Virtual Kentucky Derby

There won't be a real GI Kentucky Derby Saturday, but there will be a pretend one--a really interesting pretend one. Working with the firm Inspired Entertainment, Churchill Downs will present the Kentucky Derby Triple Crown Showdown. It's a virtual race that will pit the 13 Triple Crown winners against one another. Data algorithms, including historical handicapping information about each horse, will be used to decide the outcome. The virtual Derby will air on NBC and fans can go online at www.KentuckyDerby.com to submit their picks and make contributions to charities...

The feeling of a raw egg sliding across your tongue, down your throat and plopping into your stomach is something many people in the racing community experienced in the past week. The raw egg challenge has been plastered across Thoroughbred industry Twitter, supporting the #doitforDan initiative to raise money for the treatment of the rare disease, Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1, in a child named Dan Donoher. In a sport that has been labeled as insular and pelted with criticism, its people charged forward to help with a great cause....