Racehorses and Rock Lists! Sports Columnist Bill Finley’s Top 10 Albums of All Time

It’s tough being a horse racing fanatic. TVG is nice for seeing the actual races, but you have to suffer through awful commentary, not to mention commercials for ShamWow, the Snuggie and Mighty Putty. Horse racing trade publications, racing blogs, and forums provide news and opinions, but there are few people with the industry knowledge, scope, and experience to provide racing fans with real insight into the sport.

Bill Finley is one of the finest writers in horse racing. He speaks to handicappers, fans, and to members of the racing industry. I admire his unwavering dedication to the Sport of Kings, as well as his visionary ideas to improve it. Finley has the courage to buck popular thought about the racing industry and speak out about deep problems within the institution. He writes for the New York Times, USA Today, and ESPN, and in 2008, he published Betting Synthetic Surfaces, a book of in-depth research and analysis of what makes a winner on a synthetic track. He’s also a co-host of Down The Stretch, a racing program on Sirius Satellite Radio and has appeared in editions of ESPN’s SportsCentury.

Check out Bill’s thoughts on the 2008 Eclipse Awards, the unsung heroes of 2008, the legacy of Barbaro, a throwdown between Big Brown and Curlin, Eight Belles’ tragic demise, and some early 2009 Kentucky Derby picks (including Old Fashioned, pictured above with trainer Larry Jones).

… and check out Bill Finley’s Top Ten Albums of all time!

1. English Beat: I Just Can’t Stop It
2. The Clash: London Calling
3. The Clash: Sandinista!
4. The Who: Who’s Next
5. Bruce Springsteen: Born to Run
6. Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon
7. Bruce Springsteen: Born in the USA
8. Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros: Rock Art and the X-Ray Style
9. The Smiths: Louder Than Bombs
10. Graham Parker: Squeezing Out Sparks

Aqueduct November 2008: Highs and Lows

Smile your on remote camera, originally uploaded by budmeister 26.2.

Pictured: Photo from Budmeister’s Flickr photostream of me and Jessie modeling for the remote camera. Note the focused expression on my face. It’s a tough job standing on a track pressing a button, you know.

Happy trainer, happy horse. The convincing winner of the Remsen is on the Derby Trail. Exciting news for the connections of Old Fashioned, a colt by Unbridled’s Song. Trained by Larry Jones and owned by Fox Hill Farm. What a thrill this must be for this horse and his fans. Brings me back to my childhood and the Derby Fever I felt for my favorite racehorse, Sunday Silence. I remember carefully cutting photos of Sunday Silence out of our local newspaper and taping them on my bedroom walls. He was magical in my young mind.

But the news was overshadowed by injuries in the other two marquee races at Aqueduct. Springside, winner of the Grade 2 Demoiselle, took a bad step after the wire and fractured her pastern. She was vanned off, stabilized, and is at New Bolton receiving the best of care. I join the rest of racing fans in hoping for a speedy and safe recovery.

Later that afternoon, Wanderin Boy broke down on the turn in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile. My little group of colleagues stood on the photographers’ platform in the inner rail watching the race unfold on the monitor. When the horses hit the turn and we saw what happened, it was painful to be trapped there, shooting a hollow victory. I felt a glimmer of hope when I saw the horse ambulance load him. He was vanned off for treatment but his injuries were inoperable and he was euthanized. I extend my sincere condolences to the connections of this game and resilient horse- it must be devastating to lose a horse like him. Steve Haskin of the Blood-Horse wrote an insightful, strangely prophetic piece about Wanderin Boy’s career and health issues in October and had to end the chapter with a thought-provoking memorial yesterday.

As a horse owner who recently lost a very special horse, I think that my current mental condition makes me a little more vulnerable to reacting emotionally to the breakdown of a horse like Wanderin Boy. These stories also bring me back to my childhood. I was in grade school when Go For Wand suffered a catastrophic breakdown in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, but it had a profound impact on me. I felt like I could not be a horse lover and also be a racing fan. I lost enthusiasm for the sport; while I was still a casual fan, it was several years before I put my heart into racing again.

As a horse lover and a fan of a variety of equine disciplines, there is a conflict within me whenever I hear news of a breakdown. Can changes in breeding, racing surfaces, and training ever truly prevent deaths caused by racing? How do racing-related deaths measure up to fatal injuries caused by other equine sports? Is racing humane? Are my other favorite equine sports humane?

I read everything I can about equine health and science in order to educate myself about our sports. I educate through my photos and share everything I can about racing with people who are not familiar with the sport. When I see a good trainer who cares for his horses and who properly conditions them, I do see happy horses. I see horses who are exercised daily, fed the best feeds, and are maintained like the athletes that they are. I am a fan of these trainers and these trainers are the ones who keep me coming to the track, camera in hand, to capture the next Sunday Silence.