In 2011, Tom Hessert went to his first horse race. It was the 2011 Preakness, and, he said, “after trying to figure out the tote machine for half an hour,” he decided to place a wager, $5 to win on a horse whose odds were 5-1. After cashing his winning ticket for $30, he was,…
He and his sister joined my roommate Susan and me in September 1996. Rescued from a feral mother somewhere in London, Floyd and Madison were none too certain about humans; they spent much of their first few weeks in our flat under the couch. Before we adopted them, we agreed that the girl would be…
The first meeting of the new NYRA board felt a little like a first date. Everybody seemed intent on making a good first impression; controversy was avoided; common ground was sought; and at the end, everybody said that it would be great to get together again, and soon. Board president David Skorton did exactly what…
When the line-up for last night’s concert at Madison Square Garden for Sandy relief was announced, it was not surprising to see the usual crowd-pleasing suspects among the performers: Billy Joel, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi. What was surprising was that among the initial list of performers was one woman’s name: Alicia Keys.…
When Chad Brown moved to New York City from Virginia in October, he learned that New York real estate wasn’t as bad as he’d heard. [No, racing fans, not THAT Chad Brown!] It was worse. Currently ensconced in a Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn sublet that expires on New Year’s Eve, the 26-year-old freelance writer (@chadbrownrva) is…
The first board meeting of the latest incarnation of the New York Racing Association, Inc. will take place this Wednesday, at 3 pm in Manhattan. New board chair David Skorton, the president of Cornell University, announced last month that all NYRA board meetings would be open to the public, in accordance with New York State’s…
Horse lovers and auction owners make strange bedfellows. Oh, not those high-end, Keeneland/Fasig-Tipton/Lexington/Saratoga auctions, where well-bred babies are sold for hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions, of dollars, before their careers even begin, before anyone knows whether they can run. Horse lovers, even the poor ones, flock to those auctions: we stand at the bar, we…
December is, some would say, much too early to start thinking about the Kentucky Derby. Not Sally Faith Steinmann. Her Kentucky Derby musings begin long before the final 2-year-old stakes races of the year, long before the Breeders’ Cup. In fact, she’s thinking Derby before Saratoga and Del Mar have even ended their summer meets.…
As we head into the last month of 2012, the Belmont Child Care Association looks forward to one of its signature events and a national honor, and back at a year of accomplishments in serving the children of the people who take care of the horses. Having opened two new classrooms in 2011, Anna House…
November? What November? I’m writing this on Thursday night, and a month ago tonight, I sat in my apartment as the full force of Sandy hit New York City. That night, we knew it was bad, but not how bad it would be. With an almost guilty sense of good fortune, I can say that beyond…
Brooklyn Backstretch 