"I thought it was a bad charley horse, so I sat down to have a smoke, and the cramps went away, " he says.

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The horse seemed at first like a bad bet, with trainer Rogelio calling the horse "crazy" and "nuts" for its tendency to abruptly stop and ignore instructions from its jockey.

WSJ: Paralyzed jockey Douglas now successful owner

Her job also means delivering bad news, a constant reality in thoroughbred racing, about a horse's health.

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"The horse crumbled over - it didn't feel a bad fall, it didn't look a bad fall but I ended up with a broken neck, " he said.

BBC: Maguire weighing up future

So bad, went the wisecrack, that the average travel speed of 8mph in the 1890s (by horse) was now, in the era of the automobile, still 8mph.

FORBES: Drive-By Pricing

The Man Booker does so much horse trading, has so many arguments, and people talk complete nonsense about it and occasionally choose ridiculously bad books for no good reason, but all of that is done behind closed doors so you never see it.

FORBES: Not The Booker's Sam Jordison Considers Self-Publishing Award