Letter to the Editor

by Brian Malloy The initial public forum for Light Up Racing at Fasig-Tipton in Lexington Monday night kicked off the most encouraging effort I've seen in my 44 years in horse racing. Vicky Leonard, the Kiwi PR pro who spearheaded a similar effort in Australia after a spate of tragic accidents in the Melbourne Cup, cogently outlined this grass roots campaign to a packed house and was greeted with thunderous applause. I taught the capstone course in public relations for several years at the University of Kentucky with a systems...

T.D. Thornton's report on racetrack closures in California (TDN, 12/6/23) and Dan Ross's piece on Pat Cummings's research into Computer Assisted Wagering in California (TDN 2/13/24) are frightening for all tracks not supported by casinos/slots. Santa Anita and Del Mar are high-profile tracks in trouble, but they are not alone. The problem? Host tracks are now receiving very little for their racing content. Remember Napster, when a lot of people were stealing songs and nobody knew what to do about it? I'm not Steve Jobs, who saved the music industry...

Operation Cashmere Club's assault on the White Turf of St. Moritz under the leadership of Generals Bromagen, Restrepo and Scherer began with a two-pronged attack, the primary force descending from Zurich in the North and a secondary force coming up from Milano in the South. The combined force of 70 plus Americans, Canadians, Irish, English and French converged upon the Hotel Kempinski Bar at 18:30 hours Thursday. In the face of such overwhelming odds the Kempinski Bar offered no resistance. The pattern continued Friday with a daytime assault on The...

Following from the excellent feature by Emma Berry in discussion with Harry Sweeney in Thursday's TDN, I felt compelled to write in. I, like many breeders and fans alike, was disappointed when the news of Adayar, Hukum and Westover's departures filtered through. Through various debates/heated discussions with my colleagues and fellow industry members, the usual argument was thrown back - would you use them yourself? Are they commercial? Harry Sweeney's comments sparked a different debate in my mind. Theoretically we are all supposed to be breeding with the aim of...

The Derby is not just any race. It is the pinnacle of American horse racing from virtually every angle: breeding, owning, training, riding and yes, even betting (who doesn't want bragging rights for picking the winner?). And the Derby race/event has grown to such importance for the entire industry (the hoopla around the Derby as an event got bigger in the preceding years even while horse racing has been struggling), that its import flows far beyond the private parameters of ownership of Churchill Downs, Inc. Derby day is an industry-wide...

I appreciated Bill Finley's conversation with Alan Foreman on TDN Writers' Room. Your question to him about trainers who are not guilty of cheating hit home for me. As a trainer who is dealing with this same issue prior to HISA in the state of Florida, I was hoping to make a brief comment. The banned substances provisions are more complicated than they want it to be in an era where the testing has become so fine any trainer can get a banned substance positive at any time no matter...

I retired in 2019 as the most prolific bugler in horse racing history with over 60,000 performances of "First Call" at a record-setting 51 racetracks in 23 states and Canada. My herald trumpet, which I used at NYRA for most of my time there, has been on display at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame for the past three years. Of this, I am very proud. But this is not the subject of my email. The subject is betting on horses, and I had some success in...

I think we can all agree that Juddmonte both know what they are doing and have an eye on the bottom line. Last year they had two Group 1-winning Frankel colts with stud potential. Both have similar profile dam-lines and both are good-looking colts. One was rated seven pounds superior to the other.  You can't get in to the winner of the less-than-vintage renewal of the 2,000 Guineas the 119-rated Chaldean (GB) at Banstead, meanwhile the 126-rated Irish Derby winner Westover (GB) was quietly shuffled off to Japan without a...

During the recent holiday season, I had the opportunity to engage in meaningful discussions with my 13-year-old son, Max, about his future aspirations. As he approaches an age where decisions about higher education and career paths come into focus, we've delved into conversations about his collegiate preferences and professional ambitions. It is not uncommon for adolescents at this stage to express a desire to emulate the occupational choices of family members. Max, in particular, has conveyed an interest in following in the footsteps of his father, cousin Norm, uncle Mark,...

I just wanted to express my frustration and disappointment that we, as an industry, seem incapable of presenting a meaningful response to the negativity we are currently facing in the mainstream media. For example, when the 60 Minutes documentary aired several weeks ago, it elicited a wave of legitimate outrage. But the industry's side of the story was nowhere to be seen outside the trade press. We have a collective tendency, at times like this, to wring our hands and shuffle our feet, figuratively speaking. Surely the Thoroughbred Racing Industry,...

With the Arqana sales closing out our breeding stock sales season, there were some very stark warnings for the industry in Europe. Plenty have highlighted the dire situation at the lower end of the market with a frightening number of mares failing to sell for even the covering fee of the foal inside them. However, it is also far from rosy at the top end of the market for our domestic product. Analysing the 143 mares/fillies that sold for £200,000+ at the three main sales (Goffs November, Tatts December and...

Like many TDN readers, I use online betting for playing the races. I had used one online site for a few years and felt that I needed another site that offered more "rewards", thus I signed up for DRF.com bets. Nice rewards and free past performances as you accumulate "points." Imagine my surprise to find out that I cannot place bets at Churchill Downs, Turfway, Fairgrounds and any other track that Churchill owns. And I cannot watch online live video either. Now, I don't know what the squabble is between...