Poor old Evening Attire—Saturday just wasn’t his day. The Stymie set up as I’d hoped it would, with a speed duel immediately on the front end, but when Jose Espinoza asked for some run from Evening Attire, he didn’t have any, and he came home last in a field of four. Not, unfortunately, his finest hour. Here’s hoping that he comes out of the race OK, and at least we know that we can trust his connections to make good decisions about him.

Adding insult to injury, I got so focused on rooting for Evening Attire that I ignored my trusty “long price in a short field” theory and missed out on the $31.60 payout for Malibu Moonshine’s victory. Oops.

Most of my racing day was spent at the Meadowlands, where family and friends went to celebrate my brother’s and my father’s birthdays. The former celebrated in style, walking into the place and hitting at Dover Downs, Santa Anita, and the Meadowlands in short order, and wrapping up his night with a $350 exacta. Happy birthday, indeed.

I am getting to be something of an authority on racetrack first aid centers, having spent several hours in Belmont’s on Belmont Day in June, and having one of our party need the services of the Meadowlands EMT crew Saturday night after injuring himself. In both cases, the staff were friendly, responsive, efficient, and professional; it’s a niche market, to be sure, and not one of whose services I’d like to partake regularly, but it’s nice to know they’re there, and they made a dangerous situation on Saturday much more manageable…so here’s a shout-out to the Big M staff who helped us out.

Good news for retired racehorses in the state of New York, as a New York State Task Force on Retired Race Horses has been appointed to “investigate the feasibility of creating a larger market and alternative employment opportunities for retired race horses…”, according to a press release reported in The Blood-Horse last week. According to state agriculture commissioner Patrick Hooker, fewer than 15% of all racehorses are successful on the track, and the Task Force will look into ways to help horses transition from the racetrack to other roles in other disciplines (The Blood-Horse). The Task Force held its first meeting on Friday in Albany, and I’ll keep my eyes open for a report on its proceedings.