Headless Horsemen

The Wall Street Journal recently published a review of a book that was brought to my attention by a loyal reader. Headless Horsemen, by Jim Squires, sounds like a provocative tell-all of the demise of racing, as seen by an "insider" who has become disgusted with the business. It is certainly on my to-read list.

Jim Squires, the author of the tome, is a Kentucky transplant, having moved to Blue Grass country in the 1990's after a career that included ten years as editor of the Chicago Tribune. Squires and his wife accomplished what everyone in the industry dreams of--they bred 2001 Kentucky Derby winner Monarchos. The story of that adventure was previously chronicled by Squires in Horse of a Different Color, published in 2002.

This time around, Squires tells a different tale of a sport dominated by billionaire insiders who have done nothing to stop the sport from tumbling into an abyss from which he feels there is little escape. To begin with, there is the cronyism among elite members of the Jockey Club that takes quite seriously their mission of perpetuating their own lineages among the ruling elite of the sport. As we already know, nobody is truly in charge of the sport, which means that nobody is taking responsibility for its present or future actions.

And then there is the rampant drug abuse, which Squires chronicles in great detail. He even suggests that the great Secretariat may have raced on steroids, a fact that also exhibited itself in his early breeding days. Likewise, Squires suggests that even the late great Frank Whitely, the trainer of Ruffian and Damascus, was not above using cocaine to enhance the performance of his horses.

I haven't read the book yet so I can't comment on his research but I do know that the allegations he makes of elite in-breeding among the powers that be and rampant drug abuse in the sport are nothing new. With regard to Secretariat, Ruffian and Damascus, we will never know the truth one way or the other, so what he says can simply be added to the speculation camp. Make of that what you will.

In the meantime, check out the book. It may be nothing new but it is probably worth reading.