all in Pop Culture

As I sit in our Manhattan apartment on a cold January day, anticipating yet more NFL playoff games and having just watched an exciting Manchester United/Liverpool match, I hark back to the days that Thoroughbred racing was the dominant sport in the winter months.

The Super Bowl was played in early January, the baseball season was still months away, the NBA was a Sunday afternoon event (there was no racing on Sundays).  The NHL still had only interest in the “Original 6” cities and did not have a national TV contract.

Welcome to ABR’s Pigskins and Ponies column, where winners play!

Horse racing is my means to an end, and I love the sport like no other, but I admit it, like most of you on a Sunday afternoon in the fall, it’s hard to pull me away from my couch ... and NFL RedZone.

I have a wanted sign in Vegas and am feared by fantasy football mavens nationwide, but when it comes to the college game, I choose to punt.

That’s where Bob Nastanovich comes in. He craves action and loves a good underdog as well as a cheap claiming horse with a big heart.

Horse racing can be a complicated sport, and most people don’t know much about it beyond the Triple Crown. Luckily for you, there is a surplus of information and fun facts surrounding one of America’s oldest pastimes. Check out the list below if you’re looking for an edge on your next trivia night at the pub.

In 1981, on the heels of his success in the sitcom “Different Strokes,” Gary Coleman was being courted to star in a number of feature films. The script he eventually chose as his big-screen debut? A comedy called “On the Right Track.”

What in the world was an oil painting of horse racing doing in a log cabin in La Pine, Ore.? A friend texted me from a yard sale and said, “Is this anything?” My fingers flew on my phone as I recognized the striking silhouette of Saratoga with seven horses charging around the turn. “Buy it for me – please!” Now it resides above my mantle among my other pieces of horse racing art and I am thrilled every time I look at it. There is something pleasing about horses in art whether abstract or realistic.

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