This year, I got to learn about and then chronicle twelve horses from a variety of eras that embody the best that racing has to offer: fillies that fly, horses of tremendous heart, and stories that give us new perspectives on historic moments. Click on the caption to visit each and find more great pieces at Past the Wire.
Thank you to Jon and Nick for the chance to work on these pieces.
Hint: Right click on links below and select open in a new tab.
The Racing Biz covers mid-Atlantic racing, highlighting the sport from its equine stars to the legislative and other official issues that govern the sport in the region. This year, I was able to work on the BackTracks column for the site, profiling great horses and important personalities with a mid-Atlantic connections. Click on each photo’s caption to read the story.
Hint: Right click on links below and select open in a new tab.
Pete Fornatale and Jonathon Kinchen have a brilliant podcast called the In the Money Podcast, where they talk about handicapping, racing previews, and more. I recently appeared on the show to talk about books, artwork, and other gift ideas for the horse racing person in your life. Here are the books that I recommended!
I have the privilege of visiting Saratoga Spring, New York and the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame this weekend for two events:
Author Talk: Sir Barton and the Making of the Triple Crown — Friday, August 16th at 6:30 pm. After my presentation, I will be signing books.
Saturday Morning Socials — Lenny Shulman, author of Justify: 111 Days to Triple Crown Glory, and I will be signing books at the Museum before the day’s races at Saratoga. (9:30 – 11:30 am)
I hope you can come by and see me! I would love to talk about all things Sir Barton and racing history with you!
Every time Triple Crown season rolls around, Kenny Rice is there, reporting for NBC Sports. You can catch his familiar cadence and expert coverage on their broadcasts so imagine my thrill when I discovered that Mr. Rice had a show of his own! Streaming on YouTube, you will find all 29 episodes, featuring names like Bill Parcells, Mike Smith, Bill Mott, Larry Collmus, and more. Imagine my delight when I was able to part of Mr. Rice’s Horse Racing Show! Below you can find my interview with Mr. Rice.
You can find the show on YouTube and subscribe to their channel or stream the audio here. Thank you to Kenny Rice and his staff for this chance to be a part of a great show!
Eternal had had enough of Sir Barton. As the day of the mile-and-an-eighth Dwyer bloomed gloomy with the summer rain, Kimball Patterson, the colt’s trainer, took the weather as a sign that perhaps it was time to say when. Eternal had faced Sir Barton three times in 1919 and all three times the son of Star Shoot had gotten the better of the juvenile co-champion of 1918. Sir Barton was simply the better of the two now.
Almost a month after his Belmont Stakes victory, Sir Barton was still a perfect four-for-four in 1919. After reeling off all of his victories in only 32 days, the winner of what we now know as the first Triple Crown had had a break, but now was ready to face the barrier for the Dwyer, Commander Ross eager to add another laurel to his champion’s resumé. The rain had driven all but two other horses from facing Sir Barton on July 10, 1919. Crystal Ford was clearly out of his element, but, hey, with only three horses in the field, the colt was bound to win some money. The show, though, belonged to Sir Barton and Purchase, two colts on hot streaks that begged for something extraordinary to happen.
It’s July 4th weekend! Summer is already half over, but you still have plenty of time to kick back, relax, and enjoy some downtime before you get back to the grind. What better way to enjoy your free time this weekend than with Sir Barton? I will be around the Lexington/Frankfort area on July 5th and 6th. I hope you will come by, say hi, and talk all things Sammy and racing!
July 5 @ 12 pm — Kentucky Historical Society, Frankfort, KY
July 6 @ 10 am — Paul Sawyier Library, Frankfort, KY
July 6th @ 2 pm — Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Lexington, KY
If you can’t make it out to the Lexington/Frankfort area, why not pick up a copy of Sammy’s story for your beach reading? Sir Barton and the Making of the Triple Crown is available from your favorite bookseller or library. If your library doesn’t carry the book, you can request it.
JUNE 11, 1919
This Wednesday in New York dawned bright and warm, the almost-summer sun beating down on the regal space of Belmont Park. The trains brought in more and more people, to the point that the grounds swelled with 25,000 in attendance, twice the usual number of fans for mid-week at the track we know as Big Sandy. The first race went off at 2.44 pm, with a steeplechase and a stakes race to follow, but the throng wasn’t there for that. No, they had turned out for one race and one horse. The fourth race was the Belmont Stakes and the horse they all came to see was racing’s newest star, the first horse to win the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, Sir Barton.
After Book Tour Part I took me around the Commonwealth, I had a blissful week at home recovering before I headed back to Kentucky for the tremendous honor of participating in the Keeneland Library Lecture Series and then buzzing over to Baltimore for Preakness weekend, where I had a signing on Black-Eyed Susan Day at Pimlico and then got to yell “Riders Up!” for the Sir Barton Stakes on Preakness Day. It was a whirlwind week of traveling, one that I will definitely never forget.
Continue reading “Talking Sammy & Tracking Bode(xpress): Book Tour Part II”
The month since the release of Sir Barton and the Making of the Triple Crown has been a bit of a whirlwind, which puts me woefully behind on updating here on the Sir Barton Project. In 2016, on the occasion of Sir Barton’s 100th birthday, Lori Hoyt of the Boondocks Flower Shop and Gifts in Douglas, Wyoming was kind enough to create a bouquet of flowers for Sir Barton’s grave. This year, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Sir Barton’s Triple Crown triumph, I decided to place flowers on Sir Barton’s grave again, but, because of this milestone, I thought we needed to go bigger!
The Sir Barton Project 