Have you ever dreamt about what it would be like to be an exercise rider–breezing through the early morning mist on a fresh thoroughbred, wind whipping through your hair? Lauren Nethery explains that it’s not quite so glamorous. (more…)
#RACING
EN Today: Bareback horse racing in Siena, Italy
“Siete tutti pazzi”… I think that translates to “Y’all are crazy,” a statement applicable to the jockeys in a video Visionaire posted this afternoon. (more…)
EN Today: Drug-Free Victory – 40 Owners Say No to Salix
Forty prominent Thoroughbred owners have stepped forward to give race day diuretics like furosemide the boot, reports Abby Gibbon. (more…)
Saddle Weights Explained
A strange juxtaposition, the flashbulb spectacle of the winner’s circle and then the jockey’s stealthy dismount, banana peel saddle hung over-arm and carried loot-like atop a scale, where needles tremble with guilty implication. (more…)
Daily Dose of Adorable: What famous frolicking foal is this?
Hint: His father retired as the richest racehorse in North American history, and his mother was the first filly in 85 years to win the Preakness. Click through for the answer. (more…)
Summertime Track Sojourns
I picked up Saratoga Stories: Gangsters, Gamblers & Racing Legends at the Kentucky Horse Park gift shop last year, and since backstory always unmasks the best adventures, this summer it’s Travers Stakes or bust. (more…)
Black Caviar, Supermare
Hearts broke when Blame outnosed Zenyatta at the wire in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic–and Saturday, in the Royal Ascot’s Diamond Jubilee Stakes, it looked like fans of the undefeated Australian supermare Black Caviar might suffer the same fate. (more…)
Racehorses being doped with ‘frog juice’
The New York Times reports that the latest performance-enhancing potion to hit racetrack backsides is a substance called dermorphin, found in the skin of South American tree frogs. (more…)
Video du Jour: Union Rags gets his due
Saturday’s Belmont turned out to be an exciting show even without its headliner. A big congrats to Union Rags and his trainer, former Olympic show-jumper Michael Matz. (more…)
I’ll Have Another is out. Who to root for now?
ESPN’s Jeannine Edwards and Jerry Bailey preview the 144th Belmont Stakes as it stands without the favorite I’ll Have Another, who will be officially retired in a pre-race ceremony. (more…)
Jockey Mario Gutierrez on Jimmy Fallon
It makes for bittersweet watching now, but last night, Triple Crown dreams were still alight in jockey Mario Gutierrez’s eyes. (more…)
Doug O’Neill is having a bad, bad day
But let’s give him a hand for making the right decision in pulling I’ll Have Another from the Belmont, even if it meant forfeiting his page in the history books and bumming out an entire nation. (more…)
New York Times: DARE to keep the racehorses off drugs
In an effort to ensure that nobody slips a ‘roid-laced carrot into anyone’s feed tub, racing officials will be enforcing super-strict barn security measures in the run-up to the Belmont. (more…)
Video du Jour: Training for the Belmont
I’ll Have Another trainer Doug O’Neill recounts the highlights of a recent strategy session with Billy Turner, trainer of 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew. (more…)
Snacktime for Lava Man
When he’s not busy leading I’ll Have Another to post, seven-time Grade I race winner Lava Man helps himself to some extra snacks. He’s earned them. (more…)
ESPN: I’ll Have Another has ‘20,000-1 shot’ at winning Belmont
Race writer Bill Finley did some fancy math and came up with this dismal number. So why doesn’t he think our Derby/Preakness winner stands a chance? (more…)
Horses in History: The X factor
Horse Nation’s in-house historian Lorraine Jackson explores the science behind a genetic mutation that results in a larger-than-average heart–a huge advantage for racehorses. (more…)
Really?!?!: Preakness ‘Running of the Urinals’
Behold what may be the most disturbing Preakness infield tradition of all: the annual port-o-potty run, in which drunk people run across the tops of port-o-potties while being pelted by beer cans. (more…)
I’ll Have Another has another win
Abby Gibbon was at the Preakness yesterday, doing keg stands in the in-field and taking in all the action. Some thoughts from the morning after: (more…)
EN Today: Preakness preview
Will I’ll Have Another have another win? Or will Bodemeister declare the Derby winner a washed-up has-been? In-house racing geek Abby Gibbon gives us the scoop on what we can expect out of Baltimore tomorrow. (more…)
Horses in History: *Noor’s story revisited
Last week, Lorraine Jackson explored the life (and afterlife) of racing legend *Noor. This week, she expounds upon the story with an interview with one of *Noor’s biggest fans. (more…)
Deep Thoughts by Horse Nation
“Even before I knew I was going to be a jockey, I was.” – Calvin Borel [Read More]
Do you have a Deep Thought you’d like to share? Email it to [email protected]. (more…)
LA Bound: KY Horse & Teams
Mission Impazible, 2011 New Orleans Handicap and 2010 Louisiana Derby champ, will make an historic, blue-and-white bid to defend his Handicap title at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots Sunday. (more…)
Mike Smith’s Zenyatta Foal Watch
Any day now, supermare Zenyatta is set to foal at Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, Ky. Meanwhile her former jockey, Mike Smith (or whomever runs his Facebook page) is pretty excited about it. (more…)
Michigan stable fire claims at least 25 horses
Campbell Stables, a thoroughbred facility in Jackson County, west of Detroit, was destroyed in a fire Tuesday night. One farm worker was taken to the hospital with burns. (more…)