Bob Levy, horse racing innovator, was the ultimate people person | Dick Jerardi
Philly.com Full coverage: Bob Levy, horse racing innovator, was the ultimate people person | Dick Jerardi
Bob Levy, horse racing innovator, was the ultimate people person | Dick Jerardi
November 13, 2018 by Leave a Comment
How Trainer John Sadler helped turn grape growers into horse racing powerhouse owners
October 25, 2018 by Leave a Comment
How trainer John Sadler helped turn grape growers into horse racing powerhouse owners
The San Gabriel Valley Tribune Full coverage: How trainer John Sadler helped turn grape growers into horse racing powerhouse owners
Eleven Sires Dominate at 2018 Keeneland Fall Sales
September 21, 2018 by Leave a Comment
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With 26 yearlings selling for $1 million plus in the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, 11 sires with three or more sold in Book 1 accounted for 465 yearlings or 47% of the number cataloged in Book 1.
Is Horse Racing Dead? Apparently not if the Keeneland sales in Lexington KY are any indication. Check out the full Blood-Horse story below.
QnA with NFL Star and Racehorse Owner Jacob Tamme
July 25, 2018 by Leave a Comment
From NFL to Farming: Jacob Tamme Chats Cows and Horse Racing
Q. Advice I would give to anyone considering getting into racing as an owner:
A. Start small. Heck, stay small. There’s nothing wrong with being a 5% partner on a great filly or colt. I’ll take 5% of a really good one over 50% or even 100% of an average one any day. Find the right person or people to partner with and set realistic expectations. If you are starting your own operation from scratch and have the resources to go it alone, even more important to find the right advisors and horsemen to help you get started.
America’s Best Racing Full coverage
Source: From NFL to Farming: Jacob Tamme Chats Cows and Horse Racing
Justify’s Win Illustrates a Major Problem in Horse Racing
May 22, 2018 by 5 Comments
By Charles Simon
Justify ran his eyeballs out in winning the Preakness and, truly, he has done some amazing things by being pushed to the limit in a modern racing world where risk taking is seemingly a foreign concept. He is headed to Belmont with a chance to win a quite unique version of the Triple Crown. However, one of the biggest underlying issues of horse racing is being exposed during this fantastic and rapid ascent by Justify.
The very top of racing is polluted with conflicts of interest, with too few horsemen training all the best horses for a narrow group of very wealthy people that have increasingly chosen to join together rather than compete against each other. When Triple Crown-runs and our most important races are now potentially compromised because of that situation, how much longer until the validity of the results of the sport are questioned?
Ax Man won the Sir Barton over the same track as Justify did on Saturday with a better speed figure (99 to 97). Does that mean he would have won Preakness or is better than Justify? Absolutely not, but it does mean that him not participating in the Belmont Stakes because his trainer is shooting for a Triple Crown with a different horse is a little unsettling. I completely understand why they wouldn’t run, but it’s still an uncomfortable situation to try to explain away.
Audible might have won the Preakness considering the 1/2 length margin that Justify won by over clearly inferior horses with running styles very similar to Audible’s running style. If Audible who is owned by the same group that owns Justify doesn’t run in the Belmont and goes on to be the best three year old post-Triple Crown season, it could be the first modern day Triple Crown that comes with an asterisk.
Sure, Justify is a great horse who will have earned it if he completes the Triple Crown with a Belmont win but having potentially two of the arguably top five, healthy three year olds not competing because everyone seems to be on the same team… well, to be kind, it is not a ‘good look.’ We have no idea if they could beat him but the whole idea of racing is to race to see if they can.
These are our very best and most important races, and they are increasingly fraught with conflict of interest which are more readily apparent because of the spotlight focused on the Triple Crown. Think about how compromised our regular graded stakes can be affected in a similar though more subtle manner? We won’t even go into regular overnight races and the issues created there.
The entire premise of the sport of horse racing is competition. “My horse is better than yours. Let’s prove it on the track”. The more bastardized the top of the sport becomes, the more the foundation of the entire game is weakened. If this past week’s white-hot debate over the ‘future of racing in a sports betting legalized world’ doesn’t make this situation even more troubling, you just aren’t paying attention.
Imagine if the owners of the Golden State Warriors bought a 20-percent stake in the Houston Rockets before the Western Conference Finals? How do you think that would go over with sports fans? And our sport is supported by people BETTING on it!
- Charles Simon is a successful, veteran trainer based out of South Florida.
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What Makes a Winner – The DNA of Champions
March 29, 2018 by Leave a Comment
It is well known that genes are responsible for most of the traits in all living beings. Of course external conditions have their due influence on the development and overall well being, but we have long determined that good genes will very likely produce good offspring. Ever since the first domesticated wolf we have also learned how to cash in on this knowledge. And cash is plenty in the world of horseracing. Champion blood foals regularly sell for well over $1 million. That’s why the first thing that is being prized when selecting a racehorse is the genetic pool it sprung from.
Thoroughbreds are the most used breed of horses for racing, and for a good reason. These horses have been specifically bred for speed and stamina. It started in the 17th century with the growing interest of British aristocracy in horseracing, and today all Thoroughbreds can be traced back to 74 British and imported mares, known as the Royal Mares, and only three stallions of Arab, Barb and Turk origin, the Byerly Turk, the Darley Arabian and the Godolphin Barb. And thus began an official record – the General Stud Book – which lists only those horses that can be traced back to the Royal Mares and these three stallions.
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Thoroughbreds’ anatomy makes them the perfect racing horse. Preferred, quality Thoroughbreds have long necks, deep and broad chest, short backs, lean bodies and long legs. They are classified as a hot-blooded breed, meaning they are very agile, fast, spirited and bold. Not so long ago the only way to assure these traits in a horse was heavy inbreeding, but in 2010 Dr. Emmeline Hill managed to isolate the single gene responsible for muscle development and muscle fibre type, now popularly known as the speed gene.
Experiments in equine genetics have shown that it is possible to breed a horse with more muscle mass capable for short bursts of speed suited for quarter mile races or a leaner horse that could perform better on longer courses such as the Derby. Even with these advancements in equine genetics scientists agree that DNA probably accounts for 30 – 35% of a horse’s performance. Come race day training, nutrition, jockeys and track conditions could prove more important for the outcome. Still, 35% is a lot you can bet on.
Racehorse breeding is the most tightly controlled and regulated animal breeding program. And the reason why, as we said, is because there is a lot of money in horseracing. It is an industry with revenue of $4 billion in US alone, $139.2 million were wagered on the Kentucky Derby last year, more than $10 billion are wagered in US each year. In horse racing crazed Japan that number is more than $24 billion. A big chunk of these billions come from online betting. Placing a bet is possible on many sites, fast and safe; you can also get good tips on how to pick your winner. It’s easy now that you know what makes one.
A Day in the Life of a Racehorse
March 21, 2018 by Leave a Comment
A day in the life of a racehorse
New York Newsday Full coverage (email subscription required)
Source: A day in the life of a racehorse
Medaglia d’Oro holds solid Kentucky Derby cards
March 19, 2018 by Leave a Comment
By ART PARKER
His greatest runners have been fillies. Names such as Songbird, Rachel Alexandra and last year’s Alabama winner Elate. The successful sire, Medaglia d’Oro, has two of the current Kentucky Derby favorites and their prospects look good.
Bolt D’Oro leads most Kentucky Derby polls as the top three year old in the nation. He is a true blue blood coming from a dam by the great A.P. Indy. You put the dam side along with his sire, which is El Prado, and you have the makings of a classic champion. The most impressive part of his sire line contains names such as Sadler’s Wells and Northern Dancer. One thing about Bolt d’Oro – distance should be no problem.
Bolt d’Oro won the San Felipe Stakes, the biggest three year old race on the west coast prior to the Santa Anita Derby. It is important to note that Bolt d’Oro didn’t make it to the finish line first, that honor belonged to McKinzie, a Bob Baffert trainee that many considered to be the top Derby prospect in the nation. Bolt d’Oro won with a controversial disqualification. If he and McKinzie both return in the Santa Anita Derby the issue of superiority should be resolved, at least until the first Saturday in May.
As of now Bolt d’Oro is atop the Derby list and his pedigree makes him a genuine classic distance horse.
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On the east coast another son of Medaglia d’Oro captured a Kentucky Derby prep the same day Bolt d’Oro was victorious in California. Enticed, a colt with the cool one word name, romped in the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct. Enticed left the impression that he was a plodder and had to be encouraged to go. When he did get down to business in the Aqueduct stretch, he turned the Gotham into an easy win.
Enticed has strong ties to A.P. Indy on the dam side since his broodmare sire is former Horse of the Year Mineshaft. His dam was no slouch either. It’s Tricky defeated two-time Champion Royal Delta and Oaks winner Plum Pretty in the Grade 1 Coaching Club of America Oaks over 9 furlongs.
Medaglia d’Oro has been a great sire and he was also a great runner. His record from 17 starts is 8-7-0. He won The Travers Stakes and The Whitney at Saratoga as well as the Strub Stakes, the Oaklawn Handicap and the Donn Handicap. He finished second in the Pacific Classic and the Belmont Stakes and twice finished in the Breeders’ Cup Classic and the Dubai World Cup.
Medaglia d’Oro currently has a lofty stud fee $250,000.
Now 19 years old, Medaglia d’Oro only needs a winner on the first Saturday in May in Louisville to round out a great stud career. In 2018 he looks to be at the Derby poker table holding some strong cards. His popularity as a prospective Derby winning sire was displayed in the November future sire pool when he was heavily bet to 5-1.
Racing! Owning a Thoroughbred Racehorse Teaches You A Lot
March 6, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Learn about how much people care for these horses
Hello, my name is Eric Sondheimer, and welcome to our horse racing newsletter. I’m going to try to be the Manny Mota of pinch hitters today, filling in for John Cherwa. I’ve focused through the years on covering high school sports for The Times but …
Source: Racing! Owning a thoroughbred teaches you a lot about how much people care for these horses
How Thoroughbred Horse Racing Bets on Science, and Wins
November 9, 2017 by Leave a Comment
There’s no test to show a one-eyed horse named Patch could make it to this year’s Kentucky Derby . There’s no test for coming up from behind and winning the whole thing, So It Is-style. This story appears in the fall 2017 edition of CNET Magazine.
