If you follow me on Twitter, you’re going to get – in addition to tweets about New York City, politics, feminism, and the New York Rangers – lots of tweets about cats. And cat rescue. And the treatment of animals in factory farms. And cruelty-free products of various sorts. You’re also going to get a…
NYRA president and CEO Chris Kay appeared on the popular local news channel NY1 to talk about the plans for this weekend’s Belmont Stakes. Kay said that he thought that last year’s announced attendance of 102,199 was far short of the actual attendance, which he estimated as closer to 115,000. Of Wednesday’s post position draw…
That’s the question that producer Doug Tribou and host Bill Littlefield asked me a couple of weeks ago, and over the course of an hour in the NPR studio in New York, I tried to answer it. For obvious reasons, the full hour of conversation didn’t make it into the segment, but some of what…
The New York State Gaming Commission announced a major new transparency initiative at its May 26 meeting. As a result of recommendations from the Fan Advisory Council, established in 2011 by the New York State Racing Wagering and Board—the gaming commission’s predecessor—the NYSGC will now publish weekly reports from the New York Racing Association, containing…
Need a little weekday diversion? Like to get dressed up? Ever wanted to own a racehorse? The Belmont Child Care Association has just the event for you. On Thursday, May 28, the BCCA will host a luncheon and fashion show at the Garden City Hotel in Garden City, Long Island (not far from Belmont Park).…
On the day before the Preakness, the streets around Pimlico Race Course were mostly quiet. A few residents were out selling water and trinkets, but aside from the main roads—Park Heights Avenue, Belvedere Avenue, Northern Parkway—the residential neighborhood sleepily enjoyed a perfect summer day, residents hanging out on their porches, sitting beneath trees, playing in…
From the moment a horse crosses the finish line in the Kentucky Derby (and sometimes even before that), Triple Crown obsession begins. The racing world, in which few interested parties, from track executives to marketers to bettors, can agree, comes as close to consensus as it gets in hoping that a horse will sweep the…
Pimlico: The Grade I, $1.5 million Preakness at 1 3/16 miles #1 American Pharoah (4-5): Kentucky Derby hero parlayed a perfect post and dream trip to glory when he pulled away from Firing Line in deep stretch, but will be afforded no such luxuries Saturday from what is nothing short of a very treacherous draw.…
The Preakness is Maryland’s race: it’s “Maryland, My Maryland” and black-eyed Susans and blue crabs. It’s so important to the state that when financial difficulties threatened racing in Maryland,the governor stepped in to make sure that the Preakness would stay in Baltimore. But 125 years ago, when financial woes imperiled the racing industry in Maryland,…
Now is usually when they start. The comments about going to the Preakness, the inevitable warnings about the “bad” neighborhood, the perpetuation of the image of Baltimore as a lawless, terrifying abyss of crime. This year those comments started a little earlier, the warnings a little more urgent, given the unrest in Baltimore following the…
Brooklyn Backstretch 