Barry Irwin, now the head of Team Valor International, was entering his teenage years in Southern California when Swaps burst onto the scene in 1955. “He just really excited me and caught my imagination,” Irwin recalled. Irwin was hardly alone. Swaps’ popularity became so enormous that Union 76 gas stations began distributing posters of him. “I kept pushing my father to get gas there so I could get more pictures,” Irwin said.
Tag: The Sport
Byron King’s Derby Dozen for April 29
BloodHorse news editor Byron King presents his final Derby Dozen for 2026, with a look at his leading contenders for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve on May 2.
Donna Barton Brothers: Excellence on Horseback and on Camera
Editor’s note: This feature has been updated to reflect Donna Barton Brothers’ announcement that she would retire from NBC Sports, where she has covered Triple Crown races for the past 26 years, following the 2026 Preakness Stakes. Donna Barton Brothers did not set out to follow the path blazed by her mother, Patti, by becoming a jockey. And yet she rode from 1987-98 and ranked as the second-leading money earner of all time among women when she retired.
Triple Crown Turning Point: A Claimer, a Crafty Admiral, and a Colt Named Affirmed
With a superstar young jockey, dueling rivals, and electrifying finishes, the 1978 Triple Crown stands out among the other 12 on the strength of the sheer thrills and chills that Affirmed and Alydar brought each time they met on the racetrack.
