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In remembering Summer Bird, I am reprinting my recap of his Belmont Stakes victory. The 141st Belmont Stakes (gr. I) proved one thing: you can crown two birds with one stone. The victory by Summer Bird in the 141st Belmont Stakes (gr. I), combined with Mine That Bird’s spectacular score in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), ...

The winnowing of graded and listed black-type stakes in the United States continues.Last week the American Graded Stakes Committee released its list of 645 graded and listed stakes for 2014. The total is nearly 11% fewer than was recognized in 2010. Over the past five years the number of graded stakes has dipped from 487 to 455 while the number ...

After looking the past two years for a viable Horse of the Year candidate who ran on dirt and being unable to find one, I realize just how sad that is. The thought of not being able to find a single dirt horse in two years worthy of a Horse of the Year title is staggering to someone who goes back to the ‘60s and has seen that crown worn by so many ...

It has only been in recent years that our society has recognized post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in combat military personnel returning home from war and anyone else exposed to an extreme traumatic event that has altered their life. Going back to World War I, this disorder was trivialized with the term shell shock.There are a number of ...

This is an expanded version of a feature that appears in the November 30, 2013 issue of The Blood-Horse.This year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic victory by Mucho Macho Man provided enough uplifting human interest stories to fill a book. But there actually is another lesser known story surrounding the son of Macho Uno that also packs quite an emotional ...