Features

Jimmy Jerkens walked from one end of his low-roofed barn to the other, stopping at each stall to talk about each occupant. With every stop, Jerkens began, “This is…” A man of few words, Jerkens, like his Hall of Fame father Allen, knows his horses, talking about one whose appetite is getting better, one who has a rub from a martingale and another who tries hard every time. (Editor’s note: Originally published in Aug. 20 issue of The Saratoga Special.)

The sun is still waking up, seeping through the hazy fog that rested atop the Oklahoma Training Track as 7:40 rolls around Thursday morning. The first break comes to an end and horses begin to tromp onto the dirt, beginning their morning workouts. (Editor’s note: Originally published in Aug. 19 issue of The Saratoga Special.)

Ian Wilkes took a short break from his morning to talk about his string for the 2016 Saratoga Race Course meeting when he got to a filly with a minor case of second-itis he hoped to find a cure for in Wednesday’s third race. (Editor’s note: Originally published in Aug. 18 issue of The Saratoga Special.)

Frequently decked out in pink pants that coordinate with his pink and blue stable colors, it’s not difficult to spot trainer Tom Morley in the paddock. (Editor’s note: Originally published in Aug. 17 issue of The Saratoga Special.)

Eddie Kenneally wrapped up a phone call with a client, talked to a member of his team, walked out in the shedrow to play with one of his smiling children, greeted a visitor, started the Fasig-Tipton Stable Tour, stopped the tour briefly to take a call from a vet, finished the tour, played with his kids some more and was back on the phone in an Adirondack chair in the shade. (Editor’s note: Originally published in Aug. 14 issue of The Saratoga Special.)

Jimmy Toner greets scores of passersby every day with a wave from the shedrow of his barn on the main track at Saratoga Race Course. 

The last few weeks he and assistant Tiffany Webb have definitely seen an uptick in the number of visitors who stop and chat, always looking for news about the recently retired Recepta. (Editor’s note: Originally published in Aug. 13 issue of The Saratoga Special.)

John Terranova’s Saratoga string of 25 bustles with activity and movement as it sits in the midst of the madness of Saratoga Race Course.

Situated just off the main track, between the three-quarter and half-mile poles, the Terranova barn is a prime location for visitors to drop by and horses and humans to walk past. (Editor’s note: Originally published in Aug. 12 issue of The Saratoga Special.)

Adjacent from the Oklahoma Training Track, nestled under trees and between the residential areas of Fifth Avenue and Caroline Street, the Oklahoma Annex easily remains concealed. (Editor’s note: Originally published in Aug. 10 issue of The Saratoga Special.)

Fifty-five horses occupy stalls in David Cannizzo’s barns at Saratoga and Belmont Park and he could probably talk about all of them, but . . . let’s stick to a reasonable sampling. (Editor’s note: Originally published in Aug. 9 issue of The Saratoga Special.)

Ever meticulous and attentive to detail, trainer Barclay Tagg runs a tight ship. Last week at his barn on the main track after training, grooms bathe horses, pick hooves, apply Bowie Mud, ice legs and scrub stall mats. Tagg picks rogue pieces of straw from stall doors as he makes his way down the barn aisle. Almost every horse leaves their hay to greet him, begging for scratches with pricked ears and cheerful expressions. (Editor’s note: Originally published in Aug. 8 issue of The Saratoga Special.)