Free Republic

Former Gov. Brereton Jones has borrowed heavily from a financially distressed bank that he and several other Democratic Party leaders founded in 2001, according to interviews and bank records. Federal regulators have criticized the directors of Frankfort-based American Founders Bank, including Jones, for inadequate supervision. The bank was badly managed and suffered "hazardous lending and lax collection practices," which left it with far too many unpaid loans, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Among the specific concerns cited was improper reporting and recordkeeping of insider loans to bank directors and executives. The FDIC issued a cease-and-desist order to the...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)—The filly Eight Belles finished second behind favorite Big Brown in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, then collapsed with two broken front ankles and was euthanized after crossing the wire. The field of 20 horses was galloping out around the first turn at Churchill Downs when Eight Belles suddenly went down on both front legs and jockey Gabriel Saez slid off. “When we passed the wire I stood up,” said Saez, a first-time Derby rider. “She started galloping funny. I tried to pull her up. That’s when she went down.” An equine ambulance reached her on the track...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that a filly can't be named "Sally Hemings" after Thomas Jefferson's most famous slave and reputed lover. The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled that the Jockey Club can legally bar horse owner Garrett Redmond from naming his 4-year-old horse after Hemings. Judge Alice Batchelder, writing for the three-judge panel, said Redmond has other options that may be approved by the Jockey Club, which forbids horse owners from using names of famous or notorious people without special permission. The club's rules also say that "names considered in poor taste;...

A photo provided by the Zoo Safari and Hollywoodpark Stukenbrock shows the zebra and horse crossbreed 'Eclyse' during its presentation to the public in Schloss Holte, Germany, on Wednesday, June 27, 2007. The father of 'Eclyse' is a horse from Italy, where the crossbreed filly was born in 2006, her mother is a zebra from the Safari park.

Smarty Jones Now a Father Derby and Preakness winner Smarty Jones now has another title: father. Three Chimneys Farm, Smarty's home, announced Tuesday that Smarty's first foal was born shortly after midnight. The bay filly, whose mother is Shoppingwithbetty, was born at Stone Farm, just outside Paris . "She's popped around, jumped around," said Arthur Hancock, owner of Stone Farm. "She's a very nice foal, and the mother's crazy about her. She just looks like a little athlete." Shoppingwithbetty, owned by Hancock and Tom Tatham of Oak Cliff Stables, was due to foal Jan. 19. Her father was Danzig, who...