Bob Hill
Staff writer

In the weeks following the Kentucky Derby and the on-track death of the outstanding filly Eight Belles, the airwaves and sports pages have been filled with expressions of sorrow – and anger.  Writers and talk show hosts who typically do not regard horse racing as a sport have used the tragedy to make outlandish statements about those who breed, own, train and race horses, as well as those of us who simply cheer

Bob Hill
Staff writer

I used to believe that conventional wisdom is an exclusively good thing.  Then I learned that the notion refers to ideas that are accepted as true, but that often lack evidence which would make them true in every circumstance.  In other words, conventional wisdom sometimes is flawed. 

Anyone who has ever tried to predict the outcome of a horse race is well aware of both the upside and downside of conventional wisdom.  Pari-mutuel

Bob Hill
Staff writer

The television promos and 60-second mini-documentaries on the Kentucky Oaks and Derby do not do justice to the actual experience, as I learned on May 2nd and 3rd.  I’m talking here not about the performances of the magnificent thoroughbreds on the famed dirt oval but rather the performances that I saw in sections 221 and 320 at Churchill Downs.  Where did those guys get all those cream colored and blue saddle shoes?  I