Category: Thoroughbred Racing

It’s not the crime, it’s the cover up

.Reading time 5 minutes.
Justify wins the Belmont

News that Justify failed a drug test after the Santa Anita Handicap — a disqualification which could have left him ineligible to run in the Kentucky Derby had he not placed in another qualifying race — broke on Thursday in the New York Times. The colt tested positive for scopolamine, a banned substance that some […]

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Will capping number of mares bred by stallions improve thorougbreds?

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Last week the Jockey club proposed putting a cap on the number of mares an individual stallion can cover in a season. The reasoning? To improve the genetic diversity of the thoroughbred breed. A press release from the Jockey Club noted, “43 stallions reporting 140 or more mares” in their 2018 books, and those stallions […]

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The pageantry of Royal Ascot

.Reading time 11 minutes.
Royal Ascot

My stepfather died a little more than a month ago. When going through some old family photos, I came across one of my favorite — a picture of him and my mother decked out to attend the Royal Ascot. While the UK is home to some of the most prestigious horse racing events in the […]

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Racing moves toward restricting medications, including Lasix

.Reading time 3 minutes.
churchill downs

All I can say is: It’s about time. Led by the Stronach Group, which owns Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields, changes are coming North American racing. Two other major racing organizations — Churchill Downs and the New York Racing Association — are implementing a partial phase out of Lasix, beginning with 2-year olds racing […]

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No Saddle? No Problem

.Reading time less than 1 minute.
Winnng a race without a saddle

It’s challenging enough to ride in a racing saddle. But in this race, the saddle slipped under the horse’s stomach during the race, leaving the jockey briefly straddling her horse at a full gallop before she managed to pull herself back on. Unbelievably, jockey Elaura Cieslik not only stayed on but won the race at the […]

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Sir Winston Wins the Belmont with a Strong Finish

.Reading time 1 minute.
Sir Winston wins Belmont

Sir Winston, a horse known for having a strong closing run, put that to use in the Belmont. Jockey Joel Rosario gave the colt a perfect ride, hugging the rail and making it a shorter trip. Tacitus was running strongly to finish second, went wide on both turns. At a track like this one, that […]

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