Earlier this month, word came that “Light Up Racing,” a grassroots org launched in 2024 to “drive positive change” in the horseracing industry, is shutting down for good this fall due to a lack of funding and an “alignment” problem with other racing orgs. As Nicole pointed out back when LUR debuted, it was but…

Claret Beret collapsed and died from an “apparent cardiac event” following a training session at Palm Meadows yesterday. She was five – “cardiac event.” This one was widely covered in the racing rags because Claret was a million-dollar-plus earner who was coming off a Grade 1 “win” at Oaklawn in April. Said her complicit (in…

Oaklawn Park in Arkansas is – in terms of money, history and all that – one of the top tracks in America. It is also, at least in the first three months of 2026, one of the deadliest. According to HISA’s Q1 “report,” 14 horses were killed on-track: 5 racing, 9 training. But there’s more…

Over the course of just 11 days (Apr 25-May 10) at Churchill, 35 horses were scratched by the regulatory vet – i.e., their exploiters had every intention of racing them – for being “injured” or “unsound,” another 28 by private vets for being “injured” or “ill,” and 10 horses who were “claimed” (bought) prior to…