The U.S. Congress seems awash these days in vital business. Aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina tops the agenda, followed closely by hearings into the nomination of Judge John Roberts to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
Above this din, it is hard for a lonely little amendment to be heard. But when it happens, the next sound you hear could be the slamming of the doors at the three remaining horse slaughterhouses in the United States.
Gary Stevens can be forgiven if he passes on the lapin a la cocotte, or leaves the room when somebody pops in a Bugs Bunny cartoon on the big screen. He's had his fill of rabbit for a while.
On Sept. 5, in Woodbine's $282,778 Niagara Handicap at 1 1/2 miles, Stevens and his free-running mount, Provincetown, were badgered on the pace by Emma Wilson and Burst of Fire, one of three horses running for trainer Mark Frostad and Sam-Son Farm. After a quarter in 22.88 seconds and a half in 46.19, it was bye-bye Provincetown.
The response of the Thoroughbred racing industry to the Gulf Coast disaster of 8/29 has been every bit as generous and ongoing as it was to the attacks of 9/11 upon New York and Washington, D.C.
Beginning on that awful Monday morning of Aug. 29, when dawn's light revealed the rush of water from Lake Pontchartrain breaching the levees of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the first reaction of many racing groups and countless individuals has been to raise money and send help.
WASHINGTON - When the corporate owner of Laurel and Pimlico racetracks revealed its plan to cut Maryland's racing dates almost in half, skeptics might have wondered if it was a political ploy. Is the Magna Entertainment Corporation attempting to gain leverage in its efforts to obtain slot machines at the tracks? Or are the sport's problems really so dire as to warrant such drastic action?
DEL MAR, Calif. - There was havoc on the path to the paddock, unrest on the walk to the track, and a wipeout at the start that rivaled a bad day at Sunset Beach, followed by a breakneck pace that looked like a training film for the Pony Express. As Del Mar Futurities go, it wasn't very pretty.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Summer's almost gone, which is why Paddy Gallagher and his crew spent most of Tuesday loading up the odds and ends of their Del Mar stable for the journey back home to Santa Anita Park. Buckets, feed tubs, webbing, tack. Horses, too, led one by one into the waiting vans, onto the next stop in racing's relentless carousel.
The crew knew the drill. They'd done it all before, some of them dozens of times. Only this time it was different. This time it wasn't as much about the leaving as it was the horse they left behind.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Horseplayers frequently grumble about the decisions of racetrack stewards. But one particular type of decision always leaves bettors decrying the stewards' lack of consistency and plain common sense. It was typified when the horses Preminger and Cooking the Books battled down the stretch at Saratoga recently.
Jockey Eibar Coa sent Preminger to the lead in the 1 1/8-mile race as Richard Migliore positioned Cooking the Books on the rail behind him.
TUCSON, Ariz. - Kentucky's Thoroughbred horsemen - at least some who are represented by the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association - are still fighting against being dragged bodily into the 21st century.
They lost another round last Friday when a state circuit court judge refused to block the new medication rules, first approved by the Kentucky Equine Drug Research Council, then by the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority, and then by the governor of Kentucky, Ernie Fletcher.
DEL MAR, Calif. - It doesn't take much to spook a racehorse. A light breeze, an off-key whisper, the glint of sunlight bouncing off the face of a wristwatch. Anything can set them off.
Eoin Harty still is not sure what flipped A.P. Warrior's switch as the colt made his way through the Del Mar grandstand tunnel to join the post parade for the Best Pal Stakes last Aug. 14. In fact, Harty and owner Stan Fulton were blissfully unaware of their colt's mad panic, having bade him farewell in the walking ring before working their way through the crowd to the second floor box seats.