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…
Saturday saw Kentucky Derby Championship Series prep races coast to coast, with 85 points each available in races in New York, Florida, and California, and a Kentucky Oaks prep in Arkansas thrown in for good measure. Under the Kentucky Derby points system instituted in 2012, the 20 horses who earn the most points in a…
Aqueduct: The Grade III, $400,000 Gotham at 1 1/16 miles (Kentucky Derby qualifying points 50-20-10-5) #2 Combat Diver (12-1): Price player kicked off his campaign in a minor stakes at Laurel and closed nicely to just miss going a one-turn mile, in an effort that should set him up nicely for a return to two…
Three-year-fillies got equal time with their male counterparts this weekend, as the 2015 Kentucky Oaks Championship Series made its debut in New York, Florida, and Louisiana. The final stage of official Kentucky Oaks prep races as designated by Churchill Downs, Championship Series races offer 85 points to the top four finishers (50-20-10-5). The top 20…
The roads to the Kentucky Derby and the Oaks resume this weekend, with six races at four racetracks nationwide. In the points system initiated by Churchill Downs in 2012, this weekend’s races represent the beginning of what Churchill calls the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks “Championship Series” of prep races, each race offering a total…
At the break of the Grade III Withers at Aqueduct Saturday afternoon, the #2 horse, Far From Over, stumbled under jockey Manuel Franco, who pulled the horse up to re-gather him, then sent him chasing after a field of horses more than a dozen lengths in front of him. Off the screen for much of…
Aqueduct: The Grade III, $250,000 Withers at 1 1/16 miles by Brian Nadeau #1 Classy Class (2-1): Tricky read starts his 3yo campaign as a bit of a wildcard as he looked great winning his bow sprinting, then didn’t fire when a modest fourth over a highly speed-favoring track when stretching out in the local…
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…
Brooklyn Backstretch 