Horse racing fans love their horse racing movies. And because we know our sport thoroughly, inside and out, we cherish an accurate portrayal of our sport that much more.
Here are our top 5 horse racing movies then:
1. Seabiscuit (2003)
2. National Velvet (1944)
3. Dreamer (2005)
4. Ruffian (2007)
5. Racing Stripes (2005)
Every athlete has to leave the stage at some point. Horses are no different, but the decision-making process that goes into their retirements certainly is.
There are two general career paths for thoroughbreds. The top ones in the sport will often be retired even when they are still capable of winning races; this is because their expected stud fees will grow so high that their owners won’t risk losing that windfall to injury. Any Given Saturday, for example, was retired to stud this month and will earn $40,000 for each effort. There will be thousands.
Thoroughbreds who fail to reach this lofty standard will simply be taken off the track once their owners decide the balance between earnings and expense is no longer to his or her liking. Their stories are like those of retired marginal pro athletes; some find good homes and families, others fall on hard times. And, yes, they shoot horses.
The horse racing industry has been expanding the number of races every year for the past five years, and the pool of jockeys required to run all these races is too small. Jockeys are now the busiest sportsmen in England. Many jockeys are running multiple races on the same day, and the industry fears that these men and women are surely headed towards burn-out in the future.
The race to win the championship has the jockeys riding in as many races as they possibly can in order to gain points over opponents. Industry organizers are looking into creating schedules where only certain races will be included in the championship point race, instead of all the all-weather events. They will determine which races qualify by stakes amounts each race offers.
If changes do come, it will not be before next season’s championship. So the jockeys still have at least one busy year left.
The Triple Crown races attract the most media attention compared to any other horse racing events. The first jewel in the Triple Crown is the Kentucky Derby, and is the most well-known horse race in the world. The Japan Cup, which is run every November at Tokyo Race Course, will have purses as big as $4.3 million. The Australian Melbourne Cup attracts international entries and continues to grow.
But the biggest race in the world is in the United Arab Emirates. The Dubai World Cup is a race with a purse of $6 million, and the country is currently building an entire horse racing city. The catch is that there is no paramutuel betting in the country.
The Dubai World Cup will continue to be the biggest race in the world because of the love of horse racing held the Arab aristocracy and the huge financial backing the industry has in the United Arab Emirates.
Churchill Downs has some special events planned for the rest of November. On the weekend of the 10th & 11th, the Derby Collectors’ Weekend will kick off. The collectors will exhibit their memorabilia and an appraisal service will be on hand. There will also be the announcement of the 2008 Mint Julep glass design.
Friday Happy Hour at Churchill Downs is on for November 16. Cheap beer and margaritas, as well as an expanded fall food menu, starts at 3 pm and ends at 5:30 pm.
Jockey Day is on Saturday November 17, and the first 5000 get a 2008 CDRT jockey colony poster. Fans will also have a chance to meet their favorite jockeys at the autograph sessions throughout the day.
The Big Four Stakes Weekend runs Thursday November 22 until Saturday. That same Thursday is also Thanksgiving at Churchill Downs, and the annual meal is sure to sell out this year.
New-Zealand bred horse, Efficient, came with a huge late run to down Purple Moon and Irish-trained Mahler to win the coveted 2007 Spring Melbourne Cup.
Ridden by Michael Rodd, Efficient will enter the history books as the first galloper since Phar Lap to win the VRC Derby and then follow-up with the Melbourne Cup the next year.
This no doubt makes Sir Patrick Hogan a very happy man. Efficient’s win marks the third time Hogan’s sire Zabeel has produced a Melbourne Cup winner.
But more remarkably for Hogan, Zabeel has outdone his own father, super sire Sir Tristram who produced two Melbourne Cup winners.
The best horse won. There were many deserving candidates at last week’s Breeders’ Cup Classic, but Curlin’s 4 1/2-length victory over Hard Spun wrapped up a wonderful 2007 for the expected Eclipse Award and Horse of the Year winner.
Curlin nearly broke the 45-year old Monmouth Park record over 1 1/4 miles, clocking a 119 Beyer figure on a sloppy track to finish at 2:00.59. Yet the phenomenal chestnut stallion was the fourth favorite at the Cup, despite racking up four wins, a second and two thirds in his previous seven races this year, including victory at the Preakness.
Now that Curlin is sitting on top of the horse-racing world, the real measure of his star power is in the anguish that will come should his owners decide to retire Curlin to stud. That already seems like a fait accompli – Curlin could easily double his 2007 earnings of $5.1 million, and his stud fee should only go up.
