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Joe Clancy When Keri Brion got wind that Sportswriter was being retired, she jumped at the chance to play a role in his second career. Brion, assistant to Jonathan Sheppard, had kept her eye on the gray gelding ever since her fiancé, Andrew Wolfsont, had ridden him for trainer Kim Graci.
Horse racing failed Change Of Command. Not because of drugs or racing surfaces or battery-powered buzzers or any other nefarious scheme on the list of the sport’s problems.
Thirty-seven minutes. That’s about how long it took for Rajiv Maragh’s dream to become a nightmare last year.
Steam drifted off the top of his head as Kendrick Carmouche slowly caught his breath while working a white towel through his hands and talking about Misconnect’s hard-charging win in the General George Handicap at a frosty Laurel Park Monday.
It’s snowing. It’s not supposed to amount to much, but it’s snowing. It’s also cold and getting colder. In response, Laurel Park canceled Sunday’s racing – the bridge between stakes-laden Saturday and Monday cards.
Laurel Park stakes coordinator Coley Blind laughed and admitted the truth about California-based trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. “No, he’s not on my hustle list.”
Blind might want to keep the Hall of Famer’s number handy, however, as Hollendorfer shipped three horses from the West Coast for President’s Day Weekend stakes at the Maryland track.
Several stories exist in my family involving the epic failure on my part to produce entertainment from something that otherwise sounded like fun.
Sky Classic still lives in the stallion barn at Pin Oak Stud, still gets fed, still gets attention. But, starting next month, things will be different. The 28-year-old stallion has been retired, pensioned to a life of leisure after four seasons of racing, 22 years at stud and dozens of great moments.
Alina Muther accepted Tom Bowman’s introduction, stepped in front of the crowd, took the microphone and talked like a proud mother at a college graduation. Around her walked Tritap, a gray 6-year-old horse who joins the roster of Heritage Stallions this year.
Not many jockeys can say they rode multiple champions in 2014. The easy ones are John Velazquez (Untapable, Main Sequence, Judy The Beauty and Dayatthespa) and Victor Espinoza (California Chrome, American Pharoah and Take Charge Brandi). But there’s one more.
