Withers: “The high part of the back of a horse or similar animal, located between the shoulder blades.” (American Heritage Dictionary, via Wordnik) Well, that’s certainly appropriate. Withers: Mr. David Dunham Withers, member of the American Jockey Club and one of the founders of Jerome Park (via NYRA). He was also instrumental in the re-opening…
I wrote this a year and a half ago, shortly before the 2008 Breeders’ Cup. I recalled it this weekend, during so many conversations about Zenyatta, the Breeders’ Cup, Personal Ensign…and this race. It originally appeared at The Blood-Horse. What agony to be a fan of the distaff side in November of 1988. Root for…
April 9—it’s finally here. The race that everyone wanted didn’t quite come off, and Hot Springs may not be quite as full as expected, but Oaklawn Park is nonetheless the center of the racing world today, as Zenyatta seeks to run her unbeaten streak to 16 amid the adoration of fans who have trekked to…
Today at Aqueduct six hopeful three-year-olds will take to the track in the closest that New York comes to a Derby prep. It’s been a while since a winner of this race has figured prominently the first weekend in May, but we locals nevertheless look with anticipation at the sophomores who will either dash or…
Shortly after Rachel Alexandra won the Haskell last summer and speculation bubbled about her next start, the conversations began: Suppose she goes in the Woodward? Is she Horse of the Year now, with wins in the Preakness and the Haskell? Has a three-year-old filly ever beaten older males? The answer to the last question was…
Today at Aqueduct is the 91st running of the Evening Attire. Well, OK, not exactly: the race has been run, with a few gaps, since 1902; formerly the Aqueduct Handicap, the race was re-named to honor the gelding who won it in 2002 and who was retired in 2008 at age 10. In its former…
I came to racing too late to make it to Hialeah to see Thoroughbreds; the shuttered track has been presented to me as a Shangri-La, the epitome of all that was good and right and beautiful about racing. I mourned that I never got to see it. But I lucked out: Hialeah would be open…
Given that I generally still refer to the Patrick Division and the Campbell Conference, one would correctly surmise that I’m not a big fan of eviscerating history in the name of modernization. It seems silly to me that a huge banner in the clubhouse at Saratoga reads “The Go For Wand Est. 1954” when the…
Two years ago, in a generally moribund racing month, winter racing in New York got a blast of attention when 9-year-old Evening Attire won the Queens County on a cold December afternoon. It was his second victory in the race; he’d also won in 2001, at the tender age of 3. Four horses in total…
And today, we take a turn towards the frivolous. The former foster kittens are firmly ensconced in the Backstretch household; they made the Thanksgiving trip to Saratoga, and they are now six month old adolescents, engaging in charmingly maddening teenage behavior. Furlong and Ruffian are happy and healthy and friendly and playful. They are perfect.…
Brooklyn Backstretch 