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True heroes do not speak of their heroic deeds; they let others speak for them. Casandra Branick, barn manager and exercise rider for trainer Edward Freeman, would rather talk about the heroic deeds of so many others who risked their lives to save horses during the San Luis Rey Downs nightmare. 

So, it was only appropriate that one of the owners ...

Horse racing, like most sports and businesses, has issues it must deal with and work out. And we are all aware of the criticism the sport often gets, especially from uninformed entities such as PETA, who never take the time to scrape off the hardened crust they see and look beneath it to discover the soul and the love of the horse that has ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman Once in a while, a horse comes along and wins its debut with such authority and ease that you can't help but wonder if you've seen a superstar in the making. Such was the case when McKinzie cruised to victory in a seven-furlong maiden race on October 28th at ...

By: Erin Shea, @BH_ESheaWith a place in her heart for horses giving it their all on the track, trainer Patti Shirley made an important announcement when she was interviewed after her trainee Russian Elite won the featured race of the day Dec. 21, 2004 at Sunland Park. With a captive audience, Shirley announced she was going to start an ...

An interesting news item appeared on BloodHorse.com the afternoon of Dec. 3 after the grand mare Stellar Wind had appeared on the Palm Meadows Training Center’s worktab. The champion 3-year-old filly of 2015, whom we assumed had ended her racing career Nov. 3 with an eighth-place finish in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) before selling for ...

Why has the name Seabiscuit endured for so many years and why did his story become a best selling book and popular motion picture? When people discuss the greatest horses of all time, you rarely hear Seabiscuit's name mentioned. Other than his victory over War Admiral in a match race and perhaps the Santa Anita Handicap, how many of his stakes ...

It is that time again to get up on my lonely pulpit and preach to deaf ears. Yes, it is almost time to embark on the Kentucky Derby trail, and with the recent announcement that top 2-year-old Bolt d’Oro is scheduled to make his 3-year-old debut in the seven-furlong San Vicente Stakes, what better time to try yet again to force feed the concept ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman The last Grade 1 race of the year for older horses is coming up this Saturday, that being the $750,000 Cigar Mile Handicap (gr. I) at Aqueduct. The prestigious race presents an interesting handicapping challenge, since the one-mile distance around one turn tends to attract a ...

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 ...