Fans and employees of New York racing are breathing a little more easily this morning, as it appears that after years of discussion, negotiation, stalling, power plays (not the good kind, that take place on ice; the bad kind, that take place when egos and agendas collide), and overall embarrassment to the Empire State, the…
I think—dare I say it—that I may be in love. I haven’t felt this way since 2004. Then, it was summer love: warm rains, summer breezes, cold beers and lemonade. Picnics, tank tops, flowers and trees in bloom. It was July 29th, and his name was Afleet Alex. Then, it was Saratoga; now, it’s Aqueduct…
My favorite Saturday races were allowances, one north, one south, featuring horses I’ve been watching for the last couple of months. The first was at Gulfstream, the third, featuring my oft-touted Saratoga Russell, who reverted to the form of his first race, wiring the field in sizzling fractions over a sloppy track to win by…
It is indeed a shame when work gets in the way of gambling. Last night, I wrote: “I want to skip school on Thursday and go to the races because on the last Thursday that I was at the races, Piquante Cat won the third race, and he’s in the featured eighth race…I want to…
Our anonymous Saratoga Russell commenter makes another appearance, this time outing him/herself (at least a little) as a part owner. Mr./Ms. West Point, thanks for your updates, and keep ‘em coming. Sunday’s comment: “Saratoga Russell is training at Gulfstream. He ran a bullet 5 furlong yesterday. People who witnessed the breeze said that on paper,…
I’m beginning to think that maybe I’m never going to meet a racetrack that I don’t like. Oh, wait, there’s Gulfstream. Spent a delightful day at Laurel on Saturday, in the company of some Saratoga ex-pats who have moved to the DC area, of Railbird, and of an upstate friend who road-tripped with me to…
For those folks who have been asking about Saratoga Russell (and judging by the number of you who land on this page from your searches, he’s got a lot of fans out there), an anonymous poster left this comment: “Russell had a stomach bug in January that set him back in training. He is now…
“ ‘I guess he just put his foot down wrong,’ and in those nine words there was more heartburn than some men suffer in a lifetime.” These words were spoken about a horse, an accomplished three-year-old who ran six times and who crossed the wire first in all six races, reportedly “without ever being extended,…
Checking today’s feature race at Aqueduct, the Paumonok Handicap, I went to the NYRA stakes page, as is my wont, to get a little history on the race. Instead of the usual detailed information about the race and its origins, I found this: “There is some disagreement as to whether this race was named after…
Tip of the hat to Equidaily for pointing me in this direction, to an article by Art Wilson in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, in which the president of Hollywood Park calls for a summer forum on the pros and cons of racing on synthetics. Oak Tree executive vice-president Sherwood Chillingworth (The Scarlet Letter, anyone?)…
Brooklyn Backstretch 