Monthly Archives: November 2019

( Did you know that Rivers of gold is interactive?  Hence not only easily read on electronic devices like iphones and ipads, but stories come to life: horses and races from days long past.  The idea began with Cigar.  While … Continue reading →

(The first really significant gold strike occurred when I discovered Robert Alexander, the most important horse breeder in the US 150 years ago, sent many of his good horses to Canada during the Civil War.  The next was that the dynamic … Continue reading →

(I still find it extraordinary that British horse breeders turned their backs on Diomed.  But then, no one wanted to buy Northern Dancer.  Perhaps when it comes to seeing the soul of a horse we humans are not always as … Continue reading →

“… Since British horses breeders refused to send their mares to Diomed, Bunbury put the aging stallion up for sale.  Diomed was 21 years old when Colonel Hoomes purchased him for $250.  In horse years 21 is old.  Nonetheless Diomed … Continue reading →

(one of the most amusing, and often humbling, aspects to studying the history of Thoroughbred horses is how many times we humans get it wrong.  The saga of Diomed is a perfect case in point. ) … Diomed’s final victory was a King’s … Continue reading →

THE REVENGE OF DIOMED (When I was asked by Thoroughbred Times to write about Canada’s contribution to the gene pool all those years ago, my research took me back several generations.  The article, serialized over 4 issues, was the inspiration for … Continue reading →

(Today we hit one of the most astonishing discoveries in this, the evolution of Canada’s dominant Thoroughbred bloodlines – one that no one would likely have considered in a month of Sundays:  An Underground Railroad for horses) RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME … Continue reading →

(..there’s a saying that you can’t know where you are going, if you don’t know where you’ve been.  While I had written books about E.P. Taylor, Northern Dancer, and Nearctic, I knew little, if anything, about the early history of Thoroughbreds in Canada.  … Continue reading →

(writing Rivers of Gold was a bit like chasing a Unicorn through a mystical forest – I simply had no idea where it would lead me.  Unlike writing Northern Dancer, or Dark Horse, or any of my other books, there … Continue reading →