Sean Clancy

I was getting pushed around. Being told what to do. Against my will. I knew it and let it happen. “I’m going to be more like Bobby Frankel,” I declared to my wife. “He wouldn’t have let this happen. He’d have told them, backed them right off. When Juddmonte called to see if he’d take … Read more

The Colonial Cup, the greatest rider’s race in America. If I was riding . . .

Still hours before the first Breeders’ Cup race and there’s the lonely man, the running man, making a long and arduous trip around Santa Anita’s turf course. Johnny Murtagh circles the track, shedding the last few pounds and thinking about what’s in store. Coolmore’s contract jockey, Murtagh, could have a big weekend. He rides Man Of Iron in the Marathon, Lillie Langtry in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, Viscount Nelson in the Juvenile Turf, Alfred Nobel in the Juvenile, Mastercraftsman in the Dirt Mile and Rip Van Winkle in the Classic.

She came, she conquered. She fought, she won.

“Calvin kept telling me, ‘You wait until they look at her, there will be more.’ He said that every time,” Steve Asmussen said after Rachel Alexandra won the Woodward. “I’m like, ‘How the hell would you know?’ How would you know?”

Been here before. Blank page. The last page for the next 10 1/2 months. So much pressure on 800 words, hard to get started.

Some people envy Steve Asmussen. Others pity him. Some congratulate Larry Jones. Others console him. Some days Asmussen wants to be Jones. Other days, Jones wants to be Asmussen.

Bill Mott stopped his pony along the outside rail of the Oklahoma training track Friday morning. The Hall of Fame trainer had something to say to future Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.

Six more racing days. Four more issues. Then shut the lid, Saratoga 2009 will be over.  Under the lid, this is what I’ll remember:

The tone blares like it always does from the Verizon BlackBerry World Edition – Alarm_Antelope, medium, two beeps, 10 minute snooze. Time to make the doughnuts. The Travers edition seems like it just went to the printer, it was raining then. It’s raining now, 5:10 a.m. There she is on the porch, Quality Road on the cover, stacked and ready for Travers Day.

Running a marathon is easy. Training for a marathon is hell.
Winning the Alabama is easy. Preparing, securing and keeping the ride is tough.
Robert Landry bangs out a decent living at Woodbine; the 46-year-old veteran has guided 21 winners at the Canadian track this year, good enough for 13th in the standings. He was leading rider there in 1994, earned the Sovereign Award for outstanding jockey in 1993 and 1994, won his 2,000th career race this summer. When the weather takes over at Woodbine and the horses go south or go to the farm, Landry follows the coast to Florida.