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Joe Clancy 
Irish trainer Willie Mullins answered his phone on the third ring. Maybe the second. I was impressed. A late-afternoon call from America was probably not high on his list of things to manage last Thursday, but he answered and we talked for 10 minutes.
If we hadn’t, I probably wouldn’t feel so bad today.
Wicklow Brave is the sort of horse where it’s proper to thank his trainer for just showing up.
Jack Fisher will give you a deadpan answer to just about any question. Sometimes, the trainer is serious. Other times, he’s about to laugh in your ear. So let’s get this out of the way at the start.
The Shirt is no more. Steeplechase Hall of Famer and two-time champion Good Night Shirt died of colic Sunday. He was 18, and essentially a member of the family while retired at Jack and Sheila Fisher’s farm in Monkton, Md.
With a dozen racing days remaining, the race for second in the Saratoga Race Course trainers’ standings looks like it could be fun as seven trainers were within three victories of each other while at least 10 back of leader Chad Brown through Saturday. With 10 wins, Christophe Clement has already more than doubled his total from the past two seasons and could be in line for more with a strong hand on Saratoga Showcase Day Aug. 23 and some others still to race. (Originally published in Aug. 18 issue of The Saratoga Special)
It might be the best barn on the grounds. Tucked between, around and among shade trees and bordered by Union Avenue and Yaddo Gardens, John Kimmel’s Saratoga stable houses 30 horses in a courtyard of buildings including a house, a cottage and (depending how you count) four barns. (Originally published in Aug. 10 issue of The Saratoga Special)
That’s 30. Trainer Jack Fisher won two races Saturday at Shawan Downs to reach 30 steeplechase wins on the season. He’s dominated all year, but maybe now is the time to start talking about records.
Barn 9 way back behind the main track’s kitchen and almost to Greentree has been home to trainer Rick Schosberg’s horses for the better part of 25 years – Maria’s Mon, Affirmed Success, Pentatontic, Mossflower, Giant Moon and so on. He no longer fills it up, but he’s still there with a string of eight ranging from a homebred with a regal pedigree to 2-year-olds with potential. (Originally published in Aug. 5 issue of The Saratoga Special)
Around The Special office, the term “Stable Tour Luck” gets thrown around in response to race results. It used to be how we sold the idea of actually doing a stable tour to reluctant trainers. “Stable tours are lucky,” we’d say. “Everybody wins when they do Stable Tours.” (Originally published in Aug. 3 issue of The Saratoga Special)
Friday morning, before the heat wave arrived, trainer Al Stall’s Saratoga barn was just chilling – a breeze fluffed in from somewhere over Greentree way, the last set cooled out, the British Open unfolded on the office television and a select group of Thoroughbreds dozed in their stalls. (Originally published in July 20 issue of The Saratoga Special)
