Beginning riders, even the most intrepid ones, generally get their start on quiet horses, the barn veterans, the ones used to inexperienced equestrians and who sometimes need encouragement to undertake anything more ambitious than a leisurely amble. Beginning riders don’t generally break their riding maidens on the backs of recently retired Thoroughbreds, but don’t tell…
At the New York offices of The Jockey Club in the heart of midtown Manhattan, president and CEO James Gagliano hails, as one would expect, from the corner office. Not as commodious or luxuriously appointed as those of other Manhattan high-flyers, the modest space nonetheless occupies a highly coveted bit of New York City real…
Horse racing is not known for embracing new technology–only within the last few years have fans been able to view races in high-definition—and staying true to past performance lines, the sport’s individuals and institutions were both initially slow to establish a presence on social media. Even now, some of racing’s biggest presences in real life—people…
On a Sunday afternoon in October, Steuart Pittman stood on the track at Pimlico, surrounded by jumps and horses. A microphone in his hand, he spoke to hundreds of people sitting in the stands as Thoroughbreds trotted, cantered, and jumped around him. The track was his pulpit, the audience his congregation, and the message of…
Charles “Chip” Reed and Mike Zanella first met on a gambling trip organized by a mutual friend. “He said to me, ‘I want you to meet my friend Chip. I think you’re really going to like this guy,’ ” recalled Zanella recently. “That’s how it started.” It was, as they say, the beginning of a…
Maryland-bred Bold Affair, repeat winner last month of the Primonetta Stakes at Pimlico, has been retired, according to her owner Charles Reed. Reed owns and co-bred the Two Punch mare in partnership with Mike Zanella. The five-year-old Bold Affair is out of Hunka Hunka Lori Z (Colonial Affair), purchased by Reed as a yearling at…
Brooklyn Backstretch 