Braulio Baeza

Earlier this year, the son of a longtime family friend called me and said that he had claimed an eight-year-old gelding the previous summer, and he had raced a dozen or so times for him, but now he was nine, and he was worried about him. He wanted to make sure that he retired him sound, so that he could have a second career. After six or seven years on the track, he had earned it, he said. He asked my advice, and I had him contact Anna Ford at...

New York has lagged other racing states in addressing changes to whip use designed to be more humane to Thoroughbreds. But not being an early adopter of controversial new rules can sometimes be an advantage, because regulators are able to assess what is and isn't working in other jurisdictions before making potentially radical modifications to long-standing practices. That was the tone of discussion during the Oct. 19 teleconference meeting of the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC), which conducted what amounted to a 2 1/4-hour opinion-gathering dialogue on whether or...

The Jockeys & Jeans summer auction to benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF) will begin Aug. 1 and end Sept. 15. Items up for sale include a Gulfstream VIP package and signed memorabilia from the likes of Hall of Fame trainers Bob Baffert and D. Wayne Lukas and jockeys Braulio Baeza and Jorge Velasquez. To bid, click here.