Gulfstream Park: The GIII, $250,000 Holy Bull at 1 1/16 miles (Kentucky Derby qualifying points: 10-4-2-1) by Brian Nadeau #1 Toledo (7-2): Juddmonte homebred brought a big reputation to his AOC here in December but was flat early and made little impact late when second behind the surprising Ete Indien, who he meets again today,…
Aqueduct: The GIII, $250,000 Withers at 1 1/8 miles (Kentucky Derby qualifying points: 10-4-2-1) by Brian Nadeau #1 Mr. Shortandsimple (30-1): Huge longshot is one of several in here with speed, and this draw kind of forces his hand early, so while you have to respect Rodriguez, this son of Pioneerof the Nile won’t be…
Santa Anita: The GIII, $100,000 Robert Lewis at 1 1/16 miles (Kentucky Derby qualifying points 10-4-2-1) by Brian Nadeau Early Santa Anita Derby prospects are on display in the Robert Lewis, which offers an early season two-turn test for a six-pack of runners, with more than a few trying to show they belong with the…
I couldn’t be happier that Brian Nadeau is back at Brooklyn Backstretch for year 11 to take us through this year’s road to the Triple Crown. In a few weeks, we’ll kick off our annual contest to raise money for racing non-profits. Stay tuned… Brian handicaps at Capital OTB and Horseplayer Now, and he’ll offer…
It wouldn’t be hard to compile a list of 2019 racing regrets and recriminations. It wouldn’t be hard to catalogue criticisms of the industry, not after a year in which Thoroughbred racing in the U.S. found itself in the public eye for all the wrong reasons: equine fatalities, trainers paying millions in restitution for financial…
In 2011, Joe Dietrick made his annual trip to Saratoga Race Course from his home in northeast Pennsylvania. He’s come here for decades, and when he was younger, he’d park his mobile home in Saratoga for the whole meet. On that day in 2011, Dietrick was with his son Jon and two grandsons. John Velazquez…
Saratogians are proud of the Travers Stakes. Most of the thousands of fans who show up every year probably don’t know that the race was first run in 1864, or that it was named for one of the men who established Saratoga Race Course; they do know that the day of the Travers is something…
The familiar red and blue Herringswell sign is gone, as are the matching table and chairs that for years had been set up on the backstretch at Saratoga Race Course, right in the middle of the final turn. It was one of the most prominent and visible spots on the main track backstretch, a high-traffic…
Sunday, August 18 At the track $100,000 Summer Colony, for fillies and mares three and up, on the dirt at 1 1/8 miles Breakfast at Saratoga, daily except Travers Day. Enjoy breakfast on The Porch on the ground level of the clubhouse during morning training. Breakfast is available on a first-come, first-served basis from 7 a.m.…
Though the Saratoga Derby Invitational was being run for the first time and is not a graded stakes race, it nonetheless felt like the feature on Sunday at Saratoga Race Course. Perhaps it was the $1 million purse. Perhaps it was the field of 11 horses, including two trained by Aidan O’Brien. Perhaps it was because it is…
Brooklyn Backstretch 