are at Santa Anita this October 24-25, and is an event not to be missed. It will be on ESPN.

It's a bit tough to get racing if you don't have dish and your cblae provider doesn't carry TVG and HRTV, the two race channels. I end up subscribing on line or going over to the local OTB.

Enjoy the races!

Answer 4

There's a lot of other major races.  The biggest day in racing is the Breeders Cup championship that's held in October of every year.  The Breedes Cup is a series of races of all different lengths, both for colts and fillies.

Also on ESPN every year, they show the major derby prep races, especially the ones in April.  Among them are the Wood Memorial, Arkansas Derby, Blue Grass Stakes, Santa Anita Derby, Lexington Stakes...

There will be some of the major summer races on ESPN.  For the Breeders Cup, there are some races that if you win those summer races, you are automatically qualified for the Breeders Cup.  It's called the Breeders Cup Challenge... and if you win, you're in.  There's races all across the country.  I don't remember exactly which ones are the win and you're in races, but there's a bunch of them that you'll see on ESPN in late summer.

Two of the major traditional summer races are the Haskell and the Travers.  They will certainly get coverage on tv.  To find out the racing schedule and what races will be on tv, you can look at the NTRA racing schedule: http://www.ntra.com/races_index.aspx?id=...

Answer 5

Hey! Don't everyone forget other breeds of racing - Arabs, Quarter Horses, Paints, Appaloosas - and the harness racers - Pacers and Trotters.

Define "very minor" - what kind of fan are ya?  There's local tracks all over the place that do all sorts of racing.  Here in Michigan we race harness horses at a number of tracks around the state.  The only pari-mutuel racing East of the Mississippi for sprint horses is here in Michigan too - in central michigan you can watch Quarter Horses and Paints and Appaloosas sprint - you can also watch Thoroughbreds and Arabs go distances.

No matter the grade or level, it's all fun to watch if you're inclined to enjoy horse sports.