The child, sitting down with the old man close behind … had been thinking how strange it was that horses who were such fine honest creatures should seem to make vagabonds of all the men they drew about them…

Charles Dickens certainly got that one right. In The Olde Curiosity Shop, the orphaned adolescent Nell and her impoverished grandfather travel to the races at Banbury, in the company of conmen and thieves Condlin and Short. The innocent Nell, observing Condlin pickpocketing the spectators at their puppet show and disappointed at not being able to see the horses, muses on the venality of the humans she sees, a venality so at odds with the majesty of the equines.

Little Nell, we’re with you.

Money may not be the root of all the evil surfacing this week, but the indictments over doping in horse racing announced on Monday have raised questions about whether blockbuster prize money offers not only a big payday for owners and trainers, but also the temptation to win by any means necessary.

Continue reading at The Guardian…

Maximum Security & Luis Saez winning the G1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct. NYRA/Coglianese photo