Read Sid Fernando's excellent column on how race tracks across North America are shedding the All Weather tracks and returning to Dirt surfaces. But just why would they want to do this?

Fractures are relatively common injuries in thoroughbred racehorses and in a recent scientific report, equine orthopaedic surgeons detailed the healing time of a 'split pastern', warning that radiographs taken at the time of injury might not reveal the full extent of the damage.

Los Alamitos, in Southern California, rose to national prominence as the base of Kentucky Derby winner California Chrome and this summer joins the main California Thoroughbred circuit with 3 meets scheduled for this year. The inaugural meet this July will host the Los Alamitos Derby-G2, with a guaranteed purse of $500,000. The buzz is almost tangible!

The Thoroughbred foot is thin-walled and light, adapted for speed and efficient use of energy. This adaptation renders the hood more susceptible to hoof capsule distortions.

Lamoureux is anything but a one-hit wonder and since Super Saver, a yearling he broke and trained, won the 2010 Kentucky Derby, he has delivered winners with unfailing regularity.

Consignors on both sides of the Atlantic are preparing their horses for the two-year old sales and, no doubt, are battling the phenomenon of 'bucked shins'. Can current research make a breakthrough?

Are fillies 'dynamic divas' or the weaker sex? Should we treat them differently to colts when it comes to feeding and management? And are these differences real, or just perceived?

The consummate horseman and larger than life trainer of Breeders' Cup Classic winner Concern died April 4th at his home in Monkton, Md. His life-long friend, Ted Mudge, offers a very personal obituary.

With 5 generations of horsemen behind them, it was inescapable that the Harty brothers' lives would also revolve around racing. Edward trains in Ireland close to his father, Grand National winning jockey Eddie Harty; Eoin is in the US. But their shared passion keeps their familial bond strong.

Royal Ascot attracts the best trainers and horses from around the world. Watched over by Her Majesty The Queen, with pomp and ceremony adding to five fabulous days of racing, it's easy to see why Ascot draws the international crowd.

"The history and tradition of the place are what makes it so special; it has been going since the early 18th Century." said Ramsey, who has been involved in ownership since 1969 and numbers the 2005 Dubai World Cup among the long list of big races he has plundered, months before the Royal Ascot meeting last year.

All trainers are familiar with a horse that makes a noise. If performance is poor, laryngoplasty has, for over 40 years, been the next consideration.

The aim of the procedure is to reverse the effects of larynx weakness that occurs due to a degenerative condition of the nerve that controls the muscles on the left side. A synthetic implant is placed along that side of the larynx to hold it open where the muscle is too weak.

It has long been suspected that the procedure has other effects on the airway, other than simply trying the collapsed part of the larynx back and out of the way. 

So often we are dazzled by the youth and beauty of the next generation at the yearling sales. But what lies beneath that glorious skin? We take a deeper look at diagnostic imaging.

Few issues spark more debate and controversy than the interpretation of a juvenile Thoroughbred's radiographs and their relevance to the horse's future racing career. This article aims to review the most common radiographic finding, sesamoiditis, in the Thoroughbred yearling and discusses new research published in 2013 exploring the link between sesamoiditis and suspensory branch injuries and the effect these conditions can have on soundness and racing performance. This research can provide horsemen with accurate information with respect to the risk associated with these conditions and can aid them in the selection process and training of the young Thoroughbred racehorse.

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