No fewer than five racetracks were located in Brooklyn, over the course of the last century and a half. Though known as the “Borough of Churches,” Brooklyn might also aptly be called the “Borough of Backstretches.” The Gravesend, Sheepshead Bay, Brighton Beach, Coney Island, and Prospect Park courses were all located in my fair borough. …
Last Friday, the National Museum of Racing announced that jockey Randy Romero had been elected to its Hall of Fame. Romero had suffered through several previous rounds of being nominated without being elected, and as reported by Jay Privman in Daily Racing Form, Romero said of his election, “It’s a great honor. I’m so, so…
Beautiful weather. A great crowd. Exciting horses. Belmont Stakes contenders. An agonizing near-miss. Friends. Celebrations. Memorial Day weekend, 2010. It starts on Saturday morning, with a trip to Barn 1 to check on First Dude, Quiet Temper, and Stately Victor. Stately Victor had gone out early and was home in his stall by mid-morning; First…
Nearly every day, I evaluate quality. As a high school English teacher, I collect work from my students, I decide how good it is, and I grade it. The worthiness of the work is, unfortunately and too often, inextricably linked to the grade it receives. And a long time ago, I learned that it’s a…
If you were paying attention to racing a hundred years ago this month, some things would look familiar: racing in New York shifted from Aqueduct to Belmont; the Metropolitan Handicap was run at Belmont Park; a former racehorse met a sad end in his post-racing life. The details, of course, were different. Aqueduct ran its…
Checking in here with our regular look at charities and other public services/events. First up, the Northeast Equine Expo, taking place this Saturday and Sunday at Belmont Park. The equine stars of the movies Hidalgo and soon-to-be released Secretariat will perform. Harbor Mist, who plays Secretariat, will appear with his trainer—not his racing trainer, but, of course, his…
I headed out to Belmont early on Saturday morning, to visit the children at Anna House before watching workouts and visiting the backstretch. As always, Belmont felt like a little city: at Anna House, a half dozen or more teachers worked with children of varying ages as they played, learned, read, built, created; at the…
Today at Belmont, eight fillies and mares will take to the turf for the 57th renewal of the Sheepshead Bay (GII). Sheepshead Bay is a small body of water in the southernmost part of Brooklyn, between the “mainland” and the long, slim jut of land on which Coney Island sits to the west and Brighton…
Last Saturday, the eyes of the racing world were turned towards Baltimore, where Bob Baffert’s Lookin at Lucky reversed his racing fortunes with a Preakness win. About 600 miles to the west, another Lucky was hanging out in a paddock, eating peppermints, and reveling in retirement. Lucky to Cope is an 8-year-old bay gelding; by…
I approached my first Preakness with trepidation: I’m not a Big Event kind of person (with the exception of this kind of Big Event) and I hate crowds. But this year’s Preakness presented some opportunities too good to pass up, and so on, Friday afternoon, I set off down the Northeast corridor to Charm City,…
Brooklyn Backstretch 