The timely and unambiguous closing statement of last week’s Asian Racing Conference by Asian Racing Federation (ARF) Chairman and Hong Kong Jockey Club Chief Executive Winfried Engelbrecht－Bresges proposing the establishment of a regional task force to develop an ARF Anti-Illegal Betting Strategy, is an overwhelmingly positive step in the right direction.…
For some, a horse auction is an excellent place for buyer and seller to meet and arrive at fair market value for an animal. To others, a horse auction is the place where good money was spent on a horse which couldn’t, or didn’t, perform up to expectations. For still…
Very few of the racegoers who watched a horse called Gay Future walking around the parade ring before the 4.20 race at Cartmel racecourse exactly 40 years ago today, on August bank holiday Monday 1974, would have fancied his chances. Read the full story here
Super Bowl players and racehorses have more in common than you might think. Super Bowl week is in full swing, and it coincides with the start of Triple Crown season in the world of horse racing. While the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos prepare to face off in San Francisco…
Scene from Phar Lap 10 great movies for all racing fans. Since the creation of film in 1878, tales of love, friendship, adversity and triumph have been the key ingredient to finding success on the big and small screen. The latter ingredient ‘triumph’ has been the catalyst for just about…
“After a horse like Slew, there was nothing,” Polston said. “I didn’t want to be around horses anymore, because I knew it wouldn’t be the same. Everybody expected everything I touched to be another Seattle Slew.” Read the full story here Seattle Slew – Full Documentary
I am not really one that revels in comparing great racehorses between one another. My feeling is that once they are in the top 5% of the population, they are good, and the difference between them is so nuanced that comparison ruins its relevancy. For example, I’d counter any comparison…
“The blight must stop”, declared Fairfax’s Sunday Age editorial’s opening line on cheating, drugs and corruption in sport. Whilst a true and accurate reflection of a restless and increasingly angry community comprising a diverse sports loving fan base desperate for a circuit breaker to be effective, this opening line, and…
The middle and lower tiers of the industry are being wiped out, and small-field races dominated by the same faces don’t create interest or appeal as a betting medium. Point-to-point fields have also reduced alarmingly. As we have documented in detail here before, the numbers for horses in training, licence-holders,…
If the definition of an inbred horse is one that has at least one duplicated ancestor between the parents within four generations, then an outcrossed one has no closely duplicated ancestors at all. The majority of the breed is outcrossed, which should relieve the fear that the Thoroughbred is overrun…