“How great is this?” asked Ed Stanco, standing near the winner’s circle at Aqueduct Racetrack on February 27. Despite the 30-degree (Fahrenheit) temperature and the wind coming off nearby Jamaica Bay, and despite the unglamorous setting — Aqueduct plays third fiddle to its sexier New York Racing Association cousins, Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course…
He’s among the quieter riders out there, seldom seeking the spotlight, but as 2013 comes to a close, jockey Javier Castellano may well be on the verge of winning his first Eclipse Award. On December 13, the Venezuela native broke the single season earnings record set in 2012 by Ramon Dominguez, forced to retire earlier…
For a woman who doesn’t like the city, Maryland’s Annie Finney has made quite a name for herself on the New York circuit. A native of the greater Baltimore area, Finney has worked since 2011 as an exercise rider for Todd Pletcher; based at first in Saratoga and now at his Belmont barn, she works…
In April of 2010, Edward Stanco sent his mare Storm Dixie to Kentucky to be bred for the first time. He’d purchased her for $67,000 in 2006, and after she won just once in 10 starts, he decided, after years in the racing business, to take a shot at breeding a horse. The mating didn’t…
Saturday, August 17, 6:31 am, barn 62, Oklahoma training facility Ed Stanco is at Todd Pletcher’s barn with his son Adam and Adam’s wife Kate. Mike Tyburski, a long-time Stanco friend and a partner in King of Prussia Stable, is there, too. “There’s nothing more to say, really,” says Stanco, petting Princess of Sylmar. “Marty…
Brooklyn Backstretch 