On Tuesday I went to the OLEX kill auction again. There were a decent number of horses, half of which went to kill. There were two kill buyers in attendance. The one horse that really got to me was a standard bred who had made more than $330,000 (according to the auctioneer), and had also done some dressage. He went to kill at 33 cents / pound. A 12yo standard bred mare, who was slow on the track, went for 34 cents / pound and was purchased privately (Amish). A mare with a foal were bought by the kill buyer.

On Wednesday we hosted our ABR radio show: Bob Hatfield was my co-host, and Paul Breedon, from Saratoga, was our guest. Three Brits together, talking horseracing! We discussed the previous weekend’s key races at Saratoga, Arlington Park and Del Mar. I think this has been our best format to date for the radio show, and we will try the same again this week: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/AlexBrownRacing/2009/08/19/Alex-Brown-Racing-on-the-radio Although this week we are likely to talk more about European racing than US racing! 

We also heard about the arrival of Boule D’Or at Old Friends: Boule D’Or had recently been retired from racing at Pleasanton, in California. And finally we learned about 10yo Redraw running unremarkably at Cantebury Park, from a racing fan.  

Thursday not much happened.

On Friday it was the Hall of Fame ceremony at Saratoga, and jockey Eddie Maple spoke of the need to support the racehorse in retirement as “vital to the integrity of our sport”: read more here. I think we are getting more horsemen really stepping up to help our horses in our industry. A very cool trend.

On Saturday Woodbine jockey Jimmy McAleney celebrated his 40th birthday by winning three races. And 10yo Better Talk Now ran a terrific second in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer at Saratoga, beaten by 33-1 longshot Telling. Better Talk Now is starting to get a little more respect as the old man in the turf division. It was later reported that his next start, at Belmont, may be his final start of his illustrious career. He won the Breeders’ Cup Turf race in 2004!

On Sunday Woodbine jockey Rob Landry rode four winners. I don’t think it was his birthday. Of course the most exciting race of the weekend was actually in France! Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Goldikova won her sixth Group 1 event in devastating style. Early Kentucky Derby favorite Quality Road worked 3/4s of a mile in 1:13 and change. All appears well ahead of his next start in the Travers.

On Monday Rachel Alexandra worked 5/8ths in preparation of her next race, which is still unknown. She worked very well, 5/8ths in a minute and change galloping out in 12 seconds. Mine That Bird also worked, more slowly. After his work it was discovered that he had an entrapped epiglottis. He will undergo surgery and is still being targeted to run in the Travers, which is a little under two weeks away. 

All along the way I kept taking pictures and adding to our Woodbine Characters series.
 
And that’s it for last week!

Alex Brown writes his Letter from North America blog weekly for www.eclipsemagazine.co.uk 

On Tuesday we learned some pretty big news on the horse slaughter front. The EU may change some rules to require quarantine for horses headed to slaughter from North America, in order to make sure the horses are “drug free“. The EU is a major horse meat market for North American based horses. Basically, this may bring the horse meat trade in line with other livestock trade where there are significant requirements for ensuring the meat is not tainted. It also could bring the US-based horses (meat from US-based horses that are shipped to slaughter in Canada and Mexico for consumption in the EU) more in line with EU-based horses shipped to slaughter. 

As things currently stand, horses that are slaughtered that originate from the US, can be loaded with whatever drugs horses are given for their day-to-day activities. In horseracing that includes Bute, but even pleasure horses have worming drugs and so forth. These rule changes would significantly increase the costs of ‘processing’ a horse for horse meat, and may essentially kill the trade from North America. One can only hope! More details: http://forums.delphiforums.com/alexbrown/messages?msg=39773 
 
Also on Tuesday there were tremendous floods in the Louisville area which required the evacuation of a few horses from Churchill Downs, here is a picture of the Barbaro statue surrounded by water: http://twitpic.com/cqp0l

On Wednesday we hosted our weekly radio show on blogtalkradio. Here it is. Unfortunately Peter Brette could not make it, but new co-host Bob Hatfield did. So now we have a new format for the show, Bob Hatfield and I talking American horse racing for 30 minutes. And we are both Brits! Here is this upcoming Wednesday’s show. 

It was also reported on Wednesday that Finallymadeit was euthanized after a workout at Saratoga in preparation for the upcoming Whitney: read the report here.  

On Thursday Ernie Paragallo was indicted, with additional charges, in hisabuse case. Ernie Paragallo also owns half of Unbridled’s Song. On Friday it was reported that Ernie Paragallo may decide to sue the local Humane Society:read the report here. 

On Saturday we learned that Well Armed, who ran poorly in his first race after his Dubai World Cup win, has an injury and will be out for a while. The injury perhaps explains his sub-par performance last weekend. Saturday was also the day for the Fairmount Park paddock sale. The Fairmount Park meet, in Illinois, is closing early. 

We of course were focused on horseracing with the Arlington Million, Beverely D and Secretariat at Arlington Park, and the Whitney at Saratoga. Some great racing with a favourite winning the Million, Gio Ponti, and an outsider winning the Whitney, Bullsbay. The Million was run on perhaps less than ideal footing, and it appeared that Einstein, the second choice, was never comfortable in the race. In the Whitney Commentator, at seven, tried to go gate to wire. In his younger days perhaps he could have done this. Not on Saturday. Zito made it clear after the race his wish was to retire the horse. Here is the Arlington Million. Here is the Whitney. 

We also celebrated the three year anniversary of the ABR discussion boards, eclipsing 1.2 million posts in the process. I am a geek and I think this is very cool. 

On Sunday racing attention went further west. Zenyatta ran in another Grade 1 race, and won again to remain undefeated. Personally I thought her win was not as impressive as usual and she appeared to be less comfortable. We shall see. The fact remains, Zenyatta is undefeated running in top calibre races which is very impressive. 

Fabulous Strike also won the Vanderbilt at Saratoga. This was a very tough sprint race and Fabulous Strike was very impressive. Woodbine-based Fatal Bullet finished last of six which was a little disappointing given how impressive he was when he returned to the races this year at Woodbine. It was also announced on Sunday that Commentator is retired.

On Monday I published the ABR Top Five, which included a few new additions based on the racing over the last two weekends. Here is the list: Gio Ponti, Kensei, Quality Road, Rachel Alexandra, and Zenyatta. And in the afternoon I met with jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson and visited her new horse Belle Gully, aka Gus: http://twitpic.com/dfdyu Emma recently purchased and retired Gus from Mountaineer Park. Gus was one of Emma’s early winners and a little over a year ago she determined to try to retire him and bring him home. Very cool. While Emma is from Canada, her parents came over to Canada from Essex. Emma has also ridden at Ascot!

All along the way I kept taking pictures and adding to our Woodbine Characters series.

That’s it for last week!
Cheers, Alex

Alex Brown writes his Letter from North America blog weekly for www.eclipsemagazine.co.uk 

Tuesday began with the publication of a comprehensive article on Horse Slaughter in the United States on Salon.com. I was interviewed for this piece and was quoted on the second page. My quote essentially is a result of all the visits I have made to the OLEX auction and observations on price and demand for horse meat. I did visit OLEX again on Tuesday. And I tweeted the sale. The kill buyer bought about 30 horses, half of all horses sold. 

We also learned on Tuesday that La Ville Rouge, Barbaro’s mum, is likely to have a filly foal next year. This I am sure is very good news for her owners, the Jacksons!
 
Wednesday 1 July was Canada Day. A day to celebrate Canada’s birthday. And we did so at Steve Asmussen’s barn by having a little cook out after work and during the races. Trainer Terry Jordan won two races on the program. He has a 50% win record for the meet so far. Jockey Catherine O’Brien rode her first race of the meet, finishing third. Catherine is coming back off an injury from last year. And jockey Rob Landry rode his 2,000th winner. It was also reported on Wednesday that Mine That Bird was looking for a new jockey. Calvin Borel was unable to commit to riding the Kentucky Derby winner and had made a commitment to Warrior’s Rewardfor his next two races. Finally I noted that Thoroughbred Charities of America is looking to profile a retired race horse for a PSA announcement.

On Thursday I recommended Chantal Sutherland be considered for the vacancy aboard Mine That Bird. It was reported that Rachel Alexandra memorabilia will be auctioned off to support cancer research: I labelled this “horse helping humans”. 
 
Friday, after morning work, I went over to the jocks’ room to helpChantal Sutherland get set up on twitter with her iPhone. This is what she tweeted. You can follow Chantal here:http://www.twitter.com/jockeychantal. 

I also started reading a manuscript titled ‘Beyond The Homestretch’ authored by Lynn Reardon who runs LOPETX. I am not one to gush, unless it is about Chantal Sutherland, but I have to say this is looking like a terrific book. Lynn really brings out the individual characters of her horses while also making you live the life of living on a ranch in Texas.  
 
The highlight for racing on Saturday, despite it being a 4th July holiday with lots of racing here, was clearly Sea The Stars defeating older horses for the first time in the Eclipse Stakes. The top 3yos over here won’t take on their older counterparts until late September early October. 

It was announced on Saturday that Mike Smith will ride Mine That Bird in his next two starts. He is unable to commit to the Breeders’ Cup as he is the regular rider for Zenyatta. Calvin Borel was defeated aboard Warrior’s Reward in the Dwyer Stakes in New York. We won the race with Kensei. 

HRTV-Inside Information released a video of the unveiling of theMemorial to Barbaro at Churchill Downs. This includes some great coverage of Fans of Barbaro too. I also noted my experience with some classless gamblers at Woodbine. They bet a horse. The horse lost. They wanted to shoot the horse. 
 
On Sunday my favorite horse Salty Langfuhn ran.  He ran a terrific race just falling short in a very tough spot. Here he is cooling outafter his race. I also learned that Chantal Sutherland was on her way to California for a photoshoot for the second series of Animal Planet’s show Jockeys. Chantal tweeted the news.  
 
Monday Rachel Alexandra had an easy half mile work at Saratoga. Her first work since her Mother Goose stroll. Mine That Bird’s work was postponed a day due to the track conditions at Churchill Downs and the ABR Top Five list of horses remained unchanged for the week.
 
All along the way I kept taking pictures and adding to our Woodbine Characters series. 
 
And that’s all for last week!

Alex Brown writes his Letter from North America blog weekly for www.eclipsemagazine.co.uk

On Tuesday I went to the OLEX auction, again. And I tweeted 52 updates from the auction. You can check out my picture after the sale. My rationale for doing this, the 52 updates, is to bring more transparency to all aspects of the horse industry.

There are glorious aspects (Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta dominating over the weekend) and less glorious aspects to the industry. I believe we shouldn’t ignore what we don’t like, if it persists as an element of our industry. Anyway my ‘tweets’ did lead to some discussion on Twitter regarding whether the updates were too much. And I know of at least one person who decided to no longer follow my updates: read for yourself.

When I next go to the auction, I will tweet aggressively.

Also on Tuesday Rachel Alexandra arrived at Belmont Park ahead of her race in the Mother Goose on Saturday. And fellow blogger, Green But Game, wrote about my Chantal Sutherland interview.

 On Wednesday we learned that Rachel Alexandra was to face only four horses in the Mother Goose. No surprise there. Horses in her division are running for second money at this point. Rachel took her first trip around the Belmont Park oval and all was well.

The Ernie Paragallo abuse case, which was scheduled for Tuesday evening, was postponed. The current date is now 27 July.

On Thursday we learned that Chad Beckon is continuing to recover well from his injuries sustained in last Wednesday night’s tragic spill at Woodbine. He has moved out of the ICU unit. Woodbine trainer Greg De Gannes also had five hours of surgery on Wednesday. Greg has had ongoing health problems.

And fellow blogger, Triple Dead Heat, wrote a nice article on my recent interview with Knowledge @ Wharton.

On Friday IEAH Stables’ Michael Iavorone and Rick Dutrow (Big Brown’s connections) were in town at Woodbine, and left empty-handed. This meet gets tougher and tougher!

We learned that the prosecutors in the Ernie Paragallo abuse case are seeking a plea bargain deal. We also learned that Rene Douglas’ recovery has hit a bit of a bump. Here is his Facebook Group.

On Saturday I met actress Kelly Carlson. Kelly is interested in coming with me to an OLEX auction. Her company would certainly make the trip more enjoyable.

Two scratches were reported from Rachel Alexandra’s race, reducing the contest to a three-horse field.

We learned on Saturday that Olredlgetcha, who won the 2yo Stakes here not too long ago as a first-time-starter, had to be euthanized earlier in the week due to an infection. For Greg De Gannes, his trainer, a terrible week.

The highlight of racing at Woodbine on Saturday was the rematch between Sterwins and Rahy’s Attorney. We were not disappointed. We witnessed a terrific horse race. Rahy’s Attorney, under a masterful ride by Slade Callaghan, went gate to wire and set a new course record. A terrific prelude to what was to come next: Rachel Alexandra running in the Mother Goose at Belmont Park and Zenyatta running in the Vanity at Hollywood Park .

Both fillies did not disappoint, and that is a major understatement. Rachel Alexandra was perhaps visually more impressive as she won her race in a Stakes’ record time and by a Stakes’ record winning distance (over 19 lengths).

 Zenyatta did not look as impressive, but her move inside the eighth pole was strong, and she was carrying 129 pounds. Both races are on the ABR YouTube Group. One thing that did strike me though: I was at Woodbine watching these races and there was very little effort made to market these two races to the patrons of Woodbine. They were just two more races among the many races on many TV screens broadcasting races from across North America.

On Sunday we learned that Tour of the Cat, who has made more than $1 million in his career, was a vet scratch from a $6250 claiming race at Finger Lakes (at most racetracks a runner is checked before the race by a state vet). This was a quick wake-up call from the highs of racing we witnessed on Saturday.

We did however also learn that Siphon City, who was a Grade 2 Stakes winner in his career, was claimed out of a $5,000 claiming race and retired from racing in Florida. Very cool.

Woodbine’s feature race was the Bison City, the middle leg of the ‘Triple Tiara’ (Triple Crown for fillies at Woodbine). It was won by three ladies, Dance for Us, Barb Minshall (trainer) and Chantal Sutherland. Very appropriate. 

And Chantal just got the better of her colleague Emma Wilson in the tightest of photo finishes. A great race. 
 
On Monday it was posted on the ABR Facebook Group page that Frazee’s Folly, a retired member of the Top Bunk list  successfully completed his first dressage test  Cool. The ABR Top Five list of horses remained unchanged with the dominating performances of Rachel Alexandra (now comfortably at Saratoga) and Zenyatta. 

And all week I have been taking more pictures for the Woodbine Characters series. 

That’s it for this week!

I do suspect that horsemen still have their lingering doubts over the quality of Mine That Bird. I do hope he proves to everyone, once and for all, that he is the real deal on Saturday in the Belmont. He will have Calvin Borel back in the saddle, who himself will attempt to accomplish something rather unsual, a Triple Crown on two different horses.

Not as remarkable as a Triple Crown winning horse, but cool nonetheless. Charitable Man appears to be the new shooter that might be a cause for concern. If he gets an easy lead he may lead for a long time. Dunkirk comes back to take on Mine That Bird after his poor performance in the Kentucky Derby. These two horses will likely be the main challengers to the Bird.

The race has no doubt lost some lustre with the withdrawal of Rachel, but it is the Belmont and we do have the Kentucky Derby winner back again. He will be one of two horses to run in all three legs of the Triple Crown, the other being Lukas’ Flying Private.

On the Ernie Paragallo front (he’s the guy who has been accused of severly neglecting his horses) we heard last week that he is trying to disperse his racing stock. His trainer, Campo, is no longer working for him, and his daughters may sue. Bizarre stuff: read more here.

 Woodbine’s feature race last weekend was the Plate Trial. Three more weeks and the Canadian Triple Crown gets underway here with the Queen’s Plate. The loss of Square Eddie as a contender is a shame. It looks like he would have been a prohibitive favorite in the Queen’s Plate. The Plate Trial was won by Eye of the Leopard in a tight finish with Southdale. Both horses are lightly raced at this stage of their careers.

We had a couple of winners at Woodbine last week which was very cool. And one of those winners was a first time starter 2yo who went off at better than 10-1! Shame I don’t bet.

Pay Attention, a Top Bunk listed horse was retired last week to a new home with FOB Amanda.

Jockey Rene Douglas, who suffered a terrible fall at Arlington Park a couple of weekends ago, remains hospitalized. You can keep up with his condition here.

On Wednesday night of last week apprentice jockey Natasha Sihota suffered a nasty looking fall when her horse went down in the sixth race at Woodbine. Her horse was fine, and early reports were that Natasha was fine. However she was hospitalized for a couple of days and will be out of action for a while. When I visited her in hospital on Thursday, which itself is a very grim place, she was obviously sore and bummed out. It was a shame for Natasha as she had recently ridden a good second, and she was on a live one for Terry Jordan in the last race that night.

Last week I again visited the OLEX auction in Ontario. The following includes my report. That’s it for last week! Cheers, Alex

Ending horse slaughter: http://alexbrownracing.com

Me: http://www.udel.edu/alex

Brought to you by www.eclipsemagazine.co.uk – an online magazine all about the social side of horseracing