Will Take Charge will run in the Belmont Stakes with Jon Court. And Mike Smith will ride Palice Malice in the Belmont.

And YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/torsluzewiec1939

out of retirement & riding at Del Mar.

Sheikh Mohammed is making the use of steroids in racing a criminal offense in the UAE according to BH. http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/78448/uae-to-criminalize-steroid-use-in-horses

This is an interesting story about how the closing of Hollywood Park will effect Del Mar and Santa Anita. If the article is true it sounds like Del Mar is going to widen the turf course to take a run at hosting a Breeders Cup and they are seriously considering going back to dirt. http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/May/21/del-mar-horse-racing-/?#article-copy

Jimmy Creed out of Met Mile according to DRF....http://www.drf.com/news/belmont-met-mile-wont-get-jimmy-creed

Fitting that Hooh Why's next probably start is the Matron on Saturday. She is in foal to Leroidesanimaux and is due January 15th. Her trainer says she is a once in a life time horse and has a few more "bullets left in her to fire". Evidently, pregnancy is agreeing with Hooh Why! I rode through my 7th month, but I am sure it is not the same thing ;)

Trainer Sir Michael Stoute officially annouced this morning to the UK racing media that Highclere Thoroughbred Racing's top Epsom Derby hopeful, Telescope, has a sore left shin and "will not" be running in the G1 Epsom Derby on June 1st. Telescope missed his intended seasonal debut last week in the G2 Dante Stakes at York due to a graze on his leg that became infected.

The head of our patron education group stumped me on a bit of trivia this week. She said "name a thoroughbred person who set a world's record in the standardbred community." I was frankly amazed when I heard she broke the world's record for a mile trot UNDER SADDLE by more than 4 seconds. http://horseracing.about.com/library/weekly/aa100600a.htm

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/78427/toronto-rejects-gaming-expansion-at-woodbine Citry coucill seals the doom. I f the big casino goes into the city of Vaughn, the track will have fewer and fewer casino visitors,,,,IT IS NUTS HERE, completely nuts when a venue zoned for gambling, set up for gambling, has the managment expereinced in gambling is turned down for expansion...Completely nuts.

watching the first turf mile initiated a querie. For a very long time every data provider (Trackmaster, HDW, Equibase etc.) were known to not have turf speed ratings on par with the reliability of the main track. The major reason is related to the standard practice of protecting various lanes of the turf surface from overuse by limiting the run to a variety of lanes away from the inner rail, and then not compensating for the increased circumference the horses traversed. The way some tracks compensate for this variance has been the subject of my contacting a representative of Teletimer Company. (The organization responsible for the timing of races at most top tracks). They have calculated the amount of added ground that these lane variances create and do two things to equalize the distances: 1) moving the gate and 2) moving both the infield 16th pole and starter electronic timer sensors. Their rep handed me a pair of binoculars to observe what appeared to be four green “stumps” along the inner rail of the turf backstretch near the start of the mile..”The crew alters the 8th pole and starting gate position to match one of four positions that align to lanes 0 – no change, 1 , 2, 3 and 4 and then 5. These have been carefully calibrated to account for the added distance travelled by the field when the lanes are set up around the turf course. The effect of the extra distance traversed is multiplied by how far from the finish line the start is, so each segment has to have differing compensations. That accounts for having 88 functional time sensors just on the turf course to cover all the combinations that each wider lane creates. He told me that Trackus “really messed up on the turf timer for they made no serious alterations in relation to the position of the start, but used some, what he called, an oddball mathematical formula, that just did not work.” “Most tracks don’t do this as the electronics, especially the switchover timers race to race, cost lots to install. When you see various turf distances as most tracks, the gate and timer alterations have not been made so the data has built in error.” FINALLY I discovered the exact mechanism.

I've been so busy this week, I completely overlook this horse's outstanding performance in the Singapore Airlines International Cup. He blew away the talent packed field by 3 1/2 lengths after being geared down the last 100 meters. Probably the most dominating international G1 turf performance I have seen so far this year.

Secretariat will always be the Champ :) I wonder if I will ever see another Triple Crown....

If you could go back and meet/see any horse(s) throughout the history of racing, who would they be?