I was last at Belmont on July 18th and 19th, and on those days, the backyard didn’t look too much different from Saratoga: groups of friends with coolers of beer; families with kids hanging out by the playground; a crowded apron of punters lustily cheering home their horses. The place was alive, even if the…
Weather permitting, the Ruffian will be run at Belmont this afternoon. With fresh flowers on Ruffian’s grave in the infield, nine fillies will go to the post to contest the mile and a sixteenth race on the dirt. The race used to be the second in the Belmont fall filly series, the first the Maskette…
And so our eyes swing eastward, out to Elmont and Big Sandy, as the Belmont Fall Championship Meet opens. They’ll be racing at Belmont beginning today and ending on October 26th, and in between, we’ll see thirty-six stakes races, twenty-three of them graded. Unfortunately, opening weekend of the Belmont meet is not supposed to be…
This may be the longest good-bye in the history of Saratoga. I know, I know, it ended three days ago, and I’ve already posted twice about it, but there are so many notes and overheards and photos and images that I kept meaning to write about and didn’t quite get to…so I swear, this is…
What a good idea to have the Spinaway and the Hopeful on closing weekend; as we resist acknowledging that our days at the Spa are coming to end, we are given something to look forward to, the promise of two-year-olds of whom we hope we will see much more in the coming months. In week…
The far turn, 7 pm, closing day. A full Week 6 re-cap to follow on Wednesday morning…
On Saturday at Saratoga, the main event, the Grade I Woodward, will be preceded by the Grade I Forego, named for the horse who won the Woodward for four consecutive years (1974 – 1977) and who was named Horse of the Year in the first three of those years. That the Forego and the Woodward…
Drive south on Nelson Avenue, with the track on your left; you’ll come to the corner of Gridley Avenue. If you turn left, you’ll be on the Saratoga backstretch, with Clare Court barns and the half-mile training track on your right. If you keep going down Nelson, you’ll shortly see an expansive farm, with a…
Last Wednesday, the Belmont Child Care Association held its annual and major benefit for the children of Anna House. Having outgrown its traditional home at the Gideon Putnam, this year’s event was held at the City Center…and the good news is that it, too, felt crowded at times, testimony to the commitment of so many…
With, unsurprisingly, an emphasis on Travers Day. Approximately 6:20 am… …and a stranger says to me, “If heaven’s like this, I’ll never sin again…” Venturing to the back, we are greeted with electronic welcome messages… …just before the gates open for the first sprint of the day, as hundreds run to grab a prime spot…approximately…
Brooklyn Backstretch 