We walk into his room and he has his back to us; he’s sitting in a chair, reading the paper, the sun streaming in the window in front of him. His eyes are on the newspaper, but right next to it lies the Aqueduct condition book. “Good morning, Chief.” He pushes his chair back and…
If you all did on Sunday was box Cornelio Velasquez/Jose Lezcano in exactas and play them in daily doubles, you’d have cashed $514 worth of winning tickets, for an investment of under $50. These two jockeys combined for six wins and three seconds, and while I doubt that they figured significantly into anyone’s betting strategy,…
Sunday at Aqueduct features six races in the New York Stallion Series, for horses whose sires are standing in New York State. Three races for the girls, three for the boys; two on the turf; two for two-year-olds; and some personal favorites are making an appearance, some of whom we last saw on New York…
The first week of Aqueduct has been anything but dull: yesterday’s card handed us the fourth carryover, this one a double, as no one hit the Pick 6 on Sunday, either. These juicy carryovers are due in no small part to the noise that a couple of female apprentices are making. Last Wednesday, the newly…
Another series of random bits… To Rich and to last week’s anonymous commenter who posted about the Belmont Child Care Association holiday party—the folks at the BCCA would love to get in touch with you. If you’re interested in talking with them, please e-mail me at the e-mail address to the right and I’ll put…
Some random notes this morning from around the virtual and actual racing world. If you’re not reading Maryjean Wall’s Celebrating the Horse, you’re missing out on a terrific independent perspective on racing. Formerly at the Lexington Courier-Journal Herald-Leader, Maryjean now writes about racing events, people, and horses that strike her fancy. Check her out fascinating,…
Whenever I go to Aqueduct, I assume that it’s going to be cold. A pleasant surprise, then, that yesterday was sunny and warm, and most of us at the Big A were overdressed, especially when we stood in the sun. In fact, the weather was far nicer today than it was on most Saturdays at…
The opening of Aqueduct in 1894 attracted surprisingly little coverage in local newspapers, perhaps because at that time, it wasn’t the only game in town; even as Aqueduct opened, racing was being conducted at Jerome Park in the Bronx. The Brooklyn Eagle carried several brief stories about its planning and opening, while the New York…
Happy Halloween! I’m pretty sure that my local card store has already put out their Christmas cards, and while overall I am about as near to thinking about Christmas as I am to thinking about retirement (and that would be not nearly near enough), I was glad to hear from the Belmont Child Care Association…
In the aftermath of the first ever Breeders’ Cup on a synthetic surface, we’ve heard about equal calls and predictions from both sides: “Get used to it; in ten years, every track in North America will be synthetic.” “Don’t worry, folks; within five years, synthetic tracks will go the way of Astroturf.” Fans and bettors…
Brooklyn Backstretch 