On the biggest weekend in the year in Maryland racing, the man who owns both of the state’s Thoroughbred tracks won one of its most historic races, but as he walked with measured step and mostly impassive face to the winner’s circle at Pimlico, Frank Stronach maintained his usually understated demeanor. “It’s nice,” he said.…
In the brief, five-year history of the Curlin Stakes, two trainers have already won the Curlin-Jim Dandy double: Anthony Dutrow in 2010 and Todd Pletcher in 2011. After V.E. Day won the Curlin at Saratoga Race Course on Friday afternoon, Jimmy Jerkens hopes to be the third. Already a major player on the three-year-old scene…
Every morning at 5:30, Kelvin Pahal arrives at work. Rain or shine, hot or cold, he travels the five minutes from his home in Queens Village to the backstretch of Belmont Park, where for the next five hours he rides horses, preparing them to race. The life of an exercise rider can be fairly routine,…
In early 2009, trainer Jimmy Jerkens was flying high – if such a phrase could be used to describe a man better known for shying from the spotlight than for grabbing headlines. He had married his high school sweetheart the year before, and he had a barn full of fast horses, including a brilliant colt…
When Wicked Strong entered the starting gate for the Wood Memorial on Saturday at Aqueduct Racetrack, he was racing for more than the chance to run in the Kentucky Derby. The 3-year-old colt is owned by Centennial Farms, whose president Don Little hails from Boston. Last year, when it was time to name the colt…
Yesterday’s Travers will likely have no significant effect on racing. It won’t determine the three-year-old champion; it didn’t set any records; and its winner might not even go on to race in the Breeders’ Cup in November. Alan at Left At the Gate has pointed out today that the race isn’t going to win any…
Brooklyn Backstretch 