JC / Railbird

International Archive

More Top Hats, Please

I’m watching At the Races‘ live video stream of opening day at Royal Ascot and thinking, there just aren’t enough occasions for men to appear in top hats and morning coats (even racing pundit John McCririck, who I saw wandering around the Breeders’ Cup last fall wearing what looked like a large fleece blanket with a polar bear pattern, is cleaned up). Perhaps instead of making the Saratoga clubhouse dress code more casual this summer, NYRA should toughen it up, encouraging a renaissance in classy men’s wear.
More insightful, less sartorial, comment on the Ascot races available at the Guardian live blog …

Posted in International on June 17, 2008

Monday Morning Links

– Curlin could be Arc-bound. Time to start planning an October Paris sojourn …
– Dear NTRA: Free “Web 2.0” advice worth following.
– Check out the Paulick Report, now live.
– San Felipe winner Georgie Boy, who missed the Kentucky Derby with a pulled muscle in his hind, is back in training and prepping for races later this year.
– Enjoy Met Mile winner Divine Park while you can: Stud plans for the 4-year-old son of Chester House are set.
– Posting will be light this week, but I’ll back in full swing soon, looking toward to the upcoming Saratoga meet.

Posted in Horses, International on June 16, 2008

Checkbook Racing

No Dubai World Cup winners for Sheikh Mohammed, but his long-term prospects for racing success look good, if money spent is any indication: “Since the second half of last year he has blown, at a conservative estimate, close to a billion of his estimated £14 billion fortune on horses for racing and breeding, double the sum he is prepared to pay in his ongoing attempt to buy Liverpool FC …”

Posted in International on April 1, 2008