The passing of Cozzene Oct. 8 made me reflect on what my life would have been without our "introduction" when I was young. His presence has been a constant thread throughout my life, beginning when I was about 3 years old....
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After viewing a study conducted for the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, the organization's senior vice president of communications and industry relations, Keith Chamblin, had this to say: "Our core fans are pissed."...
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Arlington fans said goodbye to Earlie Fires on a recent Sunday afternoon, the final day of the 2008 meeting, 42 years after he first rode at Chicago's showplace racetrack. ...
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With racehorse rescues becoming news today, it is not uncommon to hear a story of a horse that was "rescued" and how he became a successful jumper, hunter, dressage champion, child's show horse, etc. This is a story of a rescued horse that didn't go on to the show world, yet became a champion in any case....
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Except for the Triple Crown races, and before the inception of the Breeders' Cup, Belmont Park's Jockey Club Gold Cup--run intermittently at Aqueduct--was the preeminent event in Thoroughbred racing and a true test of stamina and class....
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Few of us are ever close to "great" persons. The family of Winston Churchill comes to mind; the sisters of Mother Teresa's convent; the inner circle of John F. Kennedy. Our casual and usually inappropriate overuse of the adjective "great" may even diminish the person we are trying to praise....
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When the mayor of New Orleans (referring to the approaching Hurricane Gustav) described the Doppler radar image as the "mother of all storms" and decreed a mandatory evacuation of the city, I packed my bags in a hurry. The fear factor was escalated when reporter Geraldo Rivera followed with a description of the storm as "an awesome killing machine."...
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I testified as part of the "Breeding, Drugs, and Breakdowns: The State of Thoroughbred Horseracing and the Welfare of the Thoroughbred Racehorse" Congressional hearing June 19. It was both disillusioning and enlightening. I naively thought I was invited along with three other veterinarians to talk about all the issues influencing fatal injuries in racehorses....
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David Mullins, who operated Doninga Bloodstock agency, died Aug. 18 at Saint Joseph Hospital's hospice center in Lexington after a lengthy illness. He was 51....
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"Why are Thoroughbreds not as tough as they used to be?" That is the question of the day, being asked by racing columnists, editors, and punters. It should surprise no one that the answer turns out to involve money....
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It is my belief that today's racetrack executives are prone to treating patrons as a commodity. They don't honor the fact that fostered by familiarity and memories of days gone by, most fans have a strong identification with their local tracks. This attitude is not unlike the allegiance that fans often have to their local sports franchise. However, it is a double-edged sword, since the same fans may, at times, be harshly critical and vocal about the problems suffered and mistakes committed by such entities....
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Through the HBO documentary "Running for Their Lives" I recently became aware of the pipeline of sending horses from the backstretch to the slaughterhouse. We need to establish a core value system with a policy plan whereby we can expose and eliminate these pipeline participants....
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Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Aug. 11, 1972 - From inside the darkened recesses of Primrose Path, where the power players and wannabes sit down with Jack Daniel's and Jim Beam to schmooze and make deals, a cry rose above the revelry, "You guys better sharpen your pencils."...
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When are we going to wake up to a very public problem: What happens to racehorses when they finish their racing careers?...
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Storm Cat, who was pensioned a few months ago, has a genetic right to be what he has become....
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For six weeks in late summer, top Thoroughbreds, owners, and trainers assemble in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., to put on a one-of-a-kind equine display. Saratoga Race Course is often referred to as "America's Great Race Place" or simply "The Spa." My wife and I have made the sojourn each August since 1999 and we admit--we're hooked! ...
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If there is anyone who has worried about the health of our industry more than I have the past 20 years, I feel sorry for that person. Always, it seems, there is bad news: declining attendance, declining handle, offshore wagering issues, drug positives, reduced field size, aging fan base, high-profile breakdowns, diminished soundness of the breed....
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I don't gamble. Shoot, I don't even fill out a March Madness bracket. I do follow the games to see how the seedings play out. The win-or-go-home format makes irrelevant that great artifice of the gambler--the point-spread....
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Why do racing fans coalesce around one horse and not another? Favorability can be as simple as a catchy name (Smarty Jones) or backing an underdog (Funny Cide). ...
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It's amazing that six weeks can go by so quickly, yet also seem like an eternity. Was it just last month, or was it last year when we saw Big Brown bound past us on the Churchill Downs backstretch during a chilly morning in Louisville?...
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No matter what happens in the June 7 Belmont Stakes (gr. I), the 2008 Triple Crown season will always be defined by the triumph and tragedy of the heir apparent crown prince, Big Brown, and the fallen heroine, Eight Belles....
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As a Thoroughbred owner, I stand on the shoulders of giants. Horse racing's tradition and history are like no other. However, in the past 30 years, we've been surpassed by the major sports leagues....
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Recently as I re-read some of the late humorist Frank Sullivan's pieces, I thought what a shame it was that this gifted writer never turned his sights on horse racing, a sport he loved. ...
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It is what we owners and breeders fear the most. A call from a farm employee, trainer, or vet with that oddly familiar, awkward tone foretelling the bad news we have lost one of our horses. Or, perhaps even worse, in the moment of excitement and anticipation of competition, one of our horses goes down on the track or falls over a jump....
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Cold lies the heart of Thoroughbred racing following Eight Belles' untimely end after Kentucky Derby 134. The dark side of the toughest game in town showed itself once again on the national stage, this time in the nation's biggest race....
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