When racing fans hear the name Champagne Stakes, they think about rising star 2-year-olds, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, Kentucky Derby prospects, and some of the great Thoroughbreds of all time among the list of winners. But for this year’s $500,000, one-mile race Saturday at Belmont Park, there will be a distinct theme from a different sport: ice hockey.
That combination of milk chocolate, caramel, nougat, and peanuts truly is satisfying. So, too, is the way the Snickers bar was named … especially for racehorse fans.
Minnesotan Franklin Clarence Mars developed a passion for candy making as a child when he had a mild case of polio. It was during that time that his mother, Alva, taught him how to hand-dip chocolate, so we owe Alva a debt of gratitude every time we inhale a Milky Way, a packet of M&M’s, or, yes, a Snickers.
As the 10th anniversary of Garrett Gomez's death approached, I found myself watching the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic again.
Like every racing fan, I knew what was coming. Blame would turn for home with Garrett quietly waiting. Zenyatta would launch the breathtaking rally that had become her trademark. Trevor Denman's call would rise with the drama unfolding before him, and in one of the sport's most unforgettable finishes, Blame would hold on by a head, handing the great mare the only defeat of her remarkable career.
The Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award has selected six semifinalists in the competition that annually recognizes excellence in Thoroughbred sport literature. These titles, published in 2025, include three nonfiction historical studies from racing’s earliest years, a fictional pre-Civil War saga of racing and race in Mississippi, a deeply reported investigation of recent high-profile racing drug violations and the evolution of federal horse safety regulation, and a coffee table tome that profiles nearly 100 American racetracks, past and present.
