What's Going On Here

Blood-Horse editorial commentary on Thoroughbred racing issues, people, horses and more

Track Medicine - by Dan Liebman

Imagine that you are a patient in a hospital, a prominent Thoroughbred owner and breeder said. The doctor enters the room, takes a vial out of his black bag, and gives you a shot. He then produces a couple of pills, which you take orally. ... Read More

Shedding the Old - by Dan Liebman

The Thoroughbred breeding industry finds itself facing both the best and worst of times, and it has nothing to do with the proletariat and aristocracy. It has to do with the world economy.... Read More

The Weight - by Evan Hammonds

The icy conditions and sub-freezing temperatures of the last week in Central Kentucky gave us good reasons to catch up on some reading. Awaiting Steve Haskin's first Derby Dozen, I went to the bookshelf at home and pulled down The Archjockey of Canterbury and Other Tales by former Blood-Horse editor Kent Hollingsworth.... Read More

Affirmation by Dan Liebman

For racing fans, the stars aligned for Curlin, the 2007 Horse of the Year, to return and race at age 4. Now, for just the sixth time since the Eclipse Awards were first handed out in 1971, a runner has repeated as Horse of the Year.... Read More

Going Green - by Dan Liebman

During most of the past 200-plus years, the Kentucky General Assembly convened for only 60 days every two years. To poke fun at the lawmakers, a group of Frankfort, Ky., citizens once printed bumper stickers calling for the group to instead meet two days every 60 years.... Read More

Stake Holders - by Stacy Bearse

Magazine publishing has been described as a three-legged stool supported by the pillars of editorial, advertising, and audience development. The perch becomes precarious if the three legs aren't balanced. The core of the Thoroughbred industry can be thought of in a similar way.... Read More

Marked Down - by Dan Liebman

Just a few weeks ago, this column opined that some stud fees were coming down in 2009, but it was not enough. They needed to be reduced more. Since then, the Keeneland November sale has come and gone, the nearly 50% drop in gross clearly illustrating the global economic downturn has not only reached the Thoroughbred industry, but had a clear effect upon it.... Read More

Tough Times - by Dan Liebman

Disaster. Brutal. Blood bath. Just a few of the many descriptive words being used by breeders to describe the Keeneland November breeding stock sale, which at this writing still had a week to run.... Read More

Priceless - by Dan Liebman

When Better Than Honour sold for a broodmare world-record $14 million Nov. 2 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November sale, it evoked memories of Nov. 10, 1984, when another world record was set on the day of the first Breeders' Cup.... Read More

Renovation Break - by Dan Liebman

At 10 p.m., an exhausted Larry Jones finally fell asleep. Just two and a half hours later, he was back up, making training charts for that day's sets before loading his trailer to drive from his barn at Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland to Saratoga Race Course in upstate New York.... Read More

New York State of Mind - by Dan Liebman

After many years in the same profession, it is not uncommon to feel the need for a new and greater challenge. Charlie Hayward fit that bill, so in November 2004, following a lengthy career in publishing, Hayward was named the president and CEO of the New York Racing Association.... Read More

Get a Handle - by Dan Liebman

The single most significant number relative to a racetrack's business is handle. Pure and simple. It not only fuels the second-most-important number--purses--but is clearly reflective of the acceptance of a track's racing product by the wagering public.... Read More

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