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Thursday, April 26, 2012
Welcome to Spring at Belmont Park! This native New Yorker will be spending the season in the city and sharing my experiences with my HRN friends!
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Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Yesterday a new class of champions was crowned at the Eclipse Awards. Here are the results and reactions in the words of the winners.
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Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Say the word jackpot and most people think Vegas or Atlantic City. Among racing fans however jackpot brings to mind one of the richest the races ...
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Thursday, October 13, 2011
The GIII JP Morgan Jessamine Stakes, the last of the Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win-and-You're-In" Races hosted by Keeneland, runs today. The eighth race on the card, the $150,000 race will have 2yo fillies going 1 1/16m on the turf and offers the winner automatic berth into the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf race next month.
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Sunday, October 09, 2011
Which lucky lady will win instant entry into the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic? Post time is 5:45 for the Juddmonte Spinster Stakes at Keeneland today. Watch and find out!
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Saturday, October 08, 2011
Day two of the Keeneland meet has three more Breeders' Cup Challenge races on the card, including the GI Shadwell Turf Mile...
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Friday, October 07, 2011
Melaina Phipps previews the races as the Phoenix and the Alcibiades kickoff a crowed Keeneland stakes schedule...
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Monday, October 03, 2011
I had the pleasure of meeting racing legend H. Allen Jerkens at Saratoga this summer and one of the first things we launched into discussing was our shared interest in polo. After gleaning some good playing tips from the Chief, he indulged me once more by agreeing to be the first to respond to the twenty questions in the Proust Questionnaire: Racing edition.
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Friday, September 30, 2011
Pedigree. Almost every Thoroughbred that is foaled today is the product of particular attention to pedigree. What all of them have in common in their bloodlines is one of three foundation stallions of the breed: the Byerley Turk (1678), the Darley Arabian (1700), and the Godolphin Arabian (also known as the Godolphin Barb) (1724). Each of their sire lines is a veritable red carpet of Thoroughbred race horses throughout the centuries, each one contributes and incredible story to the heritage of the Thoroughbred breed.
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Saturday, August 27, 2011
A Trove of Traditions, Old and New
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Meet Melaina Phipps
I came to horseracing only about a decade ago. (And no, I am no relation to the celebrated racing family of the same name.) My equine interests prior to that began, as they do for most young girls, with riding lessons and horse shows, and ended up with me playing polo while a graduate student at UVA and thereafter. It was entirely unexpected that I should spend time on the backstretch at Saratoga in the summer and on the rail at Payson Park in Florida in the winter watching some of the best trainers and horses in the country work. But that’s where I found myself and where my interest in this wild ride of an industry took shape. I don’t exercise racehorses; I don’t work with a trainer. I watch, I listen, I ask a lot of questions, and I learn. I enjoy supporting equine charities. Sometimes I bet a little.
I leave the handicapping and serious race talk and examination to those more knowledgeable than I. What I’d like to share through Around the Oval are some of the myriad observations, stories, histories, events, charities, places, and personalities that make up the variegated landscape of the Thoroughbred racing industry. If you find any—or all—of it interesting, please leave comments. Have any particular interests you’d like to read about? Send word—suggestions are more than welcome!