Sean Clancy

No winners at Laurel Park. Serifos jumped well and ran hard to finish second behind a runaway winner in the maiden. Solid effort in his first hurdle start of his 7-year-old season. Hopefully, we can graduate at Colonial Downs later this summer. Jack Fisher’s maidens are stacking up, which makes … Read More

Happy Sunday. Happy Fathers’ Day. Happy Laurel Park. Action-packed Sunday ahead. Barn chores (immediately after this post), help orchestrate Miles’ departure to Governor’s School, quick shower, hopefully a scan of domestic form, shower, north to Laurel Park for the early double, lunch to celebrate our spring, back down I-95 for … Read More

Fourth of five days at Royal Ascot. Twenty-five fillies walk in the starting gate for the Albany Stakes. The opener. Billy Loughnane, the Opie Taylor and Lester Piggott of the British jocks’ room, winning another, a slap on the neck of Libertango, a touch upon her ear, a wave to … Read More

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

It’s Jonathan Sheppard’s spot. It will always be Jonathan Sheppard’s spot. At the crest of the hill. Heartbreak Hill. In a natural nook, to the side of the last hurdle. A patrol judge, a couple of photographers, a veterinarian, a man with a shovel and a bucket of dirt. That’s it. … Read More

Still floating after our day Saturday. Watching Rocket One soar over the last to win the Marcellus Frost. A big, beautiful, proud horse who looked promising before missing almost two years. To win a novice stakes at Iroquois, any race at the Iroquois, take a big, deep breath and know … Read More