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Tom Law 
Call it what you will – bombogeneis, Bomb Cyclone, Polar Vortex, the deep freeze – the lingering effects of this week’s Nor’easter wreaked havoc on the racing schedules for tracks in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. The show goes on elsewhere and this week’s edition of The Saturday Special presented by Pin Oak Stud ushers in the New Year with top racing from southern and western venues to keep you distracted while hunkered down on the couch.
The headline reads like a hard news story. The first few sentences make it clear that it was not, but rather a feature about the piles of wins Paddy Young racked up during his career and his current physical battles after a horrific spill at the Radnor Races in Malvern, Pa.
One last Saturday and one final edition of The Saturday Special presented by Pin Oak Stud to send 2017 off in style.
And then there were two. We’re down to the two most read stories of the year here at This Is Horse Racing and first up for the New Year’s Eve weekend is a touching farewell to Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Better Talk Now.
Stories about the spring classics always rank high on our annual Top 10 of most read stories and 2017 proved no exception. Irish War Cry trained in our backyard at Fair Hill in preparation for his victory in the Wood Memorial and later for his run through the Triple Crown series and we were there for several of his key moments.
Members of the core team of three here at This Is Horse Racing wrote the first six popular stories we rolled out on the TIHR Top 10 for 2017 countdown. The fourth most popular story of 2017 was a guest column, about a special place and a special bond among family members.
We’ve reached the top five, prestigious company in the world of This Is Horse Racing. Perhaps, perhaps not. Regardless the fifth most read story of the year is nothing to discount and event rider Jennie Brannigan’s attempt at the Maryland Hunt Cup didn’t go unnoticed.
The racing world mourned the passing of Penny Chenery in mid-September and the death of Secretariat’s owner sparked many memorable tributes. Sean Clancy’s blog post looking back on his experience with Chenery finishes 2017 as the sixth most read piece here at This Is Horse Racing.
We rolled out a few new features in 2017 and one of the most successful was the Jumping Around Podcast. The podcasts started in early April – Turney McKnight was our first guest – and rolled through the North American steeplechase season. The most popular podcast and the seventh most landed on page in 2017 was out look back on the accomplishments of Senior Senator.
Very few horsemen started the year on the type of run that Joe Parker was on through the first few months of 2017. Parker’s successful first quarter didn’t go unnoticed and our story about him comes in as the eighth most read piece of 2017.
