Perhaps the spring brings more highs and lows to racing than any other time. There's the hope of brilliance as three year olds mature and find (or lose) what it takes to be a champion. There's disappointment, such as The Pamplemousse being scratched just before the Santa Anita Derby due to soreness and a concern on one leg - good for the horse but nonetheless disappointing. There's the buzz of a two year old by Songandaprayer who sizzled an eighth of a mile in 9.4 seconds at Keeneland Then there's the even more extreme off the track - the ushering in of a new generation of foals and too often saying goodbye to others.

Weekend in Indy, dam of Any Given Saturday and Bohemian Lady was bred to Distorted Humor for a full sibling to Any Given Saturday but the 14 year old mare had foaling complications and died along with her foal in mid January. There is a yearling colt and 3 year old filly, both by Distorted Humor.

Continue reading "The emotional time of year for horse racing"

There's the expected and the unexpected then sometimes there's just reminders that they have good days and bad days. Most horse owners know that until a horse is truly tested we don't know how good they are. Until we ask for that last measure that they have to give above their training and tap into their HEART we don't know if it's there. This is true for dressage horses, jumpers, reiners and every discipline but perhaps isn't so visible as with horse racing.

 Last weekend Dunkirk drew up with what looked to be another win on his record coming out of the turn but Quality Road found that heart. He not only looked his competitor in the eye but gave a "not today" flick of the tail and drew away to win in what looked too easy. Sometimes the challenge is less obvious, but this year is shaping up to be a banner year for the California horses shipping to Kentucky.

Continue reading "The Derby Picture Sharpens"

Most people, even avid racing fans, have forgotten him. He's the horse Laffit Pincay called "the fastest horse I ever rode, the fastest horse I ever saw." From a man who won the Eclipe award for outstanding jockey four times and was seven times the US leading jockey this is high praise.

The horse? A bay lightning bolt named Chinook Pass. Named after a mountain pass of 5430 feet he made a highway through the sprinter division on the track.

Chinook is 30 years old this month and the bay gelding set speed records at several places, winning an Eclipse for sprinter in the early 1980s (not a misprint there!) before retiring after an injury incurred when he won the Longacres Mile. After some healing time Chinook took on a second career - that of a dressage horse and Thoroughbred ambassador.

Continue reading "Tribute to a giant of a horse"

Sometimes we have to wonder what crosses people's minds. The team favored to win at the pinnacle of competition in polo, Lechuza Polo from Venezuela, had not just one but 21 horses collapse and die as they were unloaded from trailers at Wellington Florida's polo club. Thoroughbreds are often used in the sport. Although the team is owned by a Venezuelan businessman most of the horses and players are from Argentina. This isn't a case of just going out and buying a couple dozen more horses. The team has 60 horses, and all who got sick died.

 For those who haven't watched a polo "pony" in action they are incredible athletes with the ability to run flat out, stop and change direction and follow a ball to the goal. A good polo pony can be $10,000-20,000 easily and up. A trained high goal pony in International competition, which all of these 21 are, is much more than that.

Continue reading "polo horses killed in Florida"

Continue reading "Quality Road out of the Derby"