The Saratoga Special

About The Saratoga Special

Who are we? Our three least favorite words in the dictionary. Who are we? How much time do you have? Start at the beginning. Joe and Sean Clancy began their horse racing odyssey early. Both worked for their dad, Joe, a successful flat and steeplechase trainer in the Mid-Atlantic, putting themselves through school by walking hots, galloping horses, going to the races from Far Hills to Fair Hill, Saratoga to Stoneybrook, Rockingham to Rolling Rock. Most kids went to ball games in the city, they went to point-to-points in the country. Joe dabbled as an amateur rider but always knew it was a lark while Sean started riding pony races early and set his sights on being a steeplechase jockey. Mom and Dad always said go to college and Joe and Sean listened, graduating from the University of Delaware five years apart. Joe left with a communications degree, a journalism minor and his future wife. Sean graduated with a very useful degree in history and a free pass to make it big as a jump jockey. The brothers began their writing odyssey in 1994 when they started Steeplechase Times from Joe’s basement in Newark, Delaware. Sean was riding races, Joe was working as a sports editor for a local newspaper. They wanted a project and knew the game needed a publication. It lasted 18 years, folding into a website and a section in Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred magazine after the 20121 season. The brothers added The Saratoga Special in 2001, the Thoroughbred Racing Calendar somewhere along the line and have continually grown the company and the writing to include projects, publications and clients. Got an idea, they’ll listen. Saratoga native Tom Law came on board in 2013 after his longtime employer, Thoroughbred Times, went bankrupt. Tom and Sean had joked for years about the day Tom needed a job. The day came and now Joe, Sean and Tom team up to bring you the best in horse racing journalism.

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