Aqueduct: “Vitally important to the industry”

When Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park opens for the season on Friday, Nov. 2, it will do so with little fanfare. The track that first opened in 1894, making it older than most other sporting venues in the country, will host Thoroughbred racing for six months, longer than the Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course…

Welcome Back to Aqueduct

Aqueduct looks great. I never thought that it looked quite as bad as many people said, but the improvements over the last few years have resulted in a track that is, yes, attractive. The murals on the main floor debuted about a year ago; eye-catching, intriguing, they are ubiquitous, and while the Big A regulars…

Aqueduct: A History of the Inner Track

It was nearly 70 degrees in New York yesterday; warmer temperatures and delayed darkness have many of us thinking spring. And for New York racing fans, there is no surer sign of spring than the return at Aqueduct to the main track. Racing on the inner track generally begins in early December, after the big…

Ups and Downs

As Backstretch friend John at The Race is Not the Swift noted recently, now is the winter of our discontent. It’s mid-February; three and a half months of racing at Aqueduct in the books (really? Is it three and a half months since, on opening weekend, we thrilled to watch Zenyatta’s win in the Classic?),…