The first thing many Thoroughbred aficionados think of with Valentine’s Day is that it’s the un-official, not always heeded, opening day of breeding season. Last year, Jay Hovdey wrote in DRF that “It is no small thing that in 2004 there were 34,797 registered American Thoroughbred foals. Some of them were champions and stakes winners, many, many more of them were entirely something else.” It’s that chance that makes the process romantic and Valentines-related, because as anyone who has spent time in the breeding shed can tell you, romance is usually pretty far from … Read More >

Before the Civil War, writes William H. P. Robertson in his landmark The History of Thoroughbred Racing in America, the universal birthday for Thoroughbreds was May 1. After the war, most of the country followed Great Britain’s example and moved the date to January 1. “For many years the South clung stubbornly to the old May 1 birthday, which was something of a paradox, since the earlier birthday was advantageous to warmer climates,” writes Robertson.

Now, all lingering regional differences are settled, … Read More >

Horse lovers and auction owners make strange bedfellows.

Oh, not those high-end, Keeneland/Fasig-Tipton/Lexington/Saratoga auctions, where well-bred babies are sold for hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions, of dollars, before their careers even begin, before anyone knows whether they can run.

Horse lovers, even the poor ones, flock to those auctions: we stand at the bar, we watch the yearlings, we mark up the sales book, highlighting the progeny of our favorite racehorses. A few times a year, we indulge in the fantasy and the pageantry.

And while all that’s going on, every Wednesday, photographer Sarah K. Andrew goes to another kind of … Read More >

Horsepeople are famously superstitious. The horseshoe, the most common symbol of luck, is equine-related. And The Blood-Horse magazine still lists a calendar of zodiacal signs for people who believe in astrologically based breeding and weaning: loins, neck, heart. The chart assists in making “husbandry decisions,” it says. But at the races themselves, there is no chart. Instead, there are personal, capricious rules. As Ed Madary writes, prohibitions include: Don’t eat peanuts in the shell. Call the stall between 12 and 14 12A, not 13. … Read More >

Last year we were guaranteed at least one historical moment in the Breeders’ Cup with the first Breeders’ Cup night race. This year, the only thing guaranteed is the first running of the Juvenile Sprint, but there is at least one potential big moment with Goldikova going for her fourth consecutive Breeders’ Cup win in the Mile. Also a historical first, technically speaking, is the Mile bumping the Turf out of its customary spot preceding the Classic in honor of Goldikova’s potential historical moment.

This year we did some digging through the Breeders’ Cup statistics site to drum up … Read More >

On Tuesday, November 1, 2011 at 3:00 p.m. (Monday, 12 midnight U.S. Eastern), millions of Australians will tune in for the 151st running of the Melbourne Cup—a race so entrenched in Aussie culture that even those who rarely give horse racing a second thought will partake in the obligatory wager.

For Aussie racing fans (not to mention breeders), it will also be a day of much lamenting, as the field of 24 this year is dominated by European-bred and/or raced horses; just three entries (The Verminator, Niwot, Older Than Time) were bred in Australia, and the usual “go-to” country for … Read More >

The phrase “walkover” refers to any uncontested or easy win. In politics, a walkover occurs when there is only one candidate for a given election, or when the others have defaulted or are so far behind as to be entirely non-competitive. The term comes, however, from horse racing. Traditionally, in British racing, even if only one horse appeared for a certain race, that horse still had to “walk over” the course.

Walkovers are uncommon these days. There was a walkover last year in England, but it was more a protest … Read More >

Betting on horses is a funny business. Even when one can identify that vulnerable favorite to bet against, there’s still that little bit of business of finding the actual winner. So it went in the Queen Elizabeth II at Keeneland on Saturday (replay). The chatter before the race was near universal among respected handicappers that Winter Memories wasn’t just … Read More >

The first ever British Champions Day is this Saturday at Ascot, and organizers couldn’t have dreamed of a splashier inauguration for the new year-end fixture when they announced it last fall. Undefeated Frankel headlines. The Queen will attend. And advance wagering on the richest day of British racing in history has already topped $47 million.

With five stakes races worth approximately $4.6 million, the six-race card is designed to be an emphatic ending to the British flat racing season and to evolve into a championship extravaganza that can rival the Breeders’ Cup or Arc day as a draw for … Read More >

Those who watched the PBS documentary Thoroughbred: Born to Run that aired in May of this year will surely remember the little foal out of Cerise by Point Given. We watched her life unfold from conception to birth to cutely frolicking in the paddock. The foal, born at Stone Farm, is now a 2-year-old and has been entered in her first race.

Cherry Point is owned by Donnybrook Stables and trained by Tammy Domenosky. She’s entered in the seventh race at Hawthorne this Friday the 14th, a $32,000 maiden special weight going a 1 1/16 miles on … Read More >