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It was August 17, 2014 and Sol Kumin and Jay Hanley couldn't have been more thrilled. They were about to see the immediate results of their recently formed partnership. Hanley, a building contractor who previously had owned one New York-bred filly, had built a summer house for Kumin on Sheep Pond Road on Nantucket Island and the two soon became ...

It was 40 years ago, July 29, that a mean spirited 2-year-old named John Henry, who had sold for a paltry $1,100 and then $2,200, toppled over a fallen horse during an overnight handicap at tiny Jefferson Downs in Louisiana. Fortunately he somehow emerged unscathed and the rest as they say is history. But this chapter in John Henry’s life is far ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman The eagerly-anticipated Saratoga meet kicks off on Friday, and the action-packed opening weekend includes several top-notch graded stakes races, led by the Diana Stakes (gr. I) and the Coaching Club American Oaks (gr. I). Although both races feature heavy favorites, a couple of ...

I posted a column this week about Secretariat’s widespread popularity after 44 years, which elicited a large number of comments, most of them illustrating the reverence in which he is still held. Someone also posted a photo of him working on Facebook that I took, and I noticed a lot of people had never seen it and marveled at what a ...

Racing has many—we might say too many—naysayers, or “neigh-sayers,” which immediately reminds us of Bob Dylan’s lyrics from “Tangled Up in Blue:” “Her folks they said our lives together sure was gonna be rough, they never did like Mama’s homemade dress, Papa’s bankbook wasn’t big enough.” Dylan’s words came to mind the day following Songbird’s ...

It was 1973, and America was desperately looking for a sports hero. By June they had found one in the form of a flashy powerful chestnut horse named Secretariat, who was so popular he appeared on the covers of Time, Newsweek, and Sports Illustrated in the same week. And this was before his iconic procession into history in the Belmont Stakes, in ...

By: Erin Shea, @BH_EShea Two major questions arise when horses first retire from racing: where will they go, and who will fund the next chapter of their lives? For individuals not cut out for the breeding shed, welcomed home to a private farm, or placed into a program to be purchased for a second career, the future can be dicey, especially ...

In recent years I have been fortunate to make three trips to the winter Quarter Horse meet at Hialeah Park, where even though the breed changed, the walls-adorned with famous silks and photos of famous people-still told stories. And those walls echoed with new stories, specifically cheers of young fans enthusiastically encouraging horses, ...

Gathered by the field gate, mares and foals wait for the 7:10 a.m. arrival of Clarkland Farm staff. First, the staff lead the mares and foals into their stalls in the barn. Leslie's Lady, 2016 Broodmare of the Year, is among the herd that resides at Fred and Nancy Mitchell's Clarkland near Lexington. Leslie's Lady and her 2017 Medaglia d'Oro ...

By J. Keeler Johnson (''Keelerman'') Twitter: @J_Keelerman With the Del Mar and Saratoga meets scheduled to begin next week, this coming weekend is essentially the ''calm before the storm'' of top-class racing just around the corner. However, that doesn't mean that this weekend is lacking in excitement, for there are several notable graded ...