Opinion

Funny old stable. Riverdee. Eclectic, at least. The majority in Virginia, a few in Maryland, one in South Carolina, one in England. Some turned out. Some need to be turned out. Some dappled and thriving, others making hard work of it. Some cause fights – er, discussions – at home. Others, high tide and smooth sailing. A few around the world don’t even know they’re coming this way.

Sometimes the childhood memories come in drips. Other times they come in waves. Driving back from the Saratoga County DMV Friday afternoon here in Saratoga they came in a swell.

Preakness hangover over. Fair Hill come and gone. Riverdee had a winner. There is nothing like a winner. Saratoga looming. Belmont still to come. Shug’s bullish on Orb, surprising. New horse coming tomorrow. Need to raise money. Animal Kingdom’s work blowing up Twitter. Book tickets to Ascot.

Spending Memorial Day weekend in the beautiful, albeit quite water-logged, city of Burlington, Vermont, gave me a little insight into what horsemen competing in the Kentucky Derby this year probably felt like.

Mention Fair Hill in Thoroughbred racing circles and you’ll get recognition. People know the place now, for its training center, equine therapy center and famous residents over the years (Animal Kingdom, Union Rags, Barbaro and all the rest). But the races were here first. First run in 1934, the races somehow mix a country fair … Read more

Stan Salter spoke volumes. “I’m trying to get my Preak off,” he said Tuesday afternoon while booking – late – a guest for a segment of Maryland Horse Radio’s weekly show. I cracked up at the statement, because I understood, and agreed to do the radio interview. They told me I was on before Gene Simmons, … Read more

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice . . .

Well here we are. It’s 8:52 Preakness morning. At the barn, it’s hurry up and wait. Shug McGaughey sits awhile, sweeps, walks around. Jenn Patterson rakes the wood-chip path even though it doesn’t really need it. For the first time all week, signs of stress bounce around. Not worry, just a little stress – which is … Read more

The story jumped off the page when I cracked open the sports section of USA Today settling in for a late breakfast Friday at the Nautilus Diner in Timonium.

In celebration of Shug McGaughey winning the Kentucky Derby, we went back to the 2004 archives and found Shug’s 32 flavors, when we asked Shug to talk about one of his horses every day in The Saratoga Special. They are included in our book, The Best of the Saratoga Special. Seems like a good time to read a few. Here’s the second.