A racing refrain this year is that 2011 has been somewhat lackluster. No big emerging star, no clear choice in many Eclipse categories, few breathtaking performances. For many of us, though, the transcendent times in racing come on small stages, in quiet moments; memories are made when we don’t expect them to be, and not…
From the Backstretch family to yours, best wishes for a Merry Christmas — and happy holidays to all.
It is, I recognize, a little late for a Christmas list…but I hope not too late for racing Santa take a look and maybe, just maybe, make my Christmas wishes come true. I think that I’ve been a pretty good girl this year; oh, yes, there have been some naughty moments, but surely, far more…
On May 8, 1907, August Belmont gave a dance and cotillion in the Turf and Field Club at Belmont Park prior to that season’s racing. Supper was served at midnight; trains to bring guests home departed at 3 a.m. Belmont’s guests, I think it’s safe to say, enjoyed themselves, entertained as they were by a…
OK, nine days until Christmas. Eight shopping days. I hope, for your sake, that you’re a little further along in your holiday shopping than I am. But in case you’re not, and still in search of the perfect gift for the racing lover in your life, here are a few items you can pick up…
There are a lot of movies out there about high school. Dead Poets’ Society. Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Election. Clueless. Some I like, some I don’t. In some, I see situations and students that look familiar; in most, what’s on the screen looks nothing like what I see in the classrooms and hallways in…
Last week the American Graded Stakes Committee announced its 2012 graded stakes races. Among the noteworthy changes was the downgrading of the historical Hopeful Stakes from a Grade 1 to a Grade 2. In decrying the downgrading, commentators invoked the race’s history – the Hopeful was first run in 1904 – and the post-Hopeful performances…
Last summer at Saratoga, a turf writing veteran – male – called me over to a TV in the press box. “Have you seen this?” he asked. Seen what? He gestured to the television, rendered practically speechless by what he was seeing. And in the comments below, reader Walt steered me to a Calder collection…
I think I went to my first hockey game before I went to my first horse race. I think my father took me to Madison Square Garden to see the Rangers when I was four years old; I remember being at Saratoga Harness with my parents and my brother when I was six. It’s possible…
A humdrum Saturday at Aqueduct became a moment in history when former jockey Robbie Davis won his first race as a trainer with Sandyinthesun, who took the seventh race by a nose at odds of 39-1. Davis won the Jockey Club Gold Cup aboard Allen Jerkens’ Wagon Limit; he won the 1995 Sanford, Futurity, and…
Brooklyn Backstretch 