The backstretch at Saratoga Race Course has not been a particularly pleasant place to hang out over the last couple of days. More than six inches of rain fell between Tuesday afternoon and Thursday morning, producing prodigious mud and puddles through which both horses and humans clopped and trudged. None of that seemed to matter…
Cherie DeVaux and Golden Tempo at her Saratoga barn, June 7, 2026. Photo by Teresa Genaro Cherie DeVaux and Golden Tempo at Saratoga Race Course, June 7, 2027. Photo by Teresa Genaro Cherie DeVaux doesn’t call Saratoga Springs her hometown. But that doesn’t preclude our community from claiming the first woman to train a Kentucky…
What you’ll find in these listings: Note that events are often added after this is initially posted, as information is released about them. Have an event you’d like publicized? E-mail me if it has something to do with racing or Saratoga history, or if it’s a non-profit that might be of interest to a local and racing…
Saturday, July 25 Grade 2, $400,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt, 4-year-olds and up, 6 furlongs, dirt Grade 1, $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks, 3-year-old fillies, 1 1/8 miles, dirt Horse Sense. Every Saturday and Sunday, fans of all ages can pet a retired Thoroughbred from noon to 2 p.m. at Horse Sense located in the backyard…
T Loves a Fight at Saratoga, July 2026 This was originally published in September 2017, nine months after I’d been diagnosed with breast cancer, on Brisnet.com. Ed DeRosa was Brisnet’s director of marketing at the time, and he and I had been friends for years; I am godmother to one of his sons. He knew…
Welcome (a little late) to Saratoga 2026. I’m getting back to this after a few years away, after I heard last summer that people missed having a go-to resource for what’s going on during the summer meeting. I focus on: Have an event you’d like publicized? E-mail me if it has something to do with racing…
Well, it’s August 2025 and I haven’t posted anything here since…September 2024. All is well. No health setbacks, thank goodness (knocking wood), and no good reason, as I’ve spewed forth plenty of words over the last year. If you get notifications of new posts, here’s your warning: in what is almost certainly a futile attempt…
Published Aug. 20, 2024 A few years ago, one of my favorite things on X (it was still Twitter then) was writer Evan F. Moore’s daily “Who y’all mad at today?” post. Sometimes he offered a poll of possible targets of ire, sometimes he let people hammer whoever had irritated them recently. In horse racing,…
Published August 23, 2024 Over the last few months, a trio of Mid-Atlantic-bred fillies and mares have established something of a rivalry, often entered in the same turf sprints and trading wins and placings. Most recently, Dontlookbackatall (PA), Roses for Debra (PA), and Future Is Now (MD) were entered in the Caress Stakes (G3) at…
On the penultimate day of the summer meeting at Saratoga Race Course, trainer Mark Casse was standing in front of a television on the ground floor of the clubhouse, watching one of his 2-year-olds race at Kentucky Downs. English Law didn’t win on Sept. 1, but Casse has made plenty of trips to the winner’s circle at Saratoga…
The list of accomplished horses that Nick Sallusto has been involved with is a long one, and at Saratoga Race Course this summer, he added two to that impressive list: Chancer McPatrick and With the Angels . On his own or with partners, Sallusto played a role in buying or developing Big Brown, winner of the 2008 Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness…
When Papiamento crossed the wire first in the sixth race at Saratoga Race Course Aug. 24, the 2-year-old colt achieved a trio of firsts: the first win for the horse, the first win for owners Ryan and Larisa Kamp, and the first win at The Spa for trainer Whit Beckman. “This is the Travers, right?” asked a jubilant Ryan Kamp in…
If you didn’t know better, you’d have thought that the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was throwing a huge party, and that’s exactly how John Hendrickson would have wanted it. Hendrickson died unexpectedly in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Aug. 19 after suffering cardiac arrest. He was 59 years old, and the news of…
On July 24, 2011, a horse named Down Broadway made his racing debut at Belmont Park. A New York-bred that sold for $90,000, the 2-year-old was trained by Rick Schosberg, and he finished third by a length and a half. Over the next 19 months, Down Broadway raced 10 times, his best finish a runner-up…
“Don’t fall in love with your horses,” they say. “This is a business,” they say. “You can’t make decisions with your heart,” they say. It’s a good thing that Sharilyn Gasaway didn’t listen to what “they” said, or she might not have had a 2-year-old homebred filly, out of her heart horse, break her maiden…
Brooklyn Backstretch 