Askin’ Haskin

The road to the Breeders’ Cup has officially begun, with Breeders’ Cup Ltd releasing the race schedule for both days, October 30 and 31. The fields have begun to take shape, but we are still monitoring the progress of Sovereignty, the likely Classic favorite who has recovered from a foot abscess and is back working. But for now, the headliner is world traveler and adopted American Forever Young, fresh off his victory in The Jockey Club Gold Cup. So what better time to tell his story…

Because there is a lot to digest regarding all aspects of Forever Young’s Gold Cup victory and the death of Arthur Hancock, who certainly played a major part in the colt’s pedigree, we decided to wait a week to cover it all in depth. This week, there is a Jockey Club Gold Cup annniversary that we feel needs to be featured. So let’s use the 30th anniversary of Skip Away’s thrilling upset over the mighty Cigar in the 1996 Jockey Club Gold Cup to remember a horse who embodies the words tough, strong, fast, and durable…

 So what if it is ridiculously early to start writing about a 2-year-old who just broke his maiden. Once Belmont Park opens there will be plenty of pre-Breeders’ Cup stories to write. But when a 2-year-old creates the kind of excitement that U.S.S. Valor created at Saratoga on September 5, why not get an early jump on a potential star just in case he is as special as he looked and not just one of those maiden monsters who burn brightly and extinguish quickly. As they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained…

I have been writing for Secretariat.com for six years after being Senior Correspondent at The Blood-Horse for over 20 years. I have never gotten more satisfaction and enjoyment writing than I have since joining a website dedicated not only to the horse of our lifetime and being part of his legacy, but also to the history of the sport. Since its inception in 2002, Secretariat.com’s mission has been “to celebrate Thoroughbred racing’s past by remembering its heroes and enhancing the awareness of the sport by educating today’s fans and sparking new ones.” Along with learning about Secretariat’s exercise saddle being part of the recent announcement of The Racing Memorabilia Auction to be held by Cross Gate Gallery in Lexington, Kentucky on December 3, I have been privy to an advance list of the auction’s many extraordinary items. In this column, I am focusing on one particular offering demonstrating that even the seemingly less spectacular items can generate great excitement and have momentous historical significance hidden in its contents…

We must admit that we have mixed feelings at best about the result of the Travers Stakes, in which we had a horse win one of the most prestigious races in America off only two lifetime starts. Yes, the times are changing, but this was an odd race to watch from start to finish with several highly regarded horses simply not firing the way they had in the past, one being eased, and yet another of the numerous slowly run races by this crop of 3-year-olds. With that said, it was a great day of racing with several standout performances. And perhaps we have seen a new star emerge with an unlimited future…

Remember the Broadway show “Sunday in the Park with George,” which starts with artist Georges Seurat staring at a blank canvas. Well, that is Saturday’s Travers Stakes, as we all stare at a blank canoe in the infield lake at Saratoga and try to find the colors that will make it a masterpiece. In the opening line of the show, Seurat keeps looking at the canvas and says simply, “White. A blank page or canvas. So many possibilities.” In this column we look at some of those possibilities, but not in the traditional manner. Our brush strokes will have mostly sharp angles, with one of them more prominent than the others…

Although there is no denying that Medaglia d’Oro’s greatest daughter was Horse of the Year and Hall of Famer Rachel Alexandra, and one of his most brilliant was Hall of Famer Songbird, one can make the claim that it is Nitrogen who is truly her father’s daughter, judging from the many similarities of their respective careers and how close each came to attaining greatness…

This column is about two horses and two races and the excitement and emotion they generated on a memorable day of racing at Saratoga. One horse we have written about numerous times, chronicling his life from the training center to the racetrack and through all his big victories. The other is an old friend from the 2024 Kentucky Derby trail, whose life took a dramatic turn that transformed him into one of the most honest, consistent, and reliable horses in the country…

This is sort of an offbeat column I wrote before leaving for Saratoga this past Thursday. The Spa has been a physical and spiritual retreat for me since 1968 and still casts its spell every time I drive over the Mohawk River bridge and then exit The Northway, or interstate 87. Each time, the memories of those 58 years always come flooding back, and in some ways inspired me to deviate from my normal column and step up on a soapbox to discuss history’s place in today’s society, as well as my use of it…

This is the story of that horse, his emergence as a major stallion influence, and his place in the history books as a racehorse, having accomplished something no horse had ever accomplished before or since nearly 20 years later. It is also a look back at one of the great 3-year-old crops in memory and one of the most exciting Triple Crowns I have ever covered…