"... document[ing] every location in the United States that hosted thoroughbred racing from 1865 to the present."

"They’ll be looking for the same sort of uptick at the gate that tracks saw when 'Seabiscuit' was released in 2003."

"We asked Cross what could help ailing racetracks improve their financial performance. His answer? A little less Damon Runyon and Dick Francis, and a little more Black Stallion and National Velvet -- crossed with Field of Dreams."

"[Bush] tracks, which once dotted the countryside from Louisiana to Oklahoma, are mostly gone now -- victims of changing tastes and fears of lawsuits and the law itself."

Halsey Minor still at work on buying bankrupt Magna assets: "I talk to everybody ... and I’m hopeful that a solution can be put together that prevents tracks from being put in harm’s way. If I succeed, then obviously that will be great for the sport. And if I fail, it will not be through a lack of effort." [Mention of tech initiatives as something for later near article end.]

A small selection of marvelous old photos from Aqueduct, Saratoga, and Hialeah.

Marvelous site documenting the history of Narragansett, complete with photos and postcards

New York state racing rules for reference

Photos from Belmont, Saratoga, Suffolk (by Bud)

Photos of throroughbreds and races

Photos from Aqueduct, Belmont, New York racing scene