…with your indulgence, I hope. I had all good intentions of coming home after the last Rangers’ regular season home game (we made the playoffs! Yippee!) to dig into Saturday’s Carter, a race first run in 1895 and offering all kinds of tempting possibilities for exploration, not limited to that famous triple dead heat in…
Talked about missed opportunities. When I did my Spitzer picks last month, two of the horses came in: All Night Labor paying $26.80 and Yes It’s the Truth at $23.40. On March 21st, Yes It’s the Truth came back to win again, a day after I’d seen his sire at Three Chimneys, paying $25.20. Wednesday,…
If you’re a big fan of Turfway, you may want to stop reading. I have never liked going to a track for the first time on a big racing day, and my experience at Turfway on the day of the Lane’s End bears out that instinct. I am sure that it’s a perfectly fine track,…
Donna Chenkin, executive director of the Belmont Child Care Association, has a commentary in today’s Blood-Horse online. Her article details the history of the development of the Association and of Anna House, acknowledging major contributors and recounting success stories. More than praising itself, though, the article calls on racetracks around the country to develop similar…
As March comes to an end, so does my spring break road trip. I’m back at school today, back in Brooklyn for good, and Lexington is in the rearview mirror. Fortunately, there’s one last Kentucky thread to tie up, and that’s the story of my day at Turfway Park; hoping it falls into the “better…
I can’t remember where I first heard about Old Friends; it was within the last year or so, though, and it’s risen in prominence for me over the last six months. Part of being a member of the Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance is a $50 per blogger donation that we send to Patrick, who then sends…
An anonymous commenter recently inquired about the status of Saratoga Russell, and our anonymous owner graciously weighed in, relating that Saratoga Russell’s surgery went well and that he was back galloping pretty much the day after the surgery. His connections haven’t yet identified his next race, but they’re looking at sprint options. Here’s one person…
I can’t imagine that my visit to Three Chimneys was all that different from anyone else’s; as with most elements of the breeding industry, the place is a smooth-running machine, with the touring part of the business in the very capable hands of Ann Hayes, our wonderful tour guide. We got a little lucky: the…
As so many others have written this afternoon, it’s no surprise that Rags to Riches was retired. The question now, for so many of us: was it worth it? Selfishly, as a race fan, I say yes. I have never been more excited at a race than I was when she roared down that stretch,…
Pineville, Kentucky, 1:32 pm, Sunday, March 22nd.
Brooklyn Backstretch 