TDN book review

The act of calling a live horse race has got to be one of the most solitary, yet public endeavors around a track. Announcers have the power to attach their own soundtrack to a race for posterity. Whether you are Aiello, Becker, Beem, Calo, Collmus, Dinerman, Dooley, Geller, Griffin, Mirahmadi, Paquette, Rodman, Stone, Tammaro, Wrona or any of the others who dot racing's current U.S. landscape on high, track announcers are both foreign language translators and air traffic controllers. The big top demands an entertaining ringmaster and the pressure is...

On Saturday at Churchill Downs, 2-year-old Patch Adams (Into Mischief)--yes, as in the 1998 Robin Williams film where the best line might be, "Donner, party of 50!"--earned his very own 'Rising Star' on TDN's Walk of Fame. The colt turned in what Alan Carasso called "a jaw-dropping performance" as he broke his maiden by an eye-catching 10 1/2 lengths at second asking. The time over the fast main track was just 0.33 off the record held by MGISW Groupie Doll. Thoroughbred bloodlines can highlight connections to a rich past and...

There was a well-known Thoroughbred trainer who was accused of a medication violation by the governing anti-doping agency at the time. This conditioner had a history of putting the horse first, so the case was shocking and the evidence stacked against him did not quite add up. The owner of the animal in question did everything possible to help him mount a defense by calling in experts to give testimony, but in the end he was found negligent and given a year suspension. The trainer was none other than Tom...