Yardbarker: Horse Racing

British Showjumpers Show Off In Sexy Photo Shoot

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 14:37:57 -0500

Laura Renwich & Georgie Shutton are two of Britain's best horse riders in showjumping. More importantly, they're very attractive & recently did a nicely revealing photo shoot.

Deweycheatumnhowe One of Best Trotters and Best Sports Names Ever

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:16:49 -0500

Someone call a lawyer! Deweycheatumnhowe, one of the best sports names ever, is a 3-year-old trotting colt who is now a perfect 13 for 13 in his career and is the leading favorite to win the $1.5 million Hambletonian at the Meadowlands Racetrack on August 2 (NBC Sports). The Hambletonian is the most famous harness race in the world. The horse gets his name from the old comedy skit about a crooked law firm that was used by the Three Stooges, Johnny Carson and even Bart Simpson. His next race is July 26 at the Meadowlands in the Hambletonian eliminations. Check out his last win in the Stanley Dancer Memorial this past Friday at the Meadowlands: http://youtube.com/watch?v=g1_UP9LJ3gA&feature=PlayList&p=1A5A7A298CDA1582&index=95

British Horse Racing Adopt Lucrative Yearlong Series

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:53:57 -0500

The popularity of season long series like NASCAR's Sprint Cup and the PGA's new Fed-Ex Cup seems to be growing, both among fans and the participants. It is now spreading across the pond based on yesterday's announcement by the British horse racing industry of its new Sovereign Series. The new season long competition, kicking off in 2009, will be composed of ten Group I races (the European equivalent to North America's Grade I) stretching from May to October, contested at each of Britain's seven major tracks, at distances ranging from one mile to a mile and 4 furlongs and including races restricted to three year olds, for older horses and for three year olds and up. Points will be awarded to the first three finishers and the horse with the most points at the end of the season, following the contesting of the Champion Stakes, will be declared the Series winner. The Series will have a prize pool of 2 million pounds; it is still to be determined if that goes entirely to the winner or if it will be split among the first three finishers. An additional 3 million pounds will be added to the purses of the 10 races involved, which are already contested for total purses equalling at least 5 million pounds. One major problem will be a calendar clash with the season ending Champion Stakes. It is contested at Newmarket in October, in close proximity to Europe's most prestigious race, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamps in Paris, which is the world's richest turf race, and the Breeders Cup races in the US. It is not at all clear that an owner would want to run in the Champion Stakes if he had a horse capable of winning the Arc and the Breeders Cup, even if the2 million pounds went entirely to the series champion. The Series promoters have a year to work out the calendar kinks and let's hope they can manage to arrange it so that a horse could run in all three, perhaps by skipping the Sovereign Series September race. Maybe the Champion Stakes could be moved a little closer to the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, to enable an owner to compete in all three season ending events. In any event, this is an exciting idea and an excellent way to promote British racing. The planners expect to add an additional 3 million pounds to be spent on promotion and that is welcome news indeed. Racing is too fine a sport to be left to its own devices. We have seen what happens without innovation and the injection of outside funds and energy like this idea should go a long way towards rekindling the British public's deeply felt affinity for the sport. If only their American counterparts were listening. This was the original concept behind the Breeders Cup, but the promotion efforts seems to have diminished over the years. More and better attention needs to be paid to that. Automatic qualification for winning certain races is an excellent beginning. Allocation of dollars to a major promotional campaign would be even better. The great stories around racing need to be told to the American public throughout the year and not just during the first week in May.

THE BELMONT STAKES, GRUDEN AND VARIOUS AVERTED DISASTERS. PART I

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:08:54 -0500

The day started off well enough thanks in part to an ingenious decision by Ted and me to go to bed early on Friday night. That investment paid dividends that fully vested first thing Saturday morning when I awoke feeling fresh and well rested - the perfect feeling for a day of relentless drinking, smoking, gambling and socializing; a day that ended, I should add, the next morning at 2:45am with an unprovoked shot-gun of a Schlitz can and an unwelcome sucker punch in the stomach from Gruden, but more on that later: http://www.sportsandjokes.com/id23.html

WHAT!!! Cheating in Horseracing!

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:00:39 -0500

In the second story about steroids in sports in the past couple days (the other being Terry Bradshaw) Big Brown's trainer Rick Dutrow has been suspended for using more than the legal limit of a drug on one of his horses. Dutrow you will remember made news after winning the Preakness and Kentucky Derby for his use of steroids on his horses-though only in states that allowed it. While I don't have a problem with athletes using supplements that are legal I have a different feeling about trainers giving them to horses-simply because the athletes can say no the horse can't. And if any of you saw the interviews with Dutrow you know that he is a total wanker-so here is hoping he gets hit with a good long suspension.

Dutrow Horse Gets Rocket Treatment

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:10:32 -0500

Another elite athlete falls from grace amid PED allegations.

Big Brown's Trainer caught injecting steroids in horses. Again!

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:04:22 -0500

This sweaty slob, Rick Dutrow needs to go! He is a liar and a cheat. He is a shady, cocky prick. "Dutrow has been fined or suspended at least once every year since 2000 for doping issues." Well that says it all. Besides being a recovering drug addict he has also been dirty for years. Dirtier than Big Browns' shoe.

Big (Brown) Coincidence: I Think Not

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:06:24 -0500

Businessweek reports that an analysis conducted by Deutsche Bank shows that for the years when a horse won the Triple Crown, the S&P 500 stock index fell by an average of 6.4 percent. For the 20 years that a contender missed at the Belmont, the market averaged a 10.8 percent gain. In other news, whenever I breath, a baby is born. You're welcome...world.

What's Next for Big Brown: Haskell or Travers

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:51:45 -0500

Theories are abound on why Big Brown finished ninth and last in the Belmont Stakes. They range from possible physical problems concerning the horse to the blame game involving the trainer and jockey. I believe 18th Century German physicist Georg Cristoph Lichtenberg had it right: "Some theories are good for nothing except to be argued."

Curlin: Raider of the Longchamp Arc?

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:46:58 -0500

Curlin has already solidified himself as the top dirt horse in the world. Now his connections are toying with the idea of a switch to the turf and a potential run in the $6 million Arc de Triomphe in France this October. Why is this move so historic and signficant, and does the 4-year-old son of Smart Strike stand a chance?

The Most Famous Racehorses in History

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 11:42:38 -0500

Over the years, certain horses have earned the title of "Greats", their names taking on almost mythical status over the years. Here, we look at just a few of these legendary racehorses:

The Leak 3.0

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:14:12 -0500

6/2-6/8 sports week in review. Good read, lots of different topics - The Leak 3.0: A Belmont shocker, Jones goes abstinent, Becker (hearts) Nadal, Ozzie's F-bombs and a one-legged Tiger on the prowl

Big Brown Trainer Dutrow Blames Jockey

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:10:37 -0500

We already knew Dutrow was a cheating, lying, boastful scumbag. Now we know he will also throw a jockey under the bus, even after the guys wins him two Triple Crown races.

What happened at the Belmont? Ask Big Brown

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:40:13 -0500

As people wonder about what happened to Big Brown, nobody has bothered to ask the horse himself. What would he say?

Not This Year (or anytime soon)

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:23:11 -0500

The Triple Crown was lost, again. It makes me wonder a couple of things. Is the fix in? Is it the choice of some elite few who control the sport, or is it really just impossible to win it? Were Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Affirmed just that great?

Why Can't People Accept Big Brown's Loss?

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:13:53 -0500

Was it the injured hoof? Should they have injected the horse with Winstrol? Did the heat play a factor? Did the horse suffer any injuries while running? Did the ghost of Eight Belles haunt him? How about the most logical reason…. The other horses simply ran faster.

Big Brown: What Happened?

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 08:39:32 -0500

Why Did 'Can't Miss' Horse Perform So Poorly at Belmont?

Pat Forde is a Hack Volume II

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 07:37:28 -0500

I don't know how many volumes we will have to run out here before someone gets their head out of their turd-cutter and cuts this turd from the roster of writers at ESPN. Forde lambasted Ohio State after losing their second straight National Championship game in a ridiculous, taunting manner. I couldn't figure out why the acidity was so necessary then. And now, I can't figure out why he needs to be so nasty about Big Brown and his owner. I would get it if he was a contributor for Deadspin where I go to read acidic, funny commentary. Forde is just nasty without the funny, and I don't think that we need to have the conversation reduced to attacks on the more well-established media websites like ESPN. After the Ohio State article, I emailed the ESPN ombudsman, Le Anne Schreiber, but she didn't get enough response to make it a priority. I assume Forde will eventually piss off a critical mass of people and get fired. I can't wait.

Big Brown's Disappointing Performance Explained

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:47:30 -0500

Five things contributed to Big Brown's BIG disappointment in the Belmont and neither steroids nor his quarter crack are to blame. Big Brown was undone by: 1) heat, 2) stress, 3) training, 4) the racetrack and 5) karma. Other than those, it was all good...

Let the Big Brown Conspiracies Begin

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:14:11 -0500

What happened to Big Brown in last Saturday's Belmont Stakes was the horse racing equivalent to what would've happened to the Boston Celtics had Paul Pierce stayed on the floor in a writhing pile of knee injury. And like most great sports WTFs, the conspiracy theories must abound.

Horse Racing's Latest Hedge Fund

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:00:19 -0500

The results from thoroughbred racing's most recent highly publicized attempt at a hedge fund has apparently whetted the appetite of investors for a shot at the gold ring or the Triple Crown or just some of that alleged $50 million that is going to be paid for syndication of Big Brown. Three of racing's most well known and well respected trainers are today announcing (sub.) the formation of a new fund yesterday to invest in horses, to be purchased by and trained by the three of them. D. Wayne Lukas, Bob Baffert and Nick Zito plan to raise between $75 and $125 million by late August and to create a 100 horse stable within three years. The three trainers have put up some of the most impressive numbers ever seen in racing. Among them, they have won 26 Triple Crown races since 1980, including Saturday's Belmont Stakes by the Nick Zito trained D'Tara, and have earned over $460 million in purse money. The three feel that this is the kind of money that is increasingly necessary in order to compete for the top of line horses with petrodollar billionaires from the Middle East and elsewhere who have increasingly sent prices skyrocketing. While it will be interesting to see if these three can actually work together after so many years of competition, I would much rather be an investor in this fund than the fund that is being put together by the guys that own Big Brown. The fees are the same here - the managers (including the three trainers) are taking a standard management fee of 2% plus a 20% profits interest but your odds of making money are exponentially greater when the minds selecting horses and training them are three of the greatest trainers of their generation. Of course, the downside here is that the minimum investment is $3 million and your money is tied up for three years, but that is hardly different from a typical hedge fund. Should be fun to watch and if they successfully raise the money, the next Keeneland yearling sale should be very interesting.

Big Brown allegedly threw Belmont Stakes to repay large gambling debt

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 00:37:19 -0500

As an inspection the day after Big Brown's stunning last-place finish at the Belmont Stakes found nothing physically wrong with the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, a cloud of suspicion fell over the racing world as allegations surfaced that the champion horse may have thrown the race in order to pay off heavy gambling debts incurred during a trip to Atlantic City with Charles Barkley the previous weekend.

Mixed bag of schadenfreude

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 10:24:24 -0500

Is it wrong to root against a horse because you hate his trainer? And who sweats more during a race: Kent Desormeaux or Dutrow?

How can Brown fail you? Big Brown finishes dead last at Belmont

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 00:12:10 -0500

Don't believe the hype. This is why I don't bet on animals..... they are just too unpredictable

VIDEO: Big Brown's Big Triple Crown Upset at Belmont

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 19:57:19 -0500

Link to video of Da' Tara moving ahead down the stretch as Big Brown drops off; video clip of the post-race interview with jockey Kent Desormeaux.

Big Brown Upset at Belmont by Long Shot

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 19:37:43 -0500

"I had no horse," Big Brown jockey Kent Desormeaux said after Big Brown came in last place at the 140th Belmont Stakes Saturday. I was surprised Big Brown came up short, especially after Rick Dutrow's repeated guarantees and reassurances that Big Brown would be victorious. Track temperatures at the time the starting gates were opened was 93 degrees Fahrenheit. The horse looked exhausted, and I think that the cracked front-left hoof of Big Brown had something to do with his apparent tiredness. It's a shame, because I wasn't alive the last time the Triple Crown was handed out. I was looking forward to seeing it. Da'Tara had 38-1 chances, while Big Brown was a 1-4 favorite to win the first Triple Crown in 30 years. So, we will have to wait another year to see if a horse can win the Triple Crown. This is the 19th time in history a horse has won the first two legs of the Triple Crown (the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes) but come up short in the final leg, the Belmont Stakes. Only 11 horses have ever won the Triple Crown. Did anyone seriously here have Da'Tara winning the Belmont? Man am I glad I don't have the guts to bet on Horse Racing. -Mike Greenspire

30 Years and Counting - Big Brown Fails

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 18:45:23 -0500

I guess this wasn't the year. Not only did Big Brown fail in his bid to become the first Triple Crown in three decades, he finished dead last. As expected, no one could beat him except himself, as Da' Tara won in a pedestrian race unbefitting of the Triple Crown.

Maybe Big Brown Just Isn't That Into Big Breasts

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 14:05:51 -0500

Hooters gets pulled as sponsor for Triple Crown hopeful Big Brown, so we put up a photo of them from the good old days (i.e., yesterday).

Denis of Cork one of two that can upset Big Brown

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 07:07:24 -0500

Analysis and preview of Denis of Corks chances at 2008 Belmont Stakes.

RACEHORSE FRAGILITY EXPLAINED

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 19:46:27 -0500

Here's an explanation of why Thoroughbred racehorses are more fragile than thier grand parents. Believe it or not it involves both world wars and Latin America...