YEAR TWELVE! TWELVE! When we launched this in 2009, we were able to donate several hundred years to a racing charity. Last year? More than $2,700. Since that first contest, nearly $13,300. That’s a lot of money to benefit the horses and humans that make this sport possible, and you don’t have to be an…
I brought neither a raincoat nor rain boots to Saratoga this year, and I keep thinking, “No, it can’t keep raining. You won’t need them.” But of course it CAN keep raining, and it has (it’s thundering and gray as I type), and I DO need them. And as soon as I buy them, we’ll…
Guess what? It’s going to rain this week. Quelle surprise, I know. Are your feet webbed yet? At least you don’t have to water your gardens. And hey, because of that rain, we got a storybook Whitney last Saturday, when a rainbow emerged as Diversify cruised home to his second Grade 1 win. Don’t sleep…
Happy 10th anniversary to the Brooklyn Backstretch Charity League. It’s taken several forms over the year, inspired by the Saratoga Special Derby fantasy league, run by Brian Nadeau, way back in the days of yore. Last year we raised just under $1,900 for racing charities across the country, donated by our top three finishers with the…
They say that there’s no place like home for the holidays, but when you work at the racetrack, going home—wherever that may be—isn’t always an option. The difficulty of taking time away and of making small paychecks stretch can make this season not quite like the jolly, lavish scenes that we see splashed across televisions…
On Monday, June 27, I was driving through the mountains of West Virginia on I-79, en route from Brooklyn to Lexington, KY. The sky was dark and rain had begun, radio weather reports issuing travel advice with more urgency than usual. When alerts blared simultaneously from the radio and my phone, warning of flash floods…
About four years ago, an 11-year-old horse came off to the racetrack at Charles Town, his racing days done. I’d been following him for a while—six years–and the call finally came that his trainer thought he had had enough. Akindale Thoroughbred Rescue graciously agreed to take him in; a bit obstreperous, at times downright hard…
Each year, the Racetrack Chaplaincy of New York helps bring Thanksgiving to hundreds of families on the backstretches of Belmont and Aqueduct. Families get a free turkey along with all the trimmings, and with the holiday just a few weeks away, the Chaplaincy is in high gear coordinating this initiative. Each food package includes a…
Early Saturday afternoon near the backstretch recreation center, just across Union Avenue from the clubhouse turn, hotwalker Eduardo Alarcon slipped his feet into a new pair of shoes. A grin broke over his face, and he jogged energetically in place. “They feel great!” he exulted. Alarcon was one of several dozen backstretch workers who received…
It might be summer vacation, but horses don’t take the summer off and neither do their grooms, riders, and hot walkers—and neither does Anna House. In June we (I am a member of the BCCA board) celebrated the graduation of the class of 2015, who accepted their diplomas from Belmont Child Care Association board president…
Brooklyn Backstretch 