Jessica Chapel / Railbird

Racing Archive

Where Have I Read That?

Something about the subject and stats of Steve Haskin’s linkless latest, “Girls Gone Wild,” on the domination of fillies and mares in open company stakes worldwide, seemed awfully familiar as I was reading it on Saturday.

It could be that Valerie Grash wrote on a similar topic only two days before, drawing on the wealth of data and insights she’s accumulated in writing about top class distaffers internationally over the past couple years.

Posted in Racing on October 24, 2011 / Tagged Distaffers / Comments Off

Blind Luck to Lady’s Secret

Farewell to the rivalry for this year:

While Blind Luck’s rival Havre de Grace will likely use the Beldame as a prep for the Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. I) against males, Hollendorfer said there is no way his filly will run in that race.

“I’m not running her in the Classic,” he said. “I don’t believe in that. If others want to do it, God bless them. If we win the Ladies’ Classic, that’s plenty good for us.”

Farewell to Horse of the Year, too.

9/22/11 Addendum: About HOTY, Hollendorfer? Hovdey inquires. “If I did the right thing for my horse, I’d say that nothing would make a difference.”

9/29/11 Update: Interesting — the rivalry could resume in 2012. According to their connections, both fillies are expected to race as 5YOs.

Posted in Racing on September 21, 2011 / Tagged Blind Luck, Distaffers, Havre de Grace, HOTY, Rivalries / 2 comments

How Inhumane

Dick Powell on the Lasix debate:

But rather than ban it, I think we should mandate it.

Nearly all Thoroughbred race horses bleed. If you think we can breed our way out of this by separating the horses that bleed from those that don’t and breed a new racehorse that doesn’t bleed and doesn’t need Lasix, you would have to ban it in training as well which nobody wants to do.

And, how do you explain banning it to the animal rights activists that view our sport as being cruel and inhumane? …

Or, as trainer Rick Violette has said:

“Horses bleed. That is a fact. To force an animal to race without it is premeditated, borderline animal abuse.”

Arguing that a Lasix ban is abusive raises the question — if it’s inhumane to race horses without a drug, then isn’t it inhumane to race horses at all? If horses need a drug to mask the conditions in which they’re bred, trained, and raced, then shouldn’t the focus be on changing those conditions?

I don’t have answers; I merely ask.

Posted in Racing on September 20, 2011 / Tagged Lasix / 2 comments