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So often we refer to the world of horse racing as an “industry.” Granted, its economic and commercial qualities are industrial by definition, but is this label a hindrance to the growth of the sport?

We recently stumbled upon a Business Day article focusing on a similar issue. 20 years ago, horse racing was the only form of legal gambling in South Africa. Today, it’s an industry unjustly grouped under the same regulations laws as casinos and slot machine operators- something the American horse racing is all too familiar with.

 

"It needs to be taken into consideration that the sport of horse racing employs 24 times more people [per million of gross gambling revenue] than casinos, so there is room to say we need to look at this differently from a mathematical gambling machine."

Rian du Plessis, chief executive of Phumelela, Africa’s largest horse racing betting company. 

We’ve interviewed people in every facet of the sport- owners, drivers, jockeys, announcers, trainers, handicappers, etc. There's a familial quality to horseracing that takes it beyond the label of Industry. And, more often than not, that closeness and intimacy extends to the voracious fanbase. This distinction, we believe, is one of the driving factors behind the passion enthusiasm that makes this sport so great.

Here’s to the Sport of Kings.
 

ESPN just posted a fantastic piece on esteemed trainer Bob Baffert, who has entered 10 horses in this weekend’s Breeders’ Cup Races. It may seem like an unorthodox move to enter such a large group, but maybe that’s just because no one else can pull it off. It seems like grandiose gestures such as this is an indicative snapshot of Baffert’s career as a whole.

You wouldn’t be able to take a quick glance at his past performances, as the list goes on for about 86 pages. But if you did, you might see that he was a nose away from winning three consecutive Kentucky Derbies. Or that he took home the prize in the world’s richest race in Dubai.

In a sport whose crux is money, Baffert still finds the fun in it all. With level head and a great attitude, he is a perfect example of what the sport of kings is all about.

Check out the article here and stay tuned all week long for updates on Breeders’ Cup action!
 

Before I was brought on to be a correspondent for TrackPackPA, I had never been to a live horserace in my life. I even grew up around horses and even owned one when I was a teenager, but none of that compared to the excitement I felt every time I attend a race. I was never really much of a betting person either. Perhaps it’s because I don’t consider myself lucky, so visits to the casino consisted of nickel slots and people watching.

At the track, it’s different. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to have a good time. You buy a round for yourself and your friends, sit down to a hardy lunch and make a day of watching the horses. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but it’s really not about the money. It’s about having a unique experience with your friends that you can add to the record books.

Before, horseracing was something I read about in novels or caught on television during the Triple Crown. It was there, but as a relic of a bygone era. And yet, after only a couple months involved in the sport, a vast, unique, and exciting world opened up.

Being a 27-year-old freelance writer, I never thought that I’d become a horseracing junkie. But I’ve stood beside screaming fans, and I’ve been a screaming fan. I’ve had a heart-to-heart with an old bartender about how much she loves coming to work everyday. I’ve stood by a trainer’s side at 6 a.m. on a Saturday to watch him warm up his horse in the hopes of winning. I’ve seen women get more excited about a horse placing third than when a designer Gucci handbag hits the clearance rack.

Horseracing runs deep through the American ethos. It’s the stuff legends are made from. You never know which horse you’re watching at the track could go all the way. Their trainers and jockeys don’t know either. They hope with good breeding and amazing training, some no name horse will turn into the next Smarty Jones or Secretariat.

That’s part of the reason why I want to return again and again. It’s being part of something bigger. It’s about getting friends together and having the time of our lives and maybe, just maybe, seeing the debut of another champion.
 

Steph Weaver is a freewheelin', free-spirited, freelance writer. She's just the best. There's not much more you can say. Check out her most excellent writings outside the world of horsies!

In 2009, Animal Planet launched a reality series under their “Surprisingly Human” branding initiative called Jockeys. One could label it as a 'sports-drama,' but it has its fair share of lighthearted moments. The show lasted for 2 seasons with 19 total episodes- but unfortunately it has gone into hibernation.

We’re specifically calling it a ‘hibernation’ because we believe there’s a bright shot at it coming back. If HBO’s Luck does impeccably in the ratings, it would be a wise decision on Animal Planet’s part to make another season. Plus, reality shows are dirt cheap to make- so there’s not much risk involved.

Good news for now is that all seven episodes of the second season are available online for free! Wanna watch it with us? Perhaps we'll recap an episode on a weekly basis. 

Cameo's inlude: 2011 Cotillion winner and Plum Pretty rider Rafael Bejarano, 2010 Breeder's Cup winner and recent Pennsylvania Derby participant Garret Gomez, and the one and only Zenyatta. 

Let's all write to Animal Planet asking for the show back! After all, how many Pawn Shop-Antique-Bidding shows do we need?

Ms. Mikolay is a lifelong horse racing fan. Her knowledge and love for the sport runs deep. She chats with us about handicapping, racing, and even tid-bit of fashion advice Katie is the host of "Saturday Morning Stretch" along with track announcer Ron Mullis.

If you’re heading to Presque Isle Downs, (perhaps for the upcoming Masters Weekend) make sure to tune in for picks and tips!

 

Look, we’re jockeys, and we’re all the same size, right? I’m not afraid of them because they’re guys. They don’t treat me like a girl and I don’t treat them like they’re big guys, because, well, they’re not... 

 

Hey, we’re a family, a one-of-a-kind family, I really believe that... Families sometimes fight. I’ll admit, I’ve had to be pulled off some of the guys a few times."

- Tammi Piermarini, Jockey

 

 

 

 

Ms. Piermarini has recently earned her 2,000th race win- becoming only the fifth woman in the sport of 'kings' to do so. She recently sat down with the Boston Globe to discuss her long and storied career. 

Last year we took some video inside the starting gate, but this time around we sent track correspondent Gerard Angeli inside the mothership for a more personal take on things.

I, like many of us, live by the TrackPackPA credo: "It's post time somewhere!" And for me, post time was at 6:30PM Friday Night at Pocono Downs in Wilkes-Barre, PA! What better way to kick off my weekend than right from the starting gate (literally)? For two straight races, I was lucky enough to gain access into the starting gate car to see how every race at Pocono Downs starts. A few minutes before post time, I shuffled my way through the thick of the crowd to hitch my first ride onto Pocono Downs' starting gate car.

If you're new to horse racing, in particular harness racing, the mobile starting gate paces the horses before a race starts. The car then folds the gates towards the front and zooms out of the way as the race officially begins.

I arrived at the winners circle and was greeted by two men (the driver and the starting gate operator) crammed into a spaceship-esque Cadillac. Before entering, I was urged to watch my head stepping into the highly modified starting gate car. The inside is quite like a cockpit with controls for the gates and the cars other accessories the operator uses throughout the night. The only difference is that the cockpit is rear facing so the operator can see and communicate with the drivers prior posting the gate. This communication is important in case a driver is in the wrong starting position and can direct the drivers by loud speaker. I was tempted to ask where the 'hyper-speed' button was, but I held back.

After sitting in the swivel chair in the cockpit, I head up front to strike up a conversation with Bob Moran who is Pocono Downs' starter gate operator. Bob, who has been working for the past 8 years at Pocono Downs, still currently races horses in his free time down in Pompano Florida and has been involved with horse racing for the past 40 years. With a history involving four decades at and around the racetrack, I had one standing question for Bob Moran to answer. What was his best moment at the track as a driver/starting gate op. and what has changed in horse racing over the years?

Bob quickly responded that his favorite day as a starter gate operator was when Pocono Downs held the Breeder's Crown just last year in October of 2010. "It was the biggest day in harness racing" where the "best of the best" are brought in to compete for purses totaling in the range of "$7 million".

Bob and went on to discuss how much horse racing has changed throughout his long association with the sport. He seems to really have a passion for the sport of kings and the community that surrounds it. After all, who wouldn’t be pleased with one of the coolest jobs in horse racing?

Seeing the car from the grand stands has its own sentimental value to each of the crowd goers, but what I had experienced was once in a lifetime. For Bob, it was simply another day at work.

Check back in with us for more specials, events, and live harness racing at Pocono Downs!

[After two successful trips to Parx as a fan, Stephanie Weaver has made her way 'round backside to see what it's like as a participant in the wonderful world of horse racing.]

I don’t think I’ve been up and out of bed before 8 a.m. on a Saturday since I was seven-years-old... and still thought babies came from a magical field in North Dakota. Yet, here I was, ankle deep in mud and surrounded by feisty horses and men who came up to my navel at 7:30 on a Saturday morning.

Shane Learn (pictured), an assistant trainer who I had met the previous week, had invited me back to Parx Casino and Racetrack for a behind-the-scenes experience.
“Our day usually starts at about 4:30 a.m.,” said Shane. “We train in the morning because all of the racing happens in the afternoon. Plus, horses don’t like hot weather and do better in the early morning when it’s still cool.”

After parking my car and signing in at the security desk, I followed Shane down to the stables. There are 36 barns on the Parx Casino property, each holding about 44 horses. That’s a lot of hungry mouths to feed in the morning and a lot of legs to potentially be kicked by.

As we entered the barn, Shane beckoned for me to stay to my inside. If for some reason they have the urge to kick, race horses are taught to kick to the outside, so for safety purposes, we had to stay close to the stalls. Even though most of the world was still asleep, the action at Parx was in full swing. Grooms walked horses that were fresh off the track to the bathing area, their broad backs steaming in the summer sun.

“My typical morning starts off with checking the training chart to see who is training and at what time,” Shane explained. “We then ride and take lunch around 10 a.m. because our day starts earlier than others. From 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. I have solid, non-stop work, but nothing too strenuous.” As Shane got ready to exercise his first horse of the morning, a bay colt named Sortano who has won two races at Parx, I headed down to the track. It was a surreal experience being the only one down there. The only thing I could hear was the steady, clip-clop clip-clop of hooves on concrete ringing through the early morning fog.

Within five minutes, however, the track was packed with action. Horse after horse was walked to the starting gate, released, and galloped down the back stretch, sometimes even two at a time. I saw Shane ride Sortano at a lazy lope down the track. The horse was obviously elated to be out of his stall and moving. His thick nostrils were fully dilated and he had his ebony tail raised like a victory flag.

Out of nowhere, a commotion started down on the other side of the track. I quickly looked up and saw red lights flashing and a man lying on his back in the middle of the track. Further down, I noticed a frenzied horse bolting out the exit and making a sharp turn toward the stables. “This happens every so often,” the man standing next to be commented.

“A jockey will fall and the horse will take off back to its stall. It knows where it lives and wants more breakfast. But we turn those red lights on around the track as a precaution.”

Sure enough, both horse and rider were fine. The loose horse, a spirited colt, had found his way back to the barn on his own accord. After he was done racing, Shane met me back at the sideline. He had another horse training that morning and wanted to get a time on him. “I’m breezing him five furlongs today,” Shane said, “And “I’m hoping he does it in one minute two seconds.”

Out of nowhere a grey blur whizzed by us. Shane looked down at his watch and then back up at the horse. Several seconds later, he turned to me and grinned, showing me the final time. “One minute three seconds. Not what I had hoped for, but close enough.” We made our way back to the barn. The sun had finally taken its place in the sky and the heat was setting in.

“After we run the horses, we hose them down,” Shane said. “After they’ve cooled and caught their breath, we bathe them. We do the same with our horses in training as athletes in training do. They drink about 10 to 12 gallons of water a day. We get the horses all out of sales and try to find the best pedigree for the best price. They can cost anywhere from $1,000 to $2 million.”

Shane and I shook hands and I headed to my car. As I was pulling away from the track, I couldn’t help but feel privileged that I had gotten this experience. I was also looking forward to going back to bed until 5pm.

Saturday, June 4 will be the first ever "Meet the Drivers" day at Pocono Downs!

Matt Kakaley (whom we've interviewed before) will be chatting up fans from 5-6pm.

Yannick Gingras (who we've also interviewed before!) will take over duties from 6-7pm.

We can tell you from first hand experience- both guys are great, down to Earth, and easy to talk to.

So come on down and kick back on the patio overlooking the track with some of the top riders out there!

We promise this is the last time this respected blog will ever bring you images of drunken idiots running across the tops of porta-potties at The Preakness. We know how stupid it is. And we know how it hurts when a cold can of PBR nails you right on the noggin. And we promise that you'll never see us atop those outdoor toilets again. Mother, are you happy now?