@ThePuckHag Thank you! I really enjoyed working on the entry — it reminded me of many good conversations at the track about horses and books with friends :-)
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Jessica Chapel
8.6K posts
Jessica Chapel
@railbird
Talking about Thoroughbred horse racing. Into turf writing, open data, equine safety, archives. Formerly @breederscup, @raceday360, @dailyracingform.
Suffolk Downs Katılım Mart 2009
406 Takip Edilen2.2K Takipçiler
I'm honored to share that I've been selected as the 2025 George and Anna Eliot Ticknor Collecting Prize winner for my collection documenting Thoroughbred racing culture, which includes books, ephemera, and objects like the Race-o'-Meter (one of my favorite things).
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@BucketBomberWin @TampaBayDownsFL No, that’s not me, unless you won big ;-)
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@BklynBckstretch I trust your assessment; you're closer to the conversation and I've distanced myself from it, partly because of the seeming intractability. Conditions and perceptions have shifted in 15 years, maybe the time for change has finally come.
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@railbird I’m still thinking about this. I’ve started and deleted half a dozen responses. I felt like I saw some entrenched ideas then, fewer now. I also feel like now, with an industry in crisis, & a decade+ of experience, there is more openness to options now than then.
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Writing my final summer story for @dgazettesports, I've been reviewing what I've written over the last 15 years about synthetic tracks. Here's a 2007 Bloodhorse edition devoted exclusively synthetics: bloodhorse.com/pdf/synthetic_…
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@BklynBckstretch What I notice reading our summit reports now isn't so much that the arguments are the same but how much more open the discussion seems — positions weren't hardened, (fear of) social media reaction wasn't yet inhibiting speakers. It reads like a lost chance.
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Here are bunch o'blog posts from 2007/2008, a few from after that. They're amateurish & cringy, but the comments from the 2008 synthetic summit (8 hours of listening to panels about track surfaces--remember, @railbird?) are interesting to look back at brooklynbackstretch.com/tag/synthetic-…
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@SaratogaGoose He's so gorgeous out there, a total standout on his toes. I hope he runs even better than he looks.
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@_deeholloway I'm just happy to be thought of! Who do you have? I'll always be a Forte fan but today's Dandy pick will be a parade play.
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"He's a good honest horse that can win against good horses." thoroughbreddailynews.com/mass-bred-lege…
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@wishboneoption "There's the cruelty of snagging beat writers for the short term, contributing to the decimation of their old employers, and then shooting them back out into a nearly nonexistent job market." No better summary of this move.
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I got rid of my subscription because the Athletic didn’t cover one of the two sports I follow, but this Defector piece is spot on.
Defector@DefectorMedia
The Athletic decides local news doesn't pay: defector.com/the-athletic-d…
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@jenmontfort Haven't had a chance to say this in a while but he is SO HANDSOME. One of the greats in handsomeness.
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@Pullthepocket "Irad acted like Tyler stole his lunchbox, took his seat in the cafeteria, and for his birthday got him a Chumbawumba CD." LOL!
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@jmpaquette Rarely have been so disappointed to look back at my racetrack photos and discover that I was at Saratoga — Mott always did send nice horses to Suffolk Downs.
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railbird press. we publish all things horsey & there’s a romance imprint called lovebird. @railbird is EIC. @CarlyASilver & @nataliegallops run the imprint. I read the slush.
Gabino Iglesias@Gabino_Iglesias
Someone hands you a lot of money and, because you love headaches, you decide to become a publisher and start your own press. What do you name it and what do you publish?
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This collection is out of scope for the Railbird Library but it looks like an interesting acquisition for someone: abaa.org/book/1535391274
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@wishboneoption @ThePuckHag 🤣 Degenerate style at its finest, I miss it.
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@railbird @ThePuckHag I feel like “I’m from Suffolk Downs” should exempt one from any track dress code requirement.
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Spring, when my thoughts turn to the racetrack. It helps to browse old photos of old favorites. Look at this sunny day shot from Suffolk Downs, May 1974: ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/7h1…
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