Join The Saratoga Special Readers Club for exclusive access to news, swag, discounts, special events and more
By Patrick Kerrison Sometimes, as a boy who idolizes his father, we follow them everywhere they’ll let us, mimicking what they do and how they do it, getting underfoot and wanting to be them. That was me. I would follow my dad everywhere around the track. I thought every racing person he introduced me to … Read more
I wrote the Cup of Coffee tepidly, unsure if it was the right thing to do or not. It was about George Weaver and his wife Cindy after a racetrack accident that rocked all of us last summer. Eleven months later, George and Cindy stood in the winner’s enclosure at Royal Ascot after Crimson Advocate … Read more
After a tumultuous week that was all about Air Quality Index, Saturday at Belmont Park was a day to celebrate the GOAT. Throw in history being made, another chapter in racing’s best story being written and idyllic weather, and it was a virtually perfect day on Hempstead Turnpike. The main event was the 155th running … Read more
As good as he was as a racehorse, I will always remember the eye and the expression of 2004 steeplechase champion Hirapour. When the Irish-bred looked at you, he looked at you. Retired since 2006 and 27 years old, Hirapour died Sunday in Virginia. Trainer Doug Fout called it one of his “saddest days of … Read more
Liza Stude liked horsepower, and horse power. And somehow made the two passions her life. Part of a collection of people who worked for my father when he trained a racing stable of flat and steeplechasers in the Mid-Atlantic, Liza died Monday, March 20. She was 66. Born in Wilmington, Del., Liza blended horse jobs … Read more
The curtain falls on the Cheltenham Festival. Four days. Twenty-eight races. A million moments. Highs and lows. Upsets and certainties. Stars and scars. Dreams achieved. Dreams shattered. Pints downed. Kings crowned. As always, it’s delivered. The perfect goodbye from Honeysuckle. The return of Envoi Allen. The subtle brilliance of Rachael. The domination by Willie. The … Read more
Two down, two to go. Halftime at Cheltenham. Stars firmly in the sky. Stars still to come. On Wednesday…Impairre Et Paisse toyed with rivals in the Ballymore. Sam Twiston-Davies engineered a gem from The Real Whacker to hold off Gerri Colombe in the Brown Advisory. The plotted-up Langer Dan won a three-horse photo in the … Read more
Constitution Hill. Honeysuckle. A meteor in full flight. A star with her last swing. Hello, champion. Goodbye, champion. Two races. Two legends. One day. One hour. Cheltenham, the sport, at its breathtaking best. That was yesterday, a day that will live forever in pubs and parishes. As for today… Race 1. 9:30. The Ballymore Novices’ … Read more
I’m not there. OK. I said it. I have accepted it. Life’s challenges are still challenging us, so Cheltenham has been shelved for the third consecutive year. I was proud of my first streak, 2002-2015 and then another, 2017-2020. Yes, I made it four months after Miles was born, I made it the Covid year … Read more
Fifteen years ago, American jump racing seemed smaller and bigger at the same time. The Season Preview edition of 2008 sure went for drama – two race meets running without National Steeplechase Association sanction, the hiring of Lou Raffetto as the new CEO of the NSA and a suspended trainer dominated the early conversation. The … Read more
