Drive south on Nelson Avenue, with the track on your left; you’ll come to the corner of Gridley Avenue. If you turn left, you’ll be on the Saratoga backstretch, with Clare Court barns and the half-mile training track on your right. If you keep going down Nelson, you’ll shortly see an expansive farm, with a…
With, unsurprisingly, an emphasis on Travers Day. Approximately 6:20 am… …and a stranger says to me, “If heaven’s like this, I’ll never sin again…” Venturing to the back, we are greeted with electronic welcome messages… …just before the gates open for the first sprint of the day, as hundreds run to grab a prime spot…approximately…
Big race days and big races are supposed to be memorable. We want them to stand out somehow, to give us something to savor, to become, in the words of ESPN, instant classics, to create stories. And boy, did Travers Day 2008 deliver. Let’s start with the weather. It’s become tiresome to talk about the…
Ruthless (Eclipse – Barbarity) Photo credit to the National Museum of RacingThose of us who favor the distaff side have had quite the year and a half. Fillies and mares have stolen the headlines pretty regularly since last summer: Rags to Riches’ victory in the Belmont; Eight Belles’ impressive second in the Derby, followed by…
The Jacobson barn last week, on Spooky Mulder: “He doesn’t know he’s ten years old; he acts like a two-year-old.” On Sunday, Spooky beat four other horses in a $16,000 claimer at Monmouth, in his first and only start for trainer David Jacobson. Spooky had been in Scott Lake’s barn since February of 07, and…
Over at Railbird, Jessica has eloquently and elegantly described the scene following Proud Spell’s win in the Alabama; if you haven’t already read it, take a look. The crowd stood and applauded as Proud Spell and Music Note came back after the race, causing many of us on the apron to look up and enjoy…
Another damp, chilly Saratoga morning; it feels more like October than August. The sky is leaden; standing along the rail of the Oklahoma training track, we’re wearing fleeces, boots, sweaters. The sun should be shining; we should be wearing tank tops. But we’re shivering, and trying, futilely, to avoid puddles. “Hop on,” trainer Dale Romans…
At the paddock rail, a woman to her young daughter: “No, sweetie, most of the jockeys are boys. Channing Hill is the only jockey that’s a girl.” When told that Channing is in fact a boy, she says, “No! Have you seen those eyelashes?” Puddles and raindrops, lots of them… …and a variety of Saratoga…
On Monday morning, after several torrential downpours (what’s new?) overnight, I stopped by the barn of Dominick Galluscio to wish good luck to Early Response (by Hook and Ladder—clever, yes?), a two year old bay colt making his first start in yesterday’s seventh race. Four of the ten state-bred entries would be on the track…
I love the Yaddo. A quintessentially Saratoga race, it’s named for the artists’ colony that lies just east of the track, so close that residents can (allegedly) hear the race calls. While the mansion is off limits to the public, visitors can wander the grounds and the gardens free of charge. I’ve whiled away many…
Brooklyn Backstretch 