Eric Ward

I always enjoy whatever Chris McGrath writes, particularly his way of getting at things that many do not want to address. In Saturday's TDN he touched on a subject close to my heart (This Side Up, Nov. 15 TDN), so much so that I would venture to distil an answer to his question of why modern horsemen are so much more reluctant to ask questions of the Thoroughbred than their predecessors, down to the following: Because in the modern "Thoroughbred Industry" the tail of stud value now wags the dog...

When I opened today's Thoroughbred Daily News and saw James on the front page, I assumed it would be a follow-up to Bobby Flay's glowing words about James's talents in the paper last week. It took me a few moments for the actual headline to sink in. For me, James's death marks the passing of my most influential bloodstock mentor. From the time I first started at his Adstock Manor Stud in 1990, James became a father-figure-like fountain of equine knowledge to me. When I moved into a cottage at...