We heard a lot about Secretariat over the weekend. Secretariat lost the Wood and won the Triple Crown; Uncle Mo’s owner Mike Repole told reporters Saturday afternoon that on Friday night, he watched Secretariat (“It was probably a stupid idea,” he added). I wondered about the reaction to Secretariat’s loss in April of 1973, wondered…
Greetings from Aqueduct! It’s early – 8 am – and I don’t have a lot of company here. The horses have returned to the backstretch after their winter sojourn at Belmont, having given way to the construction crews for a while, but there are few horses on the track, and upstairs, one clocker and I…
Hawthorne: The Grade III, $300,000 Illinois Derby at 1 1/8 miles Trying to upset the apple cart in a very weak race with #5 VOUCH FOR VICTORY, who ran sneaky good in his first two-turn attempt and has every right to move forward with that run behind him; in a race where no one else impresses,…
Santa Anita: The Grade I, $1 Million Santa Anita Derby at 1 1/8 miles #1 Offlee Wild Boys (30-1): Enters off two sharp allowance wins at Golden Gate over the Tapeta surface, and though he drew well here, he’s unproven over conventional dirt. Well-bred runner should get the trip, but this is a huge step…
Aqueduct: The Grade I, $1 Million Wood Memorial at 1 1/8 miles #1 Starship Caesar (50-1 ML): Beaten a country mile in the GIII Gotham, the local prep, and while he drew extremely well tomorrow, there’s no real reason to think he can turn the tables on those who beat him, not to mention that…
Tomorrow morning, I head back to Aqueduct for the first time in a month. On March 12, I was in Saratoga, dropping off a Backstretch feline for a winter sojourn; on the 19th, I drove through Aqueduct en route to a flight to Florida; on the 26th, I was on the beach; on April 2,…
There are few automatic bets in the Backstretch world. There are the Cats and Kittens, of course, and sometimes horses or trainers I’ve recently profiled, and often the longest price in a short field. But perhaps the most inviolable of these is the “If you pet the horse, bet the horse” maxim…which I ignored on…
Happy Florida Derby day! It’s gorgeous, it’s hot, it’s sunny…and it’s my last day in Florida after a glorious spring break. Fortunately, I’ve got a terrific weekend to close out a memorable vacation. Saturday at Gulfstream was Oaks Day, kicked off at 7 a.m. with Breakfast At Gulfstream, where those purchasing the breakfast buffet were…
Gulfstream Park: The Grade I, $1 million Florida Derby at 1 1/8 miles #1 Soldat (9-5 ML): Enters off two powerful local wins at today’s distance, including a romp in the GII Fountain of Youth (FOY) where he answered both the class question and the one that said that he couldn’t put in a big…
A crowd of about 30 filled the back of BookCourt in Cobble Hill last night to hear Jaimy Gordon read from and talk about her National Book Award winning novel, Lord of Misrule. Earlier in the day, Gordon learned that the book was named a finalist for the Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award, presented by Castleton…
Brooklyn Backstretch 