Letter to the Editor

While I don't know Mike Repole, I do know about his business success and acumen. I also know about his repeated calls to improve and perhaps save the sport so many of us love. Let's be realistic, horse racing has been in a decline for 25 years.  I have personally considered giving up and moving on many times recently. Yet on a recent trip to Lexington to see my foals and horse friends I realized how much it still all means to me. I don't get the push back and...

If there are two sports whose paths have mirrored each other historically, it would be baseball and horse racing in America. Both are tradition-driven and both enjoyed prominence for decades. And both recently have dealt with challenges, scandals and declining interest. One sport though has chosen to embrace innovation. Baseball has developed multiple changes over several years as they fought to gain fan, media and sponsor revenue. To our credit, racing has innovated in several spaces, specifically health and safety, but not so much in product presentation. The last major...

I read with much interest the recent article involving the interview with John Sikura from Hill 'n' Dale farm. I happen to agree with some of his points, especially that fixing many of the issues currently present in racing will require the combined sacrifice and agreement of many facets of the racing industry. However, what struck me the most in this article was that, once again, a member of the breeding community in racing does not seem to think anything with their own business needs to change. From a business...

In a time when true horsemanship is increasingly considered a lost art, and our industry faces a barrage of criticism and skepticism, Frank Taylor's Stable Recovery initiative shines as a beacon of what can be accomplished. This program is not just a cutting-edge approach to addiction recovery; it is a call to arms for an industry that needs both positive PR and meaningful solutions to real-world challenges. True Horsemanship: The Heart of Stable Recovery What stands out about Stable Recovery is its focus on horsemanship as a cornerstone of recovery....

Recent discussions about racing fatalities are putting the sustainability of Thoroughbred racing to the test. Various solutions have been suggested to reduce fatalities and maintain public acceptance of our wonderful sport. We should pay more attention to the opportunities of breeding to improve sustainability. Let us look at the history of dairy cattle breeding for inspiration to breed more sustainable Thoroughbreds. For a long time, farmers focused almost exclusively on maximizing milk yield until their attention shifted towards reducing involuntary culling and improving animal health and welfare. Breed associations supported...

I am a bloodstock agent and, at times, a horse owner based in California. I have been reading, with great interest, the various comments and opinions regarding how best to resolve the ongoing and serious issue with the spate of deaths of our precious and amazing Thoroughbreds. While I am not as well known (and as articulate) as most of the professionals who have commented on this topic in TDN, I feel that I might be able to bring a different perspective. My family has owned both flat and steeplechase...

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...

Horse racing is at an existential moment. Just weeks after a series of breakdowns at Churchill Downs cast a shadow over the Kentucky Derby, a wave of horrifying horse deaths at Saratoga Race Course has once again brought questions about safety to the forefront of public consciousness. This is a tragedy, as every horse that breaks down also breaks our hearts. However, I believe our sport has reached a tipping point, and I predict there will be a Silver Lining emerging from all these tragedies. In the past week, I...

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,...

On an impossibly sunny day in October 2022, I found myself at L&D Stables in Nicholasville, Kentucky, looking at a very handsome chestnut gelding for my first OTTB restart project. Despite his flashy presence, my eye kept drifting to a small herd of mares in a nearby paddock. I made my way to the fence line and was met immediately by a pair of kind eyes and an inquisitive pink nose, searching for my face and neck. Sixty seconds later that nose was gently resting on my shoulder. I was...

by Brent J Malmstrom "Leave no authority existing not responsible to the people."-Thomas Jefferson I was made aware The Jockey Club published an article "HISA is Necessary" which appears to be a direct response to my letter to the Editor Actions Detrimental. I would like to thank all the various industry participants who have reached out in support of what I shared and the concerns which were raised. The Jockey Club is a breed registry. The author perhaps without knowing has acted as an agent for the Authority and or...