Jerry Bailey

Twenty-five years ago, Cigar put together a perfect 10-for-10 season in the middle of a streak of 16 straight wins. We remember it here. It was the sixth race on an ordinary Friday card in October at Aqueduct some 26 years ago and there was nothing to suggest that the $34,000 allowance event would ever have any relevance. Jose Santos was aboard the favorite, a recent allowance winner who started out at Suffolk Downs named Golden Plover. Julie Krone had the mount for Tom Skiffington on second-choice Taddarruj. The third...

The whip issue, which never seems to go away, was front and center last week as the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) approved language that would severely limit the use of the riding crop. Under the new rules, horses can be hit on the shoulders and hindquarters, no more than two times in a row without waiting for a response and no more than six times total. That led the Jockeys' Guild to issue a stinging press release that expressed its displeasure with the new rules, calling them "unsafe" and...