Seven years ago, the New York State Gaming Commission undertook a daunting mission: to locate every New York-bred Thoroughbred that raced between 2010 and 2012 and didn’t race after 2012. A year later, in 2016, the Commission released its findings. The number of horses that fit the criteria was 3,894. The Commission was able to…
The frozen paddocks of upstate New York are a long way from the sweltering devastation of Puerto Rico. At the ReRun adoption and retraining facility in East Greenbush, New York, about 40 miles south of Saratoga Springs — where the temperature was 2 degrees Fahrenheit (-17 degrees C) on a recent morning, a nine-year-old U.S.…
As 2017 draws to a close, the face of Maryland racing continues to change. New stallions have arrived to stand in the state; the flagship is no longer historic Pimlico, but a rejuvenated Laurel Park; Thoroughbred retirement has become an official program supported by an industry-wide partnership. By nearly every indicator, Maryland racing is heading…
At 9 A.M. on a chilly Saturday morning, the farm at first seems quiet. The parking lot is largely empty, devoid of visitors who will begin to arrive soon after the noon opening, and on first glance, it might seem impossible that the 15-acre facility a short drive from Saratoga Springs houses 17 retired Thoroughbreds.…
On a morning earlier this summer, Soledad O’Brien failed to pick up the phone for a scheduled interview, calling back a short time later with effusive apologies. “I got dumped by my horse,” she said. “He got spooked, took a side step, and I fell off.” She is matter-of-fact about the experience, the result of a lifetime around horses, which began, as…
There is a Genaro family tradition of heading to the harness track in Saratoga on the Saturday after Thanksgiving for an afternoon of simulcasting, and in 2007, I joined my father and brother for the first time, setting up shop on the second floor and settling in for a day of wagering on Aqueduct, Laurel,…
The Olympics are as much about stories as they are about competition. The athlete who overcame adversity. The rags-to-riches story. The “discovery” of a diamond in the rough. A bit of heartbreak, a lot of sacrifice. As they say in the world of Thoroughbred auctions, Blackfoot Mystery ticks all those boxes. And like the world…
We’ve been spoiled. Over the last few years, the rain has avoided Saratoga like a gambler avoids an overbet bad favorite, but over the last few days, the wet stuff has descended like punters on a Pletcher firster. We’ve been off the turf for two days, and Tuesday isn’t looking much better. Fortunately, there’s plenty…
Two years ago, on the advice of bloodstock agent Tom McGreevy, Fox Hill Farm’s Rick Porter entered the bidding fray in the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion at the Fasig-Tipton yearling sale in Saratoga, trying to add a dark bay Medaglia d’Oro filly to his already prodigious list of stakes-winning fillies and mares. Four-hundred thousand dollars…
On a recent Saturday morning at Belmont Park, trainer Rick Schosberg sat in his office, his dozen or so horses in their stalls after morning training. Within minutes, his attention is needed again, not by his barn staff or one of his horses, but by another trainer with a horse whose racing days have come…
Brooklyn Backstretch 