#aqueduct

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/27/nyregion/aqueduct-racetrack-closing.html

“I’ll miss the action, you know what I mean?

My old man used to come out here when he wasn’t off at the bar. Some weekends, when they weren’t fighting and Mom needed the space, he would take us with him. We would sit out here in the summer sun, him chewing on his cigar and marking up his racing form with a pen from his shirt pocket, tearing up his tickets when he lost and cashing in when he won, stopping off for ice cream if he won or driving home silent and angry when he lost.

When I left home, I wanted something different for myself. I got a job in the city, running orders on Wall Street. I dated classy women, eventually convincing one to marry me. I moved uptown to a building with a doorman and put the kids in private school.

The hours at work were long, but every so often I would still come out here, playing hooky from work or from life at home. I’d win a few and lose a few, but I always brought home that marked-up racing form. I never brought the kids. Like I said, I wanted them to have a different life.

But in some ways, coming here was for me. It was a chance to be who I really am. You can play at being uptown, and this town makes that easy, but at the end of the day, you are who you always were.

I do love the action, but I’m not some degenerate gambler. Vegas is Vegas, and I’ve got a DraftKings account, but it’s not the same. They bring in the simulcasts, the slot machines, but that’s all bullshit. I gotta see the horses, walk by the paddock and see who looks strong, notice who is sweating, who is foaming at the bit in the walk-up. And seeing them run, the ones who really want it in the last turn, galloping to the outside, finding room to fly, closing hard down the stretch. They are beautiful animals, bred to do just one thing, and doing everything possible to live that destiny.

Mr. Bones is not coming back this race. You win some, you lose some. Who have you got in the fifth? I’ve got Rhapsody. Good trainer, ran a fast time in the Wood. Five to one feels light.

World is changing. Computers, AI, all that shit. They don’t need guys like us anymore. No one needs a broker anymore. They just ask the computer what to do and place an order online. Fuck the guy who could’ve shown them how to shave fifty basis points off their execution and get them into something that’s about to explode.

They laid me off three months ago. Told me I was a dinosaur. Take the package, be grateful, and get the fuck out.

I’ve been coming here ever since. Never told my wife.

The 100-acre-plus racetrack is owned by the state of New York, and horse racing fan Jay Alvarez, 64, hopes Albany can keep the site sports-oriented. His dream would be to bring the New York football Giants and Jets back to the Empire State from New Jersey. “Could you imagine having the World Cup here [like at SoFi Stadium], getting off the highway or off the plane and, boom, you’re right here?”…

NEW YORK — New York City’s last horse racing track, where Seabiscuit, Man O’ War, Secretariat and other legendary thoroughbreds graced the winner’s circle during the sport’s heyday, is on its final stretch. After more than 130 years, the once grand Aqueduct track is set to run its last live races this weekend. The final race, appropriately titled, “It Was a Good Run,” is posted for Sunday at 5:44…