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OK, so I go away for a week and all hell breaks loose in New York racing? I guess that we can thank our state government and the New York Racing Association for adding a little spice to a generally moribund period on the racing calendar. I hope that I’ve got this all straight, and…

Happy new year! We wake up this morning looking forward to a fine day of racing to kick off the new year, a day on which all the horses get a year older, and a day on which I hope that you christen your racing year propitiously and profitably. I’ll be spending my New Year’s…

Greetings from South Florida! With Christmas safely in the rear view mirror, I set off on Boxing Day on the latest Backstretch road trip, arriving yesterday in time to make the third at Calder. This trip is another whirlwind, so posting may well be light over the next few days, but just because there really…

…from all of us at the Backstretch. Teresa, Madison, Floyd, Furlong, & Imp wish you a safe, happy, peaceful holiday. Card: “Winter’s Circle” by Karin Vollkommer

Dear Racing Santa, With just a few days left before you head out on the big worldwide trek, I figured that it was time that I got my list in to you. I know that you’ve got an awful lot to think about, and there should be plenty of people before me on your list,…

So it seems that there’s some money to be made in adultery, and not only by the Florida PD, the wronged woman, and those accepting checks for selling their stories. A quick run-down of Wednesday’s Tiger picks, with thanks to those who posted their own in the comments. Brooklyn Backstretch Aqueduct picks Race 2: Smokey…

For those of you looking for a little, ahem, action, you might try these hunch bets today at Aqueduct: In race 1, you’d have lost had you bet the Believe in Love/Virtues Under Fire exacta. Clearly, betting on Believe in Love is a losing proposition. But there are plenty of other opportunities to, um, score……

The unthankful heart… discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweepthrough the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in everyhour, some heavenly blessings! ~Henry Ward Beecher* I am fortunate, particularly in an uncertain and trying time, that blessings are not hard for me to find. I have a…

A couple of days ago, this came across the old Twitter wire from o_crunk: Never did sign up for Bris. Now they’re offering free .pdf charts all the wayback to 1991. Mr/Mrs Pls tear down this USER/PASS wall. Free charts? For almost 20 years? Too good to be true. Can’t be true. What’s the catch?…