Category: Equine

California Fires

Equine 8 Comments

Ugh.

Tweets from various California-based turfwriters and horsemen late Thursday indicate that barns at San Luis Rey Downs training center have caught fire as part of the rapidly-spreading Lilac Fire which started earlier in the day. Trainers there are telling media that one or more buildings at the facility are on fire. Some horses have been removed from their stalls and turned loose onto the training track, which an official with The Stronach Group, owner of San Luis Rey Downs, said was a confined area.
Trainer Cliff Sise told CBS 8 that one of his horses perished as he tried to save her. He estimated there were 10 to 15 horses dead as of about 8:15 p.m. EST.

Gut wrenching video of efforts to free horses. A number are safely moved to Del Mar but it’s feared many remain loose, while others have succumbed to smoke inhalation and injury.

The Children Are Our Future

Children R Our Future Equine 20 Comments

Veteran U.S. show jumper Katie Prudent;

Years ago–I’m not even going to mention the rider’s name–one girl rider had had a bad day, and the trainer wanted that rider to ride another horse and maybe work without stirrups. To pay her dues.
And the barn manager said, “Oh no, she has an appointment to go get her nails done.” I have to tell you, that is America in a nutshell right there. That is where we’re going in our sport in America. It makes me sick. And I don’t know a way out of it.

Reader Tips

Equine Reader Tips 25 Comments

“I watched him call a race, and [fellow announcer] Travis Stone was up in the booth with me,” Collmus said via phone. “And Sam was chatting with us right up until it’s time do the race. The race starts, and his program is on the desk behind him. Literally, he worked with nothing in front of him, and he was absolutely flawless-descriptive, dead-on, every horse right, no hesitation. It was just him and binoculars. And he wasn’t showing off-that was how he did it. I point to the program, and Travis and I are just shaking our heads, thinking, ‘Oh my God, this guy’s a legend.’ He was as good as it gets in harness racing, and he could call a Thoroughbred race, too. He was just one of those guys who was very talented, and not an egotistical bone in his body.”

Tonight’s tips thread pays tribute to the “voice of the Meadowlands”, the legendary harness race caller Sam McKee, who passed away March 7th after suffering a stroke. Thread open.

The Rise, Fall And Now Rebirth of California Chrome

Equine 8 Comments

Sports Illustrated;

On the first Tuesday in July 2015, a thoroughbred racehorse named California Chrome was walked slowly off a long, white equine transport van and onto the backstretch at Arlington Park racetrack in suburban Chicago. Earlier that day, he had been flown from England, where he had spent the previous three months training. California Chrome did not look healthy; his chestnut coat was dull and spotty, and the skin on his flanks sagged across protruding ribs, with little muscle…

Post time for the Breeder’s Cup Classic is 5:35pm Pacific on Saturday, carried live on NBC. Earlier races on the card today and tomorrow are available on NBC Sports, TSN2, and streamed via Facebook. (Check here for more broadcast details).
I was supposed to be in the stands cheering him down the stretch. In fact, I was supposed to be in the stands right now (there’s my empty seat #104), waiting for what could be a race for the ages between Songbird, Beholder, and Stellar Wind in the Distaff later today.
Those plans went down the tubes with the arrival of a litter of puppies, and problems.
Don’t ever go into breeding dogs. They’ll ruin your life.
(Update: They did not disappoint.)
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