I’m losing my optimism about Horseracing. State vet’s situation in Kentucky is ridiculous. The sport gives Media rights to 3rd party that won’t open up viewing. HISA failing to align rules or even licensing. Department of Labor terrorizing Trainers. Jockeys can’t use whips.
I’ve devoted my entire life to the sport and I’ve watched it lose viewership annually. I’ve Invested in helping grow the sport while enduring pushback from entities more worried about their market share than growing an industry.
I’ll retire June 30,2034 sell all my equipment and properties. Likely to never look back. Unless @RepoleStable can shake the tree for change, I’m doubtful.
I’ll see you at the races or Not.
This is the precise reason that I quit trying to move my stable to Kentucky in the summer. Too much work and money gets wasted off the opinion of a bureaucrat. At least the big boys are having to experience it too, not that it brings me any happiness….
So Nick Smith & his team scratched John Hancock this morning after looking at him for 30 min. & multiple jogs bc it was not obvious to them.
He has not run in 365+ days, passed the vet test in Fla. to run two weeks ago, & passed the blood test.
But here is a question. Ky average catastrophic breakdown in 2025 was 1.24/1000 starts. National average was 1.04/1000 for 17% improvement over Kentucky. If Nick Smith and his team are doing such a great job, then why is the breakdown rate higher in Kentucky when he scratches twice as many horses? 💁♂️
A warning to prediction markets today from @ChurchillDowns Inc. CEO Bill Carstanjen. If they are thinking of taking action on the @KentuckyDerby, "You need our express consent. You can't just do it without that. We haven't agreed to provide our content to prediction markets."
It Ain't Only Your Groceries...
The March 24th edition of the Daily Racing Form (see attached image), which fell on a Sunday in 1996, included PPs from the Dubai World Cup, Aqueduct, Oaklawn, Santa Anita, and Sportsman's Park.
According to the embedded tweet, a single Saturday Formulator card costs $6.50 today.
To be fair, the $3.00 cover price in '96 was equivalent to roughly $6.00 today, inflation adjusted. But we are talking about five full cards of PPs then, vs. one today.
Yes, I understand that Formulator provides useful features that were not available in those paper editions, but nevertheless, it's difficult to imagine how a ~5x increase in cost per card might have been warranted.
I’ve seen him at a practice last month. He’s a next level talent. This team will be much stronger with his inside presence. I’m 100% committed to @CoachMarkPope#bleedingblue
California racing just got dealt another brutal blow. In a year when this sport should be doing everything possible to stabilize a fragile circuit, the loss of Grade I status for the Frank E. Kilroe Mile and multiple downgrades at Santa Anita and Del Mar is very concerning.
When you strip premier events in the middle of a wagering and field-size crisis, you’re not “protecting the integrity of the pattern,” you’re accelerating the decline of one of the game’s few remaining flagship jurisdictions. This outcome might look neat on a spreadsheet, but on the ground in California it means fewer top-class opportunities, weaker cards, and less incentive for owners to keep investing in this circuit.
Hard to talk about “national balance” when Kentucky adds a Grade I turf sprint and fresh upgrades at Churchill and Kentucky Downs, while California absorbs a net loss in graded quality. At a time when the industry says it wants West Coast stability, this grading slate feels like the exact opposite of leadership.
So I received a message from someone very close to the barn , and I 100% believe this , They said the barn is furious and they are contacting the stewards over this ride. I have the utmost respect for Tommy Drury and I guarantee this is true and he as mad as we are about this ride .
Mr Transparency ✊ @KennyMcPeek continues to shine with his 2 Year Olds, and he’s given SantosInc @joesantos_33 Riders a lot of support, Taken By The Wind 🎓 ferocious 💪 under Christopher Elliott, (13 for 38 at Finger Lakes, while aboard almost all longshots at Saratoga)