The Okanagan Film Festival International is struggling to find a venue after Landmark Cinemas gave organizers the boot over a controversial documentary about Colombian men who have sex with donkeys.

The Star;

In Ontario, a rising death knell for the financially gutted industry — facing track closures and withering purses in a best-case scenario — also peels for the beautiful four-legged creatures who carry jockeys and pull sulkies around 17 racing ovals.
A government panel assembled in June to study the sport’s dim future has forecast a mass slaughter of up to 13,000 thoroughbreds, standardbreds and quarter horses by early next year should the industry collapse completely. Already, it’s expected two-thirds of Ontario tracks will close, there will be fewer racing days, less money in the prize pot and therefore, less reason for owners and breeders to maintain expensive animals who may not have a place to run.
Against this horrific assessment, the finest 387 Ontario-bred thoroughbred babies go up for auction beginning Monday at Woodbine Racetrack. Horse people are worried, says thoroughbred owner and trainer Ian Howard of Vaughan.”

Reading the comments there, it seems The Star’s readers equate “revenue sharing from slots” with “taxpayer dollars”. Not the brightest group, that.
If Joe Molnar is around, he’s going to have plenty to say in the comments.
h/t Maz2

George Jonas: Horses can do (almost) anything.

The Australian super horse: now 20 for 20 – The dramatic impact that the unbeaten mare has on the sporting landscape will be further underlined when the AFL concedes to a request to have the starting time of the Adelaide-Geelong match on Saturday week altered so football fans can see the champion mare have her last Australian start before leaving for England.

h/t TimR

Geraghty’s Rule* strikes again – “All statements from Barack Obama come with an expiration date. All of them.”

Looks like there’s movement from gold into race horses.

Besilu Stables, Ben Leon, the South Fla healthcare exec, buys Royal Delta for $8.5M

The winning bid came at today’s November sale, currently underway at Keeneland;

Keeneland also notched a new record for the sale of a weanling filly. Benjamin Leon’s Besilu Stables paid $2.6 million for a half-sister by Medaglia d’Oro to Horse of the Year Saint Liam and stakes winners Congressionalhonor, Quiet Giant and Dance Quietly from the Evans dispersal. The previous record of $2.4 million was set in November 2006 for a filly by Gone West out of Islington (IRE).

There may be method to this madness. Unlike gold, horses can reproduce. They can serve as alternative transportation – no fueling station required. And they’re edible.

The Canadian equestrian community was left reeling Sunday after the sudden death of Hickstead, the legendary stallion that helped Eric Lamaze win a pair of Olympic medals at the 2008 Beijing Games.
Hickstead died during a World Cup event after collapsing to the ground and writhing in pain inside a packed arena.

From better times;

The Love that Dare Not Whinny Its Name

Someone asked how Sophia Mangalee is faring on her big adventure – pretty well! Here’s an Aug.13th report.

Sophia Mangalee’s big adventure;

The Mongol Derby, a 1,000 km (about 600 miles) horse race across the wilderness of the Mongolian steppe is described on its website as “the longest, toughest horse race in the world.”
While Mangalee has been riding horses the majority of her life, she will have to get accustomed to the semi-wild Mongolian horses on which she will be traveling during her 10-day journey, which begins Aug. 6.
Mongolian horses are a tough breed which range in size from 12 to 14 hands and wander the immense steppe year-round in extreme temperatures. In addition to the challenge of riding foreign horses, Mangalee will have to overcome the obstacle of getting used to 30-35 horses over the course of her trip.

She leaves today – good luck, Sophia!

Sophia’s blog

I walked into his stall and he gingerly turned his head to greet his visitor. The weight of his body was supported by an Anderson Sling, he was receiving round-the-clock intravenous fluids, and his legs were bandaged from top to bottom.

A feel-good story if ever there was one.

Via Argghhh!

Enjoy!

Call it a wild guess.