Sean Clancy

The second and final day of the Dublin Racing Festival. Danny Mullins straddles Vischio, leg long, stirrups dangling as the full field of fillies and mares converge, merge and turn around in the opener, the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Paddy and Maureen Mullins Mares Handicap Hurdle. They huddle again, turn, … Read More

The Dublin Racing Festival. On a quiet Saturday in February, as my family sleeps in for a change, I’m wading into two days of high-class racing at Leopardstown Racecourse in Ireland. Willie Mullins, the greatest National Hunt trainer, in history entered 23 horses in the seven races today. And, yeah, … Read More

We have an entry. The 3:25 at Fairyhouse. Wednesday. February 5. 19 entries. Heavy ground. Imarajan is scheduled for his hurdle debut. He schools at The Curragh tomorrow (Friday). Hopefully that goes well and we go to Fairyhouse next week. There is nothing like an entry. And there is nothing … Read More

“Miles, where is your baseball glove?” “It’s there. Somewhere. In that bag. Somewhere. It’s got to be here.” “Miles, it’s not here.” I dropped off his baseball bat, his sport coat, his tie and my baseball glove. Took a deep breath, expressed my exasperation – briefly – and turned around. Forty-five … Read More

Registering the Riverdee silks in Ireland. Just in time for Imarajan who runs next week. Dark blue, two light blue hoops on body and sleeves and red cap were unavailable. I tried the British version, three hoops on the body and one hoop (they call it an armlet) on the … Read More

Shoes off. Coats off. Hoodies off. Vests off. Belts off. No liquids. Laptops can stay in your bags. Place everything in the bins. Nothing in your hands. Nothing in your pockets. Wait there. Step forward. Hands on your head. Hold still. Go ahead. I walk through the cordoned off area, … Read More

You know the kind. One day before a trip. Post office…cleaners…boarding passes…car rental…tuxedo…carry on…check bags…razor blades…betting money…Pegasus tickets…owner’s license…airport parking…house sitter…snow removal…fuel for the generator…hotel confirmation…lunch money…field trip plans…check horses…goat…cat… Whew. For better or worse, the Eclipse Award acceptance speech is pre-recorded, so at least that’s over. A script, a … Read More

Snow squall warnings at 35538. Temperatures plummeting to 7 degrees tonight, five degrees Wednesday. Windshields cleared. Briefly. Walkways cleared. Briefly. Driveway cleared. Briefly. In between those tasks, I’m volleying back and forth from writing features to buying horses. Three 500-word features for Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred complete. One to go. I’ve perused … Read More

Tapping away in a quiet hotel room before heading home. Meetings in Charleston done and dusted. A lot of conversation, a lot of ideas, a lot of energy. There is nothing like getting involved and making decisions to change your perspective. After a stint as SOTA president, five years on … Read More

17 and cloudy at 35538. Miles and Annie off to school. A rice dish in tow. For history class, something about African studies. We prepped and peppered, cooked and clean for four hours last night. We ate for about seven minutes in there somewhere. We ran out clean forks. We … Read More