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The charm of horse racing lies primarily in the animals that do it—their beauty, grace, power and their degree of class. But there is an undeniable attraction to the colorful human beings that make it happen. The purpose of this blog is to share my stories about some of these characters. My requisites in the selection: I had dealings with ...

The charm of horse racing lies primarily in the animals that do it—their beauty, grace, power and their degree of class. But there is an undeniable attraction to the colorful human beings that make it happen. The purpose of this blog is to share my stories about some of these characters. My requisites in the selection: I had dealings with them, ...

The charm of horse racing lies primarily in the animals that do it—their beauty, grace, power and their degree of class. But there is an undeniable attraction to the colorful human beings that make it happen. The purpose of this blog is to share my stories about some of these characters. My requisites in the selection: I had dealings with them, ...

By Vic Zast At midnight on the last day of the year, as the moon lays a blanket of light on the pastures and the wind stirs the needles on the pines that line their edges, nothing seems different than the night before or the day after. Yet, the horses will celebrate a birthday.  The January 1 birthday is a custom, used by the registry to ...

By Robin BrussCEO, Cape Thoroughbred Sale Co. When Wise Dan crossed the line to win the Breeder’ Cup Mile (gr. I) and endorse his status as the highest-rated horse in America, he did more than establish himself at the forefront of Horse of the Year honours—his victory was felt with a certain sense of pride by breeders in an unlikely part ...

By Earl Ola Allen Jerkens pointed to a fitter, sturdier animal as another reason why bleeding was considered atypical in the 1950s and 1960s. He said none of his good horses were bleeders. ''Horses worked a lot harder in those days,” Jerkins said. “The strain on them in the race wasn’t as much as the strain is on them now. They trained almost ...

OK, so you don't know anything about Mike Harrington, trainer of Creative Cause, right? Sure you do. You've seen him a million times in one Western movie or another. You know the scene in almost every movie where the stranger rides into town and approaches an old timer leaning back on his chair, whittlin' a piece of hickory, and asks if there's a ...

By Fred A. PopeThis is a tough time for Oliver Wills. He can’t sleep. His annual review is approaching and he will be asked to grade his own job performance last year, then to present his plan for the next two to five years. Oliver Wills’ job is to protect the Thoroughbred breed in North America.Most people don’t know Ollie. He is an industry ...

By Briana Mott ''Too easy'' were the words of choice after Black Caviar's first run over 1,400 meters. The 5-year-old powerhouse that has taken over sprint races in Australia silenced her doubters on Feb. 11 by adding another 200 meters to her winning distance range. She ran against some of the best including the Caulfield Cup winning mare, ...

By now, the The Blood-Horse's online Stallion Register has been updated with stud fees and farm information for the 2012 breeding season. The data ''roll-over'' as we've come to known it since the digital Stallion Register was launched in 2003 is extremely important to stallion owners and much-anticipated by breeders who rely on it as a valuable ...