. . . be patient, this takes a while to load.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-zenyatta-baby-is-growing-up-fast-20140106,0,160748.story#axzz2pdzJbeMj

. . . with New Year's Day and Shared Belief pointing for the Robert Lewis Stakes at SA on February 8th, per Jay Privman.

. . . I was looking for a recent comprehensive article on line discussing the reasons for horse racing's long decline.

Couldn't find anything all that recent, but this article from the NY Times from four years ago hits the big points.

http://therail.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/reasons-for-the-decline-of-horse-racing/

. . . trashing Wise Dan and his ownership while lobbying for Mucho Macho Man as HOY.

http://www.drf.com/news/andrew-beyer-mucho-macho-man-deserving-horse-year-title

. . . are moving.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-renegade-holly-park-flamingos-20131216,0,5440639.story#axzz2nkGBQyER

. . . as a protest.

http://nypost.com/2013/12/16/horses-used-in-labs-end-up-on-french-dinner-tables/

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/07/sports/how-a-spindly-yearling-became-a-legend.html?src=recg

. . . to let a 70 year old jock become the oldest jockey to win a race.

Very long, but interesting, read.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/10073863/cowboy-jones-fixed-horse-race

. . . horse racing is no longer worth supporting as a sport.

Its ongoing, longstanding refusal to properly police itself.

Pletcher and Baffert are the two biggest names in the training world.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/23/sports/despite-the-evidence-trainers-deny-a-doping-problem.html?src=recg

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9833364/the-listowel-races-ireland

. . . I thought Strong Mandate ran huge, given he was rushed to the lead, went about 6 wide on the first turn, and set a strong pace.

Not sure what happened to Havana.  Did he tire or just stop running after he made the lead?

New Year's Day will never get a better trip.  His win was nowhere as good as it looked, IMO.

. . . who would have thunk it, he was two inches from having another --- and unlikely --- BCC winner and probably horse of the year.

He provides hope and inspiration for all of us geezers everywhere!     

Looking forward to seeing Will Take Charge next year. 

. . . I'll say it.

Game on Dude beats up on weaker competition, but when forced to race against equals and near-equals --- even at his home race track two years in a row --- he absolutely cannot get it done.  SO overrated.