Breakdowns

Scott Sander had an idea for a rom-com movie floating around in his head, but wasn't quite sure what the setting should be. Then it hit him. Why not horse racing, and specifically the breeding industry? That's the story behind the story when it comes to the movie Sander is working on, "Breeders." "I thought I had what was a really good idea for a big, fun romantic comedy," said Sander, who was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week on the Thoroughbred Daily News Writers' Room Podcast presented...

The just-concluded Santa Anita/Hollywood winter/spring meet with a 99.97% safety record from 6,678 horses racing over the dirt and or turf is truly remarkable. Combine this result with the additional data released by HISA of a fatality rate of .83 per 1000 starts nationally for the first quarter of 2024 and something extraordinary is starting to occur. Thoroughbred racing can and, importantly is, becoming safe with regard to horse fatalities. One would have been hard-pressed to make such a statement in 2019 with the many horse fatalities at Santa Anita....

Unfortunately, as is typically the case with the Horseracing Integrity & Safety Authority (HISA) corporation, CEO Lisa Lazarus left out important details from her remarks during HISA's town hall meeting on March 11 regarding the toe grab rules in relating to horsemen and breakdowns at Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino (PMRC). The following comment is quoted from the TDN article HISA Town Hall: Regulatory Reach, Environmental Contamination, Lab Variability and More Discussed: "Probably the racetrack that had the biggest complaints about this rule was Prairie Meadows, and they went from...

Editor's note: After 60 Minutes aired a segment called "Horse Racing Reform?" on its Sunday night broadcast, Dark Hollow Farm's JoAnn Hayden posted a letter she had written to 60 Minutes on her Facebook page and urging friends and racing industry members to do the same. She writes: "I have always felt proud and grateful to be part of Maryland's thoroughbred racing community. Over the past 50+ years my circle of friends, employees, trainers, and colleagues have been exemplary humans who have provided the best care for my horses and...

We have all been affected by the recent tragedies that have occurred in the racing industry. Whether reading of, heartbreakingly witnessing these horrors on national television, or while sitting with our friends at an event, we have all begun with breathless engagement in the grand spectacle of poetry in motion. We watch in admiration and awe as living, breathing works of art slice through the wind in full flight only to often sadly witness events that cannot be unseen; events that may haunt the recesses of our minds, creating fodder...

My first race was two years ago. The 2021 Haskell Invitational S., the summer before my senior year of college. It was the post parade that hooked me. When "Born to Run" sounded through the grandstand as Mandaloun, Hot Rod Charlie and Midnight Bourbon bounced onto the track, it didn't matter how the race would go. I was in. It was enough to latch onto despite the outrage I felt towards my home-state regulators for an ill-advised whip rule that took down Midnight Bourbon, along with my exacta box. But...

Raceday fatalities create powerful news stories anywhere. Social Media has ensured that our world of racing is now a global community, with news and videos dispatched within minutes to knowledgeable audiences in countries far beyond the American shores. However, shock will have reverberated throughout  horse communities of many nations at the recent tragedies that have occurred on the racetracks at Saratoga and Churchill Downs. We all wait with bated breath to hear the steps that the major U.S. racecourses will take to remedy a very challenging moment for our sport,...

When it comes to breakdowns, the Tapeta surface at Woodbine isn't perfect. But it might be as close to perfect as any surface on the continent. While horses throughout North America broke down on the dirt at a rate of 1.44 per 1,000 starts in 2022, the rate of breakdowns over the synthetic surface at Woodbine was 0.42. This year, after about 4,500 starts over Tapeta there have been only two fatalities during races. Also, there have been about 14,000 published workouts over Woodbine's synthetic tracks and only two fatalities...

Mark Casse may have made more starts over dirt and synthetic surfaces combined than any other trainer in history-over 5,000 starts on synthetic and 5,000 on dirt in the past 15 years alone. He estimates that he has sent horses out to gallop, breeze, or race over a synthetic surface 150,000 times in the past 10 years.  With a base at Woodbine, where they race and train over a Tapeta surface which sports one of the lowest instances of catastrophic injuries in North America, Casse offered to sit down with...

After the on-track deaths of two racehorses on its Saturday card prompted a series of meetings with interested parties, the racing card will continue as scheduled Sunday at Saratoga as planned, according to a release from NYRA's Vice President of Communications, Patrick McKenna. "Sunday's live racing program will proceed as scheduled following a series of productive meetings held with horsemen, jockeys, and veterinarians last night and throughout the morning," read an emailed statement. "Based on these conversations and ensuing dialogue, NYRA is confident in the safety and overall consistency of...

During the Wednesday running of race five at Saratoga Race Course, a $50,000 starter allowance going nine furlongs over the turf, Wisecraken (McCraken) sustained a catastrophic injury to his right hind leg, Pat McKenna, NYRA's Vice President of Communications, said via email Wednesday afternoon. Despite the immediate response of on-site veterinarians, the horse was humanely euthanized due to the severity of the injury. The 3-year-old gelding owned by Ironhorse Racing Stable LLC was trained by Michelle Nevin and ridden by Ricardo Santana, Jr., who was uninjured.

Editor's note: Bill Casner, a long-time participant in many facets of racing, is probably best known for founding WinStar Farm with Kenny Troutt and winning the 2010 GI Kentucky Derby with Super Saver. Among Casner's many roles in the sport have been founding director of the Race for Education and Kentucky Equine Education Program (KEEP). He has sold his interest in WinStar to Troutt and currently operates as Casner Racing. Horse racing is in a firestorm. We are at survival tipping point. The decisions that are made in the short...