TUCSON, Ariz. - Heavyweight fights are not what they used to be, but racing has a beauty on its hands right now.
With Churchill Downs in one corner and Magna Entertainment in the other, this one matches racing's two biggest giants.
It turned into a battle last week, when Frank Stronach in effect challenged Churchill by lending support and endorsing the people Churchill has called "conspirators and price-fixers," and is suing in federal court for alleged antitrust violations.
NEW YORK - In the next four days, the first four Grade 1 winners from the foal crop of 2006 will be determined in the Spinaway and Hopeful at Saratoga and the Del Mar Debutante and Del Mar Futurity. There's a good chance that most or even all of them will become Grade 1 winners without having first done something that used to be nearly mandatory for a 2-year-old: Win more than one race before becoming a stakes winner.
DEL MAR, Calif. - The idea of a charitable gesture being its own reward still seems to have legs. Do good/feel good is the basic equation. There are also those altruistic acts of gratitude, writ large, going far beyond the simple coverage of debts perceived. And then there is just good business, priming the pump with charity specifically intended to inspire change for the better in the way things are done.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - It's been a decade since a reigning Horse of the Year raced at Saratoga, a drought that will end Saturday when Curlin goes into the gate for the Woodward Stakes. If you can name the last one without getting out the reference books, your memory's better than mine.
DEL MAR, Calif. - One of the everlasting images of last weekend's action will be the sight of Robby Albarado aboard Mambo in Seattle pumping his whip hand in celebration at the end of the Travers Stakes. Jockeys rarely miss even the closest call, and no one who has seen the photo should criticize Albarado for thinking he had just won the prestigious event for the first time in his admirable career.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - In an era when most owners retire top horses hastily to cash in on their value at stud, Jess Jackson has behaved like an old-fashioned sportsman. Even after Curlin was named Horse of the Year in 2007, Jackson kept his colt in training and planned an ambitious 4-year-old campaign that will include Saturday's prestigious Woodward Stakes at Saratoga.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Fans of old fashioned gang rumbles had to love the scene at Del Mar last weekend when the Sharks and the Jets - sorry, the Headleys and the Sadlers - mixed it up in the Del Mar tunnel over perceived violations of steroid rules and general accusations of moral disorder. Taunts and harsh language gave way to physical contact. And while no one went down, decorum suffered, and at some point the board of stewards probably will be involved.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Peter Vegso, the owner of the freshly crowned Pacific Classic champion Go Between, was wondering aloud why Thoroughbred racing is so harsh on its noble losers.
"Look at the horse yesterday in the Travers, and look at Well Armed today," said Vegso, publisher of the popular "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series of feel-good anthologies. "In many countries they honor the first three finishers, just like the Olympics. They deserve recognition as well."
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Most reports on last Sunday's Jockey Club Round Table here centered on the sensible recommendations of its Safety and Welfare Committee concerning medication and drug testing, and properly so. The only downside to that focus is that it obscured an important presentation by Dr. Larry Bramlage, a committee member and the president of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons.
Bramlage addressed some of the most frequent and damning charges leveled at the racing industry in the aftermath of the Eight Belles breakdown May 1.