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You don't typically see pinhookers banging heads with big-spending buyers likeSheikh Mohammed's bloodstock manager John Ferguson and Demi O'Byrne for thevery best horses at the yearling sales. But their participation is important tothe health of the market. Pinhookers provide new homes for many young horsesthat don't have the very best pedigrees ...

Bittersweet is probably the best way to express my feelings on the following news: I will be leaving The Blood-Horse on May 22, just after my coverage of the Preakness. As LeBron would say, I’m taking my talents down to South Florida to begin a new business and a new chapter in my life. After 11 years of sports writing—six at a Philadelphia ...

Jack Sisterson looked out the plane window as he approached Louisville Airport in 2002 and saw his life unfold right before him. The native of Durham, England, who grew up with horses, as a jockey and show jump rider, had been offered a soccer scholarship by the University of Louisville and was looking forward to fulfilling his dream of moving to ...

We recently wrote about the possibility of I’ll Have Another sweeping the Triple Crown. So what if we’re getting ahead of ourselves. After 34 years (and we’ve been there through all of them) we’re entitled to think or dream ahead. So, does the son of Flower Alley have the ideal preparation and foundation for such a daunting task? Not if you go by ...

Each year, we go through the same routine, analyzing the winner of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) in an attempt to convince ourselves that he is the next Triple Crown winner. We compile all his attributes, enhance his strong points, and usually deduce that he can indeed accomplish racing’s most elusive feat. We start to get ...

In the 2005 Kentucky Derby (gr. I), Flower Alley (TrueNicks,SRO) was making very promising forward progress when his momentum was halted by the imploding front-runner Spanish Chestnut. Winner of the Lane's End Stakes (gr. II) and runner-up to Afleet Alex (TrueNicks,SRO) in the Arkansas Derby (gr. II) going into the race, Flower Alley was unable to ...

Tradition! As Tevye said in Fiddler on the Roof when his daughter went against tradition and asked to marry a lowly tailor, “Unheard of, absurd…unthinkable.”    For owner Ahmed Zayat, his Bodemeister went against tradition by blazing a half in a near-record :45 1/5 in the Kentucky Derby and still finished second, beaten 1 ½ ...

With Delaware Park and Monmouth Park both kicking off their live meets May 12, a question came to mind again: What is the status of a Mid-Atlantic racing circuit? The status is on-again, off-again talks among some racetracks that are interested in creating a circuit that wouldn’t eliminate overlapping meets but at least capitalize on the ...

Congratulations to Paul Reddam, Doug and Dennis O'Neill, Mario Gutierrez, and breeder Harvey Clarke on winning Derby 138. They were deserving winners, as Reddam puts a lot of money into the sport, Doug O'Neill has spent nearly two decades building a winning barn, Dennis not only has one of the sharpest eyes for horse flesh in the business but ...

Knowing this year's Kentucky Derby was likely going to be popular, set a track record attendance in sweltering temperatures--not to mention me being on call for work, and working late after the race was over. I decided this was going to be the first year I would miss attending the Derby since working at Blood-Horse Publications…that is until ...