It was a long, long time ago, but I remember it like it was (almost) yesterday. I was 15-16 and I was at the Saratoga Race Course with my Uncle Louie. And while I had been to this fabled course as a wee lad on a few occasions, I had never been given a race program. My Uncle Louie felt it was time to ramp up my … Continue reading Remember Your First Time ?
The adage states that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So is wagering Value. To wit: ascertaining Value is a key element in handicapping a race, it’s as subjective as any other part of trying to pick a Winner. What could be an overlay to one bettor just might be seen as an underlay by another. There might not be a clear-cut answer, … Continue reading True Value
Monday the Daily Racing Blog wrote about the basics of the Breeders’ Cup Championships, and it’s history. We mentioned how the end-of-year event rotates each season to different iconic racing venues. This year being Keeneland. So, in what has become an annual question since its inception- why hasn’t the oldest race course in America ever hosted this extravaganza? That’s right, Saratoga has never been home to the Breeders’ Cup. The … Continue reading Why No Breeders Cup At Saratoga?
The Breeders’ Cup is the biggest event in global horse racing. If the Triple Crown is the horse racing equivalent of MLB League Championships, then the Breeders’ Cup is the World Series. The Daily Racing Blog will be writing a lot about the event in the next six weeks, so if there are some readers out there who aren’t familiar with the two-day celebration of horse racing, … Continue reading Breeders’ Cup Basics
If you’re a potential first time horse owner, congratulations. If you’re acquiring the animal as a foal you will have the honor of christening the colt. Seems easy enough, but there are some guidelines. Here are the basics. First, you get a max of 18 characters (including spaces) to come up with a name. When you register a race horse you have to come up … Continue reading Name That Horse
They are stationed at every racetrack you will visit, and like a good offensive lineman, you may or may not even notice them. While training or racing is being conducted on a racetrack, horsemen called outriders are employed to supervise the events and to help as necessary. They are available any time horses are on the racetrack, whether it is during morning training or the … Continue reading Outriders
There’s a bit of a twist in the New York racing schedule this fall. NYRA and crew always return downstate following the end of the Saratoga meet on Labor Day. But this year, instead of the usual fall meet at Belmont Park, racing will move to Aqueduct for a 28-day fall meet which will be referred to as Belmont at the Big A. A construction project … Continue reading Belmont At The Big A
With the Saratoga and Delmar summer meets behind us, racing fans from around the world will turn their attention to the Breeders’ Cup. Each racing season ends with just one finish line: the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. It’s the two-day, 14-race, year-end culmination that every horse, jockey, trainer and owner across the globe has in their sights. Where the world’s greatest come together to crown … Continue reading Breeders’ Cup Origins
The New York Racing Association (NYRA) announced that the all-sources wagering handle during the 2022 summer meet at Saratoga surged to a record $878,211,963. That WOW number eclipsed the previous record of $815,508,063, established last year, by 7.7 percent. The record setting 40-day meet generated average daily handle of $21,955,299, which is also the highest such figure in the history of Saratoga. On-track handle, which … Continue reading Toga 22′ By The Numbers
This is the time of year (in horse racing) when, as you reach a certain age, you realize just how difficult it is to keep time from slipping past us. Old friends reemerge while others disappear or pass away. Acquaintances become friends as mutual admiration takes hold. Saratoga has (seemingly), mastered at least the illusion that time, while still slipping away can do so at … Continue reading The Spa Is Over
