At a meeting of the NYRA board of directors on Wednesday, August 12, board chair Michael Del Giudice announced that the last vacancy on the board had been filled by Chris Mara, the senior vice president of the New York Giants and a Thoroughbred owner. Over the last year, three board members have resigned, including…
On the Thursday after the Belmont Stakes, Belmont Park was nearly deserted. A sparse weekday crowd dotted the apron; upscale specialty cocktails were nowhere to be found; attire tended to denim rather than linen, and the hats adorning people’s heads bore not flowers and ribbons, but the insignias of sports teams. None of that mattered…
“When a guy says ‘You throw a ball like a girl’ or ‘You’re a sissy.’ It reflects an attitude that devalues women, and attitudes will eventually manifest in some fashion.” I wasn’t watching Thursday Night Football, but Matthew Henderson’s transcription of James Brown’s words last night hit my timeline more than once, most often accompanied…
A quick glance at the cast page for Horseplayers reveals that the lead characters don’t offer much in the way of diversity: six characters, six men, all white. The target audience for the Esquire Network, on which the shows airs, is males in their late 20s to their early 40s, according to Tina Gazzero Clapp, president of GoGoLuckey, which…
People leave the horse racing business for all kinds of reasons. It can be dangerous work. It’s tough to make a living. In most cases, they end up in work that’s a little safer, a little more stable than what they did on the racetrack. But not if you’re Iona Craig, who went from a life…
On July 17 at the annual preview of the Saratoga race meeting at the National Museum of Racing, trainer Linda Rice was asked if there were any horses she was looking forward to running. “Palace,” she said without hesitation. He finished fourth a couple of weeks later, but if the people in the audience that…
Last week, the Breeders’ Cup announced that for the first time since 2007, its headline race for fillies and mares will once again be called the Distaff, rightly consigning to the rubbish bin the Ladies’ Classic. It’s unfortunate that there will be five winners of the race who will forever be saddled with that name…
Let’s get this out of the way: Michelle Beadle blocked me on Kentucky Oaks day, after this exchange (you can click to enlarge): It seems a little mild to warrant being blocked, but Beadle can hardly be blamed for having an itchy block finger, given some of the abuse that she has to put…
Miranda Weber remembers going to Gulfstream Park when she was a little girl. She remembers that her mother liked the racetrack, and that they bet on horses. She remembers winning. She also remembers going to greyhound racing and to jai alai, but one horse racing memory stands out, even if some of the details are…
Gabby Gaudet grew up almost literally on the racetrack. Her father, Eddie, trained horses in Maryland for more than 50 years; her mother, Linda, has saddled her own horses since 1996 and has 11 top-three finishes from 17 starts this year; and her sister Lacey started training in 2007. Until eighth grade, Linda home-schooled Lacey…
Brooklyn Backstretch 