Four years ago August 4, David Jacobson claimed a horse at Saratoga. Nothing terribly unusual about that, nor about the fact that Jacobson ran the horse, who had finished fifth, back 21 days later, nor that the trainer bumped the bay gelding way up in class for that next start, nor that Jacobson won with…
At the close of the second Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit in March 2008, the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and The Jockey Club, underwriters and hosts for the event, released eight recommendations, developed by the working groups that participated in that summit held in Lexington, Kentucky. Recommendation #7 reads: “Find solutions for unwanted…
In early August of 2011, my parents and I, not unusually, spent a lovely afternoon at Saratoga Race Course. With other family in town, they had to leave before the last race, but not before placing their wagers, and later that evening, my mother, from whom I inherited the hunch-betting gene, called to inquire about the…
“Can I call you back in a little while?” asked Barbara Luna on a recent wet, cold afternoon. “It’s miserable here, and I want to get the horses fed.” An hour later, the horses taken care of, Luna can talk. Which she does, willingly, at length, telling the story of how she made a dream…
Buyers of Thoroughbred racehorses in 2014 got an early Christmas present when H.R. 5771, the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014, became law earlier this month. Retroactive through this past year, a provision of the law renews the three-year tax depreciation for racehorses, which allows taxpayers to depreciate racehorses 24 months of age and younger…
Followers of trainer Mark Hennig’s Twitter timeline were the first to hear the news last Friday, when Hennig posted a somewhat cryptic message after the fourth race at Aqueduct. Great, get some rest big boy! — Mark Hennig (@Hennigracing) December 26, 2014 The “big boy” was Socialsaul, the horse that Hennig had purchased for owner…
“Jack on the Rocks roars back to win under Sheldon Russell! It’s Sheldon Russell—make his a double on Maryland Million Day! Jack on the Rocks!” That call by Dave Rodman is one of Richie Munk’s favorite racing memories, and he’s got no shortage of them from which to choose. Munk has nearly 20 years in…
Sally Rohrbach stands by a fence behind her sprawling house in Harwood, Maryland, a short ride from Annapolis. Glimpses of the South River are visible down the hill from the front yard. She whistles, looking across several paddocks, over the heads of the three miniature horses that live closest to the barn, a handful of…
Brooklyn Backstretch 