It feels both fitting and exhausting that the school year comes to an end just as the Triple Crown does. I’m sitting today in my last full day of end-of-year meetings; yesterday, I published my final post at BelmontStakes.com; early Sunday afternoon, I filed my last Triple Crown race story for Thoroughbred Times. Since late…
Three more racing days at Belmont, before the racing action moves upstate. The transition will take place next week, after Belmont ends its spring/summer meet on Sunday; Saratoga opens one week from today. Though the racing action will shift locations, life on the Belmont backstretch will, of course, continue; a large community of horses will…
How could I spend ten+ hours at the racetrack and not come up with a story? I arrived at Belmont at approximately 8:30 am and left around 6:45 pm. The time flew, and I was one of happy crowd of about 10,000 that came out on a gorgeous spring day to fill the picnic areas…
1:15 pm, Saturday, May 3rd. I am missing Aqueduct terribly. Instead of zipping from my neighborhood to the Big A in thirty minutes on the A train, I am motionless on the BQE, as I have been for the previous twenty minutes. Road work. Two lanes closed. “It’s a mess!” the traffic guy on the…
There were happy people all over Belmont on Saturday afternoon. The sun in the backyard was warm, the leaves were turning, and a crowd of nearly 7,000 turned out to celebrate New York racing and autumn. Picnics were set up, kids ran everywhere, and the folks who turned out accepted with alacrity the various promotions…
Brooklyn Backstretch 