BloodHorse.com

(Originally published in the August 25, 2012 issue of The Blood-Horse magazine. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions at the bottom of the column.)  By Eric Mitchell - @BH_EMitchell on Twitter Arlington Park more than exceeded its expectations to restore the international flavor of its Aug. 18 International ...

Sunday served as an enjoyable finale to the weekend. Good weather, marked by sunny skies and temps in the low 70s, kept the main racing surface fast and the turf courses firm.  An announced crowd of 58,701 people, presented with the incentive of a free beer glass with each paid admission, filled the backyard, the apron and all sections of the ...

If you’re looking for Cinderella stories or fairy tales in general, you’re not going to find them in Shug McGaughey’s barn. If you want to get all choked up reading some rags-to-riches feel-good story, you don’t go out and get “War and Peace.”But in a world where tradition and sportsmanship are eroding with each passing year, McGaughey and the ...

Racecourse regulars have been waiting for that breakout day–the one that you think about for weeks and months, even years, afterwards; a stellar day in which the weather, the crowd, the racing and the thrills come together in an exuberant display of the elements.Saturday was that day.  Questing, a Godolphin filly, won the Alabama Stakes (gr. ...

Fans wearing pink were allowed into the racecourse for free. Friday was Fabulous Fillies Day, remembering Evelyn H. Lauder, honoring Virginia Kraft Payson and benefitting breast cancer research.  There were free faux diamond pendants for early arrivers, complimentary pink hair extensions for anyone who wanted one and a Sizzling Hot ...

Colonel John was last year's leading first crop sireof sale weanlings in North America. His 10 offspring that were sold averaged$105,900, and they ranged in price from $40,000 to $170,000. The 7-year-old bay horse also is prominent againthis year at Thoroughbred auctions. He was the leading first-crop sire at theFasig-Tipton Kentucky July select ...

The backstretch was a beehive Thursday morning. Joe and Anne McMahon, wearing blue ball caps honoring their fine sire Utopia, lingered with family members and stopped to greet friends.  McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds, the outfit that produced Funny Cide, has bought two TVCs on the MSNBC telecast of Saturday’s Alabama.  ...

Arlinton Million, Race 11, Saturday, August 18 $1-million, 1 1/4 miles on Turf   1 Rahystrada (8-1) finished finished 5th, beaten 3 3/4 lengths, in last year's Million, which had a better field than this year with the likes of multiple Group 1 winners Cape Blanco and U.S. champion grass horse Gio Ponti. An eight-year-old ...

It's still very early in the season for serious juvenile competition, but there is no doubt that one of the most impressive 2-year-old fillies seen to date is Kauai Katie. Successful by 12 lengths on her debut (video), the Stonestreet Stable color-bearer returned to action at Saratoga in the Adirondack Stakes (gr. II), and captured the 6 ...