He worked in New York racing for nearly 60 years. He wrote a seminal book on horse racing, American Racing, 1866-1921. He created the Experimental Free Handicap. But finding information on Walter S. Vosburgh is about as easy as tracking down a race chart from 1953. He’s got his own race, the Vosburgh, run since…
Trainer W.J. (Buddy) Hirsch lauded Gallant Bloom as ‘the most consistent and honest mare’ that he has raced in 30 years as a trainer. The New York Times reported this quotation in March of 1970, after Hirsch’s filly Gallant Bloom had won the Santa Margarita Invitational Handicap. Gallant Bloom was four then; she made only…
“…Belmont Park was built for the future as well as for the present…” Those words were written in May of 1905, on opening day of Belmont Park. The new racetrack garnered a staggering number of column inches by today’s standards; while commentary on the new track was somewhat mixed – concerns were raised about the…
Saratoga 2010 closes out with three stakes races that have been run for more than 100 years: the Spinaway, the Saranac, and the Hopeful. In 1910, where we’ve spent so much time this summer, the Spinaway was run on August 16th; the Saranac on August 18th; and the Hopeful on August 20th. The Spinaway and…
I’ve spent a good part of this summer immersed in 1910, in the racing meet a century ago. Saratoga was scheduled to race that year for 21 days; in the middle of the meet, three days were added, because when Saratoga ended, so too would racing in New York. Gambling had been under attack for…
She is a rugged, strong filly, with big joints and a good frame, very much of the type usually with a *Challenger II. Her head is very good and her expression feminine, but otherwise she is a rather masculine type of filly. Thus Joe Palmer described Gallorette, champion handicap mare of 1946 and the mare…
August 5, 1910: “Olambala the Victor” (New-York Daily Tribune) “An important meeting of the stewards of the Jockey Club will be held at the track to-morrow to settle definitely the much mooted question of fall racing. It is said that James R. Keene is working hard for a change in the plans which would bring…
To get to Saratoga, Red Smith famously said, “From New York City you drive north for about 175 miles, turn left on Union Avenue and go back 100 years.” So I did. And here’s what was going on in the run-up to the 1910 Saratoga meeting. The more things change… July 24, 1910: “Hotels and…
On June 17, 1899, the Suburban Handicap was won, in its 16th running, for the first time by a filly or mare. She set a stakes record (2:04 4/5), and she won by two lengths, in a field of 13. Her name was Imp. Imp was bred in Ohio by Daniel R. Harness, the man…
Today at Belmont, eight fillies and mares will take to the turf for the 57th renewal of the Sheepshead Bay (GII). Sheepshead Bay is a small body of water in the southernmost part of Brooklyn, between the “mainland” and the long, slim jut of land on which Coney Island sits to the west and Brighton…
Brooklyn Backstretch 