"... the Kentucky Derby, which symbolically reflects the country's pastoral heritage, may be closer to the Super Bowl than any other single sporting event. But the Breeders' Cup, which is often described as the Super Bowl of horse racing, isn't much like the Super Bowl at all. Not really. Yes, the Breeders' Cup has its parties and celebrities. But in the end, the Breeders' Cup is about sports, about racing and competition and championships. Quite simply, the Breeders' Cup represents a purity of competition that the Super Bowl never has achieved and never will."

"Go ahead, racing people -- keep arguing. The arguing, in fact, is about the most solid substance we have when it comes to Horse of the Year. There is only one rule governing what constitutes a potential Horse of the Year -- that the horse has started at least once in North America -- and guidelines have never been more specific than that. Form an opinion and send in your ballot. That is all that is asked of the 250 voters who were polled to determine the 2010 Eclipse Award winners, including Horse of the Year."

"I went out to Hollywood Park on Saturday afternoon to see what soccer in this country could be."

"SocialSphere, Inc., a data-based strategist employed by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), has its own set of Potemkin numbers. The company contends that 50 million of the proletariat connects with the Sport of Kings in one way or another and that seven million people went to the racetracks and bet during the last 30 days." [Re: marketing, comparison to.]

"Apparently Kerouac, also a little nuts about horse races, created a system of fantasy horse racing using marbles. He actually describes a version of this game in Doctor Sax ..."

And with fantasy horse racing: "The ball bearing traveled faster than the marbles, some of which were intentionally nicked to indicate equine fragility and mortality. So the ball bearing became the nearly invincible horse Repulsion, 'King of the Turf,' whose legendary speed and stamina are celebrated in Kerouac’s racing sheets."

An amazing trove of sports articles and photographs, including some fantastic racing stuff