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The retirement of Hansen earlier this week further gutted this crop of three-year-old males and left us with a largely paceless field of 11 in the Travers Stakes (G1). The mid-summer Derby will be a far cry from the Kentucky Derby, where we had Bodemeister ripping along in 45-2 and 1:09-4, with a field of pursuers that included I'll Have ...

Suddenly, with the onset of Travers Week, the tone of the racecourse has shifted to horse racing.  Saturday alone will feature four graded stakes.  The horses that will race are among the best of their generations.  NBC Sports is setting up on the grounds to allow the world to see them run.  Just about all the final morning ...

My first trip to Saratoga Springs was a whirlwind—four days and nights at the Spa seemed to fly by, and before I knew it, I was returning to Lexington, back to reality. When I told people I was traveling for the first time to this quaint, upstate New York town for the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga select yearling sale (Aug. 6-7), the response was almost ...

Time seems to fly by more quickly the older you get. That’s because a mere day represents a larger percentage of the time you have left than it did when you were young. The 2012 Saratoga meet has advanced to a point that is roughly 70% of its 40 afternoons. There are many things to do in the little time remaining.If you haven’t been to the Mouzon ...

Barry Irwin, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Team Valor International, was the featured guest on the “Talkin’ Horses with The Blood-Horse” live podcast Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012. A Turf writer who later found success as a bloodstock agent and horse owner, Irwin and then-partner Jeff Siegel began syndicating horses in 1987. Since that ...

(By Avalyn Hunter) Calling it a trend might be premature, but Australia may be on the verge of reversing the shuttle sire market that for years had the island nation receiving visiting sires from North America and Europe. This year, we were treated to Lonhro being sent to Kentucky, courtesy of Darley. A group I winner from 1,400 to ...

One of the hardest things Dr. Michael Cavey Jr., 63, has ever done in his 35 years in the Thoroughbred industry was sell Playa Maya, dam of 2010 champion 2-year-old male Uncle Mo. The decision to part with the crown jewel of his broodmare band meant letting go of a family with which the veterinarian/breeder had been involved since he started in ...

(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 ...