If Angel Cordero, Jr., is known as the King of Saratoga, maybe trainer Winbert F. “Bert” Mulholland should be known as the King of the Travers. No one – jockey, trainer, owner – won Saratoga’s signature race more often than he did, teaming up with owner George Widener, Jr., for a record five Travers Stakes.…
On Monday night, Saratoga’s jockey colony turned out in full force to sing for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. This karaoke event, first held during the Keeneland meets, was moved to Saratoga this year, in part, said jockey John Velazquez, to take advantage of the notice that racing gets here, and to increase awareness of…
If you missed last night’s evening for jockey karaoke to benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, you missed one of the most fun nights of the summer…and my karaoke début, which I don’t think was a complete embarrassment. But I could be wrong about that. Don’t miss out on these upcoming opportunities to do good…
Being Brendan Shanahan is a pretty good deal. In a 20-year playing career, he won three Stanley Cups and two gold medals with Team Canada, along with a Canada Cup championship. When he retired in 2008, he led the NHL among active goal scorers. Upon retirement, “Shanny” took an executive position with the league, serving…
The poor Triple Tiara. It’s been poked and prodded and tweaked and changed multiple times in the last half century; it might be the Rodney Dangerfield of Thoroughbred racing. Even the trainer whose filly might become the first Triple Tiara winner in 18 years isn’t that excited about it. In fact, Kiaran McLaughlin indicated that he…
Noooooooo…the meet is half over! And this list of upcoming events is getting shorter…perhaps most depressingly, now I’m posting about events that will take place while I’m back at school! But I will resolutely push those thoughts away, choosing instead to focus on the glory of this morning at Saratoga, which was perfection, and the…
Shortly before I came to Saratoga this summer, I sat down with NYRA president Charlie Hayward to talk about what racing fans might expect to see here this summer: what if any changes had been made, whether the track would look any different, what improvements visitors might expect. The short answer, as I wrote here,…
If mid-meet fatigue hasn’t gotten you hiding under the covers, you’ve got plenty of ways to expend that extra energy…and maybe some charity dollars, too? Tuesday, August 9: Tonight, the Economic Opportunity Council will unveil its fourth exhibition of photography by Latino immigrants, “Vision: A look at life behind the scenes,” sponsored by the EOC’s Latino Community Advocacy Program. The…
“Sean Avery’s a sweetheart.” No, that wasn’t NHL commissioner Gary Bettman commenting on one of his league’s highest profile players. That was John DeStefano after his horse won yesterday’s Grade 1 Vanderbilt Handicap. Oh, sure, the human and the equine have a few things in common. Both have had time on the sidelines, the hockey…
Happy Whitney Day! Whitney is a name as associated with Saratoga Race Course as Travers is; Travers helped found the track and was the first president of the Saratoga Association, giving his name to Saratoga’s flagship race in the track’s second season. The Whitney influence came later: William C. Whitney became president of the Saratoga…
Brooklyn Backstretch 