A humdrum Saturday at Aqueduct became a moment in history when former jockey Robbie Davis won his first race as a trainer with Sandyinthesun, who took the seventh race by a nose at odds of 39-1. Davis won the Jockey Club Gold Cup aboard Allen Jerkens’ Wagon Limit; he won the 1995 Sanford, Futurity, and…
They are little boys with big dreams. So little that the pitchforks they wield in pre-dawn darkness are bigger than they are; so little that they can barely push the wheelbarrows loaded with manure from the stalls they’ve mucked; so little that when they get off a horse, they are asked whether the tack is…
Sometimes the second fiddle gets to play in the first chair. Alydar finally beat Affirmed (albeit through disqualification) in the Travers; Easy Goer vanquished his nemesis Sunday Silence in the Belmont. Though often on the losing end of the rivalry, both Alydar and Easy Goer have, over the years, garnered nearly as much ink as…
Over the next few weeks, this space will be filled with holiday spirit: racetrack initiatives offering ways to help; retirement and rescue organizations doing fund-raisers; suggestions for gifts for the racing lover in your life. Last week we kicked off with the annual Belmont Child Care Association holiday party; I spent my Black Friday shopping…
Firenze! Her very name seems to call for an exclamation point, for a hand gesture to punctuate that strong second syllable…maybe a touch of an Italian accent? Firenze! Or Firenzi. Or Ferenzi. In her long career on the track, her name was spelled all three ways, and probably others as well. She was foaled in…
Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow. Edward Sandford Martin My heart of gratitude has overflowed in 2011. No cynicism, no crankiness, no sarcasm: on the day appointed in this country for thankfulness, I have more blessings than I…
Richard Dutrow, Jr. had quite a weekend. On Friday, he was granted a stay of the 10-year-suspension handed to him by the New York State Racing and Wagering Board in October; according to Thoroughbred Times, the stay is granted “until the appeal of the board’s decision process is resolved.” On Saturday, Dutrow went three-for-three at…
Tomorrow at Aqueduct, the Discovery will be run for the 67th time. In multiple accounts of the career of the horse for whom the race is named, commentators are awed by two things: his ability to carry weight and his effect on racing through his progeny. Purchased as a two-year-old by Alfred G. Vanderbilt, Discovery…
It might feel a little too soon to start thinking about the holidays, but when Christmas comes on December 10th, you’ve got to get started early. And this year, that’s when Christmas comes to the families of the backstretch, at the annual Anna House holiday party. Since 2002, the Belmont Child Care Association has held…
While I love Belmont, I’m always happy to get back to Aqueduct: I can’t beat the convenience; the races end earlier; I can sleep a little later. Belmont has myriad benefits, but Aqueduct has its advantages, too. And this year, the return to Aqueduct contained a not insignificant extra frisson: what would the place be…
Brooklyn Backstretch 