Nostalgic Horse

By: Elizabeth Rancani
Steve Haskin wrote his thoughts this week on Horse of the Year. He feels Big Brown should still be in the mix. I haven’t been the horse’s biggest fan this year, but I normally agree with Haskin. This time, however I feel he is way off the mark.
The vote for Horse of the [...]

The synthetic pro-ride surface that received so much attention earlier in the year, will undoubtably get even more attention now. After the ladies remained consistent Friday, and proved most great fillies and mares will be as great over pro-ride, the boys didn’t exactly fare the same.
The favorites were disappointing, and the European contingent ran better [...]

Zenyatta defeated a stellar group of fillies and mares in the Ladies Classic, laying claim to the Horse of the Year title. She was last most of the way, but first when it counted, blowing by the ladies as if they were standing still.
She is the quintessential thoroughbred, and even before entering the starting gate, it is [...]

While the Phillies make a run for baseball’s highest honor for the first time in years, this Friday all eyes will be on a different kind of filly.
For the record, I still hate the idea of a filly friday. It is like saying they are not important enough to be seen on one of racing’s [...]

Match races have been used since horse racing began to test who truly had the best and fleetest animal. Sadly, the last nationally publicized match race ended in tragedy and horse racing has not attempted it since. Should Ruffian’s racetrack horror be the reason that today’s racing no longer utilizes match races? Were they ever [...]

by: Elizabeth Rancani
History is full of races that are spectacular to watch. Everyone wishes they were at Belmont in June of 1973 to watch that famous red horse win by an astonishing 31 lengths. Few dispute that was the greatest performance ever witnessed.
History is also full of races where a nose decided the winner. Two [...]

The possibility of Curlin and Big Brown meeting on any track seems unlikely at the moment, and really it is nobody’s fault. The connections of Big Brown have always said they intended to run in the Breeders Cup Classic. The connections of Curlin have never said the Classic was on their radar. Neither is changing [...]

So now we have Rick Dutrow once again saying how Big Brown is the better horse than reining king Curlin. What a surprise and how uncharacteristic of him! That is what we have come to expect from this trainer, and in a way it is good for the sport. It gives the media something to [...]

So Curlin’s first race on grass was not the blow out victory we have come to expect from Curlin, he is still several lengths better than the best dirt horses, in any country. That counts for something. He faced two Breeders Cup turf winners, but currently neither one of them would hold much hope against [...]

The year was 1973, and for horse racing it can be summed up in one word: Secretariat. He had swept the first Triple Crown in 25 years, the longest span at that point. He had put on the greatest show America had ever seen in the Belmont Stakes,and arguably set a track record in every [...]