American Dave Johnson, a long-time attendee of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, checked in with the TDN to relate his experience from the 2018 edition this past weekend. Steps. Lots of Steps. Could it be that when they tore down the two old Longchamp buildings, and rebuilt the new ParisLongchamp, the architects went “step [...]

Paris has many communities, bars, and ethnic neighborhoods–and there are horseplayers in them all. It seems like every different community has a different choice for this Sunday's G1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp. For this 1 1/2-mile turf classic, the French, the Irish, the English, the Japanese and the Americans have lined [...]

Editor's Note: The following letter was sent to the New York Times in the days following the GI Travers S. at Saratoga and was shared with the TDN. Dear New York Times, For 45 years, I have had the New York Times delivered to my front door. My day is not complete without reading the [...]

Michael Dickinson is a great horse trainer. He is known on both sides of the Atlantic because of some extraordinary feats. But his knowledge of horse racing and the people involved is why I got an email from him last week. He was an amateur champion rider, then a professional jockey in England for more [...]

Originally these “Tips of the Top Hat” after the five-day Royal Meeting at Ascot were entitled Down The Stretch Awards, but since the Ascot home stretch is uphill, I have renamed these presentations as the Up The Stretch Awards, also known as the “Stretchies.” BEST PERFORMANCE BY A HORSE: She won't get the headlines she [...]

If you don't think blood is thicker than water, you should have been in the paddock at Royal Ascot on Friday afternoon. Aidan O'Brien trained three of the nine-horse field in the G2 King Edward VII S. They were Delano Roosevelt (Ire) (Gallieo {Ire}), who many thought was the best of the three, along with [...]

In less than a London minute, Wesley Ward turned into a hero just after 2:35 in the afternoon at Royal Ascot in the G2 Norfolk S. The margin of victory was shorter than a nose, shorter than half-a-nose. It was a whisker. Because the Ward stable has been cold over the first two days, the [...]

When I heard the Ascot track announcer say, “Tony Curtis is heading to the stalls,” it took me a while to put two and two together. “I thought Tony Curtis was dead,” the guy next to me in the press box muttered. I was sure he was, too. But then I realized the announcer was [...]

There were a couple of noteworthy newcomers at Royal Ascot on opening day. Most notably, Meghan Markle rode in the third Royal Carriage with her new husband, Prince Harry. Besides Markle, sensational New York jockey Jose Ortiz also made his first appearance to the top hat and tails crowd. Ortiz was blanked in his only [...]

It was when I saw the carriage. It was GI Preakness S. morning this year, and I was throwing stuff I needed for my Sirius XM show into a bag. And then, I saw it again, out of the corner of my eye. Every television station had it on. You couldn't miss it. Live coverage [...]

Originally these “Tips of the Top Hat” after the five-day Royal Meeting at Ascot were entitled Down the Stretch Awards, but since the Ascot home stretch is uphill, I have renamed these presentations as the Up the Stretch Awards, also known as the “Stretchies.” BEST RACE CALL: On Thursday in the G2 Ribblesdale S., The [...]

If you are reading this column, you probably wanted to be a jockey when you were a kid, right? Who didn't want to ride in a race if you went to your local track with family and friends. I rode the back of the couch, like you did, while listening to the race call. I [...]