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Catching Up With Spooky Mulder
Sally Rohrbach stands by a fence behind her sprawling house in Harwood, Maryland, a short ride from Annapolis. Glimpses of the South River are visible down the hill from the front yard. She whistles,...
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New York-breds, by the numbers
If you look at the numbers, it’s a very good time to be a breeder in New York. Yesterday the New York Racing Association held its first Saratoga Showcase Day of New York-breds, building on the success...
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Thanks to Funky Munky, Jack on the Rocks Found His Way Back Home
“Jack on the Rocks roars back to win under Sheldon Russell! It’s Sheldon Russell—make his a double on Maryland Million Day! Jack on the Rocks!” That call by Dave Rodman is one of Richie Munk’s favorite...
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Socialsaul: Celebrating his first birthday in retirement
Followers of trainer Mark Hennig’s Twitter timeline were the first to hear the news last Friday, when Hennig posted a somewhat cryptic message after the fourth race at Aqueduct. Great, get some rest...
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Thoroughbred Sales, 2014: Broken Records, Tax Incentives, & Aftercare Donations
Buyers of Thoroughbred racehorses in 2014 got an early Christmas present when H.R. 5771, the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014, became law earlier this month. Retroactive through this past year, a...
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War Horses Finding Homes
“Can I call you back in a little while?” asked Barbara Luna on a recent wet, cold afternoon. “It’s miserable here, and I want to get the horses fed.” An hour later, the horses taken care of, Luna can...
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Happy retirement, Sportswriter!
In early August of 2011, my parents and I, not unusually, spent a lovely afternoon at Saratoga Race Course. With other family in town, they had to leave before the last race, but not before placing...
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A Grain Drive for Akindale, to Celebrate Evening Attire
I’m a little late in wishing Evening Attire a happy 17th birthday–the big day was Valentine’s Day, two days before his namesake race was scheduled to be run. Bad weather scuttled that, so the Evening...
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Keeneland, Churchill Lead the Way in Aftercare Partnership
At the close of the second Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit in March 2008, the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and The Jockey Club, underwriters and hosts for the event, released...
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Evening Attire’s Invite To His Derby Party for Akindale Thoroughbred Rescue
Akindale Thoroughbred Rescue doesn’t boast any Derby winners—or maybe even any Derby runners–but its equine family of 150 stakes winners and claimers invite you to the farm’s first Derby party, a...
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Continuing the conversation on horse racing and animal welfare
If you follow me on Twitter, you’re going to get – in addition to tweets about New York City, politics, feminism, and the New York Rangers – lots of tweets about cats. And cat rescue. And the treatment...
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Due Diligence: How Ninety North Takes Care of Its Retired Racehorses
Priscilla Godsoe, left, on Candy Feat; Cory Helfrich, right, on Bold Hawk. Photo courtesy Ninety North Beginning riders, even the most intrepid ones, generally get their start on quiet horses, the barn...
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From Claimer to Grade I to Retirement: Catching Up with Mabou
Photos courtesy of Nicole Sottilo Four years ago August 4, David Jacobson claimed a horse at Saratoga. Nothing terribly unusual about that, nor about the fact that Jacobson ran the horse, who had...
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Thoroughbred Aftercare: Big Progress in a Short Time
Akindale Farm in Pawling, NY, one of more than 40 TAA accreditated aftercare facilities. Photo courtesy of Akindale. Last week, Saratoga Springs’ Mayor Joanne Yepsen proclaimed that August is Racehorse...
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NYRA Steps Up For Retired Racehorses
At a Sept. 1 summit presented by the New York State Gaming Commission on racehorse aftercare, the New York Racing Association pledged that it would donate $5 per start at its tracks to the Thoroughbred...
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Spa Diary: Kieron Magee’s Games Begin
Photo credit Jim McCue/Maryland Jockey Club When Jack O Liam left New York in March, the 3-year-old son of Lookin At Lucky was a maiden. A veteran of six races in which he’d never been better than...
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Adopting an OTTB and a slaughterhouse near-miss: Is perfection the enemy of...
L’Animaux, now known as Animal, in his Missouri paddock. Photo: Eileen Rectenwald Foster In early March, Emily Daignault-Salvaggio logged onto Facebook and saw that her friend Bev Strauss, the...
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Special Delivery: Fox Hill’s Barefoot Mailman finds a new career in show ring
Photo courtesy of Cinthia Ane McGreevy Two years ago, on the advice of bloodstock agent Tom McGreevy, Fox Hill Farm’s Rick Porter entered the bidding fray in the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion at the...
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This week at Saratoga, 2016: Week of August 1
We’ve been spoiled. Over the last few years, the rain has avoided Saratoga like a gambler avoids an overbet bad favorite, but over the last few days, the wet stuff has descended like punters on a...
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OTTB to the Olympics: Blackfoot Mystery Goes for the Gold in Rio
Boyd Martin (left) and John O’Meara with Blackfoot Mystery. Credit: United States Equestrian Federation The Olympics are as much about stories as they are about competition. The athlete who overcame...
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