On April 1, 2009, in an $8,000 claiming race going one mile at Golden Gate Fields, the 3-year-old filly Love the Chase finished last in a field of eight, beaten more than 13 lengths at odds of 28-1. It was the final start of a career that saw the daughter of Not For Love win once in six starts, for total earnings of $7,020.

Her owners, Perry Martin and Steve Coburn, decided to keep her and breed her, decisions, they were told, only a “dumb ass” would make.

The first foal out of that mare, a Lucky Pulpit colt born in February 2011, was California Chrome.

Rare is the horse who can hold his form from January through November, and rarer still the horse who does so in his first year on the track. But Bayern proved throughout 2014 that he was a rare talent, good enough to run in the biggest races in the spring, summer, and fall, traveling extensively, and saving his best for last.

In late August, trainer Bob Baffert’s stable appeared to be in a momentary state of decline. Haskell Invitational winner Bayern had just finished last in the Aug. 23 Travers Stakes at Saratoga, and a day later, longtime stable stalwart Game On Dude faded to fourth in the Pacific Classic Del Mar – a disappointing race that swayed his connections to retire him.

Before he was able to delight in winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic with Bayern, trainer Bob Baffert wallowed in despair for most of the week after having to scratch his top 2-year-old, American Pharoah, from the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile due to injury.

On Oct. 28, four days before the Juvenile was to be run at Santa Anita, Baffert announced that American Pharoah was off and would be scratched due to what was ultimately diagnosed as a deep foot bruise.

No operation has had command of the Eclipse Award for outstanding breeder quite like Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs.

The Paris, Ky.-based operation has earned the accolade a record eight times, including once under Stronach’s own name, to account for more than half of the trophies handed out since 2000. Adena Springs holds three more outstanding-breeder Eclipse Awards than next-closest Juddmonte Farms.

Stronach is also a four-time Eclipse winner as outstanding owner, taking home the honor in 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2008.

A little more than a quarter of the way through Aqueduct’s 70-day inner-track meet, there is both good news and bad news to report.

The good news is that all-sources handle is up 10 percent through Sunday, though Aqueduct has held one more card of racing than during the first month of the inner-track meet in 2013-14.

Total handle on U.S. races in 2014 dropped to its lowest level since 1995, unadjusted for inflation, though the drop was mitigated by an even greater decline in the number of races held at U.S. tracks during the year, according to figures released Monday by Equibase.

Horsemen at Calder Race Course facing eviction under a lease that expires as of Jan. 1 are being advised to remain on the grounds of the track by the state’s trainers’ organization, setting up a showdown between the trainers and Calder’s parent company, Churchill Downs Inc.

Jack Wilson, who called charts and was the supervisor of Daily Racing Form’s track and field operations during a 42-year career, died Tuesday due to congestive heart failure. He was 80.

Wilson began calling charts for DRF on April 7, 1956 and worked primarily in New York and south Florida before becoming the supervisor of the company’s track and field operations. He retired in 1999. Wilson called all the Triple Crown races for nearly three decades and he called the Breeders’ Cup charts from the beginning of that event in 1984 until his retirement.

The Jockeys’ Guild has elected its 27 senators, including seven new members of the body, the organization announced on Tuesday.