Jessica Paquette has weathered plenty in her almost year on the job at Parx Racing. She’s handled the ups and downs, learning the craft as the track announcer at the suburban Philadelphia racetrack that Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million betPARX Pennsylvania Derby and strong supporting card. Now she’s ready for another type of weather when … Read more
Here we are, all down to the final two acts of the Saratoga Race Course meeting. Weeks and months of anticipation, then the rush of it all in July and August before the fleeting feelings of September and closing weekend. Sunday’s card almost brings the stand to a close with a 10-race card topped by … Read more
Finish Line. The Special wraps up its 2023 season with our final big Saturday edition. We preview the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Flower Bowl, Prioress and Harvey Pack (about time he got a race) plus cover Wednesday, Thursday, Friday racing and take one of our favorite Fasig-Tipton Stable Tours of the season with Hall of … Read more
It’s all down to this now – the final Friday, of the final week, of the final weekend of the 2023 Saratoga Race Course meeting. Another 10-race card awaits as the start of Labor Day weekend begins. The Grade 3 Saranac for 3-year-olds on the turf headlines the day, with seven entered for the 1 … Read more
The final week of the 2023 Saratoga Race Course meeting rolls on Friday with a 10-race card topped by the Grade 3 With Anticipation Stakes for 2-year-olds on the grass. A field of eight entered the 1 1/16-mile With Anticipation, named for the five-time Grade 1 winner and $2,660,543-earner who was trained by the late … Read more
Travers Dude. Arcangelo adds the Grade 1 Travers Stakes to his win in the Belmont Stakes in June to take control of the 3-year-old division. He’s won four in a row. Plus we cover the rest of a bittersweet Travers Day which included a Grade 1 double by trainer Steve Asmussen and more. We take … Read more
New York-breds take center stage Sunday with the annual Saratoga Showcase Day program at Saratoga Race Course. The six-stakes card puts a cap on Travers Week and the seventh week of the Saratoga meet. The entry box overflowed in some races, and came up a little light in others. Either way it’s a day to … Read more
Travers Day. We made it. Sixty-four (64) pages of previews, recaps, columns and so on. Saratoga Race Course hosts five Grade 1 stakes. We look at them all. Travers: Forte and the classic winners clash in the meet’s signature race. Forego: Katie Davis gets a chance to ride her first Grade 1. Jerkens: Canterbury shipper … Read more
Travers Day is almost here, but first a 10-race card topped by a stellar edition of the Grade 1 Personal Ensign Stakes Friday at Saratoga Race Course. Nest, Clairiere and Secret Oath headline the 9-furlong Personal Ensign, which also attracted Delaware Handicap winner Idiomatic. The $500,000 stakes for fillies mares goes as the ninth race … Read more
Week 7 rolls on – and inches closer to Travers Day – with a 10-race card Thursday topped by the Grade 2 Ballston Spa Stakes for fillies and mares on the grass. The $300,000 Ballston Spa looks like another showcase for trainer Chad Brown’s deep base of distaff grass runners, with Technical Analysis, Consumer Spending, … Read more
Randomized puts everybody on the back foot in the Grade 1 Alabama and runs away with the victory for Klaravich Stable and trainer Chad Brown. In Saturday’s Lake Placid, the Brown-trained Aspray kicks away late. We take a Fasig-Tipton Stable Tour with Danny Gargan, preview this week’s stakes action from the Grade 1 Jonathan Sheppard … Read more
