Off to a Flying Start

We saw “War Horse” at Lincoln Center Theater this week and I thought a short review for those of us who love horses was in order. From the Miriam-Webster Dictionary:  War Horse 1: a horse used in war: charger 2: a person with long experience in a field; especially: a veteran soldier or public person

Simulcast horse racing is a wicked calling But Jim is one who claims to be shrewd He follows race upon race with bankroll falling While betting horses on the tube X Around his home there are no roses rambling Not a warm greeting at the door Those sacred chips are gone to gambling His obligations lef

As everyone knows by now,  this week the last of the NYC OTB parlors closed their doors, probably for good. I was never a big OTB player, I had a telephone account with them, but I usually stopped in just to get the Daily Racing Program. Known as the “the book” to the tellers, for [...]

They came in the Jazz Age to see the noble Man o’ War During the Depression people cheered their great Seabiscuit Rock and revolution were at the track to greet Secretariat Now this twittering age bids farewell to our mare Zenyatta X She has stepped into the gate for the very last time Calm as a

The demise of the NYC OTB has been well documented. Here are a few shots from the NYPL’s picture collection from when OTB was in its salad days. NYC OTB opened in April of 1971 and shortly began using the ticket booths in the Grand Central Terminal for taking bets. The New Yorker ran this cartoon in

The anticipation of five Grade I races on Super Saturday is upon us and here are a few possibly unrecognized stats that are worth bearing in mind. Bill Mott surged last week with 4 wins and now has a total of 5 out of 15 starts in the first 12 days. With Kent D on the [...]

During the first seven racing days at Belmont’s Fall Meet Ramon Dominguez has been finishing in the money at a titanic 67 percent clip. After 52 starts he is in a familiar position: tied with John Velazquez with 11 wins out of 67 total races. In a memorable stretch of nine races in which he [...]