When the Yankees take to the field tonight to try to keep their series alive, Alex Rodriguez will once again be watching from the dugout. And while the one-time superstar might be smarting from such an ignominious end to the season, he might take heart from knowing that another New York A Rod has got…
It’s Sunday morning at Belmont Park, and Jimmy Toner’s phone is acting up. “I was watching the race last night and I got so excited I must have hit it or something,” he says with a rueful grin. “It stopped working right.” “The race” was the G3 Hawthorne Derby, and Toner was so excited because…
On April 18, Justin Nicholson was on a train from Washington, D.C. to New York; his father, with whom he owns horses in AJ Suited Racing Stables, was scheduled for minor surgery the next day, and Nicholson wanted to be with him. His phone rang and it was Jimmy Toner, trainer for AJ Suited’s horses…
If it weren’t for horse racing, we might not have any hockey at all. On September 2 at Del Mar, Howe Great finished second in the Del Mar Derby; Old Time Hockey was fifth, barely three lengths behind the winner. Last Saturday, Sean Avery made a victorious return to the track after an absence of…
Remember the trees? Remember the grass? Remember how they used to help a tired horseplayer forget about the losers? Remember Belmont? (Cady) In May 1968, Belmont Park re-opened after a nearly six-year renovation. During its absence from the New York racing scene, the horses ran at Aqueduct and Saratoga, the latter retaining its usual summer…
Around this time 18 years ago, I developed some chronic stomach troubles. I had no appetite, and when I did eat, I felt ill. I felt queasy almost all the time. I was sure that I was developing some serious gastrointestinal ailment, and, to be honest, I was a little worried. Fortunately, the distress was…
Brooklyn Backstretch 