A week or so ago a friend/reader wrote praising NYRA for its attention to women race fans; on the heels of the announcement of tomorrow’s Diva Day at Belmont, he had noticed the following in the Saratoga brochure on the NYRA website: WOMEN’S DAY Wednesday, August 13 The ladies will dominate the day as Saratoga…
Browsing Thursday’s entries, I was struck by the following: Champion sprinter Speightstown’s first crop of foals is hitting the race track, and in the fourth at Belmont we have the first of what I’m sure will be many Speightfully named horses. Fourteen two-year-old first-time starters are entered in this five and a half furlong dirt…
Over the last two days, I’ve received two requests from the Fresh Air Fund to publicize its program and let folks know that the Fund is still seeking to place 200 children with host families for a summer sojourn outside of New York City. Specifically, the Fund is looking for families who want to extend…
My DRF watch list informed me yesterday that Evening Attire has been entered in the $250K Greenwood Cup at Philadelphia Park. Run at a mile and a half, the Greenwood is part of the “Win and You’re In” Breeders’ Cup series, so the victor earns an automatic bid to the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Dirt Marathon…
A quick review of recent events in the world of synthetic surfaces: Following Santa Anita’s announcement that it would replace its current Cushion synthetic surface with Pro-Ride, Ray Paulick provided on his website two sets of data about the Santa Anita surface. The first, from Ed Halpern, the executive director of the California Thoroughbred Trainers,…
Following the launch last week of the Self-Appointed Fan Committee, a second fan advocacy group made its début on Friday. The motto of the Thoroughbred Racing Fan Association, also known as Thorofan, is “giving the fan a voice,” and its website provides the following mission statement: The Thoroughbred Racing Fan Association is a non-profit, membership-basedcorporation…
Hat tip to Equidaily for the link to this article from the Palm Beach Post, in which Michael Iavarone, at Calder to see IEAH’s Benny the Bull race (and win) in the Smile Sprint, once again classily took an opportunity to slam the trainer who brought him two-thirds of the Triple Crown: “I think (Benny)…
This afternoon’s Man o’War at Belmont carries several intriguing storylines, perhaps unusually for a mid-July race. The first, of course, is the return of Curlin to New York, the site of his most famous defeat, in last year’s Belmont. He’s gone undefeated lost only once since then, in the Haskell (thanks, Ernie, for writing with…
Having grown up in Saratoga, I’ve seen racing slogans come and go, and my favorite has always been “The August Place to Be,” introducing me as it did to “august” as an adjective, and to a new pronunciation of the word. When racing went to five weeks and began in July, this was changed to…
I rarely have the opportunity at work to follow what’s going on at the track; I can occasionally check results, but checking odds on upcoming races or making an electronic bet are rare opportunities, and yesterday was no exception. Thus the exuberant e-mail from Ernie, entitled, “Madison at Monster Mutuel!! Kitty Nip…”, with the text…
Brooklyn Backstretch 