JAKE IS UNDER THE CHRISTMAS TREE, wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May you be happy and healthy!
PRESS EXCLUSIVE UPDATE.. from Transition Thoroughbreds
from Transition Thoroughbreds
(for more on Press Exclusive’s plight, see the latest blog posting called ACCOUNT)
My own vet has now been out to see Press Exclusive as well and these are her findings: heart rate, lungs, temperature are all normal, blood was drawn to test to see if she is septic – I will have the results of that tomorrow but it is looking positive that she may not be as her temperature is normal, all abrasions and cuts have been treated, she is NOT blind and there appears to be no damage to either eye but that is not 100% as it is hard to completely determine due to the amount of swelling, gut sounds are normal, she is eating and drinking well, is quite alert, she will remain on bute for another 5 days and antibiotics for another 5 to 7 days as well, she will also remain on stall rest for a week, she does need to have a caslick done but it is not crucial at this point and can be done when the vet comes back next week, she most likely has extensive muscle damage and bruising to her body and she has four fractured ribs; however, they are the ones furthest back so her breathing does not seem to be impaired at the moment.
The next 48 to 72 hours are crucial at this point and she will be watched closely to see if she starts to deteriorate. At the moment things are looking fairly positive and we are really hoping and praying it will continue to remain that way as I really want to try and save her and will give her every chance possible. Should all go well, she can be started on short periods of hand walking in a week’s time and then move on towards single turnout in a small area.
We will do EVERYTHING we can to save her but if she starts to go drastically downhill in this period of time and the signs will be very obvious, we have no intention of having her suffer needlessly and the decision will be made to have her humanely euthanized. I think I pretty much covered everything that was discussed.
The next few days are going to be very difficult to get through in not having this answer and are probably going to seem like the longest few days of my life right now but I will do the best I can to keep everybody informed of her condition. THANK YOU again to ALL of the many, many people that have given so much to try and help save this mare and so many others and I wish you all a very, very Merry Christmas!!
NORTHERN LION WINS HIS MAIDEN
80 Beyer for big ticket purchase
From a $25,000 weanling purchase to a $115,000 yearling to a $625,000 2yo in training, NORTHERN LION has got more valuable as he has grown up. Yesterday at Gulfstream, in his 3rd career race, Northern Lion improved enough to win his maiden. He began his career at Woodbine and is trained by Mark Casse. Patrick Husbands rode the 2yo colt.
Chart courtesy of Thoroughbred Daily News:
8th-GPX, $42,000, Msw, 2yo, 1 1/16m, 1:45 3/5, ft.
NORTHERN LION (c, 2, Lion Heart–Obligation North, by Valley Crossing), a $625,000 FTFFEB juvenile, reported
home third as the 6-5 chalk in his Sept. 26 Woodbine unveiling behind subsequent next-out winner and
Display S. third-place finisher Clearly Now (Horse Greeley). He improved one slot to complete the exacta
at 9-5 behind the impressive WinStar firster General Election (Harlan=s Holiday) at Churchill Downs Nov. 24,
and was given a 5-2 chance to make it right while attempting two turns for the first time here. Sent to the
front by Patrick Husbands, Northern Lion coasted through early fractions of :24.84 and :49.71, began to
shake clear as they straightened for home and came roaring down the lane to graduate by 5 1/2 lengths. O
T B Bob (Full Mandate) was second by a neck over Town Extension (Speightstown), who made a sharp
middle move while parked wide on the far turn. Northern Lion was produced by a half-sister to
millionaire Weigelia (Safely=s Mark).
O-John C Oxley. B-Reata Thoroughbred Racing (FL).
‘SIDESHOW’ BLOG – My Revoked Credentials & The State of Racing Journalism
Following my recent article about the Kentucky Derby, which was critical of horse racing’s failure to tackle problems of drugging and animal abuse, Churchill Downs head of communications John Asher tweeted, “So much for future #KYDerby credentials for the writer …”
It was a sad clarification of something that many who are familiar with horse racing already know: that its journalists are generally dependent on the people they cover for access, and that publishing acceptable stories, for everyone except the most established few, is a career prerequisite.
“Racing media is very small; it’s tight-knit,” Jeremy Plonk, who’s covered racing for a variety of outlets including ESPN, told me in an interview for my feature. “Most of your paycheck, if you work in the racing media, is paid by somebody involved in racing. They’re paying to get their own coverage.”
The outlets that are sufficiently independent, such as the New York Times, Plonk added, are greatly outnumbered by those that aren’t.
“If you’re writing about horse racing and you stick your neck out and make a statement about somebody or about a bad topic that kind of sheds bad light on the game, it can hurt your business,” he said. “There aren’t very many mainstream outlets for horse racing coverage, so that’s why a lot of that stuff doesn’t get written about.”
It’s a depressing reality for a sport whose best writing has historically rivaled the best writing on anything. William Nack’s reflections on Secretariat for Sports Illustrated serve as a reminder of the sheer power and magnificence horse racing can affect through the written word. In the present day, Joe Drape and Walt Bogdanich’s New York Times series about drugs and death in racing is hard-nosed reporting at its best, and it reveals just how much, in this beautiful and beleaguered sport, there is to say.
http://www.amcircus.com/sideshow/my-revoked-credentials-the-state-of-racing-journalism.html
SANTA ANITA OPENS
By Jim Peltz
December 22, 2012, 3:57 p.m.
The numbers dwindle each year for Santa Anita Park. So how can the horse racing track draw more new customers?
As Santa Anita opens its winter-spring meeting Wednesday, it remains a breathtaking venue in Arcadia set against the San Gabriel Mountains.
But attendance and on-track wagering at Santa Anita have declined for more than 20 years, as they have at many tracks.
The main reasons: competition since the mid-1980s from state lotteries, Indian casinos and off-track betting, that is, people at other facilities and online making “simulcast” or “satellite” bets on Santa Anita’s races. The weak economy also worsened matters.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-santa-anita-20121223,0,2057893.story
Ontario Liberal Party leadership candidates speak out on
safeguarding province’s horse racing and breeding industry
TORONTO, Dec. 21, 2012 /CNW/ – Five of the seven candidates to succeed Premier Dalton McGuinty as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party and Premier have made videotaped statements undertaking to safeguard the future of the province’s imperiled horse racing and breeding industry.
The future of the industry, and of the 55,000 full-time and part-time jobs that it provides primarily in rural Ontario, has been thrown into question by the McGuinty government’s abrupt decision earlier this year to withdraw slot machines from the province’s racetracks, ending a successful partnership that has helped to financially sustain the industry while providing revenues to the Ontario government.
“It’s very encouraging that so far five of the seven people who have a chance to lead the Ontario Liberal Party and become Premier starting in January are publicly showing their understanding of how important the horse racing and breeding industry is to the lives of hard-working people in rural Ontario,” says Racing Future president and founder Dennis Mills, a Toronto business executive and former long-serving Liberal Member of Parliament who is spearheading efforts to raise public awareness of the issue, particularly in urban areas.
http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1093593/ontario-liberal-party
-leadership-candidates-speak-out-on-safeguarding-province-s-horse-racing-and-breeding-industry
GO WEST…EVERYONE!!
BC racing gets BIGGER share of slots revenue
from Standardbred canada:
On Friday, the horse racing industry received an additional allotment of funding designed to ensure the successful revitalization of the industry.
In an announcement from Rich Coleman, Minister of Energy, Mines and Natural Gas and Minister Responsible for Gaming, the increase in the percentage of on-track slot machine revenues from the BC Lottery Corporation gaming proceeds will be allocated directly to horse racing to support B.C.’s horse racing industry and to create stability in this important employment generator in the agricultural and entertainment industries.
The funding increase will be effective for the 2013 racing season and is an increase to 25 per cent from the current 15.5 per cent. The total funding amount is estimated to be approximately $10 million and will go toward ensuring that purse amounts are commensurate with industry standards and providing support for the continued success of the industry.
http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/news/12-22-12/bc-gives-racing-bigger-slot-cut.html
