Brian’s back this week with a look at tomorrow’s Gotham at Aqueduct. If your thoughts are on the West Coast, you can check out his preview of the pre-re-scheduled Sham. And if you’ve got any Gotham or Sham runners in your Road to the Roses stable, don’t forget to activate power horses before tomorrow’s deadline.…
Nearly daily since last summer, some element of the behavior of Zenyatta, Rachel Alexander Alexandra, John Shirreffs, Steve Asmussen, the Mosses and/or Jess Jackson has been the subject of some article, some blog post, some Twitter comment. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the connections and the horses are superstars of the sport, and in our…
I was recently given the opportunity by the Daily Racing Form to investigate Thoroughbred retirement in New York State; the article was published on the DRF website last Friday and in the print edition of the paper on Sunday. In researching the aricle, I was able to speak to people who respresented various elements of…
On yesterday’s post, Alan Mann of Left at the Gate left a compelling comment on about NHL players going to the Olympics in Sochi in 2014—I can’t argue with his points. And as I responded then, all the more reason for us to savor the hockey that these Olympics gave us. No matter who you…
After two days off due to concerns about the track conditions, Aqueduct is up and running today. With both Aqueduct and Santa Anita off yesterday, it’s no surprise that Tampa Bay had its fifth largest handle ever. And as glad as I am to see racing return to my fair city, I must confess that…
With snow days at Aqueduct yesterday and today, I turned my attention—briefly—to today’s Gulfstream entries, in anticipation of spending the afternoon in a New York City OTB restaurant, having lunch and watching the races–because really, God forbid that I spend a Saturday away from the races? I rather feel as though I’m fraternizing with the…
The path to the Santa Anita Derby continues this weekend in California with the 9-furlong Sham Stakes. A competitive field of 10 meets the starter and though the race is lacking any true star power, the winner is sure to have a say in the meet’s Grade I centerpiece in April. Let’s take a look.…
Every once in a while on a Wednesday morning, the Sports Curmudgeon, alter ego of NPR commentator and sportswriter Frank Deford, makes an appearance on Morning Edition; more regularly, he appears on his own website, grousing about whatever has struck—er, smacked?—his fancy. This week, I feel like the racing curmudgeon. As you might have noticed,…
The first weekend of the Road to the Roses Derby fantasy game is in the books, and below are the standings for the Brooklyn Backstretch charity league. Take a good look at me there in the top 10, because I’ll be dropping like a stone any time now. 1 Bourbon Bliss Barn 1 HoosYourDaddy 3…
Saturday’s feature at Aqueduct was the Rare Treat, named for the “hard hitting filly” owned by George D. Widener who raced in the 1950’s. For a horse with “rare” in her name, she sure hit the track a lot, running 101 times for a record of 16 victories, 20 seconds, and 14 thirds. Her eponymous…
Brooklyn Backstretch 