Sean Clancy

Barn 8. Through the tunnel. Left and right. Across from Eaton. The signs hang in the same spots, two long rectangular ones three stalls from each end. A big square one in front of the navy-clothed welcome table. Cards await in a hand-painted blue wooden box. Catalogues, a couple copies of the Tuesday Special, a … Read more

Tom Law turned 50 Saturday. In honor of the best thing to ever happen to The Saratoga Special, we give you the 50 reasons we like our friend, our rock, Tom Law.  He’s laid back but productive. We know plenty of laid-back people and they’re usually fun to be around but a lot of times, … Read more

He was our first reader. Well, he was our first reader who wasn’t named Clancy, wasn’t a trainer I rode for during a summer in Saratoga or wasn’t somebody who knew Joe from his backstretch days at Delaware Park. I don’t know how he found us. Nobody found us that summer. 2001. Tom Coyle walked … Read more

Guy Raz asks the same question on every edition of my favorite podcast, “How I Built This.”  “How much of your success is because of luck and how much of it is because of hard work and talent?” It’s a simple but brilliant question, asked to entrepreneurs who have made it big. I’ve listened to … Read more

Vinnie Viola flipped his straw hat onto his head.  “I’ll put my hat on in memory of my dad,” Viola said. And, oh what a memory. Moments after winning the Sanford Stakes with Wit at Saratoga Saturday, Viola walked out of the Saratoga grandstand, past the 1863 Club and thought back to the man who … Read more

“It’s good to see you.” You hear it all day, every day. You say it all day, every day.  And then, every once in a while, you really mean it. Like, really mean it. Coming back to Saratoga after missing last summer, yeah, we really mean it.  I heard myself saying it – and meaning it … Read more

Dave Donk looked up from the back page of The Special and laughed. “It isn’t free anymore, buddy.” The veteran trainer stood up from a table outside his barn on the turn of the main track and put his arm around my shoulder, “Brother, I’ve been there.” It was one of those cups of coffee … Read more