Twilight at the Track

Racecourses are closing, purses are dwindling, and breeders are finding other work. Saving thoroughbred racing will require innovation, technology and above all, a love of horses

Jehad Nga for TIME

At Keeneland, a premier track in Lexington, Ky., the stakes can run to $750,000.

Correction Appended: May 6, 2013 and May 30, 2013

In the center Island of a sleepy cul-de-sac in my suburban Kansas City, Mo., neighborhood, a pair of huge stone markers stand in memory of two horses buried beneath the stones. lawrin, one stone announces solemnly. A darkly handsome Thoroughbred with matching white socks on his forelegs, Lawrin charged from the pack at Churchill Downs to win the 1938 Kentucky Derby by a length with a 22-year-old Eddie Arcaro on his back. Though Arcaro went on to become an international celebrity, the only jockey to win two Triple Crowns, he would...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!