Hello! Welcome back! It’s here! Summer at Saratoga–and we’re off! I hope that you’re as excited as I am to get back to the beloved Spa–my hometown and one of the places where my heart resides. As always, there’s a lot going on, both on the track and off, and we’ll keep you up to…
A decade ago, the New York breeding industry was in a steep downturn. The 2008 economic crisis had led to farms closing and mares being shipped to other states, and a program that had worked to establish itself with quality breeding seemed in danger of becoming almost irrelevant. Fast-forward to 2018, and the situation is…
On the evening of June 5, two of Mike Repole’s sporting passions came together when the post position draw for the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) was held at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets. A lifelong Mets fan whose silks sport the orange and blue colors of the team, Repole…
He has taken us through every Derby prep since February, and at the end of the Triple Crown season, Brian Nadeau is back with his final race preview, as Justify tries to become the 13th Triple Crown winner. Can he do it? Brian takes a look. Belmont Park: The GI, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes at…
In my preview of the Preakness, I noted that that race in general lacks the chaos of the Kentucky Derby. Ha—famous last words, before a race that took place after a week of downpours and on a track so encased in fog we couldn’t see the horses. And as he has every time he’s been on…
The announcement of sports sponsorships, in Thoroughbred racing and elsewhere, can often elicit an eye-roll. Monster Energy logos bedecking American Pharoah before the 2015 Belmont? UPS capitalizing on Big Brown’s name back in 2008? Big Brown’s jockey Kent Desormeaux accepting sponsorship from Hooters? You get the idea. When Audible the audiobook company sponsored Audible the racehorse before…
After the first stakes race at Belmont Park on Monday, owner Michael Dubb reflected on winning the Mount Vernon with a New York-bred mare out of a New York-based stallion. “I go to the New York-bred dinner every April, and there’s a real camaraderie,” he said. “It’s a family.” As it does each spring, Belmont…
Two days before the Preakness, Dr. Kelly Ryan is sitting on a floor in the Pimlico grandstand, staring intently at her computer, responding to texts, and greeting passersby. You’d never know that among the many people who will have to make decisions this weekend—trainers about running, jockeys about strategy, stewards about inquiries, bettors about wagers—she,…
Pimlico: The Grade I, $1.5 million Preakness at 1 3/16 miles by Brian Nadeau #1 Quip (12-1): GII Tampa Bay Derby winner gutted it out for a well-beaten second behind the then-undefeated Magnum Moon in the GI Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park, then opted to skip the Kentucky Derby to run here as a fresh…
According to the Maryland Jockey Club’s logo for the feature race at Pimlico this Saturday, this year is Preakness 143. That would mean that the first edition of the race was run in 1873, when Survivor won it. (1918 counts twice, because there were two divisions that year.) If you go by the June 3,…
Brooklyn Backstretch 