A panel at the Saratoga Institute for Equine, Racing, and Gaming Law on Aug. 11 discussed New York’s need for a law to protect sponsors or organizers of public equine activities, such as racetracks and breeding farms. New York is one of five states that lack an equine liability statute, according to Karin Bump, a…
When Smarty Jones ran for the Triple Crown in 2004, spectators at Belmont Park faced long lines for betting, bathrooms, and concessions; they waited hours for Long Island Rail Road trains after the races were over. When Big Brown ran for the Triple Crown in 2008, spectators sat in extreme heat and humidity and the…
At the New York offices of The Jockey Club in the heart of midtown Manhattan, president and CEO James Gagliano hails, as one would expect, from the corner office. Not as commodious or luxuriously appointed as those of other Manhattan high-flyers, the modest space nonetheless occupies a highly coveted bit of New York City real…
Horse racing is not known for embracing new technology–only within the last few years have fans been able to view races in high-definition—and staying true to past performance lines, the sport’s individuals and institutions were both initially slow to establish a presence on social media. Even now, some of racing’s biggest presences in real life—people…
Turfway Park: The Grade III, $550,000 Spiral at 1 1/8 miles (Kentucky Derby qualifying points: 50-20-10-5) While the Spiral runs the risk of being racing’s version of the Edsel, it did draw a solid field this year with runners from name barns like Amoss, Casse, Maker and Pletcher, so there’s some potential here, no doubt.…
The legacy of Allen Jerkens will live on in plenty of official documents. He’s in charts and programs, racing manuals and the Hall of Fame, profiles and race recaps, and record books and photographs. When you train horses for more than 60 years, you leave a pretty long paper trail. But it’s not on paper—or…
Oaklawn Park: The Grade II, $750,000 Rebel at 1 1/16 miles (Kentucky Derby qualifying points 50-20-10-5) #1 The Truth or Else (4-1): Tricky read woke up in a big way when he added Lasix and was second in the local prep, the GIII Southwest last month, and certainly seems as if he’s turned the corner…
The road to the Kentucky Derby made its way through California on Saturday, when Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, CA hosted the latest points race, the Grade III Sham Stakes on Saturday afternoon. Despite being winless in four previous starts, the Florida-bred Calculator was sent off the odds-on favorite and proved himself worth every bit…
Thank you for reading, commenting, challenging, questioning, and caring about racing in 2014 — here’s to an even better 2015. Warm wishes to you and yours for a wonderful Christmas, a happy Chanukah, and a very happy new year.
When California Chrome headed to Belmont Park in early June, he looked like a lock for, if not the Triple Crown, at least an Eclipse Award for champion 3-year-old, and maybe Horse of the Year. But after a fourth-place finish in the Belmont, California Chrome went winless in his next two races, finishing sixth in…
Brooklyn Backstretch 