The news from NYRA continues to arrive fast and furious, on matters both OTB and otherwise. In the “let’s get people to bet at NYRA” category, the Association released the following news today: Beginning next Wednesday, customers can sign up instantly for a NYRA Rewards account; members who sign up by December 31 will be…
Certainly, there are a number of variables to consider, but here’s a quick glance at NYRA’s numbers today compared to the last two Wednesdays of racing. There was no racing last Wednesday because of bad weather, and no racing on this day (second Wednesday after Thanksgiving) last year. Attendance Wednesday, 11/17: 2013 Wednesday, 11/24: 2,016…
On Saturday night, after spending the day at Aqueduct, I stumbled across The Rocket, a 2007 Canadian movie about Maurice Richard, who played for the Canadiens from 1942 to 1950 1960. Richard was the first player both to score 500 goals in a career and to score 50 goals in 50 games. One of the…
I don’t generally post full press releases, but in the absence (yet) of a link to this release, here’s NYRA’s statement on the OTB situation, which seems worthy of distribution, given its forcefulness. OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) announced today that the provisions being sought by the regional off-track…
Spent a relatively festive afternoon at Aqueduct on Saturday; the Toys for Tots bins that greeted me as I walked into the clubhouse were abundantly full, as was the container for the checks and cash that Big A patrons donated to help make Christmas a little more special for some needy children. On the day…
The last of the straw was still being swept from the stalls that Breeders’ Cup starters had recently inhabited. The buzz from that Classic finish had barely subsided. The 2010 racing calendar listed a number of stakes races that had yet to be run. But it had started. It had started on blogs, in columns,…
First of all, I have to note a couple of egregious oversights in my “giving thanks” post from last week. The Rail at the New York Times should have been there, for providing racing coverage during the Triple Crown season and the Breeders’ Cup and for offering me the opportunity to post there. Also inadvertently…
On Saturday afternoon at Aqueduct, Haynesfield got within a head of becoming the first horse to win the Suburban, the Jockey Club Gold Cup, and the NYRA/Cigar Mile. Longshot Jersey Town denied him that honor. Following Haynesfield’s defeat, Cigar remains the only horse to win the Jockey Club Gold Cup and the NYRA Mile. The…
I’m sitting in Saratoga. My parents are upstairs sleeping; my brother and his family will arrive later today. Four cats are running around in various stages of fun and fighting. Tomorrow, we’ll give thanks over a meal at the Wishing Well (all except the cats), owned by a family we’ve known for decades. It rather…
I would like to meet the person who had the good sense, in 1945, to name a New York race after Comely. I recognize that that’s probably not possible, but in this season of talking about racing history, that man (and yeah, had to be a man, right?) truly did preserve this filly’s place in…
Brooklyn Backstretch 