[image url="http://cdn.bloodhorse.com/images/content/mgriffin_large.jpg"]Merv Griffin[/image] Entertainer/entrepreneur Merv Griffin has been a lifelong fan of Thoroughbred racing. As a child he saw Seabiscuit run twice, and over the past decades he has served on the Boards of Hollywood Park and Thoroughbred Owners of California. Working with trainer Doug O’Neill, he has been in the Winner’s...
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[image url="http://cdn.bloodhorse.com/images/content/fabbott_large.jpg"]Franny Abbott[/image] Franny Abbott is the President of the National Steeplechase Association, a post he accepted in 2007. He is the 14th president of NSA, dating to 1895 and follows Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard. Abbott is the former director of the Radnor Races in Malvern, PA. and a former steward and race official on...
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[image url="http://cdn.bloodhorse.com/images/content/dmanley_large.jpg"]Dwight Manley[/image] Sports agent, real estate developer, rare coin expert and skilled negotiator, Dwight Manley was named in July 2006 the National Manager of the Jockeys' Guild, a union representing more than 1,100 of the nation's horse racing jockeys. On only his third day on the job, Manley successfully resolved to the satisfaction...
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[image url="http://cdn.bloodhorse.com/images/content/jsantos_large.jpg"]Jose Santos[/image] Jockey Jose Santos, currently recovering from injiuries suffered in an early February spill at Aqueduct, is this week's guest on Talkin' Horses. A native of Chile and the son of a jockey, Santos was among South America's top jockeys when he made the 1984 move to the U.S. and began a North American riding career...
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[image url="http://cdn.bloodhorse.com/images/content/ddowney_large.jpg"]Dick Downey[/image] Dick Downey, owner and publisher of TheDowneyProfile.com , is a native Kentuckian and a lawyer who still actively practices in south-Central Kentucky. At the close of 2005, he retired from private practice after 28 years. He now represents the indigent in civil cases--no criminal cases--at Kentucky Legal Aid...
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[image url="http://cdn.bloodhorse.com/images/content/psaylor_large.jpg"]Paul Saylor[/image] In recent years, Paul Saylor has shared ownership in such outstanding runners as the record-setting Keyed Entry and Eclipse Award champion fillies Ashado (2004, 2005) and Fleet Indian (2006), been named Georgia Owner of the Year (2003), and currently serves on the board of The Race for Education . New Jersey...
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[image url="http://cdn.bloodhorse.com/images/content/sclancy_large.jpg"]Sean Clancy[/image] Sean Clancy, author of the upcoming Eclipse Press release Barbaro: The Horse Who Captured America's Heart , is a critically acclaimed writer and former champion jockey who's had a lifelong association with horses. Sean's father, Joe Clancy Sr., trained flat and steeplechase horses and instilled in sons Sean...
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[image url="http://cdn.bloodhorse.com/images/content/dthayer_large.jpg"]Damon Thayer[/image] A first-time breeder expecting his first foal around March 1, Republican State Senator Damon Thayer lives in Georgetown, where he has represented a district northeast of Lexington that includes Scott, Owen, Grant and southern Kenton counties since 2003. A member of legislative committees that include Transportation...
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[image url="http://cdn.bloodhorse.com/images/content/rarthur_large.jpg"]Dr. Rick Arthur[/image] Dr. Rick Arthur, world-renowned expert in the field of veterinary medicine and advocate for equine health and welfare issues for more than 20 years who currently serves as equine medical director for the California Horse Racing Board, is our guest on a very special edition of Talkin' Horses this Tuesday...
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[image url="http://cdn.bloodhorse.com/images/content/mdickinson_small.jpg"]Michael Dickinson[/image] The oft-honored Michael Dickinson is perhaps best known as racing's "Mad Genius" in response to his unorthodox approach to conditioning his runners, but few can argue with his success. After an impressive career as a steeplechase rider and trainer in his native England, Dickinson made the move to U...
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[image url="http://cdn.bloodhorse.com/images/content/dhood_large.jpg"]David Hood[/image] David Hood has been Director of Public Relations for Britain's William Hill Organization since 1993. Universally recognized as one of the leading bookmakers in the world, William Hill specializes in legal off-track wagering and operates the fastest growing Internet gambling site in the UK. During his time at William...
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[image url="http://cdn.bloodhorse.com/images/content/mbattaglia_small.jpg"]Mike Battaglia[/image] Breeders' Cup 23 represents the "local boy makes good and comes home" theme for America's Odds-maker Mike Battaglia as the Edgewood, Ky. resident sets the morning line for this year's eight-race extravaganza to be run at Churchill Downs next Saturday. Battaglia - who's been a fixture on the Kentucky racing...
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A simulcast commentator from the paddock at Santa Anita and Oak Tree and a host for HRTV since its inception, Jon White has been involved in racing since 1974. A 25-year career with the Daily Racing Form took him to tracks from coast to coast as a reporter, columnist, handicapper and chart-caller. White has also been involved in racing as a track official, media relations manager, and licensed Thoroughbred...
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Louisville native Steve Moody picked his first Derby winner at age nine "when the name Kauai King sounded good to me" and made his first visit to a racetrack at 17 and bet on two winners that first day, made $40, and was "hooked on the game thereafter." After attending the University of Kentucky, Steve taught school for six years and ran a small business before returning to Lexington in 1991 to produce...
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[image url="http://cdn.bloodhorse.com/images/content/mjohnson_large.jpg"]Murray Johnson[/image] Murray Johnson, 46, has more than a dozen stakes winners to his credit since launching his training career in 1988. But he has achieved his greatest success and notoriety with his handling of the popular running machine Perfect Drift, the 7-year-old gelding owned by Dr. William Reed. The earner of more than...
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[image url="http://cdn.bloodhorse.com/images/content/rpaulick_large.jpg"]Ray Paulick[/image] Ray Paulick has been editor-in-chief of The Blood-Horse weekly magazine since May 1992 and oversees all editorial products for Blood-Horse Publications, a 90-year-old Lexington-based company that also encompasses the monthly horse health magazine, The Horse: Your Guide to Equine Health Care ; The Blood-Horse...
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[image url="http://cdn.bloodhorse.com/images/content/vzast_large.jpg"]Vic Zast[/image] Chicago-based perfumer Vic Zast has been a participant in the sport of the Thoroughbred -- as an owner, breeder, innovator, observer, and fan -- for more than 45 years. As an owner-breeder, Vic campaigned champion Illinois 3-year-old filly Comforts of Home, stakes winner Dash of Salt, and multiple race winners Comforts...
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[image url="http://cdn.bloodhorse.com/images/content/talbertrani_large.jpg"]Tom Albertrani[/image] A native New Yorker, Tom Albertrani was born in Brooklyn, New York, on March 21, 1958. He made his foray to the racetrack at the tender age of 13 when he began walking hots and grooming for his uncle, trainer Jack Abatenarco, at Belmont Park. With a goal of becoming a jockey, Albertrani absorbed as much...
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[image url="http://cdn.bloodhorse.com/images/content/dours_large.jpg"]Dorothy Ours[/image] Dorothy Ours has a lifelong fascination with horses, history, and Thoroughbred racing. As a child, following the great Secretariat's career stoked her curiosity about the immortal Man o’ War. As a teenager, thanks to the West Virginia University Library's microfilm collection, she found original New York...
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[image url="http://cdn.bloodhorse.com/images/content/doneill_large.jpg"]Doug O'Neill[/image] Michigan native Doug O'Neill went out on his own as a trainer in 1994 and won his first stakes race in '96, scored his first "major" wins with Classy Cara in the 2000 runnings of the Fantasy Stakes and Honeymoon Handicap, and claimed his first grade 1 win with Sky Jack in the 2002 Hollywood Gold Cup. These...
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[image url="http://cdn.bloodhorse.com/images/content/kmclaughlin_large.jpg"]Kiaran McLaughlin[/image] When gritty, little Jazil crossed the finish line a length and-a-quarter ahead of a very stubborn Bluegrass Cat to claim the third jewel of the Triple Crown series at Belmont Park this past Saturday, the win not only stamped his name forever in the record book of Thoroughbred racing, but cast the spotlight...
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[image url="http://cdn.bloodhorse.com/images/content/tdurkin_large.jpg"]Tom Durkin[/image] Chicago native Tom Durkin got started in his career of choice by calling races at county fairs throughout Wisconsin during the early 1970s. From there, he progressed from "call taker" for the Daily Racing Form to track announcer (and sometime line maker and/or director of publicity) at a number of tracks around...
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[image url="http://cdn.bloodhorse.com/images/content/jsiegel_large.jpg"]Jeff Siegel[/image] Jeff Siegel has been a handicapper since 1978. After making selections as a syndicated handicapper for six Los Angeles area newspapers, he then became co-founder of "Handicapper's Report," an innovative publication that provided speed ratings, trip notes and a racing column on the Southern California racing...
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[image url="http://cdn.bloodhorse.com/images/content/dhendricks_small.jpg"]Dan Hendricks[/image] When Brother Derek won the Santa Anita Derby (gr. I) Saturday, it solidified his status as favorite for the May 6 Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I). Not only is the colt the best horse trained by the 47-year-old Dan Hendricks since he went on his own in 1987, but Brother Derek will also be...
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[image url="http://cdn.bloodhorse.com/images/content/pvegso_large.jpg"]Peter Vegso[/image] Peter Vegso founded the publishing company Health Communications, Inc. in 1976. HCI’s first New York Times bestseller, Adult Children of Alcoholics , appeared on the list in 1985 and has been followed by dozens more self-help and inspirational titles, including many in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series...
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