I would expect a mostly soft interview but nevertheless Jerry Bailey will appear on "Mike & Mike in the Morning" July 15th during the "Don't Give Up ESPYs V Foundation Auction" on ESPN RADIO and ESPN2.
He is scheduled to appear in the 7 am to 8 am eastern time slot. According to a e-mail I received from the The Breeders Cup he is scheduled to talk about the Breeders' Cup and the effort to raise money in the race against cancer. The V Foundation was started by the Late college basketball (NC State) coach Jimmy Valvano, who died of cancer.
As Bailey is appearing on behalf of The Breeders Cup, don't expect too much criticism of the "Win and your in Format" or any talk about the horses mostly likely not running (i.e. Rachel Alexandra) in the Cup this year.
Bidding for the VIP ticket package to the Breeders Cup starts at $2,000 and comes with 2 seats to the Breeders' Cup World Championships on November 6th and 7th, and a three-night hotel stay.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Remembering Lawyer Ron
Lawyer Ron was put down on Friday after complications from colic Surgery. He was only 6 years old. Unlike many promising horses on the Derby trail who often disappear from the racing scene so quickly, Lawyer Ron continued to run after his 3 year old season, starting in 26 races lifetime with 20 finishes in the money. His career earnings were $2,790.008.
I was fortunate to see Lawyer Ron race in person several times, including his Whitney Handicap recording winning time in 2007 at Saratoga and his win several weeks later at the Spa in the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes. Such a shame that his breeding career and life was cut so short.
I was fortunate to see Lawyer Ron race in person several times, including his Whitney Handicap recording winning time in 2007 at Saratoga and his win several weeks later at the Spa in the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes. Such a shame that his breeding career and life was cut so short.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Morning Workouts at Saratoga
Check out the Horseplayers Association of North America (HANA) site for a nice piece by Marcie Heacox on the physical beauty of our racetracks and the special pleasure in viewing morning workouts.
After reading the piece the racing fan might put it on his agenda to check out a morning workout at the upcoming Saratoga meet. After all the track and setting is beautiful and what could be better than watching the horses workout on a crisp sunny Saratoga morning?
Don't bother, The Oklahoma Training Track morning workouts at Saratoga is not open to the general viewing public. Because of Security reasons, NYRA prohibits the general public from watching morning workouts at The Training track. While the working press, and various tour groups can get in, if John Q. Public just feels like waking up one morning and going to the track at 5 am-he/she will be turned away. I certainly understand the security concerns, but there has to be a way to safely allow access to the general public so that the beauty of the morning workout can be exposed to more fans.
After reading the piece the racing fan might put it on his agenda to check out a morning workout at the upcoming Saratoga meet. After all the track and setting is beautiful and what could be better than watching the horses workout on a crisp sunny Saratoga morning?
Don't bother, The Oklahoma Training Track morning workouts at Saratoga is not open to the general viewing public. Because of Security reasons, NYRA prohibits the general public from watching morning workouts at The Training track. While the working press, and various tour groups can get in, if John Q. Public just feels like waking up one morning and going to the track at 5 am-he/she will be turned away. I certainly understand the security concerns, but there has to be a way to safely allow access to the general public so that the beauty of the morning workout can be exposed to more fans.
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Belmont Attendance vs. Handle
I have always been an avid newspaper reader and one habit I can't seem to break is reading baseball box scores and NYRA daily attendance and handle figures. Luckily my local paper still prints both in the Sports section.
Regarding yesterdays Holiday Belmont crowd, over at Left at the Gate it was noted that "The crowd of 7,667 wagered almost $1,378,300 into the mutuel pool. With the benefit of one extra race, that's some $20,000 more than was bet on Rachel Alexandra day the Saturday before, when the crowd was announced as being 13,352."
A closer look reveals that the Belmont card on the 4th also drew more in both Intra-State wagering and Inter-state Wagering than on Rachel Alexandra Day. Here are all the figures:
Saturday June 27th (feature race: Mother Goose Stakes featuring Rachel Alexandra):
Regarding yesterdays Holiday Belmont crowd, over at Left at the Gate it was noted that "The crowd of 7,667 wagered almost $1,378,300 into the mutuel pool. With the benefit of one extra race, that's some $20,000 more than was bet on Rachel Alexandra day the Saturday before, when the crowd was announced as being 13,352."
A closer look reveals that the Belmont card on the 4th also drew more in both Intra-State wagering and Inter-state Wagering than on Rachel Alexandra Day. Here are all the figures:
Saturday June 27th (feature race: Mother Goose Stakes featuring Rachel Alexandra):
- Attendance: 13,352
- On-Track Handle: 1,357,534
- Intra-State: 2,657,212
- Inter-State: 8,361,822
- Attendance: 7,667
- On-Track Handle: 1,378,296
- Intra-State: 2,969,277
- Inter-State: 9,564,986
Friday, July 03, 2009
Don't Blink
We now enter the time of year when times seems to speed up and the days although filled with daylight seem to pass so quickly. It seems you reach the 4th of July Holiday, than you blink and Labor Day is upon us.
On the racing front, we enter such a busy time. Starting this holiday weekend we have a stakes filled card at Belmont and Monmouth Park and Hollywood Park out west has the American Oaks.
Opening Day at Delmar is only 19 days away and Opening Day at Saratoga will be here in just 26 days.
The Churchill Downs meet ends on July 4th. Churchill track officials are beaming with last nights "Downs after Dark" night racing experiment drawing 33,481. The 3 night experiment drew 27,623, 28,011 and last nights high of 33,481. I had read that some people feared with college over that the final night would not draw but those fears were put too rest. The old adage of putting out a usable product with great customer service and fair pricing worked for the night racing experiment.
On the Churchill Downs website you will find a poll where you can vote on whether to keep the experiment going as part of the regular meet schedule. I'm no Nostradamus, but this seems like a 1-9 lock on a "Yes" vote.
On the racing front, we enter such a busy time. Starting this holiday weekend we have a stakes filled card at Belmont and Monmouth Park and Hollywood Park out west has the American Oaks.
Opening Day at Delmar is only 19 days away and Opening Day at Saratoga will be here in just 26 days.
The Churchill Downs meet ends on July 4th. Churchill track officials are beaming with last nights "Downs after Dark" night racing experiment drawing 33,481. The 3 night experiment drew 27,623, 28,011 and last nights high of 33,481. I had read that some people feared with college over that the final night would not draw but those fears were put too rest. The old adage of putting out a usable product with great customer service and fair pricing worked for the night racing experiment.
On the Churchill Downs website you will find a poll where you can vote on whether to keep the experiment going as part of the regular meet schedule. I'm no Nostradamus, but this seems like a 1-9 lock on a "Yes" vote.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Saratoga Race Course Giveaways Announced
NYRA held a press conference today to, among other things, promote its giveaway days. There will 4 giveway days this year: a Alabama Stakes Baseball cap on August 2nd, a short sleeve shirt on August 16th, a long sleeve shirt on August 23rd and a winter Knit cap on Sept. 6th. I would guess the baseball cap and the winter cap ( a new giveaway item) will be the most popular this year.
The confusing thing is that the Baseball cap given away on August 2nd says "The Alabama 2009" even though the actual race is 3 weeks later on August 22nd. So if someone goes up to you later in the year when you have the cap on and asks if you were at The Alabama Stakes you can say: "No, I just went for the Cap, stayed all day , and still did not see the race".
Sunday, June 28, 2009
MSG Plus Hits all Points on Rachel Alexandra Coverage
A family barbecue kept me away from Belmont to see Rachel Alexandra live in The Mother Goose Stakes, so I programmed the trusty DVR to tape MSG Plus cable network's coverage of the Race.
Upon watching the watching the 1/2 hour coverage on my DVR I was overall pleased with the coverage provided by MSG Plus.
This is good news to racing fans as MSG Plus, in partnership with NYRA will telecast five "Saturdays at Saratoga," specials live from the Saratoga Race Course this summer including coverage of eight stakes races over the 5 shows. ESPN/ABC will only be on hand for Travers Day on August 29th. Jason Blewitt, Andy Serling & Eric Donovan provided commentary for The Mother Goose telecast and will also be the same TV crew for the Saratoga specials.
The 1/2 coverage was low on production values but high on quality information. The broadcast was loaded with a ton of racing history provided by the 3 man crew. Jason Blewitt and Andy Serling noted how many top fillies have won this race in the last 50 years. Eric Donovan also noted that prior to yesterday only 6 horses have won both the Kentucky Oaks and The Mother Goose Stakes with the last to do it in 2000 (Secret Status). Blewitt and Serling talked about the stretch duel in 1991 between Meadow Star and Lite Lite (owned by rapper MC Hammer) and than showed a replay of the neck and neck stretch drive won by Meadow Star.
Andy Serling, who seems to remember every race ran on a NYRA racetrack in the last 30 years (and apparently was also present for all of them too) talked about other 3 horse fields in major stakes races including the filly Personal Ensign winning the Whitney Handicap in a 3 horse field at Saratoga and Go For Wand winning the Alabama Stakes at Saratoga in a 3 horse field. Serling has an incredible memory for past racing performances and I always seem to pick up information when I listen to him.
On the handicapping angle, all 3 noted beforehand that the track was playing fast. Donovan explained that the last 3 races on Friday were turf races so the track was sealed after the 6th race, helping to create the fast surface on Saturday. Serling predicted that Malibu Prayer & Flashing "would be running early in this race".
The telecast including a long view of the horses in the Paddock and the Post Parade leading to the race call of Tom Durkin. Tom Durkin was on his game, immediately calling the length of victory by Rachel Alexandra at "almost 20 lengths" (it was 19 1/4 lengths) and also stating right after the finish that the time of 1:46.33 was a Stakes record. (By the way, the track record of 1:45.40 is by Secretariat in 1973.)
After the race, Donovan interviewed Trainer Steve Asmussen in the Winners Circle. I know Asmussen would have answered with a "we will see" but Donovan did not ask Asmussen where we will see Rachel next run. Even if you know Asmussen is gonna duck the question, you still gotta ask it. Another minor criticism is the camera angles of the cable network. The network crew a few times mentioned the "nice crowd turnout" in both the Paddock area and in the stands but we never got a good pan shot of either the Paddock or Stands area. Until I read the official attendance in the paper this morning (13,352), I could not tell how many people were actually at the track by watching the TV coverage.
All in all it was a very good cablecast and with ESPN/ABC dropping down to only one race day coverage this summer from Saratoga, it looks like we will be in good hands with the MSG Plus/NYRA co produced specials from Saratoga.
Upon watching the watching the 1/2 hour coverage on my DVR I was overall pleased with the coverage provided by MSG Plus.
This is good news to racing fans as MSG Plus, in partnership with NYRA will telecast five "Saturdays at Saratoga," specials live from the Saratoga Race Course this summer including coverage of eight stakes races over the 5 shows. ESPN/ABC will only be on hand for Travers Day on August 29th. Jason Blewitt, Andy Serling & Eric Donovan provided commentary for The Mother Goose telecast and will also be the same TV crew for the Saratoga specials.
The 1/2 coverage was low on production values but high on quality information. The broadcast was loaded with a ton of racing history provided by the 3 man crew. Jason Blewitt and Andy Serling noted how many top fillies have won this race in the last 50 years. Eric Donovan also noted that prior to yesterday only 6 horses have won both the Kentucky Oaks and The Mother Goose Stakes with the last to do it in 2000 (Secret Status). Blewitt and Serling talked about the stretch duel in 1991 between Meadow Star and Lite Lite (owned by rapper MC Hammer) and than showed a replay of the neck and neck stretch drive won by Meadow Star.
Andy Serling, who seems to remember every race ran on a NYRA racetrack in the last 30 years (and apparently was also present for all of them too) talked about other 3 horse fields in major stakes races including the filly Personal Ensign winning the Whitney Handicap in a 3 horse field at Saratoga and Go For Wand winning the Alabama Stakes at Saratoga in a 3 horse field. Serling has an incredible memory for past racing performances and I always seem to pick up information when I listen to him.
On the handicapping angle, all 3 noted beforehand that the track was playing fast. Donovan explained that the last 3 races on Friday were turf races so the track was sealed after the 6th race, helping to create the fast surface on Saturday. Serling predicted that Malibu Prayer & Flashing "would be running early in this race".
The telecast including a long view of the horses in the Paddock and the Post Parade leading to the race call of Tom Durkin. Tom Durkin was on his game, immediately calling the length of victory by Rachel Alexandra at "almost 20 lengths" (it was 19 1/4 lengths) and also stating right after the finish that the time of 1:46.33 was a Stakes record. (By the way, the track record of 1:45.40 is by Secretariat in 1973.)
After the race, Donovan interviewed Trainer Steve Asmussen in the Winners Circle. I know Asmussen would have answered with a "we will see" but Donovan did not ask Asmussen where we will see Rachel next run. Even if you know Asmussen is gonna duck the question, you still gotta ask it. Another minor criticism is the camera angles of the cable network. The network crew a few times mentioned the "nice crowd turnout" in both the Paddock area and in the stands but we never got a good pan shot of either the Paddock or Stands area. Until I read the official attendance in the paper this morning (13,352), I could not tell how many people were actually at the track by watching the TV coverage.
All in all it was a very good cablecast and with ESPN/ABC dropping down to only one race day coverage this summer from Saratoga, it looks like we will be in good hands with the MSG Plus/NYRA co produced specials from Saratoga.
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