"Blame" It on These Four Fast Feet

My friend Wendy Uzelac must have been thinking of The Hoof Blog when she was walking around Keeneland Racetrack in Lexington, Kentucky yesterday. Her expert camera clicked just as the groom threw a bucket of suds at the lower legs of the horse that many believe is the top older male horse in the USA. Blame has been on a roll this year and beat Quality Road last month in the Whitney at Saratoga. The New Yorkers must be relieved that Blame is back in Kentucky. Quality Road and Mine That Bird have a pretty local field in this weekend's Woodward. Thanks to Wendy, who specializes in photographing Thoroughbred racing and golf, for aiming at Blame's leg's instead of his handsome head and congratulations! She's getting married to fellow photographer Matt Wooley this weekend and will move from northern Michigan to Lexington, where Matt is based. The Thoroughbred industry in Lexington is in for a treat. Image © Wendy Wooley/EquiSport Photos.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.

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What Would Mr. Gibbs Say About Big Brown's Feet? Horseshoes Mean Something to New York's New Governor

What would the New York governor's great grandfather think of glueable Yasha shoes?

New York Governor David Paterson has a lot of firsts to his credit. He took over the leadership of the state on March 17, after the resignation of then-governor Spitzer. Paterson is New York's first African-American governor and the state's first blind governor.

What we didn't know until today is that he has piles of horseshoes in his past. While presenting the Belmont Stakes trophy to trainer Nick Zito, Paterson shared his family's horseshoeing connection.

Paterson's great grandfather was horseshoer to the powerhouse breeder/owner H.P. Whitney, owner of Greentree Stud, in the years after World War I in New York. In particular, Mr. Gibbs shod a horse with the apt name of Upset. Upset would hand the great Man 'o War his only defeat, in August 1919 in the Sanford Stakes at Saratoga, with Mr. Gibbs' shoes on his hooves.

Mr. Whitney, who just happened to be one of the wealthiest people in America, rewarded his blacksmith by buying him a house in the Fort Green section of Brooklyn. He also bought homes for some other members of his stable staff.

As Paterson describes it, the new house helped lift his family to a new level of possibility in pursuit of the American dream. Without Whitney's generosity, the house wouldn't have happened. It was the house where Paterson spent his childhood. And it was a house that some very lucky horseshoes built.

Thanks to the Left at the Gate blog and other sources for help in piecing together this story from Governor Paterson's remarks.