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:…
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…
Brooklyn Backstretch 