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Last summer, when Sophia Mangalee read a story on Equidaily.com about the winner of the 2010 Mongol Derby, she was more than intrigued and entertained. She was inspired. “I was 100% convinced from the minute I saw (the article) that I would do that race,” said Mangalee, 28, the marketing manager of Monmouth Park.  “I thought about it for ...

(By Avalyn Hunter) When the board of the Breeders' Cup announced its plans to phase out all race-day medication for Breeders' Cup entrants, discussions sprang up  on media outlets, forums, and blogs across the country.[Read The Blood-Horse editor Eric Mitchell's comments  in this week's What's Going On Here column.] Most of ...

A little gazpacho goes a long way. The 12 oz. bowl at the Putnam St. Market stand on the racecourse’s Restaurant Row for $5 is a zippy-tasting concoction that’ll satisfy your appetite.  If you’re looking for something a little spicy, try the Manhattan clam chowder at the stand underneath Section J, also for $5.  Add a douse of red hot ...

 You could tell which people stayed out late dancing to the bands at the Hat’s Off to Saratoga celebration on Broadway by whether or not they slept through the thunder storm. A rumble that sounded like a semi rolling through a tunnel escaped the notice of those who were still sleeping hard at 4 am.  The storm passed without damage, for ...

Someday, someone will decide it is time to put the old lady down. That’s what they do to classic racetrack buildings like Ascot and Churchill Downs, and, ultimately Saratoga. Blueprints for a glass-enclosed structure to replace the inadequately-accommodating At the Rail Pavilion are sitting in some bigwig’s top desk drawer - thank goodness. But, ...

Saratoga will be the focus of much of my attention this weekend, but the grade I Eddie Read Stakes from Del Mar figures to be a key race in a distance turf division that, quite frankly, is as soft as it has been in many years. Acclamation has put together two consecutive impressive wins including the grade I Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap ...

With Saratoga and Del Mar opening racing’s greatest season, here are few leftover thoughts and facts.More Blind LuckFirst off, let me correct something I wrote in my last blog. I reported, based on what I had been told and an accompanying link, that Jerry Hollendorfer had told DRF he would not run in the Delaware Handicap unless Blind Luck ...

It’s not easy to tell when the Saratoga horse racing season begins. The official start is at 1:00 pm today.  But Saratoga horse racing is a lot of things that horse racing elsewhere isn’t, and some of those things have begun already. Last night, for example, the 18th annual Earl B. Feiden Siro’s Cup, a party organized to raise money for the ...

Saturday's 95th running of the Coaching Club American Oaks (gr. I) will be contested at 9 furlongs for the second consecutive year. It might be hard to believe, but 8 years and 3 furlongs ago this was the premier staying race for 3-year-old fillies. Over its history, the race's fluctuation in distance—often due to a change on the calendar or to ...

(Originally published in the July 23, 2011 issue of The Blood-Horse magazine. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions at the bottom of the column.)  One of Richard Papiese’s fondest childhood memories while growing up on the south side of Chicago was going to the old Washington Park track with his mother. “I grew up ...