Turns out that I wasn’t the only person travelling to see Saratoga Russell make it back to the races. Arriving at Monmouth after a remarkably traffic-free trip early Sunday afternoon, I headed to the paddock to see Saratoga Russell in racing tack for the first time since March of 2008. I was on the early…
In its marketing for Rachel Alexandra’s appearance at Belmont Park later today, NYRA has made explicit use of the horse crush with its “Is She The One?” campaign. In my observations, the horse crush is largely a female phenomenon, but I do know a handful of people—men and women—who are travelling from out of town…
When last we saw Saratoga Russell, he was struggling home last in the Gotham. He’d gone to the lead and faded badly in the stretch, emerging from the fog to stagger home. He had been so impressive to that point: second in his first start in November 2007 at Aqueduct, setting sizzling fractions before National…
Saratoga Russell is back! This colt was my winter/spring crush until his dismal performance in the fog-enshrouded Gotham, and he underwent a myectomy shortly thereafter. According to a backstretch report at Saratoga, Saratoga Russell then went to Kentucky for treatment of some other maladies, and I was told that his trip to Kentucky was a…
I regret to inform Superterrific Stables of Green but Game that based on updated Take Ten! standings, I must unfortunately remove her blanket of roses as the winner of the Brooklyn Backstretch mini-league, and toss it over to Katie at Trip’s Triple Crown Stable, who finished first in our league and sixtieth overall. Congratulations, Katie—please…
An anonymous commenter recently inquired about the status of Saratoga Russell, and our anonymous owner graciously weighed in, relating that Saratoga Russell’s surgery went well and that he was back galloping pretty much the day after the surgery. His connections haven’t yet identified his next race, but they’re looking at sprint options. Here’s one person…
Well, Wednesday might not have been such a great day for Eliot Spitzer personally and professionally, but if he had taken my betting advice, he’d have had a decent return on his investment—much better to invest in the horses than in, ah, other forms of entertainment. Of the nine horses listed on yesterday’s post, six…
I’ve already received at least three condolence messages following Saratoga Russell’s performance in the Gotham, and I can’t say that it wasn’t awful to be there, to watch him in the paddock (though I didn’t think he looked great, and his intestines didn’t seem to be exactly calm, if you know what I mean), to…
Aqueduct offers the best of two racing worlds this afternoon, the present and the historical. We’ve got the Grade III Gotham, for three-year-olds with Derby aspirations. The race was first run in 1953 at the Jamaica racecourse and named for the city in which the track was situated, another in a line of races honoring…
Bill Place didn’t make my wish come true on Thursday; off as the even-money favorite, he was a well-beaten third and was claimed from Anthony Dutrow by David Jacobson. I suppose that’s a good sign? On the other side of the world, Numaany too finished third, at Nad al Sheba. Beaten a length and a…
Brooklyn Backstretch 