By Derek Simon Flora Dora, a filly who parlayed a sixth-place finish in a maiden race at Saratoga to a score in the $500K Florida Sire My Dear Girl Stakes at Gulfstream Park and a subsequent placing i...
By Derek Simon Last year, when Todd Pletcher entered the winner’s circle following Unitarian’s resounding triumph in the H. Allen Jerkens Stakes, Jerkens, himself, was there to greet him. “Jerke...
By Derek Simon Several years ago, I revisited and revamped the work of one of my early handicapping heroes, William L. Scott. And the results were… well, awful. However, I still believe that Scott�...
Below are my selections and plays for the week of Jan. 18-24, 2016. Check back often, as I will be updating this post frequently as the week goes on: Monday (1/18) 9th Fair Grounds 3-TOM’S READ...
By Derek Simon It’s starting to “get real” (as the kids say) in the NFL playoffs. After last weekend’s Wild Card round, just eight teams remain — and all of them would seem to have a reasona...
US Racing‘s Derek Simon discusses the NFL playoffs, including how the Super Bowl odds are determined, along with the triumphant return of California Chrome. In the Sports Betting segment, Kevin ...
By Derek Simon The Triple Crown season officially kicks off in the Midwest with the opening of Oaklawn Park on Friday and a great card from Fair Grounds, highlighted by the LeComte Stakes, on Saturday...
By Derek Simon WEDNESDAY (1/13/16) 1st Turf Paradise (dirt) 2-SKY’S NO LIMIT has a race-best .423 Performance Rating and has shown that he can come off the pace — which I think he’ll need to do ...
By Derek Simon If there is ever a vote to determine the most overused phrase or word in the English language, “it depends” would probably be among the top five (somewhere behind “basically,” I...
By Derek Simon After an abbreviated 2015 campaign that featured more drama than an episode of “The Real Housewives of Valhalla” (trust me, it’s coming), California Chrome returns to the races in...
