Sean's Blog

Baseball wednesday

The lights just turned on. Batting practice in the cage. A couple of pitchers stretch their high-school arms with colorful bands clipped to the chain link backstop. Clang. Clang. Clang. Balls ricochet off the top of the cage. A plane flies overheard. The marching band takes a break, they have … Read More

Bouncing back

Thanks for the leeway to wallow in the photo-finish blues for two days. Slowly getting over it. Like always, each loss finds its way down the ladder of losses. Nothing will get close to Eagle Poise in the San Juan Capistrano. A sliver of a nose in the last jump. … Read More

Photo Finish

Head up. Head down. Short stride. Long stride. Win. Lose. A nose. That’s it. A nose. There is nothing like a nose in horse racing. Pietrelcina rallied along the rail to nail pacesetter Watermelon Crush. But when did he nail him? One of those where you slide off the couch … Read More

Three Columns

Every day, I peruse cards from France, Ireland, England and North America and log the races I want to watch. From a buyer’s perspective, a bettor’s eye and a fan’s view. It’s always an eclectic list. Today’s list spans three columns, a rarity, and is certainly eclectic. La Teste De … Read More

Back to jumping

The good thing about having options is you can use them. Cyber Ninja ran evenly in the two-other-than at Kentucky Downs, further confirming his lack of interest on the flat. We’ve kicked around adding blinkers, changing some things but watching him yesterday, he looks like a horse who has had … Read More

On to Kentucky

Settling back into a routine in Virginia while our horses travel to Kentucky. Fresh off a hurdle win at Colonial Downs, Cyber Ninja returns to the flat for a $200,000 allowance race at Kentucky Downs this afternoon. We toyed with the $1 million Bowling Green Gold Cup going 2 1/16 … Read More

Packing up

One final day at Saratoga before we get on the road. Another season past, another year older. The Saratoga Special finished its 25th season of racing coverage. A lot of words, a lot of races in those 25 years. We’re honored to cover the season, the sport. Vintage Year ran … Read More

Double

Riverdee welcomed the return of the Races at Fair Hill to the schedule with two wins, a second and a third over the six-race card. Thanks to everyone who contributed to get the Cecil County mainstay back on the calendar. I’m looking forward to the funnel cake in the spring. … Read More

Four at Fair hill

Fair Hill returns. Six races. And Riverdee returns. Four runners. The Races at Fair Hill presented by Brown Advisory rolls back into action at the venerable Cecil County oval. Revamped, refurbished and reimagined, the races commence for the first time since 2019. No jumping this time around – baby steps, baby … Read More

Missing It

You guessed it. It’s that time of year. With six cards of racing and one final edition of The Special to go, it’s time for the annual “I’ll miss, I won’t miss.” You know the one, you know the feeling. The ecstasy of Saratoga and the agony of Saratoga. The … Read More