Gordon Waterstone

Lexington, KY — David Letterman went from NBC to CBS. Manifest is moving from NBC to Netflix. Cougar Town, which starred Lexington native Josh Hopkins, a fan of harness racing who has attended some yearling sales at Fasig-Tipton, moved from ABC to TBS. And now Backstretch With Gordon joins the club, moving from harnessracing.com to ustrotting.com.

With harnessracing.com and its parent company, Horseman Publishing, going out of business last January, that left the small staff out of work. Thankfully, everyone has landed on their feet somewhere, including me and Backstretch With Gordon at the U.S. Trotting Association, where I get to work with a great communications team, including Dan, Paul, Ken, Wendy, Mark, Rich and newbie Kyle. And I’m still not free of The Horseman’s longtime leader, Boss Kathy Parker, as she tagged along and took the position as editor of the USTA’s Hoof Beats magazine.

For those changing the channel and new to Backstretch With Gordon, 19 years ago Boss Kathy came up with this zany idea for me to wander the backstretch at The Red Mile during the two weeks of major stakes racing and report on what I see and hear. I also branched out to including some of my nighttime antics, although some of those can’t make it to print, as well as some reporting from the sale. And for some inexplicable reason, the column became a huge success.

And thanks to my agents, Amy Hollar and Nick Salvi, for securing sponsorship for Backstretch with Steve and Cindy Stewart’s Hunterton Farm. When Steve was asked if he wanted to continue, he couldn’t say “yes” fast enough, and I am most thankful for that.

So here I am, starting now Season 19. Which actually started last night when I attended the Kentuckiana Farms party at the Malone’s Banquet Center, which is across the street from the community where I reside. Thanks to Ken and Lisa Jackson and Bob and Becky Brady for the invitation. A hot topic of discussion between Ken, Bob and myself was the just-announced changes in the Kentucky Sires Stakes program that will see a big purse increase next year, including $400,000 finals.

Bob told me they caught 300 crappies at Cave Run Lake to be served as part of the buffet dinner, which translated to 600 pieces. So Bob told me to not be bashful about how many crappies I wanted to eat. I grabbed a plate and filled it with crappies, shrimp, a beef sandwich and fruit. I had left my drink at a table where Joe Holloway was sitting by himself, and when I returned the table was filled. So I sat with Brett Bittle, Bryan and Lella Montgomery, Myron and Stephanie Bell, Tony Alagna and Chris and Nicola Ryder.

I sat next to Nicola and mentioned that I saw their son, Patrick, had recently driven his first winner. Nicola told me that Patrick is days away from graduating from Rutgers University with a degree in Economics, and that he and his wife are about to have their first child, which will make her and Chris grandparents.

With an early wake-up call to get to The Red Mile by 8 a.m., it was an early night. One big change from last year was that when I arrived today I didn’t see Security Barb waiting to take my temperature as part of last year’s COVID-19 protocols to gain entrance to the barn area.

One big difference from last week is that when I arrived at the track it was 68 degrees, with today’s high expected to reach 83 degrees. Remember last Wednesday, Jugette Day, when it did nothing but rain my entire drive from Lexington to Delaware and it was miserable all afternoon at the fairgrounds. I applaud everybody who survived both Jugette Day and Jug Day, when although it was dry (except for sprinkles a couple of times) it was very cold as it was just 53 degrees.

Speaking of Ohio, a couple of Buckeye-based horsemen need some congratulations. On Jug Day, Ronnie Wrenn Jr. told me his wife, Briana, was ready to deliver their second child, but he was hoping he wouldn’t get that call during the race card. Briana obliged and waited until Sunday (Sept. 26) when they welcomed William Nash to the family. Chris Page, who will be at The Red Mile for his drives on Friday’s opening-day card, is currently vacationing with his wife, Brianna, as they celebrate their second wedding anniversary. Chris and Brianna had their first child, Carter David, last December.

Now to today at The Red Mile. When I arrived I headed directly to the breakfast table by the Deck Of Dreams. Gordon Waterstone photo.

Now to today at The Red Mile. When I arrived I headed directly to the breakfast table by the Deck Of Dreams, which was being manned by Cindy and Pete Solverson. I grabbed a bagel and chatted a few minutes, and Ron Burke came by and asked Cindy how his wife, Diane, was on the initial slate of participants for Sunday’s Dash For Cash that features teams of males and females pulling each other in a sulky. Ronnie told Cindy his wife had been scratched. There is a $12,500 purse for the Dash For Cash, sponsored by the Libfeld/Katz Breeding Partnership. Drivers and trainers will race in a 50-yard dash and then reverse positions and head back the 50 yards. The teams are Dexter Dunn/Nancy Takter; David Miller/Julie Miller; Yannick Gingras/Sarah Svanstedt; and Andy McCarthy/Makenna Pinske.

A group that included Sam Bowie and Myron Bell was sitting on the deck. Myron told me, with pride in his voice, that at age 80 he was the oldest person at the Kentuckiana gathering. I told Myron that when I hopefully turn 80 I hopefully look as good as he does.

My first stop was to find trainer Greg Wright Jr., who is here with his star 3-year-old trotter Jujubee, who won on Hambletonian Day at The Meadowlands in 1:49.4 and last Friday captured the $100,000 Phil Langley Memorial at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. Breeder-owner Jon Erdner supplemented Jujubee to the Langley for $8,000, but that’s chicken feed compared to the $75,000 he plans on spending to supplement the trotter to the Oct. 10 Kentucky Futurity.

Greg told me his stay in Lexington is extra nice because his 18-year-old daughter, Alyssa, just started classes at the University of Kentucky. With last Saturday being National Daughter’s Day, it was a great chance for Greg to spend some time with Alyssa.

Nick Salvi also had Jujubee on his mind this morning as he came by. Greg then introduced us to Greg White, who is here looking after the Rick Zeron horses. “I’m Greg Wright, meet Greg White,” said Greg Wright.

I then headed over to see Bob Stewart, where I like to reminisce about the good ole days when I’d see Bob and the late John Cashman always standing in front of the barn when I arrived daily in the morning. Just as I did at the party, Bob and I discussed the big changes for next year’s Kentucky Sires Stakes program.

I looked over to my right and saw Howard Okusko, so I went over and congratulated him and his wife, Jessica, for their pair of Massachusetts Sires Stakes winners over the weekend at Plainridge. Their dog, Maverick, came up to me and I asked Howard how he was doing after his recent elbow surgery. He said Maverick still had a slight limp but he’s doing good.

The Okuskos also found themselves in need of a driver for their 2-year-old colt trotter Valentine Express, who will start from post seven in a $72,000 Bluegrass division on Friday. I had Friday’s proof pages in hand so Howard looked through to see who might be available. A couple possibilities came up, but then Julie Miller walked by and Howard asked about Andy. So it’ll now be Andy Miller driving the son of Chapter Seven who won on the New York Sires Stakes circuit earlier.

Since I saw Maverick, I had to go check on Roxie, who is owned by Joe Holloway assistant Diane Lewis, also the caretaker of Perfect Sting. Roxie wasn’t interested as all she did was want to sleep in the middle of the barn.

Tony Alagna went by and I remarked that he was busy as usual. “Back and forth, back and forth,” said Tony.

Noel Daley went by and then came back by. “I had to switch a filly with a colt,” said Noel.

I made another trip toward the back and Joe Holloway was on the phone with Buzzy Sholty, who is in the hospital with COVID. I took the phone and asked Buzzy if I could print get-well wishes, and he said he’d like that. Buzzy told me he has been sick nearly three weeks, and has spent the past 10 days in the hospital. He said he is hoping that today is the day he can go home. I think I speak on behalf of the entire industry, get well Buzzy!

Brad McNinch went by and remarked about the popularity of Backstretch With Gordon. I told him that I still don’t understand it, but I’m grateful.

Finally, and I’m sure ya’ll have been waiting for it as it’s become tradition, gas prices in town seem to range from $2.96 to $3.05. I looked back to last year, where the prices ranged from $1.97 to $2.05, but that was because demand was low with the pandemic shutdowns. I looked at 2019, and prices were in the mid $2.50s.

Remember, racing begins at The Red Mile on Friday afternoon, with a 1 p.m. post time. Racing will continue Saturday and Sunday and then take a break until the following Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Lexington Selected Yearling Sale gets underway at Fasig-Tipton next Tuesday night (Oct. 5). The weather is supposed to be beautiful all week, with a chance of rain on Sunday. Hopefully that holds off until the evening when the race program is finished. I’ll be back with you tomorrow.