I’ve long loved words that have two definitions that contradict each other. “Enjoin,” for instance. If you are enjoined to do something, it’s obligatory. If you are enjoined from doing something, it’s forbidden. “Peruse” is another. If you peruse something, you are either reading it carefully, or skimming it casually. (Note: that which delights me…
A few weeks ago, as I was writing about Morine’s Victory, the 10-year-old son of Victory Gallop who had been rescued from an auction, I knew what the reaction would be. I knew that racing fans, outraged and horrified, their compassion stirred, would publicly criticize the horse’s last racing connections. As I learned the details…
Holiday Mondays are a beautiful thing. Many of us get a day off, and the racing fans among us often get a chance to get to the track or place a few wagers at tracks that are ordinarily shuttered on Mondays. Aqueduct, Santa Anita, and Gulfstream Park will all be open tomorrow, but only one…
Who says New York racing conversations can’t be interesting in freezing mid-December? Who said anything about the racing doldrums? Maybe we should thank NYC-OTB and our dear elected representatives 200 miles to the north for giving us so much fodder for chatter in this holiday season. The New York Racing Association has been widely pilloried…
The news from NYRA continues to arrive fast and furious, on matters both OTB and otherwise. In the “let’s get people to bet at NYRA” category, the Association released the following news today: Beginning next Wednesday, customers can sign up instantly for a NYRA Rewards account; members who sign up by December 31 will be…
Certainly, there are a number of variables to consider, but here’s a quick glance at NYRA’s numbers today compared to the last two Wednesdays of racing. There was no racing last Wednesday because of bad weather, and no racing on this day (second Wednesday after Thanksgiving) last year. Attendance Wednesday, 11/17: 2013 Wednesday, 11/24: 2,016…
I don’t generally post full press releases, but in the absence (yet) of a link to this release, here’s NYRA’s statement on the OTB situation, which seems worthy of distribution, given its forcefulness. OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) announced today that the provisions being sought by the regional off-track…
Especially in the aftermath of the Belmont bathroom debacle, NYRA has gotten a lot of criticism about its customer service. Now I recognize that an answered e-mail is not quite the same as a flushing toilet, but I commend the organization for its responsiveness. For the third time, an e-mail that I sent with a…
It’s another family tradition. My brother started it in the 80’s; I joined in 2004. That was my first Belmont Stakes. Smarty Jones’s—er, Birdstone’s—Belmont. Though my interest in racing rejuvenated in 2000, I didn’t follow it with the alacrity that I do now, and foolishly, I just never thought about going to the Belmont. But…
Fans and employees of New York racing are breathing a little more easily this morning, as it appears that after years of discussion, negotiation, stalling, power plays (not the good kind, that take place on ice; the bad kind, that take place when egos and agendas collide), and overall embarrassment to the Empire State, the…
Brooklyn Backstretch 