The horse racing event did not go too well on Saturday. It was to be the 141^st racing of the Preakness Stakes which was to be held on Saturday. Nyquist who is a recognized champion was to try his best to retain his record in time for the Triple Crown race at Belmont which will be held in three weeks’ time. At 6:45pm past the racing time the media sent out alerts that there were two dead horses in the first four races. This came shortly after the Ethical Treatment of Animals announced about the two deaths. Roy and Gretchen Jackson watched Barbaro one of their horses suffer a broken leg and later get euthanized after eight months in the Preakness Stakes and another one who also broke their leg in Pimlico’s turf course and then put down immediately.

Homeboykris who is nine-years old came first in the first race and later collapsed and died after suffering cardiovascular failure. Preakiness has been mentioned twice in 2016 by the National Public Radio website, in Kentucky Derby and the other on Saturday. Links were also available on Twitter and Facebook which talked about horse injury. People were for the idea of cancelling the Preakiness event, with the argument that it was not very safe. The morning after the race, Keith Desormeaux who is the trainer of Exaggerator was asked whether he was okay running his horse even though he was aware of the consequences.

It is risky trying to run the horses at this particular moment after what happened to Homeboykris who was a nine-year old horse and who ran 63 races, and won four of his last six races. His recent owner had wanted the horse to retire safely after his racing days were over. Pramedya who was a four-year old and owned by the people who bred her had only run five times and won twice. Unfortunately, the reports on horse fatalities are not really concerns about the animals’ welfare but a way of making news, especially if the animals suffer during major competition events. News reporters rarely report on safety measures taken on racing grounds.

Media is supposed to cover great animal events such as horse racing, rather than focus too much on tragedy. They should be able to dig deep and ask meaningful questions and also make sure the horses involved in horse racing are well taken care of.

Frankel’s offspring will be making his first performance on the field at Newbury on Friday. This comes four years after Frankel retired at racing and he was one of the best horses to ever take part in horse racing. Frankel made his first racing performance as a stallion at Khalid Abdullah’s Banstead Manor stud where he sired 111 foals. In his racing years he always took the first position and he retired undefeated in his 14 start races. Cunco, who was the first of his offsprings will be the first to make it to the race tracks. The pony is being trained by John Gosden for the Chilean owner of Don Alberto stable will start his racing career in the 2^nd division of the Welcome to the Starlight Race Day Maiden Stakes at Newbury.

Canford Cliffs was a previous winner of the £10,000 award. The stallion was able to complete his final start in the second position, shortly after Frankel in a Sussex Stakes challenge that was publicized as the Duel on the Downs. Cunco was sired on January 11, 2014 at Coolmore stud. The mare who sired Cunco was Chrysanthemum who was one of the mares who won the multiple group-winning Danehill dancers.  Cunco was presented for sale at Tattersalls October Sales in 2015 but was not bought at 280,000gns. His trainer, Gosden said that Cunco was ready to race. He added that even though Cunco is a small horse he is performing quite remarkably.

He added that the rains were hindering some activities but he was positive that if things were well regulated they would help him out. Frankel has a covering amount of £125,000 but the Don Alberto squad has been major clients of Frankel. They have managed to place him at the center of a drive in order to become international players in the racing and bloodstock world. Don Alberto’s owners, Mr. and Mrs. Solari managed to purchase Vinery Farm in Kentucky which was renamed Haras Don Alberto in the year 2013. They have managed to sire from Frankel ten more mares and they will be going for training in Australia.

Master craftsman, Henry the navigator, Holy Roman Emperor, Dylan Thomas and Rock of Gibraltar during shuttle visits are one of the Coolmore stallions in South America owned by Don Alberto. Cunco’s name was derived from a city in Cautin Province in Araucania region of Chile, and the name means clear water.

The American pharaoh broke the record of thirty- seven years when he crossed the wire in the Belmont’s stakes last year.  He won the America’s premier awards races set aside for the three- year olds thoroughbreds which include; the Belmont, Preakness Stakes, and Kentucky Derby. The most challenging test in horse racing is the five week test. There have been only twelve known horses that have finished the triple since 1919, where Sir Barton was the first to win the series. As the Kentucky Derby nears, one of the competitors in the year’s crop of the 3- year olds has been marked with having the capability of matching the American pharaoh‘s achievement of 2015.

Nyquist is expected to premier in the Kentucky Derby on May 7^th with an unbeaten record and one of the great chances of earning himself an unforgettable position as the thirteenth Triple Crown champion. In his 2- year old season, Nyquist scored his first win at Santa Anita Park in California including four straight classified prizes which were surpassed by his most remarkable win in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in the month of October. Nyquist was competing with the country’s greatest two- year olds when he was jolted by another horse in the beginning of the race, this resulted in him being stuck too wide in every turn and thus bringing about considerable ground loss. However, he still held on strong and managed to win by half a length.

Brody’s Cause who finished third place in the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile lately won the Bluegrass Stakes. The Santa Anita Derby was won by Exaggerator who managed to scoop the fourth place in the Breeder’s Cup. Exaggerator and Brody’s Cause are expected to participate in the Kentucky Derby as the main competitors. Nyquist marked his third birthday by premiering in the seven furlong San Vicente stakes at Santa Anita in February. He started with a quick pace and gave Exaggerator a challenge thus managing to win the race by one and a half lengths. Nyquist resumed the races in Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park in March where he competed against the unconquered Mohaymen who is the known winner of four straight classified prizes in the races that took place in New York and Florida.

Travelling across the country all the way from California seemed too great a task since there was only one pending race which also included racing in the 1 1/8^th mile in the Florida Derby. Nyquist proved himself a conqueror and the best 3- year old horse in the country with an influential and a very easy win. He is currently in Kentucky waiting for the Derby. Nyquist has proved to be the best horse in all his races by the way he faces his challenges with determination and perseverance. He is always the winner in every of his seven racing careers. He is the kind of horse that adapts too well in different races. Nyquist has two human trainers, Dough O’ Neil and jockey Mario Gutierrez who push him to greatness.

The pedigree of Nyquist has been doubted too many times. This also includes his ability to finish first in long races. Uncle Mo is Nyquist’s sire and had the title of the 2 –year old champions but he was forced out of the Kentucky Derby after he sustained an injury. Nyquist is a registered sprinter; however the Triple Crown distance has proved difficult for him. In the 2016 Triple Crown race, Nyquist is believed to be the next undefeated winner after the American Pharaoh.

The 116 years old Edmonton’s Northlands Track in Alberta will close down after 2016 season of horse racing. We know of a number of eye catching fun places that goes to shatters because of a new investment plan and, well, the Northlands track is no different.

Vision 2020, as the redevelopment plan of Northlands track is known, will shut down the 64 hectares of the site on August 20, 2016 after the 87^th running of a Canadian derby.

The Northlands Track is run by a non-profit organization and boasts of creating employment to over 7000 people in the province. Cathy Kiss, Northlands vice president said, “There is going to be change”.

Brian Bygrave, director of Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association of Alberta said, “Without Northlands, racing in Alberta would look awfully bleak”.

This does not go without saying that the industry will have to look at new venues. Horse owners and clients are concerned whether to breed their mares or to cancel their investments respectively.

There is a Balzac track but it is not yet complete since it has facilities of thoroughbred horse racing. Thoroughbred horses cannot use similar tracks to those of standard bred since they need stable and different track surface.

The only option left will be that of using local casinos to bet in the off track betting system.

The fall down of more than a century old racing track will bring rise to a new investment that will also benefit the community around Northlands track.

Virginia Park to the south and Bellevue to the east will benefit from increased amenities and their property values will be tripled as well. Safe to say it also has its perks.

Tony Caterina, Northlands councillor and board member said, “The possibilities are endless”.

A number of Hong Kong based raiders have found it hard to make it to the international arena. However, good news will be at their feet as the Hong Kong Jockey Club claimed that it was given mandate by the International Association of Jockey to initiate their 17 domestic races which was mainly meant for Hong Kong based horses to the international level. This compliment will be functional from the 2016/2017 season. This will be a massive step for the raiders based in Hong Kong as well as the entire Hong Kong Jockey fraternity as they will now have a total of 31 international raiders.

As it stands, there are a total of 14 races based in Hong Kong that have the eligibility of venturing in the international competition. Among these, 11 of them are at Group 1 level. The new rules have clearly indicated that all Group races are eligible to international racing. It doesn’t matter where a horse is born, trained or is owned by who. There were also some restrictions of rating bands that was initiated by the 14 newly opened races but were abolished following the new update.

The Executive Director of Racing Business and Operations Tony Kelly claimed that it was a huge step taken by the Hong Kong Jockey Club for the globalization as well as development of the Hong Kong racing. This portrayed the willingness of the Club to take the racing in another dimension of international level. This made the Asian Pattern Committee very pleased when they met earlier in the week at the Asian Racing Conference in Mumbai, India.

He continued to say that this is a unique logical move for Hong Kong which will concur with the new advancement in direction and consistency that the Club has incorporated over time. There has been a long existence in the LONGINESS World’s Best Racehorse Rankings and this has seen an outstanding growth in the World’s Top 100 Group 1 Races to the Hong Kong raiders.

However, this international exposure will not be awarded to the four year olds as BMW Hong Kong Derby, Hong Kong Classic Cup and Hong Kong Classic Mile will involve participants based in Hong Kong.