EQUUS Film & Arts Fest Award

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“First Drug Czar Targeted Illegal Narcotics in Racing,” my longform piece about an early attempt by the federal government to rein in illegal drugs on the backstretch almost a century ago, took first place in the Equine Magazine Article: Horse Racing...

“Silent Tom’s Atomizer”

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Ever wonder what happened to Hall of Fame trainer Tom Smith after Seabiscuit? He had a successful career training for Mrs. Elizabeth Arden Graham’s Maine Chance Farm, winning the 1947 Kentucky Derby when Jet Pilot held off juvenile champion Phalanx to win by a...

ASJA Award for Taking Shergar

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Award-winning author Milton Toby was named recipient of a national writing award presented annually by the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) for Taking Shergar: Horse Racing’s Most Famous Cold Case. Appearing at www.bloodhorse.com, Taking Shergar was...

A Win In New York!

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Noor: A Champon Thoroughbred’s Unlikely Journey from California to New Yorkwas judged the best non-fiction book about horse racing at the EQUUS Film Festival in New York. The EQUUS award was the second honor for Noor, which also won an American Horse...

More News from the EQUUS Film Festival

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Noor may be the best horse no one remembers! Racing for Seabiscuit’s owner, Charles Howard, Noor defeated Triple Crown winner Citation four times in 1950, setting a batch of world records in the process. He was named handicap champion that year, and likely...

EQUUS Film Festival News!

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I received a bit of good news a few days ago. My article Taking Shergar: Horse racing’s most famous cold case, a longform piece published at www.bloodhorse.com in February, has been selected for the“Literary Corner” at this year’s EQUUS Film Festival in New York....

The Aga Khan Marches On

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His Highness Prince Karin Aga Khan IV recorded his fifth victory in the Epson Derby earlier this month when homebred Harzand held off a charge from US Army Ranger. The victory marked the most recent highlight in a long history of success in the classic for the current...

Behind Every Mystery There Is A Story

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Late in the evening on February 8, 1983, Epsom Derby winner and European Horse of the Year Shegar was taken from his stall at Ballymany Stud near The Curragh in Ireland. Although conventional wisdom at the time–and still today–implicated the Irish...

Up and Running Again–Finally

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Sorry to have been away from the website–and most everything else–for a while, but some serious health problems kept me otherwise occupied for most of the last six months. In the interim I did manage to locate an agent for my next book project, a shadow...

Dancer’s Image Emmy

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Congratulations to HRTV, Amy Zimmerman, and Steve Schiedler! They picked up an Emmy for their documentary about Dancer’s Image and his controversial disqualification for an alleged drug violation after winning the Kentucky Derby. Major source material for the...

Chat With Ercel Ellis

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I’ll be discussing my new book about Canonero II on “Horse Tales,” a weekly radio program about Thoroughbred racing hosted by Ercel Ellis this Saturday (the 15th). For listeners in Central Kentucky, “Horse Tales” can be heard on WLXG 1300...