As I wrote about in more detail at The Blood-Horse yesterday, tomorrow is New York Showcase Day at Belmont. With seven stakes races and more than a million dollars in purses available, it’s the premier day of state-bred racing in New York. For the kids, Belmont is offering hay rides, face painting, and pumpkin carving,…
Leaving Keeneland Sunday afternoon felt a little like going back to work in mid-August and leaving Saratoga: how can I possibly go when all of that is still going on? Had the racing been mediocre or the weather less pleasant, it might have been easier to leave, but given that in addition to all of…
Keeneland is indeed a venerable, and venerated, site, and for decades, racing fans have flocked to this cathedral, to worship at its altar of racing excellence and elegance. How many, though, have actually worshipped at the race track? Based on my experience on Sunday morning, I’d say thousands. Each Sunday at 10 am, mass is…
Keeneland is a long way from New York, and there’s no doubt that things are a little different here. As I stood at the rail of the training track on Saturday morning, a nearby trainer called out, “Where you from?” “New York,” I replied. “I could tell,” he said. Fortunately, Keeneland on Saturday was populated…
We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming from Lexington for this bit of news on one of New York’s favorites. Fans of Evening Attire will have a chance to attend his Retirement Party on Breeders’ Cup Day (October 25th) at Belmont Park. Plans under consideration are for the grey guy to spend some time in the…
Twenty-four hours in Lexington under my belt, and I already know that I’m never going to get to do everything I want in this short stay. I’ve crossed a return to Midway off of my list, though I can’t imagine how I can give up another stop in that terrific bookshop downstairs from the café.…
Commenter John S. shares with us the origin of the term “hands down,” used to describe Watson’s victory in the first running of the Jerome: It is so common in our language, but who knew it actually is a horse racing termfrom the 1800s, used to describe a jockey loosening the reins and dropping hishands…
Saturday morning was the coldest so far of this early fall; I’d remembered to bring a winter coat and scarf to Saratoga, but neglected gloves, and leaving the house at 7:45 am, I regretted the oversight. The morning was gorgeous: crisp and incredibly blue, throwing the colors in the trees into brighter relief. I couldn’t…
A few notes on Brooklyn Backstretch favorites on this chilly upstate morning… Thorn Song, referred to here as a “treat whore” in August, wired the field in the Shadwell Turf Mile on Saturday at Keeneland. His racing at this level has been disappointing for some time and he clearly didn’t much like Saratoga, but he…
Spectators at Jerome Park, courtesy of the Library of CongressBelmont offers four graded stakes this racing weekend, three today and one tomorrow. Two-year-old fillies and colts compete on the dirt in the Frizette and Champagne, respectively, both Grade I’s; three year olds go over the grass in the Grade II Jamaica; and tomorrow, three-year-olds run…
Brooklyn Backstretch 