Or as the former (California) school of a current colleague says, Happy Indigenous People’s Day. A collection of random thoughts on the weekend’s racing: After multiple attempts, I was finally able to catch Spooky Mulder’s race on Calracing; it was a four-horse field, but a typical Spooky race: he hung about four lengths off the…
Because today’s big races are so widely covered elsewhere—The Blood-Horse, The Daily Racing Form, Steven Crist’s blog, Left At The Gate–and because it’s impossible to talk about the races without also talking about the injuries, which I don’t particularly feel like doing (not because I don’t care, but because I do), I’m going to talk…
It’s the mid-week doldrums in fall racing in NY. Keeneland opens on Friday with a host of stakes races through the weekend, and NY horses and jockeys will be heading west; later in the week we’ll take a look at the NY invaders. For now, we’ll take a quick look at the stakes races at…
Choklitz noted that the TVG broadcast of the Kentucky Cup mentioned that Hard Spun was pretty wound up before the race, and it reminded me of his antics in the paddock before the King’s Bishop. You won’t be able to tell really from these photos, but he was wildly impatient…I titled the two photos “frisky…
“A wall of horses before the favorite…English Channel will have to try to squeeze through on the inside…oh, it’s so tight! English Channel has just muscled his way to victory…” Standing on the rail just before the winner’s circle, I couldn’t believe my eyes…or my ears. What a call by Durkin (read the wrong way,…
What a great, great day to be at the races. There was a nice crowd, though the announced attendance of 19,000 included those who showed up for the folding chair giveaway and then left; shockingly, I saw spinners for the first time at Belmont: people going through the turnstile multiple times to get multiple chairs.…
Today’s the biggest day of the Belmont Fall Meet, with four Grade I races, all with “Win and You’re In” Breeders’ Cup implications. Knowing that that alone will not be enough to draw people to the races on a Sunday, NYRA is also giving away green folding chairs. I’m embarrassed to admit that I’m looking…
Got to catch the Kentucky Cup Classic from a video link in The Blood-Horse online–maybe it felt different live, but it didn’t seem all that dramatic to me. I guess it was always possible that Street Sense could have blown by Hard Spun, but Hard Spun looked so in control and confident that it looked…
Oh, me of little faith! Couldn’t confidently pick The Leopard because of the distance and change in surface; couldn’t confidently pick Angelic Aura off a week’s layoff. The Leopard won; Angelic Aura won. Indian War Dance was fourth, and thus, we are SHOWdown and out.
Just got back from a pre-season Rangers’ game, and in some good if insignificant NY sports news, the Blueshirts beat the hated Islanders 5-2. But please, please, please don’t ask me about the Mets. Please. So I’m just dipping a toe into Saturday’s races. Things that caught my eye: In the fourth race, Todd Pletcher’s…
Brooklyn Backstretch 