Alan Balch - Achtung!
/Published in North American Trainer, Winter 2017 issue.
Now there’s a word to get your attention. For those of us of a certain age, it comes freighted with emotions from our parents, who fought World War II. As well as from countless movies and books whose characters would shout it at hapless suffering minions.
But it’s really a simple German word meaning just that, “attention,” although sometimes translated to carry “danger” along with it. Here, I mean it both ways.
During this championship season in America every year . . . and the northern hemisphere . . . we’re treated to such definitive racing, including the Arc and British Champions Day. Then the Breeders’ Cup, while still not really the “world championships” worthy of genuflecting, is a wonderful showcase of the sport. Ending the calendar year gives us a chance to take stock of where we stand, what has changed, what hasn’t, and where we’re going...