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The Outside Rail

A conversation with Leo O’Brien

Editor’s Note: Saratoga Race Course runs the first edition of the Leo O’Brien Stakes Sunday (post time 1:10 p.m. One of the last times someone from The Special interviewed him, he talked about what it was like to gallop champion 2-year-old of 1970 Hoist The Flag. From the Aug. 6, 2019 edition of The Saratoga … Read more

The Outside Rail: Sense of Place

A racing fan, or a guy at the races anyway, approached Todd Pletcher in the upstairs seating area at Aqueduct Racetrack with a pen, a copy of the Daily Racing Form and a question. “Will you sign my Form?”  the guy asked. “Sure,” replied Pletcher, who signed his name and handed back the paper. The … Read more

The Outside Rail: Sing It With Me

These are the good old days. Someday we’ll look back on this and it will all seem funny. Read those in a singing voice and they sound a little more sensible, or something, because there will come a time where someone will look up Belmont Stakes historical records, and shout across a crowded room, “They … Read more

At home, without Katie

The house is library quiet in the morning. No lip-smacking. No ear scratching. No head-shaking. No downward-dog stretches or flops from a bed, hers or someone else’s. No rolling around on the floor to unkink her back, rub the sleep out of her eyes and groan like a small bear. No deep inhales and heavy … Read more

Smart And Fancy gets her due

Originally published in the April 2025 Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred magazine. The interview always resonates. It’s one I recollect with ease and quote regularly – no, not verbatim. I can’t find the notes file, which may have been typed into software that no longer exists – or perhaps scribbled into a notepad. If the computer I wrote … Read more

In Focus: Talking horses, photos with Louise Reinagel

The homemade ice cream might lure you in, the Medaglia d’Oro filly could catch your eye, but the conversation with ice-cream scooper/equine photographer Louise Reinagel will make you glad you stopped by Northview Stallion Station’s consignment at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga. The Florida resident went to the Maryland farm to photograph Hip 169 for some promotional material … Read more

Not so blue for injured Blue Creek

Hay nets hang. Fans buzz and blow. Sponges sploosh and splash. Sweat scrapers scrape. Horses head to the track as riders adjust tack. Grooms speak in English and Spanish. Over there, a goat wanders everywhere she’s not supposed to. And one hurt horse points his hip at his webbing and dozes.  Sporting a cast/pressure bandage … Read more

The Hat Got Me

When I heard of Christophe Clement’s passing Sunday morning, my immediate thoughts went to his wife Valerie, children Miguel and Charlotte and extended family at the barn and beyond. Then I replayed various moments from my job trying to interview him about horses and his job training horses. He once took me to his “favorite … Read more