Big race days and big races are supposed to be memorable. We want them to stand out somehow, to give us something to savor, to become, in the words of ESPN, instant classics, to create stories. And boy, did Travers Day 2008 deliver. Let’s start with the weather. It’s become tiresome to talk about the…
Ruthless (Eclipse – Barbarity) Photo credit to the National Museum of RacingThose of us who favor the distaff side have had quite the year and a half. Fillies and mares have stolen the headlines pretty regularly since last summer: Rags to Riches’ victory in the Belmont; Eight Belles’ impressive second in the Derby, followed by…
“Is Mr. Schwartz around?” I ask a stablehand, having no idea what the trainer looks like. He looks at me skeptically. “Not here right now,” he says. “Be back in a few minutes. In a pink cart.” A pink cart? OK. That should make it easy. I get a cup of coffee, and when I…
The Jacobson barn last week, on Spooky Mulder: “He doesn’t know he’s ten years old; he acts like a two-year-old.” On Sunday, Spooky beat four other horses in a $16,000 claimer at Monmouth, in his first and only start for trainer David Jacobson. Spooky had been in Scott Lake’s barn since February of 07, and…
Over at Railbird, Jessica has eloquently and elegantly described the scene following Proud Spell’s win in the Alabama; if you haven’t already read it, take a look. The crowd stood and applauded as Proud Spell and Music Note came back after the race, causing many of us on the apron to look up and enjoy…
Another damp, chilly Saratoga morning; it feels more like October than August. The sky is leaden; standing along the rail of the Oklahoma training track, we’re wearing fleeces, boots, sweaters. The sun should be shining; we should be wearing tank tops. But we’re shivering, and trying, futilely, to avoid puddles. “Hop on,” trainer Dale Romans…
Saturday brings to us the second oldest race for fillies in the country; the Alabama Stakes, inaugurated in 1872, is younger by four years than the Ladies Handicap. The race is named for Captain William Cottrill, a Southern military man and keen horseman. Edward Hotaling, in They’re Off! Horse Racing at Saratoga, tells of the…
As expected, the Women’s Day Expo lacked the sexy elements that Gentlemen’s Day included last weekend, and as expected, it was located all the way at the back of the track, near the Big Red Spring, while the Gentlemen’s Day exhibit was placed just inside the main gates off of Union Avenue. While the men…
At the paddock rail, a woman to her young daughter: “No, sweetie, most of the jockeys are boys. Channing Hill is the only jockey that’s a girl.” When told that Channing is in fact a boy, she says, “No! Have you seen those eyelashes?” Puddles and raindrops, lots of them… …and a variety of Saratoga…
On Monday morning, after several torrential downpours (what’s new?) overnight, I stopped by the barn of Dominick Galluscio to wish good luck to Early Response (by Hook and Ladder—clever, yes?), a two year old bay colt making his first start in yesterday’s seventh race. Four of the ten state-bred entries would be on the track…
Brooklyn Backstretch 