The Associated Press

Articles by: The Associated Press

Horse of the Year: Rachel or Zenyatta?

The much anticipated race between Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta? Well, it's on, but only on paper. Horse racing's top two ladies will duke it out among voters for Horse of the Year honors after never meeting on the track.

Each of them have stellar credentials in trying to become the first female to win the year-end honor since Azeri in 2002.

Rachel Alexandra

Read More

Polo Horse Drug Testing to Debut Next Year

Random drug tests will begin next year for horses in polo matches in the United States after the deaths of 21 elite horses in Florida that were injected with an incorrectly mixed supplement shortly before a championship match, the United States Polo Association said Wednesday.

The decision was made last month to begin a pilot program for testing horses starting in January, said

Read More

Thoroughbred Trainer Jeff Mullins Barred From NYRA Tracks for Six Months

The New York Racing Association barred the trainer from Aqueduct, Belmont, and Saratoga on Friday (Oct. 30) for violating its barn rules by giving one of his horses an unknown substance and then providing conflicting information about it.

"Racing integrity is a top priority for the New York Racing Association at all times," Neil Getnick, a lawyer for the firm that

Read More

Racehorse Death Threat Brings Blackmail Charge

A man has been charged with blackmail over a threat to kill 4-year-old colt Conduit before his Group One victory at Ascot.

Ten days before Conduit tries to win his second Breeders Cup Turf in a row at Santa Anita, Calif., Manchester police said Wednesday the man would appear in court Dec. 1.

The police didn’t identify the man but the Guardian newspaper named him as 26-year-ol

Read More

Racehorse Breeding Tax Shelter Operators Plead Guilty

Federal authorities say three men have pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in a scheme that allowed wealthy people to get tax benefits from investments in Thoroughbred horse breeding.

The U.S. attorney’s office for Oregon said Monday the scheme cost the federal government $200 million in tax revenue.

Acting U.S. Attorney Kent Robinson says the scheme was nationwide.

The governmen

Read More

Jockey Dies after Fall from Horse

The Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission said Monday it is investigating the death of a Texas jockey who was thrown from his horse during a Thoroughbred race at Blue Ribbon Downs in Sallisaw over the weekend.

Racetrack general manager Blaine Storey said Mark Pace, 58, died Sunday after falling off his mount, Reep What You Sow, during the first race. According to the race chart, the horse, a

Read More

Quarantine at Hoosier Park Lifted

A horse quarantine has been lifted at the Hoosier Park racetrack in central Indiana where two Thoroughbreds tested positive for Streptococcus equi (the bacterium that causes the disease strangles).

Racing manager Jeffrey Smith says no other horses have shown signs of the disease. Smith says the quarantined barn is being disinfected and won’t be used again during the track’s

Read More

Four Horses Die at Jump Meet in England

Four Thoroughbreds have died on the Oct. 14 opening day of Wetherby’s first meet of the jump season in England.

Marrel and Divex were euthanized after they were injured in the feature race, the Bobby Renton Chase. The same happened to Nut Hand following the first race and Miss Giboa broke a leg when falling in the last.

Wetherby was criticized for inconsistent ground last season but

Read More

Proposal to Move Western Wild Horses to New Eastern Preserves

Thousands of mustangs that now roam the West would be moved to preserves in the Midwest and East under a new Interior Department plan to protect wild horse herds and the rangelands that support them.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Wednesday (Oct. 7) the plan would not require killing any wild horses. Interior Department officials had warned in recent months that slaughtering some

Read More

59 Horses Quarantined, Strangles Suspected at Hoosier Park

Fifty-nine horses have been quarantined because of a suspected contagious infection at Hoosier Park racetrack in central Indiana.

Hoosier Park officials placed the horses in quarantine Saturday after one Thoroughbred at the stable began exhibiting signs of Streptococcus equi infection, or strangles, a contagious bacterial disease common in horses that can be life-threatening.

Read More

Racehorse Trainer Dutrow Agrees to Suspension

Trainer Rick Dutrow will serve a 30-day suspension after reaching a settlement with the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.

Dutrow’s horse, Salute the Count, tested positive for a breathing stimulant in May 2008 at Churchill Downs. He was first suspended in July but appealed, leading to the Sept. 8 settlement.

The suspension runs from Nov. 15 to Dec. 15 as part of the settlement.

Read More

AP Report: Racetrack Horse Deaths Down Slightly

The rush to improve safety since Eight Belles was euthanized at last year’s Kentucky Derby did little to curb the number of horses dying at American racetracks in 2008, The Associated Press found in a national count.

Although many tracks were already implementing safety reforms when the popular filly pulled up lame with two broken legs after finishing second at the Derby in May 2008, her

Read More

Kentucky State Fairgrounds Barn Fires Ruled Arson

Investigators say a fire that destroyed four barns at the Kentucky state fairgrounds was intentionally set.

Four barns were destroyed and several others damaged in the blaze that was reported at about 2 a.m. Sept. 2. There were no animals in the barns, and no one was hurt.

Maj. Henry Ott, chief of the Louisville Metro arson squad, said a minor fire that broke out the afternoon before

Read More

New York Thoroughbred Breeder Arraigned on Cruelty Charges

Horse breeder Ernest Paragallo, who was banned from racing after 177 allegedly malnourished horses were seized in a raid of his upstate New York farm, has been arraigned on 35 counts of animal cruelty.

Paragallo appeared Tuesday before Judge George Pulver Jr. in Greene County Court but didn’t enter a plea. The case was adjourned for 45 days. Paragallo remains free on $5,000 bail and has

Read More

Softer Whips for Racehorses at Del Mar

Del Mar is taking the sting out of its whips.

On Wednesday, it will become the first California racetrack to require riding crops that don’t raise welts.

Darrell Haire, regional manager for the Jockeys’ Guild, said the whips are made of softer leather or fabric. They’re supposed to get the horse’s attention with a popping noise rather than by causing pain.

Hall of Fame jockey

Read More

Equestrian Federation Bans its President’s Husband, Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed, For Six Months

The International Equestrian Federation (FEI) banned its president’s husband–Dubai’s Sheikh Mohammed–from riding in endurance races for six months after his horse twice failed doping tests.

Sheikh Mohammed accepted the suspension based on his horse Tahhan’s positive tests for a hypertension drug and the steroid stanozolol, equestrian’s governing body said Monday.

“Consistent

Read More

More From The Horse

retained fetal membranes in mares; deworming broodmares near foaling; Newborn foal attempting to stand
Grand-Traverse-County-MI
Butler-OH
horse deworming

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Where do you primarily feed your horse?
327 votes · 327 answers

Readers’ Most Popular