My Soapbox for Equestrian Writings
Hall of Fame jockey Calvin Borel announced his retirement on Wednesday. He is reported to have said to a friend, “it is time.” Borel won 5,146 races in a career that covered 33 years. The horses he rode earned more than $127 million. He is the only jockey to have won three Kentucky Derbies in […]
Read MoreGreat racing at Churchill Downs today, warming up the racing crowds for tomorrow’s Kentucky Derby. The two big races for the day were the Kentucky Oaks and the Alysheba Stakes. Untapable, ridden by Rosie Napravnik, fulfilled expectations winning the $600,000 Kentucky Oaks handily. Untapable has been compared to Rachel Alexandra, who also raced in the […]
Read MoreCalvin Borel owns Churchill Downs these days. On May 31st he won his 1,100th win on the famed track leading wire to wire on Tank’s Letter, a horse trained by his brother, Cecil. Calvin currently has 4,960 lifetime wins so far. While 1,100 wins is impressive, Borel has a way to go to catch up […]
Read MoreScratch the match race with Zenyatta. 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra was retired yesterday after several disappointing starts as a 4-year old. Since she never returned to her top form, owner Jess Jackson should be commended for retiring her now, without injury, and letting her move on to the next stage of her […]
Read MoreIt was not a day when I would have considered riding my horse — and it was so hot that Delaware Park and Philadelphia Park canceled racing. But Rachel Alexandra went on to win the Lady’s Secret Stakes at Monmouth park by three lengths. It would have been hard for the track to cancel given […]
Read MoreThe track was so sloppy that as the horses came around the final turn into the home stretch it was impossible to identify any one of them: they were all brown and muddy. Many horses don’t like to run in the mud, especially if they spend most of the race with mud hitting their faces. […]
Read MoreRachel Alexandra continues to amaze. Her win in the $750,000 Woodward Stakes was against the boys . . . and against older horses. She is the first filly ever to win the Woodward Stakes. Read more.
Read MoreIn anticipation of the Belmont Stakes, I’ve been reading the racing press. While I’m routing for Calvin Borel and Mine That Bird, I’ve been trying to better understand the factors that influence the outcome. Distance, I get — at a mile and a half, with no “rabbit” entered in the Belmont, there won’t be any […]
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