Monthly Archives: August 2010

Travers Day, 2010

Yesterday’s Travers will likely have no significant effect on racing. It won’t determine the three-year-old champion; it didn’t set any records; and its winner might not even go on to race in the Breeders’ Cup in November. Alan at Left … Continue reading

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Travers morning, and the Chief is off the duck

I arrive at 6:40. The sun is up, and the lines at each of the gates to the track are long, with people waiting expectantly for the day’s first race, the rush from the gates to the coveted picnic tables … Continue reading

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Travers Day, 1910

I’ve spent a good part of this summer immersed in 1910, in the racing meet a century ago. Saratoga was scheduled to race that year for 21 days; in the middle of the meet, three days were added, because when … Continue reading

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Migliore on Life At Ten

During a career that spanned three decades, Richard Migliore got to sit on a lot of classy horses. Last night at the Parting Glass’s monthly racing meeting (always open to the public), at which Migliore was the featured guest, the … Continue reading

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Travers Draw Day

And now we are in full Travers mode. I kicked off what feels like the official beginning of Travers week at the barn of Dale Romans, to interview Tammy Fox for a feature that will appear in the Saratogian later … Continue reading

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This week in Saratoga

It is with great melancholy that I post this week’s happenings, as at least one of them will be taking place after I return to Brooklyn. I can’t believe that Saratoga is almost over, and nearly every day I come … Continue reading

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Blind Luck & Good Fortune

He’s got a horse named Blind Luck, and if Jerry Hollendorfer believes in good fortune, he must have been happy to learn where his filly would be staying for her time at Saratoga. The wise folks at the New York … Continue reading

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Ocean Bound and the Alabama: Saratoga 1910

Tomorrow is the 130th running of the Alabama Stakes, and an opportunity to continue to look back at Saratoga a century ago. 1910 brought the 32nd running of the Alabama, and it was won by an impressive filly named Ocean … Continue reading

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A trip to the turf

“If nothing unexpected happens,” says Bruce Johnstone, NYRA’s manager of racing operations, “we’ll go the infield for the next race.” We’ve been talking about this since last year, trying to find the right time, the right race, to get there.  … Continue reading

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This week in Saratoga

Another week at Saratoga is in the books, and some among us are already looking mournfully towards the end of the meet. We’re past the halfway point, and it feels like Labor Day is going to come much too soon. … Continue reading

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