2021 Eclipse Award Voting
It’s that time of year again—Eclipse Awards voting. As a member of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) I have the privilege and the honor of having a vote in the Annual Eclipse Awards but, as I’ve said in prior years, I believe that vote comes with some responsibility. For me that means a few things. One, abstaining in…
47th Annual Global Symposium on Racing
December 7 & 8, 2021 I attended my first Symposium on Racing, held in Tucson, Arizona and presented by the University of Arizona’s Race Track Industry Program. I attended because I was interested in the proposed agenda topics and because I’ve learned that I get so much more out of attending a conference or symposium than I do by simply…
What’s Right and Wrong in Horse Racing and the Need for Cooperation
This is an article that first appeared in the Paulick Report in two parts. I felt compelled to write this piece because so few people talk about what horse racing is getting right these days. There is a lot of good news to report and many reasons to feel excited about the future of horse racing. However, I couldn’t write…
2020 Eclipse Award Voting
My first high-pressure assignment of the New Year: Eclipse Award voting. While it is both an honor and a privilege to have a vote, it’s important to me to get it right. I take none of these categories lightly as an Eclipse Award win (or loss) can mean the world to the people involved. While I try not to be…
PETA is a Bully
(I owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Larry Bramlage and Euki Binns for their help in validating research and statistical information for this article, and to @JennyPhoto for the supporting pictures.) I can no longer remain silent about my love for horses and for horse racing for fear of backlash from PETA and other extremist organizations that claim to…
Jockeys are Doing Their Part to Save Horse Racing
Lost in the melee and the aftermath of the 145th running of the Kentucky Derby is the powerful story of how the jockeys have come together to do their part to save horse racing. These same jockeys, during and after the 2019 Kentucky Derby, landed squarely on opposite sides of the fence of what trainer Mark Casse and jockey Tyler…
Thoughts on the Santa Anita Crisis
The rash of catastrophic breakdowns that happened in a 6-month period at Santa Anita Park make it seem like racing fatalities are common. They are not. While it is true that there are somewhere around 50-60 training or racing fatalities per month at U.S. tracks (1.68 per 1,000 starts), it’s also true that there are nearly 3,300 human deaths per…
