The Wire

Rombauer, a versatile turf-or-dirt horse, laid in the weeds most of the way, wheeled into the stretch, went wide and snatched the 146th Preakness Stakes from the two favorites, who had engaged in today's excuse for a hot pace duel and flattened out in the end. Jockey Flavien Prat, in...

Double-digit wins and some chalky prices from harness action through May 15....

Do you remember the beginning of Aladdin, when the genie warns Aladdin to be specific with his wishes, otherwise he may not get what he intended? Does anyone else in the Thoroughbred industry feel like the last two weeks have been an endless barrage of wishes for racing gone wrong?...

Did you hear the news? They're running the 147th Preakness on Saturday, as chocolate-dipped in tradition as any race in America. It's Grade I, three-year-olds, 1-3/16th miles, a $1,000,000 purse. This edition provides more intrigue than the May 1 Kentucky Derby did both before and after, I'm serious. Especially if...

Clemson has long had a solid football team. They won 19 conference championships between their founding in 1896 and 1991, and even a national championship after a 12-0 season in 1981. However, through the 1990s they began to tail off. They failed to finish the season in the top 25...

The sun is out here in the tundra and life is, well not good, we're still kind of all locked down (the vernacular, it's not really), but it's not too bad. And lunch time is upon me and I am bored so I thought I'd share some drivel. Matt wrote what...

You do not get to the top of the training game without having considerable ability and intelligence. No one can doubt that Bob Baffert is in the elite group, and may well be the most successful trainer in history. There … Continue reading →...

Dr. Kate Papp is an equine veterinarian in Pennsylvania who, in 2012, told a Congressional hearing that “the overuse and abuse of medication is rampant at our Thoroughbred racetracks and training centers.” Her testimony was prescient. One year later, the FBI arrested a number of trainers, veterinarians and racing officials...

As the situation surrounding Medina Spirit's positive betamethasone test has evolved through the course of this week, racing and mainstream media have covered the story extensively. The revelation that the 2021 Kentucky Derby winner failed an initial post-race drug test has also garnered op/eds from industry and non-industry publications. Most...

Five innings, 84 pitches, six strikeouts, three hits, 1.80 WHIP (whatever that is), three runs. The Tigers won their second game of a trying season, 11-7.  “Miles, you pitched a gem,” Coach Chris said. “A gem.”  Miles, hat askew, dirt caked on his hands, smiled. A long, tired, satisfied smile. ...

Detailed analysis of the 2021 Preakness Stakes field by Vance Hanson of TwinSpires....

Real Writing on Racing 💯...

Sitting in the luxe (not, but decent) Shalimar OTB in Indio, California with Mother, I commented on a prohibitive favorite at Hollywood Park. "Typical, that's a Baffert horse." "I don't like him," Emily said. "Why not?" "There's just something about him, the way he looks. I don't trust him. I...

My friends want to know things, so they call, text, email or otherwise follow some sort of unofficial “Ask Joe” guidebook....

The number of people inclined to nod along when Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert says, “Just trust me,” is getting smaller and smaller these days. First there was Justify, then Charlatan/Gamine, then Merneith, then Gamine again, and now Medina Spirit – five drug violations in the past year and...

For early May I planned a video about Old Friends’ satellite location at Ashton Grove Senior Community near our main farm in Georgetown, Kentucky. We have 16 retired Thoroughbreds and one professional meeter-greeter miniature horse at Ashton Grove. Since that … Continue reading →...

Coach Chris hit a fly ball during batting practice. Thwack. Logan caught it on the bounce. Another one. Thwack. It skipped past Ben. Another one. Thwack. Ace stabbed it to his right. ...

“First, Bob Baffert said it didn't happen. Now, he says it doesn't matter. He is wrong on both counts.” So writes Tim Sullivan of the Louisville, Ky.-based Courier-Journal, who was one of a handful of reporters attending a Sunday morning press conference at which Baffert announced the finding of 21...

Britannica defines the famous Occam’s razor (also spelled Ockham’s razor), or the law of parsimony, as follows: “principle stated by the scholastic philosopher William of Ockham (1285–1347/49) that pluralitas non est ponenda sine necessitate, ‘plurality should not be posited without necessity.’  The principle gives precedence to simplicity: of two competing theories, the simpler explanation of an entity...

There's something going on in horse racing today, but I have not really followed it. Instead, I've been thinking about two words we hear so often in betting this game: "Use Defensively". "Here are 112 reasons why I hate this 6-5 shot, but I am going to use him defensively""That horse...

In honor of Preakness Week, we look back at one of the race’s historic winners from 1946, the improbable Triple Crown hero and “Little Chocolate Galloper,” Assault. Here’s one of our favorite quotes about his victory in the first leg of the Triple Crown: “Assault is the name, but he...

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020 won’t go into effect until July 2022.  But consider how it would pertain to a situation similar to Medina Spirit testing positive for 21 picograms of the anti-inflammatory drug Betamethasone in the Kentucky Derby (a picogram equals one trillionth of a gram)...

Long weekend coming to a close. Sure, Monday morning feels like part of the weekend. Well, this part of Monday morning, when I’m at the computer, fresh-brewed coffee, wife and son asleep and a blank screen to fill. In a bit, when I walk to the barn to feed Gameboy...

Race Day. Up early, with a to-do list and a departure time. Off to Willowdale for a seven-race card. Weather forecast improving in Pennsylvania while it’s drizzling here in Middleburg. Car full of hats, boots, jackets. Hopefully, they stay there. But it is Willowdale when the weather seems to play...

Unless you are off the twitter grid (God bless you), you've no doubt witnessed the feud of the month(s) between ITP and some public racing handicappers and racing analysts.  It has not been unentertaining. ITP, profiled here in the antithesis of an average-quick-hit-interview-with-an-owner-or-breeder, clearly makes sound and logical points. Namely, why...