Brooklyn Backstretch

Today brings the first of two twilight racing cards at the Spa this summer; post time is 2:30.
Yesterday brought several promotions to the track: a short-sleeved T-shirt giveaway and a mid-summer St. Patrick’s Day. As I walked into the track just as the first race went off, I saw, in quick succession: [...]

In what has become something of a Saratoga tradition, the jockeys played basketball last night for charity.
Three years ago, they took on a fifth grade A.A.U. team from Texas, beating the youngsters by a score of 44-39; two years ago, the kids came back for a rematch and trounced the riders, 49-32.
Last night, the jockeys [...]

Rick Schosberg has trained Giant Moon since his first start as a two-year-old, in September of 2007.  Giant Moon won that race, and his next three, all New York-bred stakes races.  Schosberg has seen him through wins and losses, through injuries and setbacks.  He knows his horse.
But yesterday at Saratoga, Giant Moon showed his trainer [...]

It’s been a good couple of days for favorites here in Saratoga—especially because they’ve come in at nice prices.
In the second race on opening day, Kathern’s Kitten braved the rain to win a maiden special weight by a length, paying $17.20.  She made her first start on dirt at Churchill Downs, finishing fourth “with interest”; [...]

When I visited Old Friends at Cabin Creek last November, only one horse—a weanling—was on the grounds, living in the only paddock.  Mark Pepper, who manages the farm with his wife JoAnn, was on his tractor, clearing land.  It was cold and deserted.  It was a place of promise, but promise only.
Arriving yesterday for the [...]

Members of the media (I can barely write that with a straight face) were invited yesterday to a preview of the two new culinary splashes at the track this year, Danny Meyer’s Blue Smoke and Shake Shack.
Both have been firmly entrenched on the New York gastronomical landscape for several years, and when Citi Field opened [...]

August 5, 1910:  “Olambala the Victor” (New-York Daily Tribune)
“An important meeting of the stewards of the Jockey Club will be held at the track to-morrow to settle definitely the much mooted question of fall racing.  It is said that James R. Keene is working hard for a change in the plans which would bring the [...]

To get to Saratoga, Red Smith famously said, “From New York City you drive north for about 175 miles, turn left on Union Avenue and go back 100 years.”
So I did.
And here’s what was going on in the run-up to the 1910 Saratoga meeting.   The more things change…
July 24, 1910:  ”Hotels and Cottages Filling Up [...]

So we have meandered our way through the 2010 Jockey Club Welfare and Safety Summit, picking our way through the panels, unhurriedly observing what various elements of the racing industry think about the issues facing the sport.
And, finally, we arrive at the last panel, at which the members reported on their recommendations and goals.
Panelists took [...]

Well, sort of,  in a limited sort of pre-meet way.  On Sunday, Saratoga Race Course opened to the public for its annual open house; geared towards families, the day featured face painting, pony rides, and inflatables for the kids, while adults could partake of a variety of local food products.  Musicians performed throughout the day, [...]