Entering the Graveyard

On an obscure afternoon last August, I was exhausted and couldn’t have been happier. My family had made the annual early morning drive from Long Island to Saratoga Springs, New York. The drive upstate had brought me from a couch in Oceanside to the gleaming white fence surrounding the paddock at Saratoga Racecourse, and I considered it a significant improvement in scenery. As I watched the horses walk around in preparation for the fourth race that day, an old man walked up to me and struck up a conversation. read more

Saratoga Analysis: Thursday, July 16, 2020

I hope everyone made some money at Belmont. It’s that time of year again for bettors to roll those profits right into some impossible races upstate at Saratoga, the single most competitive track in the country. This is a lovely opening day with the Schuylerville (G3) and Peter Pan (G3) serving as a sort of double feature. No one will be able to make the pilgrimage upstate this year, but racing continues all the same.

Keeneland Analysis: Saturday, July 11

This Saturday card in Kentucky is so much more than a Kentucky Derby prep race. Yes, the winner of the G1 Blue Grass Stakes will earn a one-way ticket to The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports. But in addition to that epic feature race, a favored filly sparring with the boys, there are five other graded stakes to discuss. Some of the best horses in the country will be facing off today on two different surfaces and every distance imaginable. If you’re playing Belmont today with a tropical storm warning in effect, then I’d suggest you change the channel. Let’s get into it. read more