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Are we are making progress in addressing the issue of race day medication in the United States? That’s a question I hear a lot these days.  My answer to that question is a qualified “yes.”  You see, in June of 2011, the NTRA -- together with the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC) and the American Association of Equine ...

What a difference a day made. Saratoga Racecourse went from being wall-to-wall with fans on Saturday to being a barren oasis on Sunday.  The exodus has begun.  Starting Monday you’ll be able to see the horse transport semis on the backstretch.  By Friday - the start of the Final Stretch weekend, it’ll seem like fall and you’ll ...

Suddenly, with the onset of Travers Week, the tone of the racecourse has shifted to horse racing.  Saturday alone will feature four graded stakes.  The horses that will race are among the best of their generations.  NBC Sports is setting up on the grounds to allow the world to see them run.  Just about all the final morning ...

Time seems to fly by more quickly the older you get. That’s because a mere day represents a larger percentage of the time you have left than it did when you were young. The 2012 Saratoga meet has advanced to a point that is roughly 70% of its 40 afternoons. There are many things to do in the little time remaining.If you haven’t been to the Mouzon ...

(Originally published in the August 25, 2012 issue of The Blood-Horse magazine. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions at the bottom of the column.)  By Eric Mitchell - @BH_EMitchell on Twitter Arlington Park more than exceeded its expectations to restore the international flavor of its Aug. 18 International ...

Sunday served as an enjoyable finale to the weekend. Good weather, marked by sunny skies and temps in the low 70s, kept the main racing surface fast and the turf courses firm.  An announced crowd of 58,701 people, presented with the incentive of a free beer glass with each paid admission, filled the backyard, the apron and all sections of the ...

If you’re looking for Cinderella stories or fairy tales in general, you’re not going to find them in Shug McGaughey’s barn. If you want to get all choked up reading some rags-to-riches feel-good story, you don’t go out and get “War and Peace.”But in a world where tradition and sportsmanship are eroding with each passing year, McGaughey and the ...

Racecourse regulars have been waiting for that breakout day–the one that you think about for weeks and months, even years, afterwards; a stellar day in which the weather, the crowd, the racing and the thrills come together in an exuberant display of the elements.Saturday was that day.  Questing, a Godolphin filly, won the Alabama Stakes (gr. ...

NYRA scheduled the best horses to race Wednesday in the fifth race instead of the ninth or the tenth. If by next summer the $100,000 Troy isn’t a graded stakes, there is something amiss with the way the American Graded Stakes Committee reads a Daily Racing Form.  Arguably, three of the sport’s most accomplished turf sprinters ran in the 5 1/2 ...