In racing, like most everything in life, people like clearly defined lines. For handicappers reading the past performances or their preferred speed figures, they want those lines sharp enough where they can see a race unfold before their eyes. Who is going to set the pace. Who is is going to lay off the pace. Who is going to come with a late run. And most important, who is going to win...and finish...
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When the Secretariat rocket ship soared to a galaxy never before reached in his 31-length procession in the Belmont Stakes, it gave the colt an aura of invincibility and made it seem inconceivable that he would ever be defeated again. He had raised the bar higher than any horse in history or at least the same level as the previous Big Red, Man o’ War. But no matter how devastating he looked in the...
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This article first appeared in Blood Horse magazine on September 9, 2000. Let's make a horse racing movie. You know, the kind they used to make in the 1940s and ‘50s. It doesn't matter if the plot is implausible. People love this kind of stuff. First we need a girl. There's always a girl, one who loves horses, having been around them all her life. What better choice than Linda Rice, who comes from...
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It was August 17, 2014 and Sol Kumin and Jay Hanley couldn't have been more thrilled. They were about to see the immediate results of their recently formed partnership. Hanley, a building contractor who previously had owned one New York-bred filly, had built a summer house for Kumin on Sheep Pond Road on Nantucket Island and the two soon became friends and decided to buy some horses together. Hanley...
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If John Henry had one positive trait, it was his ability to touch people's lives. Of course, everyone knows how John affected the lives of Ron McAnally and Sam Rubin, but no one's life was affected more by the horse than Phil Marino's....
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I have posted photos of Secretariat over the years, including a collection of shots seven years ago, but never all of them in one place. I figured it was time to put all these photos together in a single blog, just to have them archived and easily accessible....
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It was 1973, and America was desperately looking for a sports hero. By June they had found one in the form of a flashy powerful chestnut horse named Secretariat, who was so popular he appeared on the covers of Time, Newsweek , and Sports Illustrated in the same week. And this was before his iconic procession into history in the Belmont Stakes, in which he became the first horse in 25 years to sweep...
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When Diane Nelson passed away on July 5 at age 54, her days riding regularly on the tough New York circuit were long forgotten by many. But those who followed racing in the Big Apple on a daily basis remember her as a top rider, who like so many females before her, was never given the opportunity to ride world class horses and compete in championship races on a regular basis. Nelson is remembered as...
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Could it be that we actually saw the Travers winner, or at least a major threat in the Midsummer Derby, compete on Saturday?...
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The more Arrogate accomplishes, the more we want to see if he can top it. Unlike the vast majority of today's champions, we want to know just how high a ceiling our champions have, as we saw years ago when horses ran every two to three weeks and kept piling new feats on to their record....
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It didn't take the M.C. Hammer long to make a major impact on the sport with the exciting filly Lite Light, who surged into national prominence that year by capturing in succession the Las Virgenes Stakes, Santa Anita Oaks, Fantasy Stakes, and culminating with a 10-length romp in the Kentucky Oaks....
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While it is still too early to get a clear picture of who is going where, one thing is for certain: the Haskell, Jim Dandy, and Travers are going to be extremely competitive and entertaining events...
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When Royal Ascot ended its five-day meet Saturday, there was a sense of sadness, as if something beautiful, yet comforting, was taken away after filling four and a half hours each morning with a kaleidoscope of images and colors and unbridled emotion. It was like saying goodbye to an old friend, even though the friendship lasted less than a week. It was more than the great racing or the pure spectacle...
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Here we are once again following yet another John Nerud coup. Just to quickly catch up since my last Nerud column about his powerful influence on Arrogate's pedigree, he is now responsible this year alone for Arrogate, Always Dreaming, Tapwrit, Gun Runner, Classic Empire, and after today, Lady Aurelia, who crushed older horses and males in the group 1 King's Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot. ...
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Humans and animals overcoming physical handicaps and going on to achieve great things has always been a sure way to bring out the sentimental side of people, who admire grit and resolve in the face of adversity. It most certainly sparks tremendous fan interest and inspires heartrending features in all forms of publications. In today's animal-conscious society, where such stories trend daily on YouTube...
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The fairy tale journey of Mucho Macho Man and trainer Kathy Ritvo that began on Father's Day 2008....
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To set the stage for Hansel's Belmont victory, one must go back to Churchill Downs, where the colt had thrown in an inexplicably bad performance in the Kentucky Derby, finishing 10th as the 5-2 favorite after looking like a winner at the top of the stretch. He then threw his head up and began to retreat, much to everyone's surprise....
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Tonalist...Frosted...Creator...Tapwrit. If not for Triple Crown winner American Pharoah defeating Frosted in 2015, Tapwrit would have been Tapit's fourth consecutive Belmont Stakes winner, an achievement that would have put him right up there with the great Woody Stephens, who saddled five straight Belmont winners in the 1980s. As it is, Tapit has earned his place in Belmont lore with his remarkable...
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So, here we are at the end of the road--the often unpredictable Belmont Stakes, without the Kentucky Derby or Preakness winner, without the favorite Classic Empire, a late defection; and with a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the head of the Japanese invader Epicharis, the morning line second choice. The favorite is a horse who was beaten 16 1/2 lengths in the Kentucky Derby and who wasn't even going to run in the Belmont until his trainer had a change of heart....
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It saddened me he to learn of the death of Holy Bull, and brought back a flood of memories, especially with my daughter Mandy, who had her photo taken with Holy Bull on numerous occasions and became very close to him. I am reprinting my column on the story behind this remarkable racehorse, who was a joy to be around....
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Let's start off by saying that what has happened in the past often has no bearing on what is going to happen in the future. But in Thoroughbred racing, they call it the past performances for a reason. And sometimes you will find similarities between present horses and horses of the past that at the very least will prove interesting, whether they have any bearing on the result of a race or not. ...
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There was no doubt that A.P. Indy would be a heavy favorite in the Belmont Stakes. Everything was falling into place. All that was left was for the colt to have his all-important major work. Unfortunately. the night before the work it poured at Belmont, turning the track into a quagmire....
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But if you want to get a bit more adventurous and take a shot on a horse who not only could win the Belmont, he could win in impressive fashion, then why not take a good hard look at the Japanese invader Epicharis....
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Racing fans missed one of the most electrifying performances ever witnessed in the state of Illinois, or anywhere for that matter, one which has gone unseen and unappreciated over the years....
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It was March 23, 16 days before the Wood Memorial and Blue Grass Stakes, and Chad Brown was discussing his Blue Grass Stakes starter and main Kentucky Derby hopeful Practical Joke. Brown was providing the typical upbeat obligatory comments you usually hear from a trainer of a Derby horse, providing reasons why he thinks the colt will run well in the Blue Grass and will be able to move forward off it and get the mile and a quarter on the first Saturday in May....
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