Jerkens and Higgins Devoted to Horses, With a Pinch of Garlic

Allen Jerkens and Bill Higgins, friends and colleagues for more than 30 years, have found different outlets for their time away from the racetrack.

Harness Driver, 95, Presses On One Fair at a Time

A 6-year-old mare, Winsome Wyoming, has given Leo Burns a purpose and helped fill a void left by the death of his wife in 2003.

Blame Shows Potential, Winning Whitney Handicap

Blame may eventually have to face Zenyatta, who ran her record to 18-0 by winning her third consecutive Clement L. Hirsch Stakes, by a neck Saturday in Del Mar, Calif.

At Saratoga, Lisa’s Booby Trap Comes From Nowhere

Lisa’s Booby Trap, who won the Loudonville Stakes on Friday, was purchased for $2,000 by Tim Snyder this past winter. He was recently offered $500,000 for Lisa’s Booby Trap. No sale.

Horse Racing Needs a Kick-Start From Its 3-Year-Olds

After a lackluster Triple Crown season, racing’s 3-year-olds get another shot in Saturday’s Jim Dandy and Sunday’s Haskell Invitational.

From Joy on the Field to Joy in the Stables

Mick Channon had a long career playing professional soccer before he embarked on a second vocation, training thoroughbreds.

Joining the Horse Set at an Early Age

On the East End of Long Island, some of Manhattan’s privileged children turn to equestrian pursuits.

Horses Kill 1 and Injure 23 at Iowa Parade

A Fourth of July parade in eastern Iowa turned to mayhem when a pair of horses lunged into the crowd.

Sharing of Safety Data Proposed

Advocates at the Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit have proposed tracking jockey injuries and sharing horse prerace medical records in an effort to reduce accidents.

Prince Harry, Visiting New York, Falls Off a Horse

Prince Harry remounted and even scored goals during a polo match on Governors Island.

Celebrating Horses, Humans and Their Bond

“Cavalia” features 60 horses, along with acrobats, aerialists and riders.

A Female Trainer With an Old-School Pedigree

Alexis Barba, who was mentored by horsemen from a bygone era, is attempting to become the first female trainer to win the Belmont.

Improbable Benefactor Helps a Novice Breeder

Greg McAfee is in the breeding business thanks to Ernie Paragallo, the New York horseman who has been convicted of animal cruelty.

Keeping the Peace by Riding the Urban Range

One notable thing about being a mounted police officer, John B. Reilly pointed out, is this: “A horse is not a car.”

One Eye on Crown, One on Crowd of Rivals

Horseplayers and horse lovers alike have been waiting ardently for over 30 years for another horse to win the Triple Crown. Will Super Saver be the one?

Videos: Two international races from Veliefendi in Turkey

The International Racing Festival in Istanbul began today and continues tomorrow and features four international black type races. Last year, all four winners of these races were trained in Britain, and the best local performance was that of Pan River’s second to Halicarnassus in the Group 2 Bosphorus Cup, form later confirmed when Pan River [...]

Slideshow: New photos from Tesio-designed Dormello Stud

These previously unpublished photos belong to the group that was part of this post on Dormello.

Hungarians asking for news of Overdose groom Budinszky

After writing the post below this one, on the “disappearance” of Barbara Budinszky, groom, exercise rider, and friend of Hungarian sprinter Overdose, I noticed that it had been posted on a Hungarian site and the post was receiving quite a number of views from Hungary and Slovakia. A journalist friend/acquaintance from Új Szó, a Hungarian daily newspaper in [...]

Where have you gone, Barbara Budinszki? asks Overdose

It’s not easy conducting an international investigation, in Hungary and Germany, lying in bed on a Sunday afternoon with a laptop perched on my chest in Park Slope, Brooklyn, cup of coffee nearby, but here’s what I’ve come up with: Barbara Budinszky is missing!  She’s not as famous as The Who’s Baba O’Riley, but Where’s [...]

Video: Overdose loses in Germany today; win streak ends

Overdose lost the Group 2 Goldene Peitsche at Iffezheim Racecourse in the German resort city of Baden-Baden today, ending his undefeated status after 15 starts. A national icon in Hungary, the 5-year-old son of Starborough, attempting an international comeback after battling foot problems for two years, had won the same race in 2008. A winner twice this year in Hungary [...]

Uncle Mo’s Saratoga debut today adds more to 2yo division

How about the debut of Uncle Mo today at Saratoga? Click here for the chart of the race, and here for the pedigree. The colt, a $220,000 Keeneland September yearling from the Four Star Sales consignment, is expected to start next in the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes. With Kantharos and Boys at Toscanova in the picture, too, [...]

Boys at Tosconova stock rises after Trickmeister win Friday

There was significant chatter on Twitter yesterday after Trickmeister, an undefeated son of Proud Citizen, won the nine-furlong Pleasant Colony Stakes at Saratoga Friday by almost 12 lengths. Here’s the race: Thoroughbred Times writer Jeff Lowe was particularly impressed when he tweeted this: “Had to revisit Dutrow’s comments about Boys at Tosconova after what Trickmeister did today. Scary“ Both [...]

Sariska’s refusal has some family history, as it turns out

Read with interest one of my favorite blogs the other day, John Sparkman’s “The pedigree Curmudgeon,” specifically his post on Sariska’s refusal to leave the starting stalls Aug. 19 in the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks. Read the post here. John speculates on whether pedigree could be a factor for the behavior, and wrote: When a [...]

Overdose in Baden-Baden for G2 Goldene Peitsche Sunday

Hungarian sprinter and national icon Overdose, unbeaten in 14 starts including two in 2010 but only thrice-raced in two years, has returned to the scene of his breakthrough international performance of 2008, Iffezheim Racecourse in the German resort city of Baden-Baden. It was here in 2008 that Overdose won his first Listed race outside the European backwater [...]

New photos of Tesio’s Dormello Stud, home of Nearco, etc.

Federico Tesio at Dormello. The great Italian horseman Federico Tesio bred the unbeaten Nearco, one of the most influential stallions in history, and Ribot, one of the greatest of European racehorses. They, with a dizzying number of other champions, were raised at his Dormello Stud in Northern Italy, situated on the banks of Lake Maggiore. An architect of buildings and [...]