Aqueduct: The $250,000 GIII Withers at 1 1/8 miles (Kentucky Derby qualifying points 10-4-2-1) by Brian Nadeau #1 Tax (2-1): The chalk improved open lengths off the Gargan claim and with Lasix added when last seen in a sharp third-place run behind prime Derby contender Maximus Mischief (who runs later in Gulfstream Park’s GII Holy…
Oaklawn Park: The $150,000 Smarty Jones at 1-mile (Kentucky Derby qualifying points 10-4-2-1) by Brian Nadeau Oaklawn Park opens, as does the path to the Arkansas Derby, though this year’s Smarty Jones looks more like a sorting out process than a major Kentucky Derby prep. Two turns is a question mark for #3 SUPER STEED…
It is the rare Thoroughbred that gets a formal retirement ceremony. Earlier this year, Justify, the 13th winner of the U.S. Triple Crown, paraded on the track before heading off to a stud career, but most horses move quietly on from the racetrack, their retirements noted only in their disappearance from the entries. As 2019 begins,…
Brian Nadeau of Capital OTB and Horseplayer Now returns to take us through the major races on the road to this year’s Triple Crown. He’ll offer analysis and selections of Derby points races, hoping to make us all a little money as we head to the Belmont Stakes. Follow him on Twitter here. Fair Grounds:…
What else does one do on a rainy Saturday than work on some long, long, LONG overdue website updates? Here, a collection of this fall’s stakes races I covered for Brisnet/TwinSpires–a fun fall of racetrack travel. Grade 1 Frizette at Belmont Park: Jaywalk Owners: Cash is King and Leonard C. Green Trainer: John Servis Breeder:…
What else does one do on a rainy Saturday than work on some long, long, LONG overdue website updates? Here, a collection of the stakes races I covered at Saratoga for Brisnet/TwinSpires–dreams come true for connections, along with the bittersweet and the poignant… Grade 1 Spinaway–Sippican Harbor Owner: Lee Pokoik Trainer: Gary Contessa Breeder: Justin…
What else does one do on a rainy Saturday than work on some long, long, LONG overdue website updates? Here, a collection of the two-year-old maiden winners I covered at Saratoga for Brisnet/TwinSpires. Here’s hoping we’ll hear more from these babies… Takecharge Mirella Owner: Big Dom Racing Stable Trainer: Kiaran McLaughlin Breeder: Cantrell Family Partnership…
When Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park opens for the season on Friday, Nov. 2, it will do so with little fanfare. The track that first opened in 1894, making it older than most other sporting venues in the country, will host Thoroughbred racing for six months, longer than the Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course…
New York-bred Kharafa won the Ashley T. Cole Stakes at Belmont Park for the first time in September, 2013. He was four years old, and the winner’s circle ceremony was especially poignant. The win was Kharafa’s first in a stakes race, and his owner and breeder, Lawrence Durocher, had died four months earlier, leaving daughter…
A week frguom right now I’ll have just finished my first back-to-school meeting and I’ll be waiting to greet my student teacher–the first time I’ve worked with one. I’ll be anticipating a chunk of multi-hour meetings and planning sessions, and then running to the train station to come back up for Labor Day weekend. How…
Brooklyn Backstretch 