Industry Voices

Outside commentary from the people who care about and participate in Thoroughbred racing

June 2008 - Posts

Subsidize or Downsize - by Robert Laurence

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. I have no high-minded, moral principle against gambling; I just never caught the bug. I recall playing golf in my college days, when someone in the foursome said, “Let’s put something... Read More

Rooting Interest - by Lenny Shulman

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). Unfavorability, since horses themselves don’t usually rub us the wrong way, is tied to the animal’s human connections. Nobody should question Big Brown's talent. Yet, other than vying for the Triple Crown, he has not captured the public’s fancy... Read More

Telling Time - by Evan Hammonds

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? Was it just a few weeks ago, or was it a couple of months ago that we witnessed a coronation off the Northern Parkway in Baltimore? We’re certain about June 7 on Long... Read More

Great Pretenders - by E.S. Lamoreaux III

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. And tradition says that this Belmont, factoring in Big Brown’s pre-race hoof injury, will come up as a “hold your breath,” arduous race that’s guaranteed not to be won in a New... Read More

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