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Pick a side. Are you a giver or taker? It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while, mostly after deciding to write a story about a couple barbers from Schenectady who decided to produce video vignettes highlighting the work of the valuable and often forgotten men and women of the backside. The story ran … Read more
New website? In what’s-getting-to-be-late June? Sure thing, what could go wrong? Hopefully nothing. As the photo shows, and the SEO optimizer tells us, it’s time the new version of thisishorseracing.com breaks from the gate. We gave TIHR a much-needed facelift, which should be noticing right about now. It’s been a few months of work, some … Read more
Catching up from Sean Clancy’s daily posts since March. Thursday, June 16, 2022.Horse Tracker on Racing Post. Part ticker. Part black book. Part Post-it Note. Part alarm clock. It’s filled with eyecatchers from somewhere along the line, a lot of hunches, a few tips and touts, fresh faces and old friends. Some I remember, with … Read more
Write a column. For more than a week, those three words have been part of the list on my current reporter’s notebook I take pretty much everywhere. Technically I wrote one, sort of a Preakness preview, last week but that’s not what I meant. I meant write a column about winning the Old Hilltop Award … Read more
Preakness Eve. From what may be the world’s most sprawling suburban hotel while Connor McDavid lights it up in the NHL playoffs, the second jewel of racing’s Triple Crown stands about 20 hours away. The Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike stayed in Kentucky, leaving a mixed bag of nine runners in the $1.5 million classic … Read more
Lightning flashed and thunder shook the windows of my Butchertown Airbnb apartment before sunrise Tuesday. Then the rain came, after training hours began but before the half-hour window from 7:30 to 8 a.m. designated for the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks runners. Todd Pletcher thought about sending Mo Donegal, Charge It and Pioneer Of Medina, … Read more
The best week of the year – not counting every week at Saratoga – has finally arrived. I’m ready for the 80-mile trek from Lexington to Louisville for the 148th Kentucky Derby. The first came by way of Albany to Cincinnati and down to Louisville, way back in 1998, as a sportswriter for the hometown … Read more
It’s at the top of Cleeve Hill, right before we dive into the maelstrom that it hits me. Festival Radio crackles to life, the course opens like a picnic blanket in front of you, the memories and the possibilities rattle and it’s all at the touch. My friend, George Baker, said it better than I … Read more
Lose an hour of sleep? Spring ahead. What the hell is this? Ah, I’m usually on an overnight flight to Cheltenham when this ridiculous occurrence occurs. You basically lose a night’s sleep, the hour lost in the shuffle of international travel. Land running, energized by what lies ahead. Highclere Lunch with the Bakers Sunday. Early … Read more
I did it. Yup, I did it. Pulled up all the snow sticks. It was a beautiful afternoon a few weeks ago, the sun was shining, blue skies, short sleeves and spring was here. For real. I pulled up the white plastic stakes with spray-painted blue tops from the house to the barn and had … Read more
