We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming from Lexington for this bit of news on one of New York’s favorites. Fans of Evening Attire will have a chance to attend his Retirement Party on Breeders’ Cup Day (October 25th) at Belmont Park. Plans under consideration are for the grey guy to spend some time in the…
If you haven’t listened to Tom Durkin’s call of Saturday’s Turf Classic, you should. The admiration for Grand Couturier is there in his voice; for a few moments at the end, he sounds more like a fan than a professional race-caller: And Grand Couturier is cut loose! At the top of the stretch! GrandCouturier now…
Indian Blessing (part of her, anyway) and John Velazquez, before she demolishes the field in the Test. Any Limit and happy Cornelio Velasquez, following their underdog win in the Honorable Miss. If you’re keeping track, that’s two Allen Jerkens winners as the longest price in the field. Evening Attire, working out on Sunday morning. At…
Arrived at Belmont at 11:15; greeted by three fire engines (not, as it turned out, a harbinger for the Hook and Ladder first-time starter who finished fourth in the second race) and a mess of people hanging outside the clubhouse. We were nearly instantly cleared to enter the building; a transformer fire had knocked out…
My DRF watch list informed me yesterday that Evening Attire has been entered in the $250K Greenwood Cup at Philadelphia Park. Run at a mile and a half, the Greenwood is part of the “Win and You’re In” Breeders’ Cup series, so the victor earns an automatic bid to the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Dirt Marathon…
What with the trifecta of bad racing news over the last couple of days, (the Jeremy Rose suspension and the Dutrow/Asmussen violations), I’m going to focus on some good racing news. As both the NY Daily News and Green but Game reported earlier this month, Casino Drive and his connections developed quite a relationship with…
I am shortly heading out to beautiful Belmont Park to spend a day that may well rival last summer’s Travers on the unpleasant scale. I’m not a big fan of crowds or excessive heat, and both will be in abundance in a few short hours. So as I get myself into the spirit of this…
So reads a New York Times headline in July of 1963, as the author recalled the first running of the Brooklyn Handicap, at Gravesend Race Track in 1887. The article tells us that, “There’s little doubt that the Brooklyn Handicap captivated the interest of many. In the early 1900’s, there wasn’t a self-respecting saloon in…
Brooklyn Backstretch is going a little random as the school year comes to a close. In an example of bad timing, I head out of town this morning for four days of community service with our senior class—fun and rewarding, a great way to end the year, but not the best way to stay on…
I arrived at 8:45 to watch workouts and meet up with friends. We missed Evening Attire’s workout Monday morning, but caught Funny Cide with Barclay Tagg aboard, as Tagg supervised his horses working out. Maybe one of these horses waiting patiently to work is Tale of Ekati, who posted an official workout Monday morning? And…
Brooklyn Backstretch 