Ron Flatter

4 days ago | horseracingnation.com | Ron Flatter

Louisville, Ky.In matter-of-fact fashion, trainer Michael McCarthy saidSunday he will wait until Monday morning before deciding if Kentucky Derby runner-upJournalism races next weekend in Preakness 2025. “We’ll see what tomorrow brings, speak with everybody, getthe partners all together and decide tomorrow,” McCarthy said Sunday afterJournalism took a mid-morning spin around the fast main track at ChurchillDowns. Sandman will be entered in Preakness 2025.

6 days ago | horseracingnation.com | Ron Flatter

Lessons learned from the Kentucky Derby areapplied to Preakness 2025 on this week’s Ron Flatter Racing Pod. A familiar voice in the tri-state area, MikeFrancesa talks about his successful exacta play pairing Sovereignty andJournalism last week in the Derby. He also talks about his relationship as a horseowner with Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott and the decision to leave Sovereignty out of the Preakness. He even has some thoughts about the election of Pope LeoXIV.

6 days ago | horseracingnation.com | Ron Flatter

Hurley’s was a great old bar in Manhattan. At 49th Streetand Sixth Avenue, it stood as a monument to a resilient, work-a-day family whorefused to be bullied by the big foot of affluent progress. The story goes that when the Rockefellers made their midtownland grab just before the Great Depression, the owner of the saloon whichopened in the 1890s stubbornly refused to sell. So the Rockefellers builtaround it, and Hurley’s soldiered on like a pup tent behind a mansion.

1 week ago | horseracingnation.com | Ron Flatter

The exit of Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty on Tuesday beforeanyone had a chance to enter Preakness 2025 added fuel to the debate over the shortgap between the first two Triple Crown races. Sovereignty is the fourth of the last seven Derby winners whowill have skipped the chance to wheel back two weeks later at Pimlico. Therewere Country House in 2019 and Rich Strike in 2022.

1 week ago | horseracingnation.com | Ron Flatter

Using some handicapping trends that have held true through the21st century, Sovereignty was a good fit to be the winner of Kentucky Derby 2025. Cashing at 7-1, he cleared historic Final Fractions Theoryand Beyer Speed Figure thresholds. Sovereignty also avoided jinx-worthytalismans by not being the favorite on New Year’s Day in Las Vegas or in theFebruary pool of pari-mutuel futures. He also steered clear of the Grade 2 UAEDerby last month and post 17 on Saturday.