My Soapbox for Equestrian Writings
Funny Cide, winner of the 2003 Kentucky Deby and Preakness has died from colic complications. The gelding spent his last years at the Hall of Champions at the Kentucky Horse Park when he passed away. He was 23 years old. Known as “The Gutsy Gelding,” Funny Cide was a crowd favorite, becoming the first gelding […]
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My introduction to betting on the ponies came at an early age. My maternal grandfather loved to go to the local track – Belmont – and sometimes he took me along, starting when I must have been five or six. He would avidly study the racing forms. I would pick the prettiest horse in the […]
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After Zelda died, I had an overwhelming need to visit Freedom. He’s been retired in Virginia since October of 2021, after I broke my ankle for a second time. Too much time had passed since I’d seen him and although I’d gotten regular updates from the retirement facility, I needed to touch him again and […]
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Fifty years after Secretariat’s blazing run in the Belmont Stakes, we don’t have a Triple Crown winner, but we do have a few firsts. Most impressive is that Arcangel’s trainer, Jena Antonucci, became the first female trainer to win a Triple Crown race (the race series has been run since 1919), and his jockey, four-time […]
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It’s time for some good news. Misty of Chincoteague lovers around the world have issued a collective sigh of relief. After twelve weeks of frantic fundraising and help from philanthropist David Landsberger (who agreed to match $100,000 in donations), the Museum of Chincoteague raised more than $450,000 and the Beebe Ranch is under contract with […]
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For the last three weeks, Zelda has been fighting to recover from an episode of laminitis. Over the weekend, a cellulitis infection caused her to spike a fever of 104, which triggered a second episode. Monday night she was in a lot of pain; my vet was with us until 11 p.m. Tuesday, x-rays confirmed […]
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There will be no Triple Crown winner this year (the Kentucky Derby winner, Mage, finished third), but National Treasure ran a strong race and provided a thrilling battle to the wire against Blazing Sevens, prevailing at the end by a head. National Treasure was sired by Quality Road and sold as a yearling fo $500,000. […]
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A horse with only three starts, Mage was not favored to win the Derby, but he came on with a decisive run in the stretch and battled Two Phil’s all the way to the wire. Angel of Empire finished third. Mage is an interesting horse and I’ll write more later, but right now Zelda is […]
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