The Gotham Stakes – Grade III, $250,000 – Aqueduct – 1 1/16 Miles, by Brian Nadeau Another weekend along the Derby Trail and another deep and talented stakes race to decipher. Saturday New York reminds us that spring is indeed on the horizon when the Gotham Stakes is run at Aqueduct. The local prep for…
Having been homebound with the flu this week, I unfortunately caught the dreadful spill in Wednesday’s second race at Aqueduct. Though the fallen horses and jockeys were visible on the screen for only a moment, John Imbriale’s voice, halting as he called the two horses of seven starters who crossed the finish line, told us…
Astute and thorough handicapper that I am, one of my favorite betting angles is using horses conditioned by trainers whose barns I’ve visited. It is for that reason that last August at Saratoga, I bet Tom Albertrani’s Devotee at 21 – 1, and for that reason alone that I cashed a ticket when she broke…
Sundays are pretty good these days for Joe Parker. Last week, he took the Busher with his talented filly What A Pear, and yesterday, Gold Close to Him won the fourth race at Aqueduct. The chestnut gelding had raced seven times for Gary Contessa before coming to Parker in a claim a week ago. He’d…
The Sham Stakes – Grade III, $200,000 – Santa Anita Park – 1 1/8 Miles,by Brian Nadeau As opposed to the Fountain of Youth, the Sham brings together one known quantity in The Pamplemousse, and several others who have yet to make their mark on the big stage. The former rates a deserving favorite and…
The Fountain of Youth Stakes – Grade II, $250,000 – Gulfstream Park – 1 Mileby Brian Nadeau When I first heard this race was being shortened to 1-mile, and therefore being run at one-turn, I was really disappointed. It’s doesn’t quite have the appeal it once did and it loses a little of its luster…
The wonderfully whimsical world of racing language offers a seemingly unending array of linguistic puzzles. We’ve got “breezed” and “placed,” previously discussed here, and lately, I’ve been thinking about “bounce.” One need not consult a dictionary to determine the word’s literal and figurative meanings, which in most cases are positive when the word is used…
After watching the first week of Jockeys and reading regular updates on subsequent episodes, I haven’t seen/read much that would inspire me to devote much of my viewing time to it. Trust the Quinella Queen to find the little bit of literary wheat among all the chaff! The Internet’s best turf-loving librarian takes us behind…
The first person I spoke to at Aqueduct on Sunday told me that he’d come out to the track to cheer on Joe Parker’s filly in the Busher. That person must have been very, very happy at about 3:51 pm. Channing Hill sat the rail aboard What A Pear, stalking comfortably in third until they…
Busher broke her maiden in her first start, on my birthday in 1944 (several decades before I was born, I hasten to add). That victory kicked off a Belmont-centric two-year-old season in which the filly raced at the big oval six times, winning four starts, and finishing second and fourth once each. She won her…
Brooklyn Backstretch 