My Soapbox for Equestrian Writings
The death of Mongolian Groom from a catastrophic injury sustained during the Breeders’ Cup Classic has put Santa Anita under the microscope again. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) had already issued a warning to Santa Anita earlier in the week that if there is another fatality, its days were numbered and the tragedy in the final […]
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Vino Rosso surged to the lead to beat McKinzie by 4 1/2 lengths in the $6 Million Breeders’ Cup Classic. Higher Power was third. War of Will led the first part of the race, faded to ninth. Vino Rosso was ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr. who had an amazing Breeders’ Cup meet. An hour earlier […]
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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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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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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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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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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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