Articles from the European Trainer Magazine archive - available to read online.
For all the criticism Frank Stronach has received for turning Gulfstream Park from a racetrack into a casino/concert hall/shopping mall that offers racing, he's received very little credit for developing the best training center in the country, 49 miles north of Gulfstream in Boynton Beach: Palm Meadows.
Bill Heller (14 October 2008) Issue 10
Read MoreThe Autumn 2008 issue of our sister publication European Trainer includes an article on Worldwide Rules, in which Katherine Ford examines European efforts to establish a worldwide ruling system for governing horseracing. When we looked at running the same article in this issue we realized that America had to first look at coordinating their own rules of racing at a national level before joining in the international debate.
Frances J Karon
(14 October 2008 - Issue Number: 10)
By Paul Moran
The view in one direction frames an expanse of the endless Hong Kong skyline, in another the emerald Happy Valley Racecourse, but this is unmistakably the working domain of an American. Portraits of Man o' War, Spectacular Bid and presentation photos made after races at Belmont Park, Aqueduct and Saratoga decorate the walls, the occupant standing beside Orientate, Sulamani and Funny Cide.
Paul Moran (14 February 2008 - Issue Number: 7 )
Read MoreSlowly, yet surely, Tampa Bay Downs is evolving from that "other track in Florida" into a viable winter/spring option for good and even great horses and horsemen."We were an afterthought," Tampa Bay Downs Vice-President and General Manager Pete Berube said. "But we've been able to dispel that stigmatism the last few years."
Bill Heller (01 December 2007 - Issue Number: 6)
Shane Spiess invested his future in the Michigan Thoroughbred industry nearly a decade ago when Great Lakes Downs opened in Western Michigan.
Troy Ruel (01 October 2007 - Issue Number: 5)
Read MoreIn 1953, the average cost of a Cola drink at a U.S. racetrack was around ten cents; the minimum bet on a race, two dollars. In 2007 the average cost of a Cola drink at a U.S. racetrack is around a dollar seventy-five; the cost of a bet, in most places, still two dollars.
Caton Bredar(19 May 2007 - Issue Number: 3 )
There is action at Hialeah in 2007. On e-bay. You can buy a Hialeah glass graced by a pink flamingo for $6.99. Flamingos are also depicted on Hialeah Park linen offered at $7.99. Or maybe you’d prefer three Hialeah post cards for $3.99.
Bill Heller (19 May 2007 - Issue Number: 3)
The war is over: so said France Galop director general Louis Romanet a year ago, after he had put his name to a groundbreaking deal with British bookmakers Ladbrokes. For the first time, live pictures of all French races – Flat, jumps and trotting – were being made available to show in UK betting shops, via a new broadcasting service known as Ladbrokes Xtra.
Howard Wright (Trainer Magazine - issue 16 - Winter 2006)
Read MoreJust when I thought that things in the administrative world could not get any worse, they did, though it took a trip to South Africa to discover the elements of an entry and declaration system that, at face value, makes any problems faced by European racehorse owners and trainers look like a little local difficulty.
Howard Wright (European Trainer - issue 14 - Summer 2006)
Read MoreSituated in France in the Mayenne region (not far from Nantes and Angers), Senonnes is a training centre in full development.
Aurelie Dupont-Soulat (European Trainer - issue 14 - June 2006)
Read MoreWell that is too soon to say, but there is a significant difference between the newly upgraded “f&m” events and how other races that have earned Group One status over the years. The key word is “earned” of course, as a race cannot, under normal circumstances, be upgraded unless it has earned it through attracting high quality fields.
Geir Stabell (European Trainer - issue 13 - Spring 2006)
Read MoreKempton Park will become England’s fourth “all weather” venue when racing returns to the right-handed Sunbury oval on Saturday March 25th. Over £18.8 million has been spent on converting the track to a floodlit facility, which will also continue to stage National Hunt racing.
Giles Anderson (European Trainer - issue 13 - Spring 2006)
Read MoreMaybe it’s because of the long, flat stretches of landscape that, when shimmering in the summer heat, have potential for mirage. Or maybe it’s just the capacious grandeur of a land vast as imagination. But whatever the reason, Texas always has inspired dreams and ideas so big and robust they couldn’t sit comfortably anywhere else.
Gary West (European Trainer - issue 7 - Spring 2004)
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May 17th 1868 was an important day in the history of German horseracing. Prussian King Wilhelm I (the founding of the German Empire and the title Emperor was still eight years away) himself attended the successful opening ceremony of “Hoppegarten” together with his ministers including Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Driving force behind the scenes was the Union-Klub, a Jockey Club founded in 1867 by leading racing enthusiast. The club purchased the over 600 hectares big area outside Berlin for the amount of 296,000 Prussian Taler. The name “Hoppegarten” comes from the fields, “garten” meaning garden, of hops that were replaced by the racecourse.
Jens Sorge (European Trainer - issue 7 - Spring 2004)
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Every racing authority and every racecourse must offer incentives if they have any particular ambitions. Appearance money, owners' premiums, breeders' premiums, travel allowances and all manner of special offers are either tried out or made a basic part of policy. The question always is whether they have the intended result. If so, then the offerers must ask if the money was well spent and whether the chosen policy will produce a satisfactory result in the longer term. As for the owners and trainers who are the beneficiaries, their job is to keep themselves informed and pick up whatever they can.
Robert Carter (European Trainer - issue 7 - Spring 2004)
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Very few ideas for radical change in horseracing are either universally popular or accepted at the first time of asking. And that’s if a single authority is involved. When a group of nations, some of which have a history of antipathy, bordering on hostility, towards each other’s proposals, come together to examine a programme of alterations, the chances of a speedy and amicable resolution are even slimmer.
Howard Wright (European Trainer - issue 7 - Spring 2004)
Read MoreHorse racing magazine for the training and development of the thoroughbred racehorse.
