HorseRacingNation.com NewsWire

Record Derby Week Traffic on Horse Racing Nation

Mon, 06 May 2013 15:51:11 GMT

Horse Racing Nation would like to thank our fans for the overwhelming show of support visiting the site during Kentucky Derby 2013.

For Derby week, Horse Racing Nation set a new site record by hosting over 650,000 visits, including over 250,000 visits on Kentucky Derby Day and over 120,000 visits on Kentucky Oaks day.

"The response to the Horse Racing Nation site re-design has been overwhelmingly positive," said Mark Midland, co-founder of Horse Racing Nation. "In addition, relocating our headquarters to Louisville has given us the ability to provide even greater coverage, access and interviews for our fans."

"Our fans have made Horse Racing Nation the fastest-growing site in horse racing, and our goal is to provide even more coverage, features and content to sustain that trend," Midland said.

Horse Racing Nation was launched in April 2009 and recently was redesigned for its fourth anniversary. Horse Racing Nation annually hosts over 5-million visitors each year.

Horse Racing Labs, the pare

New Day New Look

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 09:34:32 GMT

Welcome to HorseRacingNation.com 2.0!

In our ongoing quest to innovate in horse racing, we've given ourselves a fresh, modern look that showcases the work of our passionate, talented bloggers and also highlights the beauty of horse racing with more fantastic images from Eclipse Sportswire.

Better yet, this new design is also responsive to your mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, so you can take HRN with you anywhere!

Our new look is also easier to navigate, as our stories are now organized in more useful categories so you can find the most important news you need. Not to be overlooked is the backbone of HRN - the Wiki. As we continue to roll out the new design, you will find the horse profiles easier to use, with the most important information at your finger (or thumb!) tips.

It's all part of our mission to revolutionize horse racing for the fans and handicappers who fill the stands, cash tickets and make a day at the races the incredible experience that it is.

As with any big change, there's bound to be some flies to be swatted, so we appreciate your patience with

Get Published On HRN - Be A Turfwriter For A Day!

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 01:07:01 GMT

My favorite movie is Almost Famous. It leads the pack of horse movies like Seabiscuit and National Velvet by a Secretariat margin, even though there is nary a horse to be found in its 2-hour running time. But it more than any other film captures my experience in horse racing (plus it's got a killer soundtrack).

For the uninitiated, Almost Famous is the story of a teenage boy, William Miller, who follows his passion for rock-n-roll right into a writing job for Rolling Stone magazine. Set in 1973, he's just a regular guy who goes from writing record reviews for his local music paper (blogging) and chatting with rock journalist Lester Bangs, to rubbing shoulders with Black Sabbath and making friends with the girls who follow the bands, the infamous "Band Aides", with the ultimate backstage pass. With his encyclopedic knowledge and sincere love of the music, plus a dash of luck & charm, he gains access to the stars he idolizes and gets his work read by millions of readers of rock's weekly Bible.

That film inspired

Game On Dude Tops HRN Ranker Poll

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 17:21:25 GMT

HRN readers may have noticed the nifty ranker poll that went up on our homepage shortly after the Belmont. We showed you two active horses and asked you to choose which was better. We chose 9 of the top active horses for this head-to-head matchup: Game On Dude, Royal Delta, Bodemeister, Wise Dan, Shackleford, Mucho Macho Man, Ron The Greek, Animal Kingdom and Union Rags. Unfortunately, Union Rags retired after the poll began and we couldn't take him out while voting was active.

After 8 weeks of voting and over 8,000 votes, we have a clear winner!

Game On Dude won in 70% of the head-to-head matchups. The graphic below shows where each of the candidates finished.

Stay tuned to the homepage for more ranker polls throughout the summer & fall!

Pink is the Color of the Kentucky Oaks

Fri, 04 May 2012 13:39:09 GMT

Kentucky Oaks Day is a day for ladies.This a day dedicated to wearing lots of pink, big hats and hot heels, as well as watching and wagering on some horse racing, including the Grade I Oaks.

Top 10 Breeders' Cup 2011 Moments

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 08:05:43 GMT

Even though the Breeders' Cup is a fond memory for most, Tony Bada Bing still can't stop thinking about the highs and lows from those 2 days of championship racing. Here's his list of Top 10 Moments.

By Tony Bada Bing

No Dancing with Stars kind of vote, internet polling or asking of the experts here, just one man’s opinion of the top ten 2011 Breeder’s Cup moments. Enjoy…

1. Classic Mott Double – In the quiet and understated way he goes about his daily business of training horses, Bill Mott took the biggest races of the weekend with Royal Delta in the Ladies Classic and Drosselmeyer in the Classic. And while too many in our sport jump to hyperbole or anointment at the next great thing – jockey, trainer or horse – Mott simply exudes steadfast class through years of winning.

2. Battle of the Exes Part 2 – Either in a shameless stunt or marketing genius, the racing folks at Del Mar set up a Battle of the Exes match race between the off-again, on-again, off-again pair of Chantal Sutherland and Mike Smith. As he did three months earlier, Smith reached the wire before his ex-fiance, who c

Plenty To Be Thankful For

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 19:27:12 GMT

As we get together for the holiday with family, or prepare to head out for the Thanksgiving Day card at the local track, the HRN team took a little time out to reflect on what we are thankful for this year in racing.

Brian Appleton, Distaff Runner:

Thoroughbred Horse Racing has provided some of the greatest thrills of my life, and writing about some of the greatest modern day racers has been very fulfilling for me. I am so thankful for the opportunity to write about racing, share with other enthusiasts, and learn from my peers on Horse Racing Nation. Also, I could never complete a thankful statement without mentioning how incredibly thankful I am to have seen Curlin race five times in person, creating some of the absolute greatest moments of my life.

Don August, Bay Area Backstretch:

I am thankful for all my readers that look up my blogs on a weekly basis. I am also thankful for the people at Golden Gate Fields, (publicity dept., jockeys and trainers) for being so receptive to my requests and for dealing with me o

How is the Breeders' Cup Track Playing? (Live Blog)

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 11:43:23 GMT

How is the Track Playing?

Blogging live from the press box at Churchill Downs, the HRN team will help track how the dirt and turf courses are playing at Churchill Downs.

Race 1 – 6 furlongs, dirt

(post, horse)

8 Rothko – He sat back in third but off the rail.

3 Enclosure – Borel moved this horse up the rail.

2 Goodtimehadbyall – Saved ground early and on the turn

Pace: 23 1/5 45 1/5 1:09 2/5 Track muddy

Race 2 – 1 mile, dirt

5 – Congo – Stalked the pace 4 wide

4 – Chilled – 5 wide on the turn

7 – Katz My Song – speed along the rail

Pace: 23 46 3/5 1:12 1:38

Race 3 - 1 1/16 miles, dirt

4 – Mister Mardi Gras – Raced near the inside, swung wide for the stretch

2 – Alma d’Oro – Rated in the 3 path, went to 5 path for drive home

5 – Glenwood Canyon – Prompted pace 3 or 4 wide

Pace: 25 2/5 51 1:15 1/5 1:39 2/5 1:45 3/5

Race 4 – 1 1/16 miles dirt, Ack Ack

1 – Will’s Wildcat – Borel settled him then pushed to the lead on the rail

10 – Wine Police – Angled inside and advanced inside

2 – Uncle Brent – Started inside, swung wide for drive home

Top 10 Breeders' Cup Classics - With Video

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:34:28 GMT

The Breeders' Cup Classic is the culmination of a year's excellence in horse racing. Over its history, the Classic has been the scene of some of racing's most dramatic finishes and crowned Horses of the Year. Here are the 10 best editions.

Honorable Mention: 2004 - Ghostzapper
Legendary trainer Bobby Frankel had only won his first Breeders' Cup race in 2000 after years of near-misses. In 2004, his lightly-raced speedball tore up the track at Lone Star Park, becoming the fastest Classic winner ever and giving Frankel his only Classic win.

10. 1997 - Skip Away

The grey had the high-stepping action of a carousel horse, and in the 1997 edition at Hollywood Park, he made the Classic look like a merry-go-round with a near wire-to-wire win, in stakes record time.

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9. 1995 - Cigar

Cigar's Classic was the 12th victory in his incredible 16-win streak, a feat unprecedented at the time. In the dramatic stretch run, Tom Durkin said the words by which Cigar is still known - incomparable, invincable, unbeatable.

8. 2009 - Zenyatta

She was unbeaten in her career and ev

Horse Racing Is Better Than Football

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:25:06 GMT

It's September, and along with back-to-school sales and the cooler temperatures comes the hulking behemoth of American sports: NFL season.

I do not understand the allure of football - it's slow, the players all look alike in their bulky pads and helmets, and televised games seem little more than a platform for sexist beer and snack food commercials.

Running parallel to the NFL's juggernaut is the fall championship season for horse racing. Our sport's lead up to the Breeders' Cup goes unnoticed except by the niche of passionate fans that frequent HRN. But that is ok, because we all know we are experiencing the superior events.

Horse racing is better than NFL football.

Each race is a 2-minute (or fewer) drama that unfolds before our eyes, with heroes and villains determined from the moment the gate springs open. Will a hot-footed lone speed steal the race with an easy pace? Or will a brave closer swoop down on tiring speedballs in deep stretch to prevail by a nose? The PPs give you the Cliff's notes, but not until they go into the gate is the story written.

One must invest an