The road to the Kentucky Derby and through the Triple Crown series exacts a heavy toll on young thoroughbreds: The horses run increasingly longer distances against increasingly larger and tougher fields during the first half of the season for 3-year-olds. Many tracks in North America are installing synthetic racing surfaces to reduce catastrophic injuries and increase horses' longevity and durability. Additionally, some trainers have altered their horses' pre-Kentucky Derby schedule,...

These will include horse racing day and night, on a floodlit track, showjumping, polo, dressage, leisure horse riding and other equine activities such as breeding, sales and businesses based on services to the equine sector. A BD250 million privatisation project is being launched to put horse racing and other riding events in Bahrain on the world map. The national racecourse at Sakhir is to be privatised under a scheme to turn nearly 3.7 million square metres of land into an international...

Unlike other locations where there are dramatic seasonal changes, which can have a deleterious effect on bone growth, Ocala offers the combination of consistent forage quality year after year, coupled with a deep soil cushion under which is a limestone base, giving optimal bone development. Tens of thousands of Floridians are employed in the horse business or other allied industries, and the economic impact of Florida horsemen is significant. Why Ocala? Research shows that as the second...

This section, which is heavily populated with shops, bars, betting windows and snack bars, produces possibly the most interesting mix of people within the grounds of Churchill Downs, as it is the large area through which both the infielders and those in the grandstand can mingle and, if nothing else, congregate temporarily while watching the races on large television screens. A tunnel from the infield at Churchill Downs that traveled under the grandstand led to a large section of the...

For all the great and hurried expectations, it seems we may not learn any time soon who will be awarded the most lucrative gambling franchise in New York's history. Who gets the franchise to run the state's three thoroughbred racetracks was conspicuously not among Gov. In addition to NYRA and Empire, formal bids have been submitted by Capital Play, an Australian gambling-based group, and by the Great White Shark of all the bidders, Excelsior Racing Associates, which represents huge Las...

According to Painter, the only difference between his human and horse patients is that the people tell him where their pain is and with horses, he has to read their body language. During his 13 years treating horses, Painter has developed a philosophy that these large animals are prime athletes and his job is to optimize their performance. The chiropractor's horse patients are as varied in their ailments as their human counterparts. Mike Painter inside a barn treating one of his...

The town and racing fans were rocked this weekend when jockey Fran Ferris confessed to a Sunday paper he fixed more than 200 races and pocketed up to 1,000 a race by giving tip-offs about which horses would lose. Ferris said the problem is widespread within horse racing * with strings of owners, trainers and jockeys caught up with corrupt betting. Owners and trainers put pressure on jockeys to go easy on horses so they can get better odds next time. The Irishman, who has ridden 180 winners...

I was in the jocks' room a couple of summers ago, and the conversation turned to injuries suffered while astride 1,200-pound horses that run almost 35 mph. Here's hoping that years from now when they talk about the 2007 Kentucky Derby, folks will remember more than just the horse. Borel passed the final pole at the Kentucky Derby, turned around and saw nary a challenger. I thought about somebody wanting to ride horses so bad that he would accept certain pain at the conclusion in exchange...

Sundays lessons focused on rescuing horses from a mudhole, a pond and handling an overturned horse trailer. Trouble was that they didnt have the specialized training needed to rescue horses or any large animal. Shortly after they arrived, the horse had moved about 100 feet farther into the swamp, said Torie Miller. There hasnt been a lot of training for first responders, Miller said, because rescue has always been handled by animal control officers. That was the case with Hurricane Katrina...