BloodHorse.com

By: Erin Shea, @BH_EShea The 64 organizations accredited by the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance are as diverse as the aftercare landscape itself. Many adopt out former runners for second careers, others are sanctuaries, and some are organizations that help both horses and humans.  In addition to helping Thoroughbreds, there is one ...

Thoroughbred ownership has changed mightily through the years. In the not-so-distant past the sport was dominated by scions of industry that nearly exclusively raced homebreds, matching generations of bloodlines one against the other. That blood has thinned considerably, now divested among greater numbers of breeders, and today, save for a ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Starting today and continuing through Sunday, a total of 20 graded stakes races will be held across North America, which means that the post-Breeders' Cup lull is over at last. One of the highlights is the $500,000 Clark Handicap (gr. I) at Churchill ...

By: Erin Shea, @BH_EShea  A hard-knocker who gave his all on the track, Saratoga Boot earned $267,372 in his 73 starts. Racing from ages 2 until 10, the gelded son of Storm Boot compiled an impressive 16-10-13 record. Not wanting to see the horse break down, trainer Eddie Clouston retired him after he ran fourth in a claiming race in ...

Robert Courtney Sr., who left us last week at 96, is celebrated not only for his long and distinguished career as a breeder and horseman, but as somebody who was always willing to help the next guy. Courtney had a way with words, every sentence holding pearls of wisdom. “Courtneyisms,” is what Alex Rankin, one of Courtney’s protegés, calls them, ...

It was the winter of 1986, and I was in a major lull in my potential writing career. Still toiling aimlessly in the library of the Daily Racing Form after 18 years, I had stopped writing freelance features for the Thoroughbred Record. In addition, Stud & Stable, England’s version of the Blood-Horse and Thoroughbred Record where I had been ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman This coming weekend of racing is a bit of a quiet one with not a lot of stakes action on the agenda, but the $100,000 Desi Arnaz Stakes at Del Mar has attracted a promising-looking field containing several fillies that appear to have bright futures. Let's take a quick look at that ...