(Originally published in the July 28, 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 Last week’s start of the premier summer racing seasons provided a welcome respite from the otherwise...

(Originally published in the August 14, 2010 issue of The Blood-Horse magazine . Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions at the bottom of the column. ) By Eric Mitchell It’s easy to fall into the “racing is doomed” mentality. Handle nationwide is down, tracks have cut days because they don...

After many years in the same profession, it is not uncommon to feel the need for a new and greater challenge. Charlie Hayward fit that bill, so in November 2004, following a lengthy career in publishing, Hayward was named the president and CEO of the New York Racing Association. If it was a challenge...

The single most significant number relative to a racetrack’s business is handle. Pure and simple. It not only fuels the second-most-important number—purses—but is clearly reflective of the acceptance of a track’s racing product by the wagering public. In August 2007, Churchill Downs Inc. announced it...

Just three months after it was announced he was being pensioned, Storm Cat was represented by the top price Aug. 5 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling sale. How fitting. The success enjoyed by the 25-year-old son of Storm Bird is obvious. Storm Cat made Overbrook Farm what it is today because he has...

At the tender age of 85, after nearly three decades in the business of owning and running horses, Harry Aleo finally felt the love of the racing gods. They delivered unto him the horse that would fulfill his wish to travel his beloved United States of America and run that horse in top stakes races, earning...