Op/Ed

Ogden Mills (Dinny) Phipps, in his position at The Jockey Club, has a degree of power, but what he really has is influence. Because of that, a lot of people take what he says seriously. But in the last few weeks I have ceased to take him seriously at all.

Two headlines in early April regarding Churchill Downs: * In Louisville Business First (based on a report by WFPL-FM), that the five highest-paid Churchill Downs Inc. (the parent company that owns the tracks, casinos and twinspires.com) executives collected a combined $27.9 million in compensation in 2013. * In the Louisville Courier-Journal, that Churchill Downs will raise its takeout this year to the highest levels allowed under state law. Other than the fact both stories involve Churchill Downs, the two are obviously totally unrelated. But, they give pause to some thoughts...

Reading that Keeneland had again expressed interest in hosting the Breeders' Cup, the idea for a column was born. The angle would be that Keeneland could host the Breeders' Cup--if the track tore out its Polytrack surface.

I've read about all I care to read in the last week since the latest NY Times assault appeared. Probably the last thing any of us needs is another opinion, but sometimes the best way to mourn is to express oneself and I'm in mourning. Like my friends Barry Weisbord and Gary Biszantz, I'm mad as hell. Like my friends, Barry Irwin, Bill Oppenheim and so many others, I want leaders our industry to clean it up, address its problems, and make changes before it is too late. But if...

There is a country song, “What Part of No Don't You Understand.” Some of us have come to identify with this song in our efforts over the last 30 years to win the war against drugs and thugs. Aside from creating awareness, we have failed miserably so far. This issue has once again seized the headlines and this time the consequences are far from over. We all have eyes and ears and seeing and hearing is believing. You cannot sweep this one under the rug no matter how vigorously you...

Stand up before you read this column. If you think Scott Blasi is the only trainer in America who has ever bad-mouthed an owner, please sit down. If you think Scott Blasi is the only trainer in America who has ever run a horse he didn't think was 100% healthy, please sit down.

Over the past few seasons, as racing has contracted, much discussion has taken place among the game's stakeholders as to which of these entities is most necessary for survival of the sport.

This morning I viewed with revulsion the video posted by PETA. The cold hard fact is that it is a snapshot of how so many racehorses are managed. Our industry is permeated with those who have no regard for the welfare of the horse, nor understanding of the growing negative perception of horse racing.

It has been a year since the New York Times published its article and the PETA video which painted then-Hall of Fame nominee Steve Asmussen and his assistant, Scott Blasi, as allegedly abusive operatives in the seedy world of horse racing. While many of us were disturbed by the images and comments made in the PETA video, most of us knew that PETA had taken questionable liberties and made several distortions in its depiction of one of racing's most successful, albeit frequently sanctioned, racing outfits. Personally, I want to see Mr. Asmussen and...

Almost a year ago, the National Basketball Association (NBA) unveiled a new website, stats.nba.com, where they did something novel to improve their sport. They released a vast statistical trove, powered by a flexible and useful database allowing fans, researchers, fantasy gamers and even team executives to investigate and study all forms of basketball data–current and historical.

I have been a member of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association & Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders (KTA/KTOB) for several years. I believe in supporting the entities that work tirelessly to improve our industry, and am confident that this organization has done a great deal for all of us who work with Thoroughbreds.

I am asking the many of you celebrating the on-going unraveling of the synthetic surface era to pause for a moment and consider what this means for the future well-being and safety of the thousands of race horses that have no say in this matter. The answer: a lot more of them are going to die.