Chris McGrath

The horses, of course, remain just as reticent about discussing their health as 150 years ago. But their beauty and courage are also unchanged, which has always kept veterinarians willing to persevere in a one-sided consultation. Until recently, anyway. People do change, however-and the fact is that an increasingly urbanized society is no longer producing as many young people with a natural affinity for horses. That's a problem for our whole industry, but a quietly developing crisis for its veterinary sector. And, having lasted as long as it has, the...

Sponsored by Pedigrees360. Candidly, it always feels a little cheap to delve into a pedigree once its functionality is established, scrubbing away any genetic mud before triumphantly producing some hidden nugget to explain how it has all come together. "Post rationalization" of this kind is standard in articles like this, and the absolute opposite of the grueling enterprise that has worn out the soles of so many shoes over the past couple of weeks. As ever, Keeneland presented thousands of perfectly plausible pages to measure against the animals paraded before...

When Andrew Schwarz and his sister Wendy Schwarz-Gilder decided to turn their longstanding enthusiasm for the Turf into a deeper commitment, in 2017, the option that best matched their outlook was a modest breeding program. If that meant taking their time, patiently building each page, so be it. All they knew was that they wanted to work with others of a similar disposition: people who gave time to each other, and to their horses. Schwarz, after all, is a real estate developer in New Orleans. "And in real estate, five...

The TDN always strives to remain scrupulously non-partisan and confines its occasional attention to the world of politics to such opportunities and concerns that directly affect the Thoroughbred industry. Recently, for instance, we spent time with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as he stepped in to support the campaign against decoupling in that state. A few days ago, Chris McGrath was given the opportunity to sit down with the Governor of the Bluegrass State itself, Andy Beshear, a figure increasingly on the national radar as a potential White House contender in...

As usual in the TDN, truth is spoken and of course Mr. McGrath has a part in the truth as well though Dr. Cahill, whom I met at Gainesway, a typical Texan straight talker, but oh so clever, and at no time was it fantasy he purported. I am very grateful for this article of TDN on the 24th of June. I wish that everyone in the breeding world would sit up and take notice when a true giant of his profession teaches us what true values are, and how...

They had grown up together, the boy and his horse. Their bond was innate. In fact, he has been told that his mother was on horseback when her waters broke. That was how it was, up in the mountains. Most people couldn't afford cars, certainly not the type that might cope with those roads. "We lived in one of the most desolate villages in Puerto Rico," Alberto Rullan recalls. "My dad had a small farm: coffee, bananas, plantains. And every night, I would round up the cattle into pens. If...

No doubt about it, the folks at Hagyards seem to have found themselves a promising intern. Still early days, mind. Richard Holder has only been there 53 years. In fact, Dr. Holder believes himself the first beneficiary of an official internship at the storied Lexington firm, founded in 1876, albeit Dr. William McGee himself was evidently granted a similar opening, less formally, by Dr. Charles Hagyard in 1940. (By 1953 the firm was renamed Hagyard-Davidson-McGee Associates.) In either case, safe to say that the internship model started pretty well. Holder...

Precocious kid, streaks ahead of his peers, brought crashing to earth? Hang in there, boy. Because if that's pretty much where the champion juvenile finds himself, heading into the GI Kentucky Derby off a disappointing run at Santa Anita, he need not seek far for inspiration. Robert Low bred Citizen Bull (Into Mischief) with his wife Lawana from their mare No Joke (Distorted Humor), who had cost them $750,000 as a yearling at the 2017 Keeneland September Sale--just days after her half-sister Moonshine Memories (Malibu Moon) had won the GI...

In an era when it feels ever harder to trust what you're seeing, how edifying to find something "fake" that actually authenticates a genuine, old-school, artisanal flair. That's not to deny the technological short-cuts nowadays available to John Cox, compared to when he started trading out of his garage back in 1982. But anyone touring the Lexington premises of Thorough-Graphics--this Aladdin's cave, teeming with color and invention, where Cox and his family supply around 70 percent of signage to the local Thoroughbred industry--will unfailingly be drawn to the "antique" signs...

James E. "Ted" Bassett III, who led Keeneland through historic expansion during his 38-year tenure serving as President, Chairman and Trustee, died Thursday at his home in Lexington. He was 103. So he was not immortal, after all. But those of us privileged to have known James E. Bassett III will know how rare it is not only for human life to stretch to so wide a span but yet to conclude with the emphasis so unequivocally on quality, rather than mere quantity. It began [and ended] in Lexington, aptly...

Only a courageous runner-up effort behind 'TDN Rising Star' and 3-year-old male Eclipse finalist Fierceness (City of Light) in the GI Travers Stakes this past August stood between Brookdale Racing Inc, Mark Edwards, Judy Hicks and Magdalena Racing's 'TDN Rising Star' Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) and a perfect season in 2024. But the enormously talented dark bay filly was utterly dominant against her own sex in 2024 and became the first female since Havre de Grace (Saint Liam) in 2011 to take home the coveted Horse of the Year statuette...

The Thoroughbred Daily News's Publisher and CEO Sue Finley and Columnist Chris McGrath both won 2024 Eclipse Media Awards from the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB), according to a release from the NTRA on Wednesday. The 2024 Media Eclipse Award winners across six categories are as follows: Multimedia - Sue Finley, Thoroughbred Daily News, "After Saving Two Horses from a Kill Pen, Stewart Aims to do More to End Slaughter," July 15, 2024. Sue Finley produced a multimedia piece...