Classic Mile - a thriving training facility
Nearly three decades after his plan to open a racetrack in Ocala, Florida failed to materialize, Domenic Martelli's Plan B is still flourishing. Martelli, a New Jersey real estate maven, thought legislation to approve a racetrack in Ocala was imminent in the mid '80's. He didn't wait for that approval, instead purchasing a 704-acre parcel on U.S. Highway 40 near the now late Fred Hooper's Farm, and building a one-mile racetrack with a seven-furlong turf course, a three-furlong training track and 26 barns with 776 stalls, each barn featuring several paddocks for turnouts.
He named his facility Classic Mile and planned to have a mixed-meet of Thoroughbred and Quarter Horses. He was sure racing would be approved. "It looked like a piece of cake," Martelli told Dave Goldman in his October 12, 2006 story in the Daily Racing Form. "Boy, was I wrong."
Photos by Sandra Madison
How eating aids the skeletal structure
It has been said that 'equine conformation evaluates the degree of correctness of a horse's bone structure, musculature and its body proportions in relation to each other.' This is undeniable, but there is remarkably little information in published literature regarding the importance of the position of the head, despite the fact that this has a direct effect on balance, posture and subsequent performance.
The horse is documented as a prey species and as such retains, despite domestication, ares of hyper-sensitivity in loins, abdominal tunic, and poll; pain experienced in any of these areas, no matter the cause, gives you a rise to an immediate fright, flight and/or flight response.
TRM Trainer of the Quarter - Mike Trombetta
The 47 year old native of Baltimore, Maryland couldn't have got off to a more successful 2014 with Bold Curlin winning the Native Dancer and Extrasexyhippzster the Miracle Wood at Laurel Park.
Clifford Sise Jr - excited about coming back
After a hiatus of nearly three years, Clifford Sise Jr is back and regrouping at San Luis Rey Downs. "I miss the competition" - that says it all!
Alan Balch - Hope Smiles
With the closure of iconic Hollywood Park, the sport is relying on hope even more. This year could be critical.
Sid Fernando - Why are intact males such a rare breed?
His like is endangered nowadays. I was jolted by thoughts of this while watching the HRTV broadcast of the Eclipse Award Ceremony from Gulfstream Park on January 18. Wise Dan was the equine star of the evening, a "people's horse" in the same way as Curlin. He, too, is a two-time Horse of the Year and top older horse, plus top turf horse. But Wise Dan is a gelding, and he's by the unheralded Wiseman's Ferry. And he's a turf miler - the weakest division of North American racing.