NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance Update Mike Ziegler, executive director of the NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance, began his presentation by noting that the Alliance had accredited 18 tracks in 15 months. 17 of those tracks were fully accredited; one was provisionally accredited. Ziegler said that the accredited tracks accounted for more than 60% of…
Old Friends is a regular stop on my trips to Kentucky; each time I visit the Bluegrass, I try to say hello to my favorites (Williamstown, Will’s Way, Ogygian, Commentator) and to meet some of the new residents. Michael Blowen and the Old Friends volunteers are incredibly generous with their time, and it’s easy to…
Racing Medication and Testing Consortium Update I offer this report, truth to be told, with more than a little trepidation–my knowledge of the uses and effects of these drugs is close to nil. I am simply passing on what was said, though, in the hope that some of you find it interesting/useful, and that I…
When I left Brooklyn 12 days, 2,500 miles, and 10 states ago, I knew that I’d visit two racetracks, see lots of friends, meet many horses, research not enough, and, probably, write very little. I didn’t know that I’d spend two days in the Keeneland sales pavilion listening to panels of industry folks talk about…
In the summer of 2008, I sat with Dale Romans at Saratoga as he watched Robby Albarado work an unraced two-year-old filly on the main track. Back at the barn, Albarado got off the horse and said to the trainer, “She could win first time out.” Her name was Sara Louise. The jockey didn’t get…
I lived in the mid-Atlantic for seven years, and I logged more hours than I care to remember on I-95, making my way home to friends and family in New York and Saratoga. When I left the area in 1995, I vowed I’d never again live anywhere that required regular travel on 95. I was…
On Monday, Anna House held its 2010 graduation; its seventh graduating class celebrated and looked with anticipation at heading to kindergarten in the fall. Because of the Belmont Child Care Association, the ten graduates are beginning readers and writers, and they are fluent in English, ready to take on the challenges of their kindergarten classrooms…
For most people in the world, today is just another Monday, just another June 14th. But for New York Rangers’ fans, it’s the anniversary of the day that “will last a lifetime,” in the unfortunately likely prophetic words of Sam Rosen, the day that the New York Rangers, after 54 years of futility, finally, finally…
So whose idea was it, exactly, to schedule Belmont week, final exams, and a bathroom renovation all in the same week? The good news is that despite mess and work and fatigue, at their completion all of these things have, in their own way, a sort of splendor. They are also, mercifully, finite. Thank goodness,…
We’ve arrived at the end of the end of the road: the Belmont Stakes. Belmont’s spring showcase and the final leg of the Triple Crown gives us a deep field of 12 looking to add their name to the history books. Let’s take a look at the contenders for the Test of Champions. Belmont Park:…
Brooklyn Backstretch 