Aqueduct, Belmont . . . Far Hills
Urban steeplechaser, Mabou, makes his first start since upsetting the New York Turf Writers Cup at Saratoga. The 8-year-old son of Dynaformer runs in Friday’s fifth race at Belmont Park.
Paddy Young: Champ takes bad with good
So you want to be Paddy Young? With 21 wins and a 10-victory cushion on his nearest rival, the two-time defending NSA jockey champion looks like a cinch to become the first three-peat champion since John Cushman won four in a row from 1980-83. Young rides first-call for trainer Tom Voss and fills in with live mounts from the Ricky Hendriks barn, but can pretty much pick and choose mounts at will.
Maryland Million: State’s day delivers stories
I used to go to Laurel Park all the time. I led horses to the paddock, won races, lost races, cashed tickets, wrote articles, even ate Thanksgiving Dinner (free with a Maryland Racing Commission license) in the track kitchen once. Saturday, I went back for the first time in years – for the Maryland Million.
A Look Back: Jersey Town tries again
!["jerseytown"]("images/stories/Horses/jerseytown.jpg")
The Special profiled Grade I winner Jersey Town before the Forego at Saratoga a few weeks ago. Here’s an encore look at the son of Speightstown, who runs in Saturday’s Grade II Kelso Handicap at Belmont Park.
Fun in Saratoga with a lip dub. What’s a lip dub?
Home to the historic Saratoga Race Course and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, the summer host to the NYC Ballet and the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce is proud to present the “SARATOGA LIP DUB” – a music/promotional video filmed on the streets of Saratoga. Lots of fun. You might even recognize some of the "stars."
Animal Kingdom & Toby’s Corner: 1st steps on comeback trail
Animal Kingdom would just as soon disrupt anyone who walks by – with a mischievous bite, a curled lip, notebook grabbing, some general stall-door rattling.
Saratoga 2011 comes to a close.
Thirty-nine racing days, 34 newspapers, nearly seven weeks of races, stories, deadlines, and all the details that come with them. The 2011 Saratoga Special season ended with Sunday’s paper and we’ve retreated back to homes, to more permanent offices, to life.
2011 Saratoga Special Archives
September 4, 2011 view pdf September 3, 2011 view pdf September 2, 2011 view pdf September 1, 2011 view pdf August 31, 2011 view pdf August 27, 2011 view pdf August 26, 2011 view pdf August 25, 2011 view pdf August 24, 2011 view pdf August 20, 2011 view pdf August 20, 2011 view pdf … Read more
Seat Saver: Star saddle still going strong
Editor’s Note/Update 1: This was written in 2011, in Saratoga for The Saratoga Special, a few months after John Velazquez won his first Kentucky Derby aboard Animal Kingdom. The saddle sat high on a rack in Velazquez’s area of the jocks’ room and was pulled down and discussed with reverence by Valazquez’s valet Tony Millan. Since then, Velazquez used the saddle in Main Sequence’s Breeders’ Cup Turf victory in 2014, in a second Derby score in 2017 with Always Dreaming, the Breeders’ Cup Distaff of 2017 with Forever Unbridled and in a few other major races along the way. It only comes out for races with higher weights like the Triple Crown events and some others. The saddle, built for Angel Cordero Jr., has won five editions of the Kentucky Derby – three for Cordero (Cannonade in 1974, Bold Forbes in 1976 and Spend A Buck in 1985) and now two for Velazquez (Animal Kingdom and Always Dreaming).
Editor’s Note/Update 2: The saddle has moved over to jockey Manny Franco (whose agent is Cordero), and he has used it aboard Tiz The Law in the 2020 Belmont Stakes and Travers Stakes. The saddle gets a chance at a sixth Kentucky Derby in September.
Travers: Stay Thirsty toughs out Grade I victory
Todd Pletcher stood in the middle of his customary box at the top of the stairs, wife, kids, dad, assistants all around. The flag pole in the storm. Pletcher watched on the TV to his left – set on the head-on view – then picked up his binoculars and watched live, then switched to the big screen in the infield, then back to his binoculars, then to the TV, then to the infield, then he went crazy.
