If federal oversight is necessary, the USADA sounds like an excellent choice to conduct it. Further, I do agree that lack of a coherent national policy regarding medication fails to serve the well-being of the animals, the public perception of racing as a clean and humane sport, or the American Thoroughbred's position in the international marketplace. Nonetheless, I would have preferred to see racing's leaders resolve the problem internally and avoid the risk of being subject to the whims of lawmakers and officials whose political interests may not always align with those of horses and horsemen.
I have to admit to mixed feelings regarding Congressman Paul Tonko's proposed bill to inaugurate federal oversight of the Thoroughbred industry's use of medication and anti-doping efforts through the US Anti-Doping Agency, the same agency that provides similar functions for human athletes representing the United States in the Olympics and Paralympics. On the one hand, a national policy in these issues is well overdue and has been greatly hampered by the lack of cooperation among the various state racing agencies and other major players such as the Breeders' Cup and The Jockey Club. On the other hand, federal oversight brings with it the risk of federal intrusion and over-regulation -- no small risk, especially considering the current government climate that appears to prefer bureaucratic activism to getting laws passed properly through Congress.
If federal oversight is necessary, the USADA sounds like an excellent choice to conduct it. Further, I do agree that lack of a coherent national policy regarding medication fails to serve the well-being of the animals, the public perception of racing as a clean and humane sport, or the American Thoroughbred's position in the international marketplace. Nonetheless, I would have preferred to see racing's leaders resolve the problem internally and avoid the risk of being subject to the whims of lawmakers and officials whose political interests may not always align with those of horses and horsemen.
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Not too many broodmares manage to produce two national champions, but this grand old matron produced four foals that won national year-end honors in at least one division. She is also the dam of a Broodmare of the Year and is the second dam of a Horse of the Year, a Broodmare of the Year and a champion sire. Name her.
Searching was sired by Hall of Fame member War Admiral, whose sire Man o' War and grandsire Fair Play are also Hall of Fame members. After the great trainer Hirsch Jacobs -- himself a member of the Hall of Fame -- got her career turned around, Searching not only became a Hall of Fame member herself but produced another one in three-time champion Affectionately.
This classy mare is part of a five-generation chain of members of the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame -- pretty heady stuff for an animal who lost her first 20 races. Name her and the trainer who turned her career around.
TJ is correct. 1939 Preakness Stakes winner Challedon was Horse of the Year in 1939 (while trained by Louis Schaefer) and 1940 (while trained by Don Cameron in the fall of that year). Cameron turned the reins over to Whitey Whitehill in February 1941, and Challedon's last trainer of record was Edward Christmas, who handled the horse as a 6-year-old.
This Preakness Stakes winner was trained by four different trainers during his racing career and won Horse of the Year honors for two of them. Name the horse and the two trainers who conditioned him to his titles.
In 2000, champion 3-year-old male and Horse of the Year honors went to a colt who wasn't even on the radar screen when Fusaichi Pegasus scored a facile victory in the Kentucky Derby (USA-G1). After seeing the ease of "Fu Peg's" victory, many people were predicting a Triple Crown. Instead, Fusaichi Pegasus was soundly beaten by Red Bullet for the Preakness Stakes (USA-G1), skipped the Belmont Stakes (USA-G1), and ended up winning only the Jerome Handicap (USA-G2) during the remainder of the year. In the meantime, Johnny-come-lately Tiznow, who hadn't even broken his maiden until Fu Peg's Derby win was in the books, picked up his first stakes win in the Affirmed Handicap (USA-G3) in June. The late-maturing Cal-bred kept improving from there, climaxing with a dramatic victory over European Horse of the Year Giant's Causeway in the Breeders' Cup Classic (USA-G1) to take the golden Eclipse Award.
Now Tiznow's son Kentuckian appears poised to take a similar path. A look at him racing down the stretch in last weekend's Lazaro Barrera Stakes (USA-G3) makes it obvious why he wasn't pressed for more earlier; while he clearly has remarkable talent, he has the gangly, rawboned look of a high school kid who hasn't quite grown into himself. But the kid can run, and he's already ahead of where his sire was at this time in his sophomore season. It will be interesting indeed to see if the parallels keep getting closer, since Kentuckian's next stop may be the Affirmed Handicap, the race his father won 14 years ago. When Colonel Edward Riley Bradley offered to match his unbeaten 2-year-old champion Bimelech against any horse then in training (fall 1939) for "money, marbles or chalk," the answer was a resounding silence. Bimelech went into winter quarters as a heavy winter book favorite for the Kentucky Derby but suffered a shocking defeat in the great race, though he made amends by winning the Preakness and the Belmont.
This champion racehorse was so highly thought of as a 2-year-old that when his owner issued a challenge for a race at weight for age against any horse of any age, no one took him up on it. Who was this young champion, and who was his proud owner?
Susan's Girl, winner of the 1972 Kentucky Oaks and a three-time American champion, became the first female Thoroughbred to win more than US$1 million while racing exclusively in North America.
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AuthorI'm Avalyn Hunter, an author, pedigree researcher and longtime racing fan with a particular interest in Thoroughbred mares and their contributions to the history of the breed. Categories
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October 2024
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