Wayne McIlwraith

The TDN sat down with trainer Wesley Ward for the next installment in this ongoing series presented in cooperation with the Consignors and Breeders Association (CBA). Through conversations with buyers and sellers, the series looks to contribute to the discussion on radiograph findings and their impact on racetrack success. Nothing quite goes together like Wesley Ward and winning 2-year-olds in the Spring at Keeneland. The leading trainer at six Keeneland Spring meets, Ward's early starting juveniles are usually treated as sure things when they head to the post. The group...

Last month, California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) chairman Greg Ferraro scratched a persistent industry itch. While discussing his thoughts on the rollout of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act's (HISA) drug control program, Ferraro shared his fears that the new federal rules on joint injections were weaker than had previously existed in California. "It's a step backwards," Ferraro said. And this regulatory reshuffle, he added, could lead to an increase in California of irreparable musculoskeletal injuries, especially of the fetlock joint. "California is the point of the spear in terms...

As we approach the beginning of the Thoroughbred yearling sales season, it is worth reflecting on the process used by buyers to select their racing and sales prospects.  Part of the process includes veterinary scrutiny of the radiographs of yearling's' joints.  Veterinarians review the radiographs, note any abnormal findings, and then are called upon to assign a level of risk for racing and / or resale that the findings may represent.  Another layer of due diligence in recent years has been ultrasound examination of horses' limbs for soft tissue abnormalities,...

As well documented by Bill Finley in the Week in Review, Kentucky Derby Day (as well as the week preceding it) was a very bad day for racing. "Efforts to end the sport picked up a lot of momentum Saturday and that's a very scary thing," is hard reading, but it is real. What also scares me is what I read in Sundays TDN in the article "Two more equine deaths at Churchill Downs" was in the statement from HISA that said: "Dr Peterson has assured both HISA and Churchill...

A lightning strike ignited a fire which claimed three horses at a Lexington barn owned by trainer Wesley Ward. The trio included Strike the Tiger (Tiger Ridge), who gave Ward his first victory at the Royal Ascot meeting when he won the 2009 Windsor Castle S. Also killed was the 5-year-old maiden winner Modesto (Uncle Mo) and a Hootenanny 2-year-old gelding. "The investigators just left and they determined that lightning hit the main service pole and it sent all the electricity right to the box in my barn and caused...