BloodHorse.com

The emphasis was on good racing again, the day after the circus left town.  Oh, sure, the NYRA marketing team trotted out a nifty cooler tote giveaway to inflate the attendance numbers.  But people who love the sport were treated to one of racing secretary P.J. Campo’s better cards – this, with only one day left on the Saratoga docket. ...

Saratoga officials didn’t set an attendance goal for Saturday’s invasion by Curlin.  But a projected crowd of 30,000 was bandied about in many corners, and 30,000 must have been the number intended.Well, only 22,572 people showed up.  The shortfall was not NYRA’s fault.  The track’s marketing team pulled out all stops.  If John ...

The police blotter in the newspaper is what all the guests at Carmel Grey’s 75th birthday party were talking about when Grey, a visitor from Indianland, South Carolina, returned from the racetrack to her son Ken’s house for the surprise event, held earlier this closing week.Granted, to delight in somebody else’s troubles may be a little twisted. ...

If you’ve ever wondered how much one of those big plastic bags stuffed with empty beer cans is worth, the answer is $25.  The “goat patrol” provides a public service for NYRA, scavenging the grandstand and picnic grounds, picking up the precious metal throughout the race day and afterward.  Then with the bags full of empties over their ...

The USS Saratoga ball cap that Tom Capstraw wore on Wednesday was not a tricked-up accessory to his NYRA-issued red vest, white shirt and black bow tie.  It was “Proud to be an American” day at the track, and Capstraw, an usher in Section J who served 17 months on the aircraft carrier and four years in the Navy before 25 years as a postal ...

Based on Reports of Mares Bred, The Jockey Club recently announced its projection of the foal crop of 2009 as 35,400, which would represent a 3.3% decline from the estimated 36,600 foals of 2008.Many believe the foal crop should be much smaller.Consider this quote from pinhooker Eddie Woods, speaking at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s yearling ...

It is time once again for the annual pilgrimage to the mecca of racing that makes me briefly forget all the problems the sport is facing and remember the way it used to be.This year marks my (gulp!) 49th anniversary at Saratoga, so what better time to go down memory lane and rekindle the first of many unforgettable moments that have made Saratoga ...

No tip jar at the racetrack beats the one with the sign that two questionable teenagers put up.  The sign reads, “For the collage fund.”  Uh-huh.  Is that “collage fund” as in “college fund?” And, if so, God bless the admissions director who admitted them.Everyone is out to make a buck.  The woman who sells your racing form ...

Gov. David Paterson of New York is ordinarily a pretty good public speaker.  But standing in front of the television cameras following Colonel John’s slimmest of Travers victories, Paterson talked too much and said little, and, in fact, got his geography wrong.New York is only the capital of Thoroughbred racing in August, and only on days ...

Courtesy of Becky Johnston With the running of the Pat O’Brien Stakes this weekend, I set out to find just who was Pat O’Brien.We all know who Bing Crosby was and what his contributions to the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club were, but it seems that a whole generation has no recollection of the second largest investor in the building of the track by ...