Op/Ed

I learned yesterday that a nine-year-old daughter of Horse of the Year Point Given out of Belmont graded stakes winner Inquisitive Look was ticketed for an imminent trip to slaughter in Canada. Her name is Au Currant and I was co-breeder. She was last seen in a sales ring at Keeneland in 2006 when sold for $35,000 in foal to graded stakes winner Sharp Humor.

Horseplayers tend to look down on slots players. We are the smart ones, using our brains to solve the complex puzzle that is a horse race. They, the slots bettors, are too stupid to think, and that's why they while away their hours mindlessly playing a game a trained chimpanzee could master in no time.

Being a bit of a betting and gambling geek, a hobby of mine is looking at the factors that drive pari-mutuel wagering. It's a fascinating exercise because there are so many items that go into the make-up of a gross betting pool. Sure we know the basics, like the lower the takeout the higher the bet, and the less gambling competition we have the better it is for racing handles, but there are so many more.

This is a tough time for Oliver Wills. He can't sleep. His annual review is approaching and he will be asked to grade his own job performance last year, then to present his plan for the next two to five years.

Now the New York Times is pummeling horse racing. We've seen the first part of a four-part series and the “paper of record” has all but come out and said that racing is a notch below cock fighting. PETA, as vitriolic as ever, has had its say, choosing the HBO series “Luck,” and by extension, the sport, as its punching bag. Even New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has chimed in, telling NYRA that horses better stop dying at Aqueduct, or else.

In 1997, shortly after Hong Kong had agreed to follow Europe's example by allowing direct imports from South Africa, Alec Laird travelled to Sha Tin racecourse with his South African-bred champion London News to win the G2 QEII Cup (now Group 1).

The decision by TOBA's American Graded Stakes Committee (AGSC) to withdraw the ban on medication in this year's 2-year-old graded stakes races was a crushing blow to the industry and the organization's members.

In September of 2010, a round of applause broke out at a meeting of the California Horse Racing Board. A call from the Governor's office came in, informing the California racing braintrust that the takeout increase they asked for earlier that summer had been approved. Everyone seemed happy.

We currently are experiencing "a jobless recovery" in the broader world where contraction and consolidation places greater wealth and power in the hands of fewer people, and drives a stock market that churns along on corporate earnings while long unemployment lines remain unchanged. The gap between rich and poor grows daily as more people on the bottom drop below the poverty line, while the rich get richer and many corporations sit on a hoard of cash.

Two reasons define the Breeders' Cup as the American organization with the most leadership potential: (1) Unlike other groups that may bark but have no teeth, the Breeders' Cup can establish rules for participation related to drug use, whipping, and other practices in need of reform, and then actually enforce compliance; and (2) by attracting a greater number of elite international stars to its signature event, the Breeders' Cup may eventually stage a true “World Championship” that will secure an important American presence in the rapidly evolving globalization of top-quality...

Recently, it has become very trendy to offer opinions as to how to solve the drug problem in our industry (note that I did not say sport). As someone who has been fighting this fight since long before most of those who are now offering opinions even knew there was a problem, who worked with the only group that has ever made a serious attempt to deal with the problem (The Jockey Club Safety and Integrity Committee), and who will be dealing with the issue--the real one--long after most of...

Racing needs to wean itself off race-day medication. Various reasons have been proffered for the elimination of drugs on race day, but there is one rarely mentioned that encompasses another major problem hurting the well-being of our industry--a lack of owners willing to play to game.