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   (Originally published in the March 26, 2011 issue of The Blood-Horse magazine. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions at the bottom of the column.)  By Eric Mitchell - @EJMitchellKy on TwitterThe Blood-Horse recently cast a wide net into the pool of Thoroughbred industry participants and posed a simple ...

BREEDERS/FARM OWNERS  & MANAGERS Craig Bandoroff: farm owner, consignor, Denali Stud1. We need centralization to organize our fragmented industry where stakeholders (racetracks, owners, and horsemen) are held accountable and are beneficiaries of synergies to improve the economics, regulation, and promotion of racing. We need one central ...

 1 Uncle Mo Todd Pletcher Indian Charlie—Playa Maya, by Arch Opinions regarding the colt range from his being a superstar to having little shot at 1 1/4 miles. What else is new? Pedigree will not be an issue. Hard to fault his debut; he did everything he was supposed to and looked great doing it. And regardless of the slow pace ...

The Factor spoke loudly and made his point perfectly, as he ran off with the Rebel Stakes (gr. II) in his two-turn debut, winning by 6 1/4 lengths and coming home his final sixteenth in :06 1/5. When a frontrunner setting testing fractions of :46 3/5 and 1:10 4/5 can come home that fast, there aren’t many horses who are going to be able to beat ...

At Aqueduct recently, it was suggested by Jim Gluckson of the NTRA/Breeders' Cup that I reprint a column I wrote several years ago on Jim French. He reminded me that this is the 40th anniversary of his remarkable and unprecedented Triple Crown campaign. With the majority of top Derby contenders having only two or three Derby preps, this is the ...

Lotta Kim produced a full sister to Rachel Alexandra on Feb. 27, 2011, at Dr. Dede McGehee's Heaven Trees Farm near Lexington, Ky. Photographed on March 12, 2011, the Medaglia d'Oro filly is owned by Dolph Morrison. A decision has not been made on whom Lotta Kim will be bred to this season.''The mare is a good mom,” said Dr. McGehee. “She’s ...

Who will win the 2011 Rebel Stakes? Who will finish last? Will The Factor take them all the way? Is it time for Elite Alex or Sway Away to shine? Now is your chance to see how your picks stack up against the rest of the BloodHorse.com community. Need more information about the Rebel? Read the race preview or watch That Handicapping Show. ...

The Rebel is the only Kentucky Derby prep of the weekend but it's a full field which results in a good betting opportunity, and it has maybe the most intriguing Derby contender out there: The Factor. If The Factor can't carry his electrifying speed around two turns Bob Baffert will drop him back to sprinting. But if he is successful, he will move ...

 The NTRA’s Safety and Integrity Alliance has just published a new version of its Code of Standards. Why should you care?  What difference does the Code make?  For that matter, what difference is the Alliance making?  These are all questions I hear from time to time and they deserve straight-forward answers. First, here is ...

Sometimes it seems that certain horse-rider combinations were just meant to be. Such was the case for Stephanie Church, editor-in-chief of The Horse magazine, and her sister, Sarah, video intern for The Blood-Horse, who will always cherish the good memories they had with their Thoroughbred ex-racer Icy Edge. Stephanie and Sarah, who ...