"According to Scollay, the one fatality [at Turfway] occurred in December and was followed by two months -- January and February -- in which no which horses died during races over the track’s artificial Polytrack surface. Scollay said that equated to one fatality for the 4,532 starts recorded at the track during the three-month period. The national catastrophic injury rate is about two horses per 1,000 starts. Scollay attributed the safe racing to a collaborative effort on the part of Turfway Park management, horsemen, veterinarians working at the track in Northern Kentucky, and the KHRC’s veterinary staff that conducts pre-race inspections."

"In a filing, Veitch argues that the commission has an 'unconstitutional vendetta' against him because of disagreements with the commission's executive director, Lisa Underwood, over penalties given by the stewards."

"The action came after a one-hour hearing before the committee in which Dutrow was questioned about the lengthy list of violations on his record and inconsistencies on his license applications this year and in previous years."

"The news that John Velazquez was 'fined' $10,000 by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission this week for the events surrounding the dreary performance of Life at Ten in the 2010 running of the Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic was enough to set a sane man's teeth on edge. How many ways can you spell 'scapegoat'?"

"When the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission meets Feb. 9, members will be given an update on the investigation into Life At Ten’s participation in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic (gr. I). Lisa Underwood, executive director of the KHRC, said Feb. 1 that the investigation is continuing and that the full final report, along with any recommendations for the commission to consider, will not be presented next week."

"Like many in the horse industry, Stewart relies on foreign workers, usually here through the federal H-2B visa program, to take care of his horses. But the guest worker program is capped at 66,000 non-agricultural unskilled workers a year for all sectors nationally. For fiscal year 2011, which began in October, more than 35,600 petitions for spots have already been filed. The number of applications routinely bumps up against the number allowed, leaving employers scrambling for labor sources."

"Though the commission staff, under direction of its director of security, is conducting the bulk of the investigation, the Transportation Department official was brought in to handle the role of the stewards in the Life At Ten matter, according to Lisa Underwood, executive director of the KHRC."

"We did decide since there were some employees of the commission who were involved that it would be appropriate to have an outside party be part of the interviewing, … to have some independent review for certain aspects of it." Noted: KHRC has conducted 90 interviews.

"During the commission’s regular monthly meeting, Beck reiterated previous statements from commission staff that no timetable had been placed on completion of the investigation into the poor performance by Life At Ten in the Breeders’ Cup. Beck, obviously bristling at criticism directed at the commission following the Breeders' Cup, opined that 'some will think it will be too fast and some will think it will be too slow' in reference to the investigation."

"The New York City system wagered $9.6 million on Turfway Park races in 2009, resulting in $169,000 in revenues that were split between Turfway and its horsemen through purses ..."

"But if the KHRC fails to mete out justice in this case, Breeders’ Cup Ltd. must put a framework in place for acting unilaterally, or in concert, changing protocols so that it shares responsibility should an adjudication process become necessary."

"Lisa Underwood, the KRC executive director, said Nov. 30 that the regulatory body’s staff is undertaking an extensive investigation into the Life At Ten incident and that all of the interviews would be completed in time for a report to the commission at its Dec. 15 meeting.... Noting that she and her staff are devoting a large part of their daily schedules to the Life At Ten probe, Underwood said a large number of people are scheduled to be interviewed as part of the process."

“It turned out to be the perfect storm, and, unfortunately, the horse and the bettors were the ones hit with the lightning bolts."

Tom Eblen reviews "How Kentucky Became Southern," by Maryjean Wall. "The finished book is a remarkable page-turner that earned glowing cover blurbs from some of the best historians of Kentucky and Thoroughbred racing. The book puts together many pieces of a complicated puzzle, and it is filled with well-documented stories that explain a lot about the evolution of Kentucky society and the horse industry."

"Citing a drop in its famed horse auctions (more than 50 percent in 2009 from 2006) and in betting last spring (down 7.8 percent while attendance was down only 1 percent), Keeneland eliminated two stakes and trimmed others to absorb most of the cuts of what it said in a release was 'a little more than $1 million.' The track also cut stakes by $600,000 during the 2009 spring meet and $275,000 last fall."

"Altogether, Central Kentucky banks are suing horsemen for at least $54.4 million. By some estimates, that would be equivalent to 5 percent to 10 percent of the equine lending market tied up in troubled debts, a potentially significant stone around the neck of an already struggling horse industry."

"The for-sale signs on horse farms are as common as the bluegrass and the limestone fences here, and breeders have grown accustomed to sending horses through the auction ring and feeling fortunate when they fetch half of their asking price -- or anything at all." Hundreds of farms for sale, projected stud value of a Triple Crown winner almost half what it was: The business of horses is in a slump.