Saturday’s runaway horse

The highlight of the Preakness for many was the horse who dumped his jockey at the gate and ran on his own. Unlike all those (including announcers) who said he continued to "race" to the finish, we know better. This is a picture of a horse happily running freely, a rarity for a thoroughbred in…

Remember Barbaro

BARBARO, the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner, answered the starting bell at the Preakness Stakes, moments before jockey Edgar Prado pulled him up with a broken hind leg. Eight months later, he would die of the complications from that injury. Nothing has changed since the death of Barbaro and the tragic Eight Belles. More horses are…

How many horses have to die before the racing industry changes?

"How many horses have to die before the racing industry changes?" That question is the title of an Op-Ed written by Leah Smith, a senior at the Park School of Baltimore. In her closing paragraph she states: I don't have a moral objection to horse racing, or to using animals to make money. But most…

Our racehorses are broken America, writes Barry Petchesky

This article came across my desk as I was watching the video of I'll Have Another running around a paddock, kicking up his heels, at his new home in Japan where he arrived recently to continue his racing career as a Thoroughbred Stallion. Cross-posted from Deadspin WRITTEN BY BARRY PETCHESKY Our horses are sick. Our…

Ray Paulick asks when is a ‘milkshake’ not a milkshake. In horse racing.

Ray Paulick of the Paulick Report asks the $15,000 question: How does a horse get an elevated carbon dioxide level without being administered a “milkshake,” a procedure that involves tubing a mixture of baking soda, water, and possibly other substances into a horse’s stomach four to six hours before a race? The question is in…

A lust to win, an incentive to cheat: The stain on American Thoroughbred racing

Researched and Written by JANE ALLIN Unlike some other organized sports in America, such as baseball, football and basketball, horse racing differs in several ways. Not only does it lack centralization in the form of a governing body to oversee regulatory policies and mandates, but it also does not provide its players with contractual salaries.…

If I’ll Have Another wins the Triple Crown should it be denoted with an asterisk?

As Barry Bonds neared Hank Aaron's all-time home run record, the media questioned whether Bonds' record -- if he and when he broke Aaron's -- should be denoted with an asterisk due to his alleged steroid usage. It garnered a lot of attention for a long time, and tarnished the image of Major League Baseball.…

I’ll Have Another . . . shock wave therapy treatment please

Written by JANE ALLIN News of this year’s Kentucky Derby winner, I’ll Have Another, undergoing extracorporeal (outside the body) shock wave therapy (ESWT) on his back shortly before the race drew some speculation as to the objective of this strategy. Apparently there was nothing wrong with the horse, at least according to his owner, Paul…

Let horse racing die says Katie of Baltimore

Katie of Baltimore expressed the following opinion on the Baltimore Sun: I attended the Preakness many times when I was younger, but I won't mourn the death of Maryland horse racing one bit now that I realized how inhumane horse racing is ("Preakness at risk," Nov. 30). People often accuse Orioles players of steroid use,…

President of Md State Senate says buy the Preakness (US)

Cross-posted from Associated Press March 17, 2009 By BRIAN WHITE ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland could consider building a horse racing track and run the Preakness Stakes if its financially troubled owner decides to sell the Triple Crown race, state Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller said Tuesday. Miller said the name for the second…