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The list of challenges the sport of horse racing faces is long. Not appearing on that list of problems: ''Field sizes are too big!''The correlation between field size and handle is proven. The more horses in a race, the higher the payoffs and the more attractive the betting propositions. But that didn't deter the New York Racing ...

(Originally published in the July 7, 2012 issue of The Blood-Horse magazine. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions at the bottom of the column.) By Evan Hammonds - @BH_EHammonds on Twitter As we flip the calendar to July, the cycle of the Thoroughbred industry turns over and the gears shift into sales mode. The ...

(Originally published in the July 7, 2012 issue of The Blood-Horse magazine. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions at the bottom of the column.)   Wally and Terry Leong’s homebred Strait of Dover did more than just win the 153rd running of the Queen’s Plate Stakes at Woodbine June 24. The 3-year-old son of champion ...

The slump in the North American yearling market finally came to an end in 2011. Now, the bigquestion is this: How long will the rebound last? Well, as the Pitbull song from the movie ''Men in Black 3'' tells us: To understand the future we have to go back in time. By tracking the public auction yearling average for more than 60 years, we can see ...

So, you’ve had it with drugs and wish racing was like it used to be – just hay, oats, and water. Well, we hate to disillusion anyone, but America was never the way it used to be.From its very beginning, racing in America has been plagued by drugs, most of them a great deal more potent than the ones that have received all the headlines the past ...

(By Avalyn Hunter) This year's Royal Ascot meeting saw two coronations. One was that of Frankel as possibly the best miler Europe has ever seen--rarefied air indeed when one considers the likes of Brigadier Gerard, Miesque, and Goldikova. The other was that of Black Caviar as not only the world's best sprinter but as a champion whose heart ...

Two-year-olds are back in focus at Churchill Downs on Saturday night, and on That Handicapping Show I selected Romans Avenue in the Bashford Manor Stakes (G3). This Street Sense colt is one to watch this weekend and down the road. I loved how he moved in the debut victory regardless of the speed figure (it came back a little slow on Beyer and ...

Top Japanese jockey Yuichi Fukunaga is coming to ride in the United States for a couple of months. Yuichi's visit will begin June 28th and he'll ride at Churchill Downs until July 1st. Then he'll venture to Betfair Hollywood Park and Del Mar, according to my Twitter acquaintance Kuniyasu Arai (@uk_maniax). On June 3, Strong Return won the Yasuda ...

With all the attention currently (and deservedly) lavished on Frankel, it's probably worth giving a perspective on Brigadier Gerard, the horse that he's supplanted as miler of a lifetime. ''The Brigadier'' had more humble beginnings than Frankel. Bred by John Hislop (an outstanding amateur jockey and noted breeding and racing writer), was by ...