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Joe Clancy 
Editor’s Note: Saratoga Race Course runs the first edition of the Leo O’Brien Stakes Sunday (post time 1:10 p.m. One of the last times someone from The Special interviewed him, he talked about what it was like to gallop champion 2-year-old of 1970 Hoist The Flag. From the Aug. 6, 2019 edition of The Saratoga … Read more
Editor’s note: A feature on Magnitude from the Aug. 23, 2025, edition of The Saratoga Special. Then, he was looking to spring an upset of Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty in the Travers. Magnitude finished third, 20 3/4 lengths behind Sovereignty. Nine or so months later, everything is different. Magnitude is the top older horse in … Read more
A racing fan, or a guy at the races anyway, approached Todd Pletcher in the upstairs seating area at Aqueduct Racetrack with a pen, a copy of the Daily Racing Form and a question. “Will you sign my Form?” the guy asked. “Sure,” replied Pletcher, who signed his name and handed back the paper. The … Read more
Bob Baffert watched the Metropolitan Handicap play out like everyone else at Saratoga Race Course Saturday and had some questions. “I hope he knows what he’s doing,” the trainer said to himself as jockey Flavien Prat let Nysos drop away from a four-horse scrum at the front of the Grade 1. “He’s either riding a … Read more
How about that Golden Tempo? The Kentucky Derby winner dazzles again in the Belmont Stakes to highlight a massive day at Saratoga Race Course. Englishman, Nysos, Book’em Danno, Deterministic, Classic Q and Reef Runner also win major stakes. Plus an excerpt from Paul Halloran’s Cody’s Wish book, Here and There, columns from Joe and Sean … Read more
It’s Belmont Stakes Day and The Special brings it all with previews of all seven stakes – the Belmont, Met Mile, Just A Game, True North, Jaipur, Woody Stephens and Manhattan. All but the True North are Grade 1’s and that Grade 3 sprint features champion Book’em Danno and Breeders’ Cup winner Bentornato. The Belmont itself … Read more
Kentucky Oaks winner and Acorn Stakes favorite Always A Runner makes the cover of our second edition and provides a great example in overcoming odds. Pleuropneumonia sent her to a New Jersey veterinary clinic last year and delayed her career debut. She recovered and has more than made up for lost time. This edition previews … Read more
These are the good old days. Someday we’ll look back on this and it will all seem funny. Read those in a singing voice and they sound a little more sensible, or something, because there will come a time where someone will look up Belmont Stakes historical records, and shout across a crowded room, “They … Read more
The Special’s first edition of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival makes it to newsstands and paper racks – and web pages and mailboxes too – despite the usual first-day gremlins. We preview Thursday’s stakes-filled card, cover the New York Showcase Day and an oddball steeplechase stakes won by the Saratoga-loving Jimmy P. Plus columns from … Read more
Thoroughbred Education and Research Foundation will set to hold its third annual Soiree for Safety, Wednesday, June 3, 5-7 p.m., at Adelphi Hotel, 365 Broadway in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. as part of Belmont Stakes Week. All proceeds from this educational and research fundraising event support TERF’s mission of promoting Thoroughbred health, welfare and racing safety. … Read more
