What a month for the Belmont Child Care Association! Like most racing organizations, it takes advantage of big racing events (in our case, the Belmont Stakes), but from start to finish, June has been a banner month at Anna House. It started with the ribbon cutting for the two new classrooms at Anna House, on…
Who ever thought it would be a good idea to have the end of the school year nearly exactly coincide with the Triple Crown season? Not this teacher/writer, that’s for sure! It’s an exciting month: we’ve got a compelling, interesting Kentucky Derby winner, a horse that offers the hope that he won’t fall into the…
Last Monday, Hall of Fame trainer John Nerud presented a check for $50,000 to the Belmont Child Care Association. A longtime and loyal donor to Anna House, Nerud visits frequently, sharing the stories of his years on the racetrack with the children. Now 98, he told the children that when he started at the track, he worked as…
When I saw the headline in the New York Times last Thursday night – “Ex-Racehorses Starve as Charity Fails in Mission to Care for Them” – I was, unsurprisingly, dismayed. I clicked on the link, expecting to read another story about a well-meaning, small, grassroots-type rescue that had been beset by financial difficulties, or corruption,…
Akindale Farm gained national attention in 2008, when it became home to fan favorite Evening Attire. The folks at Akindale had long been committed to Thoroughbred aftercare; Akindale founder John Hettinger established Blue Horse Charities in 2001 to help fund Thoroughbred retirement, and the rescue part of the farm was founded in 2006. But until…
Groundhog Day was last week and according to the rodents, spring is right around the corner. But who needs a woodchuck to tell us that, when we’ve got Saturday racing cards at Aqueduct? David Grening in Daily Racing Form tells us that beginning this week, the Big A will offer 10 races every Saturday. Woo-hoo!…
The disparate elements of the racing world are often accused of not playing nicely with each other. Tracks compete with each other for dates and gambling dollars; what’s good for horsemen isn’t always good for gamblers; what makes fans happy doesn’t always jibe with the decisions made on the backstretch; charitable organizations fight for donation…
At 5:30 this morning, I was awakened by the wind howling down my block and around my building, fresh off the river. It was still dark out, but the streetlights showed that the snow had mostly stopped. I thought about my 8:30 appointment this morning, the one that I would certainly cancel, heeding the oft-repeated…
On Saturday morning, the immense stillness of Belmont Park in December echoed with sounds of happy children. Having outgrown its usual home at Anna House, the ninth Belmont Child Care Association holiday party took over the Belmont Café, on the ground floor of the clubhouse, so that the children of the backstretch workers could select…
First of all, I have to note a couple of egregious oversights in my “giving thanks” post from last week. The Rail at the New York Times should have been there, for providing racing coverage during the Triple Crown season and the Breeders’ Cup and for offering me the opportunity to post there. Also inadvertently…
Brooklyn Backstretch 