The 2015 road to the Kentucky Derby kicked off in New York on Saturday with the Grade III Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens. The first race this year to carry Kentucky Derby qualifying points was won by Zayat Stables’ El Kabeir, getting the third win of his career on a miserably cold and…
In addition to the other accolades he’s received, as both a celebrity chef and a Thoroughbred owner, Bobby Flay can now claim that he won the first stakes race held in the United States in 2015. The third race yesterday at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York, the Affectionately Stakes is a minor event on…
Buyers of Thoroughbred racehorses in 2014 got an early Christmas present when H.R. 5771, the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014, became law earlier this month. Retroactive through this past year, a provision of the law renews the three-year tax depreciation for racehorses, which allows taxpayers to depreciate racehorses 24 months of age and younger…
Followers of trainer Mark Hennig’s Twitter timeline were the first to hear the news last Friday, when Hennig posted a somewhat cryptic message after the fourth race at Aqueduct. Great, get some rest big boy! — Mark Hennig (@Hennigracing) December 26, 2014 The “big boy” was Socialsaul, the horse that Hennig had purchased for owner…
Returning to the track over which he suffered his only career loss, Shared Belief pushed his earnings over the $2 million mark in winning the Grade 1 Malibu at Santa Anita Park Friday. Owned by a partnership group that includes sports radio personality Jim Rome and his wife Janet, Shared Belief was making his first…
Thank you for reading, commenting, challenging, questioning, and caring about racing in 2014 — here’s to an even better 2015. Warm wishes to you and yours for a wonderful Christmas, a happy Chanukah, and a very happy new year.
On Saturday, December 6, a few hours before Alexander Ovechkin’s Washington Capitals buried their Metropolitan Division rivals the New Jersey Devils 4-1, Ovechkin’s equine namesake became a millionaire in the last race of his seven-year career. Eighttofasttocatch was purchased in 2007 for $47,000 by former Capitals co-owner Arnold Heft, who died earlier this year. Heft…
Looking for a gift for the equine (or feline, or canine) lover in your life? Want your gift to do some good? Hoping for something with a little personal touch, that’s not too expensive and that you can buy from home? Animal Tales may have just what you’re looking for. The latest product from the…
The New York Race Track Chaplaincy, which is based at Belmont Park and provides a variety of services to the backstretch workers of Belmont, Aqueduct, and Saratoga, is once again offering its “Adopt A Family” Program for Christmas. Last month, the Chaplaincy provided turkeys and other supplies so that backstretch workers could prepare Thanksgiving dinner;…
If you listen to local news radio in New York City, you might have caught the following advertisement over the last few weeks, in which a man who says he’s a resident of Elmont, one of the towns that borders Belmont Park, voices his concern about New York State “making the right decisions about developing…
Brooklyn Backstretch 