Tampa Bay Downs – The Grade III, $225,000 Sam F. Davis at 1 1/16 miles #1 Reprized Halo (20-1): Calder-based runner drew well and has a plethora of two-turn experience, including a shocker in the pricey In Reality for Florida-breds, but this is asking a lot for his 3yo debut; longshot. #2 Adulare (12-1): Improved…
On Thursday, NYRA announced that beginning tonight, Aqueduct and the Belmont Café will stay open until approximately 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Those who decide to hang out will be able to wager on Penn National Race Course, Turfway Park, Delta Downs Racetrack, Charles Town Races, and Sam Houston Race Park. I can’t decide…
Groundhog Day was last week and according to the rodents, spring is right around the corner. But who needs a woodchuck to tell us that, when we’ve got Saturday racing cards at Aqueduct? David Grening in Daily Racing Form tells us that beginning this week, the Big A will offer 10 races every Saturday. Woo-hoo!…
Last Thursday night, Gelf Magazine celebrated the fifth anniversary of its Varsity Letters series. Monthly, the magazine hosts an evening of readings by sports writers of all stripes, boasting such alums as Joe Drape of The New York Times, Will Leitch of New York magazine and founder of Deadspin, and Amy Nelson of ESPN. The…
Today’s running of the ungraded, overnight Sky Beauty Stakes at Aqueduct seems, in some ways, to reflect Sky Beauty’s legacy: kind of a big deal, but maybe, not really. The race kind of honors her, and kind of doesn’t. The Sky Beauty was run at a mile over the inner track and as – ugh…
A quick post here today, from gray, cold, wet of Whirlaway day at Aqueduct. Really, one Saturday this winter, could I have a sunny day at Aqueduct? Just one? Please? But on we trudge, and while today’s Whirlaway doesn’t look like it’s going to be much of a race, one never knows what might emerge…
“…The sport’s expansion…led to angst among large numbers of its most elite participants. They lamented the passing of previous decades, when, at least as they recalled it, horse racing was dedicated to pure sport and not to crass commercialism. As events had evolved, the sport’s rapid expansion had given rise to a three-headed monster: the…
I love the word “vagary.” It comes from the Latin vagari, “to wander”; one definition is “an erratic, unpredictable, or extravagant manifestation, action, or notion.” I also rather like alliteration. Horse of the Year. Hart Trophy. Halls of Fame. Hockey. Horse racing. Hmm…surely something there to wander through? And maybe a great excuse to finally figure…
He’s back! Brian Nadeau has returned to the Backstretch to offer his handicapping skills on key Derby preps. Other responsibilities will mean that he’s writing on fewer races this year, but you can get more of his insights at Horseplayer Now, where he handicaps and appears in live chats regularly. So a hearty welcome back…
You’d think that getting a snow day on Thursday could be about the best news that a turf-writing teacher could get…and for much of the day it was. I slept a little later, I got caught up with my grading, I hung out with the cats…the dreamy stuff of which snow days are made. But…
Brooklyn Backstretch 