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Snapshots of Saratoga by Steve Haskin For me, memories of Saratoga transcend Thoroughbred racing and reach deep into the very fabric of my being. They go far beyond the great races and champion horses witnessed there. The magic of Saratoga has touched me mainly through special moments shared by family, providing milestones not only in my own ...

By Avalyn Hunter Bridlewood Farm is one of the showplaces of Florida breeding. It is something of a Southern counterpart to Kentucky's Claiborne: deeply involved in all aspects of the Thoroughbred industry, with an emphasis on function over style. You won't find fancy appointments or elegant architecture at either, just well-kept paddocks; clean, ...

by Vic ZastAccording to one of the two security guards standing watch of the Whitney viewing stand in the early morning hours of a weekend racing day, about 200 visitors each day have climbed the stairs to take in the action at the Oklahoma training track.Anna Saccoccio of Cranston, RI and her horse racing buddy Ann Arch of Smithfield, RI are two ...

by Vic Zast Saratoga’s oldest generation of horse racing fans will recall when the Whitney Handicap (gr. I) was the first of only four Saturday graded stakes that identified the calendar.  In those days, there were 24 days of racing, six days a week for four weeks with Sundays dark. The Whitney Handicap was, arguably, the short season’s ...

The young passengers aboard America’s Best Racing tour bus look more like they’ve been hand-picked from the clubhouse at Keeneland by a Jockey Club member checking for dirt under fingernails than by a Hollywood promoter trying to bring together a cross-section of mainstream society to form a boys or a girls band.  Regardless, the ...

Sunday Saratoga, Race 9, 5:12 pm ETThe Grade 1 Vandebilt, 3-and-up, 6 fulongs, Dirt Betting strategy:  Straight exacta: Delaunay over Justin Phillip A field of five is assembled for the Vanderbilt. Delaunay and Gentlemen's Bet both exit the Iowa Sprint Handicap at Prairie Meadows, while Bahamian Squall and Justin Phillip exit the Smile ...

Building a viewing stand on the sleepy side of Saratoga Racecourse is the same as having a neighbor move in.  That’s exactly, in fact, what has happened.  Beginning Saturday, for the first time in over 10 years, people without backstretch credentials will be permitted at least limited access to see the workouts at Oklahoma.  ...

Coming off a 10.45% increase in average and a 20% improvement in median at the Fasig-Tipton July Sale, vendors at that company's Saratoga Yearling Sale, scheduled for Aug. 5-6, will be feeling optimistic. The upward trend in prices may be less welcome to buyers seeking value, but by way of compensation there is an awful lot of quality to choose ...

Given the longstanding trend of small fields in high-priced stakes (it’s been a trend for a decade), Saratoga horse racing fans should be glad that eight horses’ numbers were drawn for Saturday’s Gr. I Whitney Handicap.  The assignments were made in the walking ring at 11:00 am Wednesday.  New York Racing Association odds-maker Eric ...

Trainer Bill Mott turned 60.  And, yes, he won a race on his birthday again – 15 times in the last 19 years, the seventh in the last seven. Take wagers now that he won’t win in 2014. His 61st birthday falls on a dark day. Birthday boy Bill Mott on the heap of history at Saratoga. Winning took him five tries on Monday.  But the ...