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by Vic Zast A crowd of 31,894 fans pushed its way into the racecourse to see the reigning Horse of the Year. From his humble beginnings to his strolls through the streets to the bars of the city to his amazing eight-year win streak, Richie Bomze’s “Sultan of Saratoga” - Fourstardave, became a horse of the people.  On a sparkling summer day, ...

(Originally published in the August 10, 2013 issue of The Blood-Horse magazine. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions at the bottom of the column.) By Eric Mitchell - @BH_EMitchell on Twitter At first blush one might expect some concern over at The Jockey Club regarding last week’s ruling in Texas that the American ...

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 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 ...

Wise Dan and Royal Delta are two of racing biggest stars. Wise Dan already has a Horse of the Year trophy and more, and Royal Delta has brought home a pair of Eclipse Awards herself. Both can be considered great horses. But will both be mentioned among the truly greats; the superstars of the Turf? Will they be listed in the next edition of ...

(Originally published in the August 3, 2013 issue of The Blood-Horse magazine. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions at the bottom of the column.) By Eric Mitchell - @BH_EMitchell on Twitter The public outcry over the injury and subsequent euthanizing of grade I winner-turned-claimer Monzante at age 9 shows just how ...

by Vic ZastThe free tee-shirt crowd was a little late in gathering. Usually by 10:30 AM, the cars are parked up and down East Avenue and by 11:00 AM the fans here for the giveaways have spun through the turnstiles repeatedly. The pitter-patter of raindrops was a detriment to early arrival.  Channel 9 said the chance of precipitation was 100 ...

by Vic Zast Saturday’s card was the best of the new season.  A notable crowd of 25,375 fans witnessed top competition from start to finish.  Three stakes – all graded, an opener that saw the venerable Caixa Eletronica win for the twenty-second time in 65 starts, four long distance turf races and a couple of two-year-old maiden special ...

by Vic ZastEverything considered, you’d expect the New York Racing Association to cancel Wandering Dago’s contract for screwing around with barbecue by flavoring pulled pork with sweet basil marinara and melted provolone instead of for using the word “Dago.”  Wandering Dago operates a food truck that was contracted to serve a new-fangled ...