The racing world was well represented April 12 for the funeral of Ogden Mills “Dinny” Phipps, held at St. James’ Church on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Phipps died of pancreatic cancer April 6. Nearly filling the church, which accommodates 1,200 people, Phipps’ friends and family celebrated his life and mourned his death in an Episcopal…
Three-and-a-half years after being put under state control by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the New York Racing Association board of the directors approved a plan April 12 for a return to privatization at a meeting in New York City. The board was required by statute to submit a re-organization plan to the state this month, with…
by Brian Nadeau of Horseplayer Now and Capital OTB TV. Santa Anita: The GI, $1 million Santa Anita Derby at 1 1/8 miles (Kentucky Derby qualifying points 100-40-20-10) #1 Denman’s Call (15-1): The potential inside speed stretches out off some fast-paced local sprints and likely has to go from the rail here to maintain his position, so right…
As a yearling, the bay filly wasn’t terribly remarkable. Her breeder, Robert Manfuso, thought that the modest $30,000 she brought at 2014 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic fall yearling sale was a fair price, and when she got to the barn of trainer John Servis, his assessment of her was frank. “I wasn’t impressed,” he said, sitting in…
by Brian Nadeau of Horseplayer Now and Capital OTB TV. Aqueduct: The GI, $1 million Wood Memorial at 1 1/8 miles (Kentucky Derby qualifying points 100-40-20-10) #1 Shagaf (2-1): Expected favorite made it 3-for-3 when he rode one of the most intense speed biases in recent memory early before tipping out off the far turn to win the…
by Brian Nadeau of Horseplayer Now and Capital OTB TV. Keeneland: The GI, $1 million Blue Grass at 1 1/8 miles (Kentucky Derby qualifying points 100-40-20-10) #1 Looking for a Kiss (50-1): Gigantic longshot will make his first start for Tomlinson after two modest runs for Romans and will need a monumental jump in his form to even…
Image: Postcards from Eugene Wood to the nieces he supported following the death of their mother, his sister. When Eugene D. Wood died in 1924, his local paper –The New York Times – didn’t pay that much attention. Despite his prominence in New York City, through decades of political involvement locally and in Albany, through…
by Brian Nadeau of Horseplayer Now and Capital OTB TV. Turfway Park: The GIII, $500,000 Spiral at 1 1/8 miles (Kentucky Derby qualifying points 50-20-10-5) While the Spiral has lost a lot of luster in recent years as synthetic racing has fallen out of favor, it still ranks as essentially a “Win and You’re In” race for the…
by Brian Nadeau of Horseplayer Now and Capital OTB TV. Gulfstream Park: The GI, $1 million Florida Derby at 1 1/8 miles (Kentucky Derby qualifying points: 100-40-20-10) #1 Sawyers Mickey (30-1): Ridiculous longshot enters as a maiden after seven starts and likely wouldn’t even be under 6-1 if he were entered with his own kind earlier on the…
A few days before this weekend’s Florida Derby, Saratoga native Joseph DeSantis is doing errands in Lexington, Kentucky, shuttling between the three farms that his employer, Shadwell Stable, owns. With the exception of a three-year stint in Oklahoma, he’s made his home in the Bluegrass of central Kentucky for the last 20 years, most recently…
Brooklyn Backstretch 