2023 Another Impressive Year for Riverdee

Just thinking about our old friend Laura Thiel. Today is her birthday. She’s been gone five years now. Hard to believe. Still hard to believe. I wrote this five years ago. The obituary reads two lines.  Laura Thiel Shull, 56, of Camden, died Thursday, February 18, 2021. Arrangements will be announced by … Read More

The final Belmont Racing Festival at Saratoga done and dusted. Rocket One nearly sent it off on a high for Riverdee. Nearly. Tough beat. Cool horse. In front for far too long, he got lonely in the longest, loneliest stretch in the history of horse racing. Oh, to have that … Read More

It was a throwaway line, a token gesture. If you need anything, I’m around.  I sent it to Emme Fullilove, who was helping with Jack Fisher’s runners for Wednesday’s Beverly R. Steinman Stakes at Saratoga. A longtime steeplechase ally, Fullilove has a full-time job galloping flat horses for trainer Tom … Read More

Welcome to Saratoga. The Saratoga Special returns for its third and final run as the Belmont Special. First edition Thursday morning. Four in a row. Fourteen-race cards Friday and Saturday. Head home Sunday. Read The Special. Rocket One could make the week, the meet. The 7-year-old makes his Grade 1 … Read More

Funnel cake. Foamy beer. Hot tips. Hotter afternoons. Long skinny trifecta tickets. Short exacta tickets. Sheila and I picking them up off the confetti-strewn blacktop, wish we still had them. Hunt meet bookies on the other side of the windows. Joey and his boys selling tip sheets and ruining the … Read More