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 (Originally published in the August 13, 2011 issue of The Blood-Horse magazine. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions at the bottom of the column.) By Evan Hammonds   Those seeking escape from the hair-raising roller-coaster ride Wall Street is on right now, or those wondering whether the country is back ...

Call me old school, but I am among those who believe that the best way to create racing fans is through an on-track visit with friends or family to one of the many beautiful racetracks located throughout North America. To me, an on-track visit is the best way to soak in all of the positive attributes of horse racing—a unique combination of ...

(By Lizz Kunz) Coolmore Stud's Galileo continues to prove his power as a stallion through his progeny's ability to annihilate competitors on the track. The handsome chestnut Cape Blanco is no exception, a winner of two group I races in Ireland and a grade I stakes in the United States so far, he is a force to be reckoned with on the ...

George Hicker admits that buying a 6-year-old gelding might look like it doesn’t have much upside, especially when the horse hasn’t won a race in two years. But Tres Borrachos had back class and was training well for Hicker’s conditioner, Marty Jones. Besides, the Del Mar meet was about to begin. “I probably wouldn’t have bought him if Del Mar ...

On July 31, Bob Baffert lived a trainer’s dream, winning grade I races on both coasts, with Coil in the $1 million Haskell Invitational Handicap at Monmouth Park in New Jersey and with Euroears in the Bing Crosby Stakes in track-record time at Del Mar in California.The 58-year-old conditioner, who was inducted into the National Museum of ...

During the month of July, New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program hosted two horse shows that featured Thoroughbreds competing off the track. The first event was held July 9-10, during which nearly 40 Thoroughbreds gathered at the Kentucky Horse Park to compete in two Thoroughbred restricted hunter/jumper classes. It marked the second ...

Sheikh Mohammed moseyed over to the Fasig-Tipton auction grounds for the first time on Saturday.  He was surrounded by entourage, but acted mono-majestically. Someone had to tell him what rain was.  Being from the desert, horse racing’s man of the most means witnesses a downpour only now and then and rarely a deluge like Saratoga ...

Over 140 stallions standing in Australia and New Zealand have joined TrueNicks in advance of the 2011 Southern Hemisphere breeding season. Thoroughbred breeders who are currently busy working on their 2011 mating plans can now run complimentary TrueNicks Enhanced Reports with these stallions. (Click here for the full list) TrueNicks Enhanced ...

It’s been a long time since a day of Saratoga horse racing other than Travers Day caused as much anticipation as Saturday’s.  Too bad that after a long string of sunny, dry days, a little rain fell.  Nevertheless, it was an afternoon of roundly felt satisfaction – the best card of the year, three races for two-year-olds of substantial ...

Did baseball writers and fans really call New York Yankees outfielder, turned racehorse trainer, Mickey Rivers “Mick the Quick?”  That nickname seems like a fabrication of the truth for the sake of promotion. Maybe not.  But, heck, if it is, hooray for making the most of inviting a sports celebrity with limited appeal to the ...