Originally published by Brian Zipse’s ZATT Magazine, special to FocusedFilly today is an article by a friend not only on Facebook, but in life…
Emotional Conformation, scouting the hidden talent
by Kerry M Thomas
Often mystical is the nature and flowing beauty of the horse. For centuries mankind has been enticed by the allure, infatuated with the power, and [...]

As you probably know by now, Beautician is the last great grey hope for my fantasy stable. Therefore, getting 3 minutes alone with trainer Kenny McPeek post-Derby Draw was totally a goal for today. While every single member of the media was busy asking about Noble’s Promise and how he’d fare coming from the 3 [...]

Sorry to be personal, here, but… Sometime around 2am this morning, I got around to drying my hair and promptly broke my right pinky toe. I have no one to blame but myself - how was I to know the diffuser thingy would fall and land on the bone just so?

While grabbing an ice pack [...]

Throughout the whole Rachel v. Zenyatta debate, I’ve been biased - and not always on the same side. It’s way too easy to make a case for either girl to have the upper hoof:

Very few have done what Rachel has in such a short time: 3yo filly with record margins of victory who then beats [...]

Checking Blood-Horse for news this afternoon, a headline stopped me in my tracks.

No, not that Odysseus is off the Derby trail with a chipped left knee. Rather, that longtime New Jersey trainer Alan Seewald had passed away.

I probably met Mr. Seewald only once or twice during my tenure at Monmouth/Meadowlands in 2007. But his runners [...]

Last year, some 620 million people flew the friendly skies and 1.5 million people underwent cosmetic surgery.

These are two of the many things - from cash registers to red light cameras - that we deal with on a daily basis, that are now controlled by technology yet still require a human hand. And racing is [...]

When Monmouth announced their plans to run a shortened meet this year, it was not only a departure from tradition for them but a deliberate move towards a more refined (think EuroAsian) way of racing that attracts thousands to races even on weekdays.

And with stall applications in today, we have proof that it’s attracting trainers [...]

To many, the following will probably not be much of a shock: I like Lentenor in today’s Florida Derby - not saying he wins, but he’s going in my Exacta Box.

What might surprise, though is the reason: it has zero to do with his being the latest full brother to Barbaro.

Here’s what I see:
- Never [...]

I’m sure somewhere in a near-year of blogs, I’ve mentioned that I have a dislocated left kneecap. It happened in a ballroom dancing incident the night before the Lane’s End Breeders’ Futurity in October 2003: it’s nothing Tonya Harding, I literally slipped off my own dance shoe - and went back to dancing; only when [...]

I showjumped for 15 years and, during the later stages, earned the barn’s coveted Fall Off Award back-to-back-to-back. It was a giant, beautifully made oak plaque given to the person who had fallen off the most - or most impressively - during the year.

Why did I keep “winning” such a “prestigious” honor? My horse, Stuart [...]