They're in the Gate

Breeders' Cup Goes to NBS Sports

2012-01-24T00:17:00.004-05:00

Really no surprise ESPN is out as the TV outlet for the Breeders' Cup coverage but I did figure it would happen not now but after their contract ran out in 2013. Over the 6 years ESPN had the Breeders' Cup their overall Horse racing coverage wilted, and this past year it really seemed they were just mailing it in.

So what to expect as the Breeders' Cup moves to NBC and NBC Sports Network (formerly Versus):

Not much bad news, although I will miss Jeannine Edwards and Kenny Mayne. Edwards never mailed it in and the humorous Mayne loves the game. Also, not everyone has the NBC Sports Coverage as part of their cable or satellite subscriptions. With less overall viewers the TV ratings might actually be down this year with the change.

However there is plenty of Good:

We get to keep seeing Randy Moss, who worked this summer for NBC on their "Summer at Saratoga" broadcasts.

We also get better branding as NBC now has the complete Triple Crown Races, a bunch of derby prep races, Saratoga racing coverage and now the BC. Now we know when it comes to racing we can turn on NBC or NBC Sports Network throughout the year, instead of wondering what or where we can find the TV coverage. As NBC continues to grow the NBC Sports Network Channel, it seems they will build it around several sports including Hockey and Horse racing. No longer will it be the ugly stepchild that ESPN treated it like.

Mirahmadi's in the Gate

2012-01-12T09:46:00.003-05:00

As we enter 2012 Frank Mirahmadi will be the new race caller at Oaklawn Park taking over for Terry Wallace. Opening Day is January 13, 2012. Frank was the backup announcer to Wallace last year. He has called races all over and also at a stint as an racing analyst at TVG.

People's favorite announcers come down to the style of race calling you like. I like Frank as I like his style of exciting, upbeat and often funny race calls. His comedic talent comes out very easily and is often used in his races. Frank is also a great voice impersonator doing the voices of Rodney Dangerfield, Jack Buck, Hank Stram, Andy Rooney, and the late Kentucky Derby caller Luke Kruytbosch among others.

Some like the straight,by the book, calling the numbers type race call. I'll take the enthusiastic race call spiced up with humour as seen in the calls of NYRA's Tom Durkin. I will bet a Finger Lakes race maybe 2 or 3 times a year, but I do find myself listening to the race calls of Finger Lakes race caller Tony Calo because of his excitement and humour. This is what we will get with Mirahmadi at Oaklawn and that's good for the game.

Where's the Money?

2011-12-22T09:29:00.005-05:00

The New York State Racing & Wagering Board voted unanimously on Wednesday to admonish the New York Racing Association for overcharging bettors millions of dollars over the past 15 months.

Not exactly the year end publicity NYRA was hoping for.

More importantly, when do the bettors get refunds? The payback totals 8.6 million. If you have a NYRA Rewards account, you will probably get your refund first I would suppose. For non NYRA betting accounts, expect a much longer wait and for those cash bets, well ...you know what they say.

And this gem as reported in the Times Union (Albany, NY)

"I don't expect this will ever happen again,"

Racing Board Commissioner Charles Diamond said.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Pilot Episode of Luck on HBO-DVR Alert

2011-12-06T18:10:00.003-05:00

Certainly seems like HBO is putting a big push on promoting the new fictionalized series "Luck" -a behind the scenes look at the world of racing. If it fails it won't be for lack of talent. Headed by Dustin Hoffman, the show is loaded with veteran actors.

HBO has been running numerous promotional trailer ads on its' network and this Sunday, 12/11/11, the show's pilot episode will be shown at 10 pm following the season finale of the hit HBO series Boardwalk Empire.

The details of the pilot episode arrived in my hands and here is the cliff notes version:

As the series opens, Chester "Ace" Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) is released from three years in federal prison and is eager to get back into the racing game. We soon meet his buddy/driver/bodyguard Gus Demitriou (Dennis Farina), who will front as the owner of the $2 million Irish horse that Ace just bought.

The episode than introduces a talented but disreputable trainer (have you heard that one before?), the Peruvian Turo Escalante (John Ortiz). His girlfriend is track veterinarian Jo (Jill Hennessy).

Meanwhile we meet the veteran trainer-turned-owner Walter Smith (Nick Nolte). He also has a promising horse but he's wary as we get hints there is some sort of scandal behind the horse. Filling out the pilot we meet Four hard luck gamblers, Marcus (Kevin Dunn), Renzo (Ritchie Coster), Jerry (Jason Gedrick), and Lonnie (Ian Hart), as they pool their monetary resources to bet Jerry's Pick Six ticket.

In addition to the above actors the show also features Richard Kind, and current Jockey Chantal Sutherland and retired Jockey Gary Stevens.

Attendance Figures No More

2011-11-14T22:52:00.001-05:00

With the opening of the Resorts World Casino at the Aqueduct Racetrack, another long standing tradition seems to have gone out the window.

Attendance figures are no longer tallied. You can't find the published attendance in your daily newspaper or on the Equibase Company LLC Charts.

Still staunchly old school, I look forward to my morning cup of coffee with a newspaper in hand before I even consider checking any website or twitter news feed. The sports section of the paper gets read first, including a look at the previous days track results.

But with the opening of the Resorts World Casino (or lets call it what it is-a glorified slots hall) and people (zombies?) wandering in from the slots hall there is no more accounting of actual track goers and hence no attendance figure published. You can still get an idea on who was there by looking at the On Track handle figure and backing into a number but where is the fun in that? I particularly liked checking attendance on the brutal winter days at the Big A marveling at the hearty souls who would show up to bet the ponies in person.

And going way back I remember when my local candy store in the Bronx used the last 3 digits of the attendance of the NYRA tracks for the "daily number". Most NYC "numbers" outfits would use the daily on track handle figure but the folks running this candy store numbers racket went with the attendance figure. As the mob still extends credit, unlike the NYS Lottery system, the numbers still have their loyal players- but it will have to be with the handle and not the attendance figure.

Breeders Cup Day 2

2011-11-05T09:47:00.005-04:00

Day 1 is over. Friday seemed to be pretty formulaic, except of course for the two longshots in Musical Romance and Perfect Shirl. The crowd seemed muted, but I guess that is what you would expect one year Post Zenyatta.

Many seemed suprised at the favorite odds for Uncle Mo. But that is the name people recognize (sorry Goldikova fans) so that's what happens. I like Flat Out, Havre De Grace, Drosslemeyer, Uncle Mo and Stay Thirsty in a Trifecta Box bet.

For the Juvenile I love Union Rags, but will take a stab with Daddy Long Legs and Speightscity to fill out my exotic tickets. Good Luck

Breeders Cup Betting Scandal-Can it Happen Again?

2011-11-02T20:01:00.006-04:00

As the interwebs and Twitterverse become alive with betting strategies, workout results, and scheduling of Twitter meet ups, my mine wanders on to the Pick Six Breeders Cup betting scandal. After all it's been 9 years since 3 men attempted to cash in on the Pick 6 bet at the 2002 Breeders Cup by manipulating a weak link they found in the Autotote system used to process OTB bets. The plot was masterminded by Chris Harn, a senior computer programmer at Autotote. Harn was smart enough to figure out a weak link in how Autotote processed the Pick 6 live tickets and he and 2 others than used that weak link to cash in on a 3 million payout. Had the 43-1 longshot (Volponi) not won , making them the only ticket to cash in, they probably would have gotten away with it. The 3 were ultimately caught however, and plead guilty.

What's the chances of it happening again? Well with the increased use of Advance Wagering Accounts hackers are busy at work searching for a vulnerability in the various systems.

Hacking is alive and well-just ask Sony, who lost 3.2 billion when their PS3 console system was hacked exposing 77 million account holders earlier this year. Our schools are putting out hundreds of thousands of computer trained young people, many who are busy at work and better at finding weak entries into the various website and computer systems of corporations and businesses. While you are busy studying Past Performances and workout results someone much smarter than you is studying harder than you and it will result in a bigger payout than you.

Charismatic Documentary Thoughts

2011-10-20T08:36:00.005-04:00

Thanks to my trusty DVR, I was able to watch the ESPN Documentary on Charismatic. In reading other blog recaps on the race, it seemed the diehards wanted more storytelling on Charismatic, the horse who won the first two legs of the 1999 Triple Crown. However the Documentary focused on the rise and subsequent fall of Jockey Chris Antley.

From a Documentary making standpoint, ESPN was wise to focus on Antley and his battles with drug addiction. The average viewer remains interested in an athletes struggle with addiction. One day after the Charismatic doc, ESPN went the same route again, as they aired a "E-60"documentary with former NY Mets Pitcher Dwight Gooden revealing was in a drug-induced haze and missed the Mets'1986 World Series victory parade.

If you wanted to learn more about Charismatic, you really didn't learn much but the storytelling on Antley was effective, although a bit rushed.

In other documentary notes, if you are in the Saratoga area, The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame will host a pair of screenings of the documentary film "The Last Train from Bay Meadows" on Wednesday, Nov. 2 and Thursday Nov. 3 at 7 pm. "The Last Train from Bay Meadows" portrays the history and the eventual closure of the longest continually running Thoroughbred track in California. The track closed in 2008 after nearly 75 years of operation. A discussion of the documentary with producer and director Jon Rubin will follow the screening each night. And the price is right as Admission is Free.

Muddy Super Saturday

2011-10-01T12:29:00.002-04:00

Seems like the track will play in Stay Thirsty's favor today in what looks to be a card playing to form. Really like the trio of Stay Thirsty, Flat Out and Drosselmeyer. I figure eventually Ice Box will pop one, but not with my money today. You can catch my preview of the race over at Thorofan. The all stakes pick 4 would seem chalky also, but have some fun with it and throw in some longshots.

24/7 for Racing

2011-09-27T19:35:00.005-04:00

The New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers will be featured on HBO's Emmy award winning 24/7 reality series in this years "24/7 FLYERS/RANGERS: ROAD TO THE NHL WINTER CLASSIC". The HBO series on the NHL debuted last year and the show received across the board fan and media critics approval. I'm sure it also brought more attention to the sport and only helped to bring in some new fans.

We wrote last year that Horse Racing would be perfect for the 24/7 reality series. HBO at the time was reportedly looking to pick up a new sport for the 24/7 franchise but so far no decision has been made.

Here's to the Winners

2011-09-16T12:43:00.002-04:00

What will you be doing at about 10:25 pm EDT on Friday night? Well, yours truly after 3 weeks of adjusting Irene claims 24/7 will be looking to relax with friends and a few drinks. And heck I might even turn on my OTB simulcast channel and watch the feed from Charles Town where Rapid Redux attempts to win his 17th consecutive race in a $20,000 starter allowance at 1 1/16 miles.

If nothing else, this 5 year old gelding out of Pleasantly Perfect has been a model of consistently. He also has been managed well by his connections, owner Robert Cole J. and trainer David Wells, as he was claimed last October for $6,500. Since than he has raced 19 times and 15 times alone this year. He might not beat a Stakes level horse, but he has some decent Beyer figures and his connections have proved you can turn a profit if you pick your spots and have a horse that likes to run.

He last ran 12 days ago. Funny I have not come across any articles about how Rapid Redux is being abused and his trainer should be investigated for continually sending Rapid Redux out to the gate.

Saratoga Final Weekend

2011-09-03T12:54:00.004-04:00

As usual the last weekend sneaks up on all of us. Making it more bittersweet is the severe flooding from Irene in the upstate area, which has affected many of my fellow residents in the surrounding counties around Saratoga, particularly nearby Schoharie County, Greene County, Schenectady County and Warren County. The storm cancelled out Sunday's card and attendance has been down a bit this week. Being in the insurance biz yours truly has been busy trying to service all the victims of this storm.

This will take me away from the final weekend but will be watching from the road. My must use horses in the Woodward Stakes are Rule, Flat Out, Mambo Meister. Don't count out Ice Box also, especially if the price is right.

Good luck and enjoy the weekend.

A look at the Travers

2011-08-26T13:04:00.003-04:00

As I leave shortly for my Long Island trek to attend a wedding on Saturday and battle Hurricane Irene, here are my quick thoughts on the Travers Stakes.

From my NYRA Rewards Mobile betting platform on my smartphone I will play around with some Trifecta's and Win bets centering on 4 horses: the favorite Stay Thirsty, Bowman's Causeway, Shackleford and Moonshine Mullins. I think these four horses more than the others will like the track surface and run on it the best.

I keep coming back to Bowman's Causeway to upset the cart and win the whole thing. He has been stabled at Saratoga since the spring under trainer Chad Brown. Brown is great at placing his horses where they have a chance to win. A son of Giant's Causeway, he is coming off three consecutive races in Canada, the last being a close second in the Prince of Wales. He has had a nice 6 week rest and I think he is more than ready. Good luck and for my friends on the East Coast be safe.

The Travers Streak is Broken

2011-08-24T20:47:00.004-04:00

There comes a time when all streaks are broken, and this is my year.
I have been lucky enough to be at Saratoga Race Course for the Travers Stakes every year since 2004. This year I will be in Long Island, attending my cousin's wedding.

Luckily the wedding couple are racing fans, and they have already arranged for the wedding Bar TV to be on NBC at 5 pm so the guests can watch the King's Bishop and the Travers. And of course thanks to NYRA's neat mobile wagering platform I will be able to bet straight from my Blackberry. But alas it will never be the same as being there live.

Looking back I was able to see some pretty good Travers races and horses since 2003. Here is a look back at some of the memories:

My favorite memories from the past 7 Travers Stakes:

2004: I will never forget the dark sky as the horses turned for home. Seconds after Birdstone crossed the finish line the winner the rain came down like nobody's business

2006: Never a doubt as Bernardini swept the Jim Dandy/Travers Double. One of the best looking horses you will ever see.

2007: Street Sense in a squeaker over Grasshopper

2008: Colonel John nips Mambo in Seattle by a nose (or was it 1/2 a nose) at the wire

2010: I hit my first ever Travers Trifecta taking home $970 on Afleet Express/Fly Down/1st Dude

Questions at the Track

2011-08-16T14:59:00.004-04:00

I don't know why you would need the costly McKinsey Report to figure out how to draw more folks to the racetrack and to betting on the races. Just take a novice fan to the track and listen to them. This past Sunday I took a married couple in their 40's to Saratoga Race Course with me and my better half.

They like casino and slot gambling and take frequent trips to Mohegan Sun, Foxwoods, and Atlantic City. They were last at a racetrack at a New England Fair 20 years ago. Here were some of their questions they threw out at me during the day.

Upon reaching the gates and stopping to pay the $5 Clubhouse Admission:

Q: How come you have to pay $5 a person to get into the track when you already have your pre-paid Clubhouse seats.? We don't pay to get into a Casino?

My Comment: Good Question, I always thought it made no sense to charge for the privilege of just walking into the track. Charge for the grandstand & clubhouse seats and let everyone else in for free. Don't ding the customer.

Q: What's a Quinella bet again?

My Comment: I pointed them to the Program and gave them a basic primer on the various bets they could make. I think we forget that most people want their gambling to be easy and they find the slots and poker easier to learn and easy to figure out. The tracks need more visible education guidelines with companion online guides, games, etc.

Q: Why are there 11 horses in the race but the infield center video board is showing only the odds for Horses 1-9.

My Comment: This one had me confused as I knew there were 11 horses in the race but only 9 were on the board until I realized that NYRA was playing video ads on the right side of the screen which eliminated the odds on Horses 10-11 in this particular race. The ads eventually stopped and Horses 10-11 showed up, but how is a novice better supposed to understand the game if they want to bet Horse #10 and the odds are nowhere to be found on the main video board ?

These were all good questions and the cost to hear them was nothing.

Saratoga Mid Meet Thoughts

2011-08-10T23:27:00.009-04:00

Summer is flying by and so is the Saratoga Meet as we approach the 4th weekend of the meet.

Some thoughts thus far….

I have stayed away from most of the Todd Pletcher / Johnny Velazquez horses due too the short odds. However on. On Saturday, a Pletcher/ Johnny Velazquez 3 year old, Katz My Song, went off at 7-1 odds. I ignored it and the horse wins paying $16.60.

The Grand Slam bet has been paying pretty well this meet. On Sunday it paid $1,359 and on Monday, it paid $396. Even on Saturday with 3 of the 4 races in the Slam won by the favorites (Higher Court, Turbulent Descent and Tizway) with one long shot (Trix in the City) the bet still paid a decent $29.60. The payoffs are pretty nice if you look at it as a $2 bet for picking 3 show horses and one horse to win.

After 3 weeks of walking out of the track and over to Siro’s with a near empty wallet, I finally hit my first big bet of the meet with an Exacta win on Trappe Shot-Sean Avery in Sunday’s Vanderbilt Stakes. For once I placed the same bet as the one I hit over at The Knight Sky Racing Blog. On to week 4.

Wet Whitney?

2011-08-06T00:33:00.004-04:00

Looks like it will be a muggy Saturday at the Spa with dew points around 70 with mostly cloudy skies. In other words a typical muggy August Day.

I guess its time to look at who can run in the mud. Best of bunch would be Duke of Mischief with 3 wins out of 4 starts on off tracks.

Maybe Todd Pletcher's due with Mission Impazible. After all he went 0-fer on Friday and his 2 year old filly Heather's Feather finished 4th as the post time 1-1 favorite in the 2nd race.

Let's try a Trifecta Box of Duke of Mischief, Mission Impazible, Tizway and Morning Line.

Saratoga Friday

2011-07-29T09:17:00.003-04:00

Today is the first of two twilight Friday race cards at the Spa or as NYRA calls it "Party at the Spa presented by Coors Light". First post goes off at 2:30 pm followed by free live music from the band Rockjunky at the Post area adjacent to the Paddock.

Expect a big crowd (although the weather calls for afternoon Thunderstorms to roll on through) for the card. Actually you can't even call this a twilight card as the last race goes off at 6:56 pm and Sunset is at 8:18 pm. I would love for the card to start at 3:30 and finish up just before 8 pm, allowing the after work crowd to see more of the card.

However the downtown restaurants and bars feel the late finishing time kills their early business so don't expect any additional late Friday cards to be added in the future.

If you do skip out of work early today and get to the track by 3:30 pm you have time to place a bet on the 3rd race, featuring the return of Ice Box, up against 5 others in an $57,000 Allowance Optional Claiming race of 1 1/8 miles. There is not much speed in this race for Ice Box to close on, so I'll take a pass, and go with Neil Howard's Wilkinson, who should go off at attractive odds if enough money flows to Ice Box and Convocation.

On Saturday, the Jim Dandy is all set on what should be a splendid weather day. You can see my take on handicapping the race over at the Thorofan website.

Saratoga Opening Weekend Recap

2011-07-24T21:23:00.014-04:00

Opening Day weekend was an all around success for NYRA and the fans who came out to the Spa. Credit goes to NYRA for not panicking and going forward with Opening Day despite the heat. Yes, it was hot, but not as hot as the cancelled day in '06. 25,155 fans agreed and showed up for Opening Day. Strong crowds and handle followed on Saturday and Sunday and with 37 days to go, the meet is off and running strong. Here's some photos I took this weekend at the Spa with my thoughts:

A photo of the new video screen as seen from Section C of the Clubhouse (no more light bulbs)

A look at "A Taste of Saratoga" featuring food from 4 local Restaurants

The backyard and Paddock Fencing is now wood, changed from the tacky vinyl of old.

The Post Bar just outside the Paddock, now in its 2nd year, but feels like it has been here along, like a trusted friend.

Offspring of Yours Truly, enjoying Shake Shack Shakes from the Yummy Shake Shack

Ready for Opening Day

2011-07-20T20:06:00.004-04:00

Like a kid looking forward to Christmas Day, these couple of days before Opening Day at Saratoga Race Course are filled with a mix of anticipation, impatience and anxiety. It will be hot for sure. Many are already wondering if the track will close if indeed it hits the Upper 90's.

Funny how memories fade about the last time the Track had to close for heat. Most people can't remember the date and of course the recollections of the temperature high for the day are all over the map.

The date was August 02, 2006, a Wednesday. As a midweek card with no graded stakes the decision to close was far more easier than it would be for Opening Day this Friday. The decision was made relatively early, around 9 a.m. The forecast was for temperatures to approach 100 degrees, although the actual high temperature around Saratoga that day was 94 degrees. The humidity was oppressive, with humidity levels around 75%. Compare that to today where it hit about 90 degrees in the Saratoga region but humidity was only around 60%. It will be uncomfortable for sure this Friday at the track, but not as humid as cancellation day in 2006 and expect the gates to be open for business come Friday morning.

In addition to the racing card, I will be interested in checking out the streamlined food stands. In an effort to open up the walking space a bit, many of the food vendor stands have been eliminated, including a centralization of the lemonade stands. Hard to imagine the Spa without the ever present lemonade stands. There were 27 lemonade stands throughout the facility, most staffed by friendly high school and college students. Let's hope the new locations for the lemonade can be easily spotted come Friday.

One week Away

2011-07-16T09:29:00.003-04:00

Sparkling weather for the last weekend at Belmont. A pretty good crowd of 8,204 turned out Friday for the Twilight Card.

Took a jaunt through downtown Saratoga yesterday as the town gets ready for Opening day on 7/22/11. The sidewalks were busy and many visitors were already up and settled.

As usual several restaurants have closed and opened since last year. Most notably, the splendid Maestro's which was located in a tiny little space just adjacent to the Adelphi Hotel on Broadway, has now moved into a 90 seat space a few spaces down into the Rip Van Dam Hotel. It is now known as Maestro's at the Van Dam.

There is always new places to try but there is nothing like the tried and true places that never change and are just always around, like a favorite pair of jeans. Amongst all the activity present downtown during this weeks visit, I was probably most happy walking past old familiar places like Hattie's (get the fried chicken) and Compton's (breakfast of course).

If your coming Opening day, bring light clothing and sunscreen, temperatures will in the 90's come post time.

What did we miss?

2011-07-07T00:13:00.004-04:00

Back from a month break from the blogosphere. And except for a peak here and there at select blogs and twitter feeds, I stayed away from the game, only watching a few races and not betting on any of them. But alas, there are only 3 things that seem almost impossible to stay away from for most of us mere mortals, that being Gambling, Sex and Drinking. We can all put our hand on the bible and swear off the the above 3 alleged vices, but we all return soon enough all trying to get our share.

And so Saratoga is just 2 weeks away promising to deliver some of the rewards we seek. Complete with National TV weekend coverage on Versus and NBC, NYRA seems poised for a good meet, despite the parity in the 3 year old division.

In social news, Mary Lou Whitney will skip her usual Whitney Ball. The gaudy gala, held annually the night before the running of the Whitney Stakes, is famous for attracting socialites, and wanna bee's to the Canfield Casino in Saratoga Springs.

Some would criticise the display of opulence but I had no problem with it, especially when considering all the fundraising and charity events Mary Lou Whitney conducts for the backstretch workers.

The annual "Travers Celebration", held at the Saratoga Race Course the Thursday before the Travers Stakes, usually a formal dinner, is now labeled as a cocktail party with food stations. Tickets are $175 and the proceeds in part go to the BEST Backstretch group.

Belmont Stakes Current Odds and Selections

2011-06-11T11:57:00.002-04:00

The Late morning Belmont Stakes Odds show Animal Kingdom as the favorite at 5-2 with Nehro at 7-2 and Master of Hounds at 4-1.

Preakness winner Shackleford getting no love from the early bettors and currently stands at 10-1. I'm sure his odds will lower by post time, but he could still be at 7-1. I originally was going to throw him out of my picks but if he stays at 7-1 worth a shot.

Mucho Macho Man is 7-1 and Brilliant Speed getting some play at 9-1.

Looks like the rain has moved out and I'm optimistic the track will play fast by post time.

As for the race itself, it seems more often than not a horse that skips the Preakness scores in the Belmont. Master of Hounds has the breeding, he's fresh and has been pointed towards this race.

Here's the picks: 1. Master of Hounds 2. Animal Kingdom 3. Shackleford 4. Brilliant Speed.

Howard Stern & Jockeys

2011-06-08T20:07:00.005-04:00

Guest today on The Howard Stern Show on XMSirius radio were Jockeys Ramon Dominquez and Jesus Castanon. They were there to promote the Belmont Stakes (Ramon is aboard Mucho Macho Man and Castanon is on Shackleford) and a new Jockey Beefcake Calendar. Although ironically Jesus does not appear in the calendar.

Unlike the usual vanilla drivel Jocks will spill out when interviewed, Howard got honest and frank answers out of the Jockey's on several subjects.

Money: Ramon estimates only about 3% of all Jockeys actually make any real money. He cited the sobering statistics. After he gets his 10% winners share, 25% goes to his agent, 5% to the Valet and 1/2 of what's left goes to Taxes.

Making weight: Ramon said some vomit to make weight, but Ramon claims to he doesn't and lasts all day on just a cup of coffee and toast in the morning.

Whether the Horse knows they won: Both Jesus and Ramon agreed the horse does not know when he wins a race. I found this answer refreshing as most jockeys after a race when interviewed will always claim the horse knew he won.

Groupies: Ramon said female Groupies for the top jocks absolutely exist and chided Jesus Castanon for claiming he never partaked in his single days. Both Jocks are now married.

Belmont Stakes Week Television Coverage

2011-06-07T00:10:00.004-04:00

A nice expansion of Belmont Stakes coverage by NBC Sports on NBC and Versus.

On Friday there will be live coverage from Belmont featuring the Grade 3 Poker Handicap on the Grade 2 Brooklyn Handicap on Versus from 5-6 pm.

On Saturday live coverage starts on Versus at 3 pm featuring the Grade 1 Just a Game, the Grade 2 True North Handicap, and the Grade 2 Woody Stephens.

At 5 pm NBC takes over with the Grade 1 Woodford Reserve Manhattan Handicap being shown before the Belmont Stakes. As was done for the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, Versus will have a 30 minute post race recap after NBC signs off.

How many times do you think we will hear from NBC that this is only the 2nd time in the last 15 years that the Derby and Preakness winner have faced off at Belmont? I give the over/under for the Versus/NBC Saturday coverage at 14 times. I don't mind the stat, but a half dozen times it was impossible as a horse was going for the triple crown.

With Animal Kingdom and Shackleford both showing up I expect a nice turnout at Belmont Park. On non triple crown years, the weather is always a big factor in attendance and the early forecast looks good with temps in the 70's under Partly sunny skies.

2011 Preakness Thoughts

2011-05-24T23:13:00.004-04:00

I had the wrong washed out horse in Sway Away

Luckily the audio problems with the NBC race call of the Kentucky Derby were solved for the Preakness. I though the call of Larry Collmus was adequate but I miss Tom Durkin.

A lot of people complained about NBC not showing the Dixie Stakes won by Paddy O'Prado but I knew this was coming so no complaints here. NBC sticks with what works best-pre-taped emotional driven human interest stories, quick interviews and than the race.

107,000 strong for the Preakness, looks like the Kegasus promotion worked. Someone gets to keep his job at Pimlico.

Is is just me or does Bob Costas look as uncomfortable as he did the first time he ever did a racing gig? It seems his inner voice is just screaming, "get me out of here and onto a baseball broadcast!". Costas looks like he is out on a blind date he wants no part of.

Horse Racing Coverage-Versus Good...SiriusXM Bad.

2011-05-18T20:00:00.012-04:00

I enjoyed the Versus Television Coverage of the Kentucky Derby weekend and look forward to it again for their Preakness coverage. In addition to the coverage of the Black Eyed Susan on Friday and Undercard coverage on Saturday-remember after the NBC Coverage there is a 30 minute wrap up show on Versus from 6:30-7:00 pm.

On the radio side very disappointed to learn of the changes (cuts) on SiriusXM Satellite radio's horse racing coverage. Steve Byk's At the Races show was broadcast live from 9 am -12pm weekdays on Sirius Channel 93 (and Channel 210 On XM). When Steve signs off the channel picks up the audio feed of TVG. I make my living on the road driving from appointment to appointment with ample windshield time. When I am driving, I can't be looking at a computer, Smartphone or TV, so listening to Steve Byk on Satellite radio and his many regular guests (Steve Haskin, Gary West, Steve Davidowitz among others) and hearing the audio of TVG was a godsend.

However this week SiriusXM made a programming change, broadcasting only 1 hour of Byk's show (from 8-9am) and no TVG coverage at Noon. Instead at 9 am SiriusXM listeners tuning to the channel now hear sports talk from 3 ESPN owned radio programs- ESPN Chicago’s Waddle and Silvy, ESPN New York’s Mike Lupica Show and Michael Kay Show.

WTF....instead of hearing something I can't hear on regular radio, I now lose racing coverage for simulcasts of general sports talk shows that can be heard on regular AM radio. No word yet if SiriusXM will find another station for Steve Byk's show and TVG coverage. Of course, SiriusXM Executives felt that the middle of Triple Crown season would be the perfect time to cut racing coverage and replace Byk and TVG.

Wrap Up of the Kentucky Derby TV Coverage

2011-05-08T22:31:00.004-04:00

The Good:

Production Values: The NBC Sports Production crew shined as the production value was first rate. And if you watched it in HD, it looked even better. If ever a sport was made for High Definition it is Horse Racing.

Broadcast Crew: On Derby Day Laffit Pincay III and Randy Moss handled the coverage on Versus while Tom Hammond and Gary Stevens took over on NBC. Always love the old pro Tom Hammond but much prefer Randy Moss over Gary Stevens. Randy Moss explains just enough for the casual viewer to understand without dumbing it down for the hardcore fan.

Hours of Coverage: No complaints here as Versus had the coverage from 11-4 pm, NBC from 4-7 pm and than Versus with post race coverage from 7-7:30 pm. 6 races including the Derby were shown on the 2 channels.

The Bad:

The segments featuring correspondent Maria Menounos: Like any red blooded male I enjoy seeing a short 30 seconds or so interview with Maria interviewing a hot chick, but it got quite campy when throughout the 2 broadcasts they paraded hot chick after hot chick telling us that they are betting on Pants on Fire because she has a female jockey.

The audio on the race call: The call by Larry Collmus was actually pretty good, that is if you could actually hear it. I only know what he said because I played it over a couple times on the NBC Sports Website. Collmus followed the golden rule of calling every horse in the field and their position by the first turn, he correctly noticed Animal Kingdom's move down the final stretch,called him the winner smoothly right before the line and than quickly called out the 2nd-4th finishers seconds after.

But let's be honest, who really heard the call? Watching live on NBC all I could hear was an annoying echo combination of Collmus and Churchill Tracks announcer Mark Johnson in the background. Try explaining to the casual fan why two announcers are calling the race at the same time with one slightly louder than the other.

Kentucky Derby Picks 2011

2011-05-07T10:09:00.004-04:00

Well here we go, the day is here, the 2011 Kentucky Derby. For a field like this, with no superstar favorite, I look for value. I also look for who looks to be in the best form and looks to be peaking for the Derby. The worst value (now that Uncle Mo is scratched) will be Dialed In and Twice the Appeal. I first considered 9 horses: ArchArchArch, Twice the Appeal, Comma to the Top, Pants of Fire, Dialed In, Mucho Macho Man, Shackleford, Midnight Interlude and Nehro. I than looked at the running style, odds and workouts to narrow it down to a final four.

From the day Shackleford almost held off Dialed In in the Florida Derby, I just keep coming back to this horse, his ML odds are attractive, and he has looked great at Churchill this week and has a win on the track. Can he get the Mile and a Quarter? Who knows, but we can say that for he entire field. He is my pick to hold off the late chargers and win the Kentucky Derby.

Selections:

1. Shackleford
2. ArchArchArch
3. Mucho Macho Man
4. Nehro

Kentucky Oaks Day brought to you by Twitter

2011-05-06T18:58:00.001-04:00

Oaks Day at Churchill as followed on Twitter per select Tweets from people I follow:

Is anyone surprised? RT @TTimes: BREAKING NEWS: Uncle Mo scratched from #kyderby

The world must be coming to an end.....First Dude won a photo!

How weird is it to see Randy on Versus?

What channel is Versus? I can't find it.

Home w/the#KYOaks on now. Don't think I've heard of most of the 'celebs' mentioned in the teaser for tomorrow

Racing in HD is through the roof....years better then what you get on TVG and HRTV

That was some ride by Rosie on St. John's River. Tough beat, but Plum Pretty was best, first move into the strong pace. Figs didn't lie

Smooth Start for NBC Sports Derby Coverage

2011-05-04T23:45:00.003-04:00

Day one of NBC Sports Coverage of the Kentucky Derby started today with a 2 hour slot on the NBC owned Versus channel. The first hour was a "Derby Classics" special featuring the NBC footage of the 2004 Derby won by Smarty Jones.

The second hour was the Derby Draw Coverage. The hosts for NBC/Versus were the venerable Tom Hammond, Gary Stevens and Randy Moss.

Production quality was high and the 3 hosts worked fine together. Based upon the opening introduction in the first hour it appears NBC will focus on the following 3 story lines:

1. Can Calvin Borel , winner of 3 of the last 4 Derby editions, win again on Twice the Appeal
2.Can Rosie Napravnik become the first female Jockey to win the Derby aboard Pants on Fire
3. the heart warming story of Trainer Kathy Ritvo and the Mucho Macho Man ownership group.

The Derby TV coverage draws in a huge amount of female viewers and NBC wisely chose 2 stories with female angles. The Borel story is also a no brainer as most casual fans only know one Jockey, and that is Borel.

Appears NBC is also wary of the Uncle Mo story line. With the chance probably 50/50 that Mo scratches, NBC is not taking the risk to plug a horse that might not even load in the gate.

Top 20 in the Derby

2011-05-03T18:43:00.006-04:00

Wednesday at 5-6 pm you can watch the Derby Draw on Versus Network. Speaking of Versus, very happy to read on the Thoroughbred Times website that NBC & Versus will be broadcasting live racing from Saratoga this summer.

The 20 horses in has been in a state of flux- with Toby's Corner dropping out today, and Derby Kitten apparently in, most viewers will need the Derby post position draw to figure out who is even in this years Derby. I don't know about you, but interest has seemed muted this week. Probably a combination of lackluster preps, downfall of any favorites winning the preps, horses dropping out and big National and International news of interest. I don't think it would be a stretch that most fans couldn't name 10 of the horses running this year and even die-hards would have a tough time running off all 20 without peeking.

Versus Kentucky Derby Coverage?

2011-05-01T12:31:00.003-04:00

I will be watching the Kentucky Derby next weekend with some casual racing fans. In order to help them with some pre-race background, I told them Versus network would have coverage during the week including the Derby Oaks, the Derby undercard other pre-derby activities including the Derby Draw.

Problem is, if I didn't tell them about the Versus coverage, how would they know?

The hardcore racing fan who reads all the blogs such as you and I know, but once again it seems racing is marketing in a vacuum. Versus is running ads on its network touting the coverage, but unless you are a NHL fan (Versus has been showing the NHL Playoffs) and actually have the network on, you don't see those ads.

Honestly, how many casual racing fans who don't follow the NHL know about the Versus racing coverage.

Versus as of last week had its own website at www.versus.com but now that address takes you to the parent network (NBC) website www.nbcsports.msnbc.com. There is a "Horse" tab at the top which I figured would take me to a page prominently listing the Versus racing coverage schedule for the week. Shouldn't the entire Versus week TV schedule be neatly listed front and center on this page? No such luck, the page has no mention at all of the Versus coverage. It instead features generic articles such as "Uncle Mo is a go for the Derby". Oh gee, thanks.

Durkin Steps Down

2011-04-26T19:45:00.005-04:00

It was announced today that Tom Durkin has stepped down from his TV Gig with NBC Sports calling the Triple Crown Races.

My guess is that Larry Collmus, a real pro, will get the nod.

Durkin isn't going anyway, his calls will continue to be heard for NYRA at Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga. Like all of us, he made mistakes every so often but I love Durkin because he has all the qualities I look for in a race caller:

Call the entire field at least once.

Durkin, even in the 20 horse Derby field, would always call every horse and their race position at least once. It is amazing how many race callers don't regularly do this. There is nothing more frustrating they betting on a horse, trying to follow where he is in the field, and never hearing the horse called.

Call the splits.

Durkin would quickly and clearly call the 1/4, 1/2 & 3/4 mile splits so you knew how the speed of the race was going.

Know when the race deserves a big call.

Durkin is great at turning it on when the race calls for it. Durkin knew when a race was big, when the stars of the sport when running, and when the audience was watching.

One of his best calls containing the above qualities was his call of Rachel Alexandra winning the 2009 Woodward Stakes

Mudder, Mudder, Father, Father

2011-04-25T23:24:00.010-04:00

Is it too early to check out the long range weather forecast for the Kentucky Derby? It would seem so, but already I have seen some folks on Twitter with certainty predicting rain all day for Oaks day and Derby day. Seems too early for me, although definitely appears the Kentucky area is stuck in a wet pattern and it is expected to continue into next week.

For some reason it always seems to rain either the Friday or Saturday of Derby weekend, or at least I seem to remember it that way. But in actuality only 4 Derby races since 1990 have been run on a "sloppy" track. Here is the list with winners:

2010: Super Saver
2009: Mine That Bird
2004: Smarty Jones
1994: Go for Gin

Oh, one more thing if you are going this year, Umbrellas are listed as a "Banned Item" not allowed at Churchill Downs.

Photo Credit: The Weather Channel (www.weather.com)

Calling the Race Caller

2011-04-17T12:19:00.002-04:00

Man was that a particularly bad race call by Terry Wallace calling the Arkansas Derby. I realize a 13 horse field makes it difficult but this was a big race and he blew it.

If you just turned on the TV set the last minute and didn't know it was a big race, you almost would think it was a lesser race being called by a celebrity showing his hand at race calling.

Wallace lost control of the race early on when at the first turn he literally stopped calling the race for 5 seconds when he had trouble coming up with who was leading the pack.

He also never called the entire field. In fact if you were rooting for Elite Alex or Caleb's Posse, and wanted to know where they were in the race, you were out of luck.

Wallace never mentioned Elite Alex or Caleb's Posse at all the entire race.

He did spot winner Archarcharch coming strong on the outside in the final stretch, but otherwise the race call was a disaster. 5th place finisher Alternation got his name called for the 1st time after he finished, after first being called Altercation by Wallace.

I guess I am spoiled with the great race callers calling my local tracks up in New York with Tom Durkin, Larry Collmus calling Monmouth and even Tony Calo at Finger Lakes.

Uncle Who?

2011-04-12T22:16:00.006-04:00

Who knew everyone would have fun with the name Uncle Mo after his less than stellar Wood Performance at the Big A. Various twists on the 3 year old's name heard and seen out there include:

Uncle Slow

Uncle No

Uncle Schmo

Uncle Slo Mo

and my favorite:

Uncle NO MO

I mean really, can there be more than one Mo in New York? There is really only one Mo in New York and that is Mariano Rivera. This New York Yankee Reliever and Future Hall of Famer is affectionately known as Mo Rivera. He is an 11 time all star and 5 time Champion. Short of taking the triple crown, can Uncle NO MO come even close to ringing up these numbers?

Imagine the 5 Yankee World Series Wins since 1996 without Mo. Impossible, can't happen. He is the best. When the pressure is amped up he excels, unlike Uncle NO MO who wilted under the pressure, the real Mo never does. The Real Mo holds the record for post season saves and Earned Run Average. And he is still going strong at 42 years old.

I still see good things ahead for Uncle NO MO, but We should have known all along that there can only be one Mo in New York , anything else is just a "not quite reasonable facsimile".

Notes: Photo Credit: My Brother Dave

Here Comes Uncle Mo

2011-04-08T08:50:00.005-04:00

Fun weekend on tap, especially if you happen to be a New York Sports fan. The NY Rangers play for their NHL Playoff lives at the Garden Saturday afternoon, The NY Mets Home Opener in Queens is today, the Yanks go up to Beantown to face the 0-6 Sox. And of course Uncle Mo faces 9 others in the Wood Memorial at the Big A on Saturday.

Actually with a little bit of planning and proper use of our fine NYC Subway system, one could take in the Ranger Game at Madison Square Garden at 12:30 pm, watch it to completion, hop on the Subway and get to Aqueduct in plenty of time to watch the Wood which goes off at 5:48 pm. Once that's done, stay right in Queens & head up to Citified to catch Uncle Mo Owner Mike Repole's favorite team the New York Mets for an opening pitch of 7:10 pm.

As for the Wood, Uncle Mo is just too fast and too good for the rest of the field, none of who have ever won a graded stakes race. I do like Preachintothedevil as a live underdog to get a piece of the board. You can read my full take of the race over at the Handicappers Corner at the Thorofan website.

I asked for Shaq, they gave me Shackleford

2011-04-03T22:59:00.003-04:00

As the blogosphere and Twitter land debate on whether the win of Dialed In was impressive or not, this blog author's mind drifts off to wonder about more odd things such as: How did Florida Derby 2nd place finisher Shackleford get named?

As a lover of all things sports, and especially at this time of year I associate the name with Charles Shackleford, former NBA player who starred in college at NC State.

Maybe if the connections of Shackleford the horse knew about Shackleford the man, they would have named him something else. Although there is a gambling connection.

Charles Shackleford was accused (although never arrested) of point shaving along with 3 other players at NC State in 4 games during the 1987-88 season in exchange for cash payments from 2 men, one of them a known gambler.

Shackleford denied the point shaving but admitted taking $65,000 in cash from the 2 men, terming it a "loan".

Shackleford has had further trouble with the law since, being convicted in 2006 of weapons possession and being arrested in 2010 for selling prescription medication.

Well, Dale Romans, the trainer of Shackleford the horse is funny and always a good quote but can he top this gem of a quote from Shackleford the man, who, when talking about his shooting prowess, said:

“Left hand, right hand, it doesn't matter. I'm amphibious."

Put some Duct Tape on it

2011-03-30T19:11:00.005-04:00

Time for the annual "lets see how the NTRA screws up this one" event. The NTRA has announced on their website that NTRA Live! returns in April with 3 live Webcasts of the Florida Derby, Wood Memorial and the Blue Grass Stakes.

Always one to toot their own horn, the NTRA Senior VP Keith Chamblin states:

"Last year's NTRA Live! Webcasts were extremely well received..."

Really?- by who? The host, Randy Moss, who returns again this year, did a nice job hosting, but technically the webcasts were a mess, with the debut performance of NTRA Live! in 2010 resulting in a feed seen by virtually no one in what the NTRA termed as "technical errors".

My advice: Log in early ( you must have a NTRA account set up) and plan to have an alternate video feed to watch.

First Time, Long Time

2011-03-25T20:49:00.004-04:00

Former New York Governor David Paterson will put on the Sports Talk Radio Host hat as he hosts a 3 hour shift on Sports talk radio Giant WFAN in New York this Monday from 10 pm until 1 am. For those not in the listening area you can hear it live on the web with this link.

Will be interesting to see if the call screener's let any questions on racing get through to the former Governor. With Politics and Horse Racing so incestuous in New York State, where you really can't talk about one without the other, I would love to see how candid Paterson would be.

He most likely will get peppered with a bunch of Yankees, Mets, Jets and Knicks questions but would love to hear him give his take on the background skinny on the VLT award to Genting and what really happened with the whole AEG fiasco.

This story plus questions on NYRA, takeout fees, the closing of the New York City OTB, the future of OTB's outside the city, the expected saturation of racino's and Indian casino's, and legislation and penalties for drug usage could take the whole 3 hours up.

But I'm not holding my breath.

Beware the Ides of March

2011-03-15T00:06:00.005-04:00

I'm not planning on attending the Theatre of Pompey, so I guess I will be okay today. But the 15th of March is always a turning point in the calender for me.

Back in High School it was always the first official day of Spring Track practice. It also usually falls right around the time that the NCAA March Madness begins, an unofficial start of spring for me. And of course it is just short of the midpoint of the Derby Prep chase. The Saratoga Race Course Union Avenue gates may still be blocked with snow (as they were in this photo taken by yours truly on the 13th) but believe it not, the mounds of farch will eventually melt.

I'm enjoying the prep races thus far, still deciding on who I think will give Uncle Mo a run for the crown. As for Uncle Mo, sure last Saturday was a glorified workout, but the horse seems like the real deal, and with owner Mike Repole as his spokesperson, I hope you enjoy hearing about him, as it will only get louder after he wins the Wood at the Big A. Remember, this guy became a billionaire by selling you something you drank for free as a kid. Water.

Chantal and the Big Cap stay in the News

2011-03-09T22:20:00.004-05:00

It is good to see that 5 days after the Santa Anita Handicap, people are still talking about the controversial outcome. In past years the Big Cap would get a one day review in the media and talk would go back to the Derby Trail. We are in an age when everything is news for a minute and than it is gone, turn the page, on to the next story, always looking forward, no time to dissect what has happened. Egypt one day, than forgotten and on to Libya next. Yet 5 days later and still talking about the Cap. In this day and age for anything to be talked about more than a few days, is pretty amazing.

With the added publicity of winning the Santa Anita Handicap aboard Game on Dude, Chantal Sutherland picked the perfect time to redesign her website.

Charlie Sheen the right choice to lead the Breeders Cup

2011-03-04T08:52:00.006-05:00

Ray Paulick reports on the Paulick Report that Greg Avioli is resigning as president and chief executive officer of the Breeders’ Cup. Paulick lists 8 potential replacements. In a sidebar poll readers have chosen "none of the above" as their choice.

With such lack of enthusiasm for the usual suspects to replace Avioli, why not think outside the box. We need a winner and who sells winning better than Charlie Sheen.

The timing is perfect as Sheen is currently on the open market.

The Breeders Cup Twitter site has 4,323 followers. Why not turbo charge that number and grab Sheen as your CEO who just set a Guinesss Book World record for being the quickest person on Twitter to gain 1 million followers, doing so in 25 hours, 17 minutes.

Some may say Sheen is on a classic downward spiral but I would argue the man is a marketing genius and he is acting like a business minded positive forward thinking CEO, something the Breeders Cup needs. Are not these recent quotes from Sheen reminiscent of great leaders of the past, like Winston Churchill and Vince Lombardi. Breeders Cup, may you consider these quotes as part of Sheen's resume:

"You can't process me with a normal brain"

"I have Tigers blood and Adonis DNA"

"Defeat is not an option"

"Drug tests don't lie. Scoreboard doesn't lie"

"Plan Better applies to everything where an excuse now sits. Try it. U won't be wrong. EVER"

I believe his first decision will be to replace the confusing "Win and your In" slogan with his more concise classic line:

"Duh Winning!"

Here to Stay

2011-02-25T10:25:00.007-05:00

No sport or game is perfect and naysayers are plentiful but there are people like Sports Talk Personality Jim Rome who just "get it" and understand how great this game is. With people like him around this game will never die.

You can just feel his enthusiasm in his tweet yesterday on his Twitter account (@jimrome) about his Stable's win with 3 year old Diamond Geezah in the 7th at Santa Anita yesterday.

Jim Rome
jimrome Jim Rome
Just saw the replay:Diamond Geezah with huge heart! @JoeTalamo tearing up the hill. Big ups to Mike Mitchell. Congrats to Dan Capen. Insane.

He posted 10 separate Tweets about the win on his Twitter feed.

And with over 228,000 followers to his Twitter site, that's a good thing.

Poll Numbers

2011-02-21T17:09:00.005-05:00

In today's edition of USA Today, they published the results of 325 people who were asked: What Sports Commissioner needs to Go?

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig led all vote getter's with 42% saying he should go, followed by David Stern (NBA) with 20%, Gary Bettman at 14% and NFL's Roger Goodell with 10%. 14% said none-they are all doing a good job.

The Thoroughbred Industry does not have a commissioner but the closest thing we have is Alex Waldrop, the NTRA President and CEO. What do you think the % of Yes votes would be for him needing to go?

4-letter word for the iron fitting on the hoof of a horse or a card-dealing box in a casino?

2011-02-15T17:47:00.003-05:00

Answer: What is a Shoe?

See I knew you were as smart as an IBM Super Computer.

NYRA continues to Brand

2011-02-09T14:38:00.003-05:00

In the wake of the closure of the New York City OTB, The New York Racing Association (NYRA) continues to move forward and further brand the NYRA name.

After the NYC OTB closure NYRA quickly reached out to the abandoned OTB players with incentives to sign up for a NYRA Rewards betting account.

They than opened up the Belmont Cafe on the ground floor at Belmont Park. The cafe is a clean, heated simulcast facility with a cafe and bar. They pay track prices on all payouts too.

Yesterday, NYRA announced the debut of a NYRA produced Television program to be shown in the New York City area on Channel 71, which was the old NYC OTB Simulcast channel. NYRA has taken over the channel, now called the NYRA Network. The show will be shown live twice a week, (Wednesday & Saturday at 9:30 am) and focus not only on the NYRA circuit, but the National scene as well as the Triple Crown preps. Jason Blewitt and Andy Serling will host.

All pretty good branding if you ask me. Important stuff, just ask Arianna Huffington how important branding can be for your properties- as it did with The Huffington Post.

The Power of Education

2011-01-30T23:08:00.008-05:00

With Dialed In swallowing up the field in the Holy Bull Stakes we now have another interesting New York owner among the Derby chase leaders. Uncle Mo and owner Mike Repole garnered most of the early 2011 Derby talk but now another original New Yorker in Dialed In owner Robert LaPenta joins him.

They both followed the same template in achieving success and entering the horse ownership business. Both are native New Yorkers, Repole was born in Queens, LaPenta in Yonkers. Both came from humble beginnings and were the first generation in their families to attend college. LaPenta's father worked in a warehouse, Repole's father was a waiter. Both attended and commuted to nearby New York City Metro area catholic schools-LaPenta graduated from Iona College (New Rochelle, NY) and Repole from St. John's University.

Repole and LaPenta used their college degrees as a springboard into the business world, where both became highly successful. They than parlayed that success into horse ownership. Neither has forgotten their alma matter, in fact it would be rare to hear an Repole or LaPenta speak longer than a few minutes without acknowledging St John's and Iona College. LaPenta's silks are maroon and gold in honor of his alma mater. He also has donated 7 million to Iona. Both are big sports fans outside of racing, LaPenta with college basketball and Repole is a fanatical NY Mets baseball fan. His silks are blue and orange, in honor of the Mets. Repole was quoted yesterday in the NY Daily News as being interested in owning a piece of the Mets.

You still got to have a little bit of luck to get that Derby horse, but it was not luck that got them in a position to get that portential Derby winner, it was education.

Zenyatta-Bernardini comes Full Circle

2011-01-26T23:16:00.004-05:00

It seems somewhat logical for Bernardini to be announced as the first mating partner for Zenyatta. Not from a pedigree standpoint but from an Eclipse Award view.

We all know about the Zenyatta debates for Horse of the Year in 2009 and 2010. But Bernardini was involved in Eclipse Award debates himself in 2006. Bernardini had to battle the ghost of the ill fated Barbaro as the 2006 Eclipse Awards approached. That year, Bernardini won the Preakness, The Jim Dandy Stakes and The Jockey Club Gold Cup and finished 2nd in the BC Classic to Invasor.

In the 3 year old Male Horse of the Year, Bernardini won despite the sentimental pleas for Barbaro to pick up the award. Bernardini won the award going away with 210 votes to 56 for Barbaro.

But even though Bernardini trounced Barbaro in the 3 year old vote, he finished 3rd in the Horse of the Year tally with 16 votes and behind the 2nd place Barbaro, who garnered 21 votes. Invasor won convincingly with 228 votes.

Blasphemy-How dare we slam the Shake Shack

2011-01-13T09:21:00.013-05:00

Veteran racing scribe Michael Veitch of the Saratogian wrote an article on the upcoming capital improvements expected at Saratoga, courtesy of VLT money from the to be built racino at Aqueduct, with emphasis on a local advisory committee formed to discuss the proposed changes.

Veitch discusses how the Saratoga Race Course is now a part of the fabric of the city, linked to the local architecture and culture. In the article he than says this:

"Shake Shack, the new dining area thrown together quickly before the 2010 meeting, upset many Saratogians on this count."

Veitch does not expand on this statement, nor does he include any quotes from the "upset Saratogians".

Gasp! How dare the esteemed Veitch slam the almighty Shake Shack. Has he not ever tasted the high caloric burger fans happily line up for at the Shack? Has his lips never touched a sumptuous Black and White Shake?

Yes the building might seem a tiny bit too big and modern looking at first glance, but after the first weekend it blended in nicely, like it had been there all along, like a familiar friend at the Spa. And let us not forget it replaced a tacky looking Paddock Tent, not what I would consider exactly high end architecture.

And with the Blue Smoke and Paddock Bar mere steps away, I dare say this was the best Trifecta bet placed at the track all year

24/7: The Road to the Kentucky Derby?

2011-01-06T19:44:00.004-05:00

If you like the National Hockey League like I do and have access to HBO on your cable or satellite systems you had to love the HBO "24/7 Penguins/Capitals: Road to the Winter Classic" series.

The series was great, with candid interviews, nice game action editing and the dulcet narration of Liev Schreiber ( I could listen to this guy narrate the dictionary). In the past HBO has had success with the 24/7 shows on boxing and last year they did one on Jimmy Johnson leading up to the Daytona 500.

The template is fairly simple: an all-access look at the athletes and teams in a sport that leads to a climax.

What better climax to chronicle and lead up to than the Kentucky Derby?

The First Saturday in May movie by the Hennegan Brothers did this brilliantly but the movie was put out after the Derby outcome was known. This HBO series would be done in real time, creating a suspense and interest in the outcome as you invest time in the horse, trainers and owners being serialized. I think this would work great, profiling 4 or so horses and their connections as they lead up to Derby.

According to a NY Times article by Richard Sandomir, HBO is looking to take on a new sport. Sandomir suggests gold's Ryder Cup. Golf, Smolf, I say do the Derby.

NYRA Live Race Streaming gets an A

2010-12-29T16:43:00.008-05:00

Living in a State where bureaucracy reigns, kudos must go to NYRA for overcoming the nonsense that is New York State Legislation. After the demise of the New York City OTB, NYRA has moved swiftly to finally receive approval allowing live steaming video on their ADW site(NYRA Rewards).

The Live streaming video debuted today. I visited the website (nyrarewards.com) around 11:30 today before the Aqueduct first race post time of 12:30 pm. I hit the "Live Video" icon and to my surprise I was taken to the "NYRA Replays and Talking Horses" show that runs daily for an hour before each day's racing card on track and at simulcast outlets, allowing me to view NYRA Handicappers Jason Blewitt and Andy Serling as they previewed the entire Aqueduct Card.

The nice thing is that the live video opens up in a separate window, allowing you to stay on the main page, and view odds and bet while you are watching the live stream.

At 12:17 pm, the feed came back on again, with Blewitt and Serling handicapping Race 1 as the live video showed the saddling of the horses and than the Post Parade. If you are a visual handicapper, you know how important this video is.

The site is easy to use and requires no advanced degree designation or computer knowledge to navigate.

I'm the first to knock NYRA but when so much goes wrong for so long, Lets give credit where credit is due. NYRA gets an "A" grade from this reviewer for the integration of Live Video Streaming onto the NYRA Rewards site.

Also Ran Again

2010-12-19T23:34:00.008-05:00

Despite a superlative career Zenyatta keeps missing out on the big awards. The recently retired mare missed out on the 2008 and 2009 Horse of the Year awards and this years award is very much in question with 2010 Breeders Cup Classic winner Blame quite possibly getting the 1st place vote.

First in her career 19 times out 20, Zenyatta seems to have contracted the deadly "seconditis" disease.

Last year Zenyatta missed out on the 2009 Female Athlete of the Year award as chosen by members of the Associated Press, finishing second. This year Zenyatta also falls short of the AP award, finishing second once again as Skier Lindsey Vonn takes top honors. Of course, to make matters even worse for the dark haired beauty Zenyatta, she finished second to a blonde.

Ok, time to take some Pictures

2010-12-13T20:19:00.007-05:00

The 2010 Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance Photo Contest is now accepting Submissions.

You can find all the contest information over on the TBA website.

Entries can be a professional or amateur photograph. I submitted a photograph last year and finished well behind the field. The competitive bastard that I am, I once again submit an entry for 2010.

My photograph (see below, double click to enlarge) was taken at Saratoga Race Course on 8/29/10 during the The Personal Ensign Stakes. The photo features Rachel Alexandra and Persistently during the stretch run of the race ultimately won by Persistently. As the voting is open to the public, I unabashedly ask for your vote, with my reasons why I deserve to win as follows:

My photograph does not feature Zenyatta, the most over photographed horse of the 21st century and for that reason alone my photo deserves your vote.

My photograph was taken with a $39.99 dollar point & shoot camera. I am competing against people with high resolution cameras with lens attachments. I deserve your vote for having the courage to compete with such poor equipment.

Unlike the professional photos that will be submitted, this photograph was taken among the masses in the grandstand who cannot afford the clubhouse or special access granted to those with connections. Imagine how much better the photo would be if I was given a cushy position near the finish line, are at least a little bit closer to the actual race I photographed.

Although Rachel Alexandra finished second in the Personal Ensign Stakes, my shot features Rachel Alexandra when she was still in the lead, at the 1 1/8 mile mark of this 1 1/4 mile race. This photo features the last time ever in her career she was in the lead before being passed by the winner. Some credit must come my way for the timing in taking the photo of Rachel in the lead for the last time ever.

My fiancé was with me that day, and I always seem to get great shots when she is with me at the track, probably because I love her so much. This proves I am a romantic, and horse racing is a game of romance -yet another reason deserving of your vote.

NYC OTB Debacle

2010-12-08T10:26:00.006-05:00

The closure of the NYC OTB affects more than the direct customers of the OTB Parlors.

Remember, this is a state where NYRA's online wagering site, NYRA Rewards is not even allowed to show the post parade or a live stream of its own product on its online wagering site. If you live in NYC, you just lost the OTB Simulcast feed on the OTB Broadcast channel available on broadcast and cable TV. If you don't have access to TVG or HRTV and you have a NYRA Rewards site, good luck on wagering without a look at what you are wagering on.

Here in upstate NY, I can still have access to the Capital OTB TV Station to utilize in conjunction with my NYRA Rewards account. But if you are in the Metro NYC area and have only a NYRA Rewards account, you are now stuck.

Another problem is limited hours to bet on the NYRA Rewards state, again limited by New York State Law.

I have hope we will see a new NYC OTB reorganization plan surface, and this plan should include allowing live online streaming and expansion of hours you are allowed to bet on the NYRA Rewards site.

Another Title Slips by Zenyatta

2010-11-30T22:49:00.004-05:00

As the debate rages on for Horse of the Year, I suppose Zenyatta had a shot at the Sportsman of the Year (won by Drew Brees) awarded by Sports Illustrated every year. She certainly qualifies as an athlete who has had success in her sport and had a large effect on the sport beyond her winning. And yes, you don't have to be a man to win the title. Chris Evert won in 1976 and Mary Decker in 1983. Teams have also won, the last being the Boston Red Sox in 2004.

No horse has ever won the title, but Jockey Steve Cauthen won in 1977. I went back and read the article on Steve Cauthen by legendary writer Frank Deford. The first thing I noticed is how journalism has changed from when the article was written 33 years ago, back when magazines were filled with ads and readers had attention spans that would read behind 140 characters.

This years article in SI on Brees is a mere 11 paragraphs and 666 words. The article by Deford on Cauthen is a novel by current standards at 62 paragraphs and 4,332 words. You can read the entire article here.

Giving Thanks...

2010-11-24T13:00:00.006-05:00

On this Thanksgiving Eve, I hustled to finish my last work appointment in Saratoga. It is a cold today, but clear, and with the sun blazing it felt rather mild for this time of year. As I traveled back home down Union Avenue, I passed the grand old track, 3 months since the last patron entered, gates now closed, not to open again until half way through 2011. Seeing the track reminded me of one of my favorite quotes (by the wise Jesuit Balastar Gracian):

All that really belongs to us is time; even he who has nothing else has that.

So enjoy the time we all have and I hope for everyone it is filled tomorrow with good cheer, good food, family and friends. And if nothing else, if you get tired at the Thanksgiving table arguing about politics, religion, and the economy, just throw a question out about who should win the Horse of the Year award to get the gang riled up.

Post Zenyatta Life

2010-11-17T19:06:00.004-05:00

Now it is official as Zenyatta is retired and will be sent to Lane's End farm in Kentucky.

So how does the game proceed post Zenyatta? In the short term the Horse of the Year debate will rage on, perhaps fueled even more by the fact that she is now retired. Judging by what I have read and heard thus far, I feel that Zenyatta will win the Horse of the Year vote. It is my opinion that turf writers are an emotional sort and are protective of the game they cover. I don't see how most of them can take emotion of out of the decision making. Emotion will win out and Zenyatta will win.

The most amazing thing is how late her popularity bloomed, especially in the mainstream. It was like a huge surge starting about 30 days prior to the BC Classic, pushed ahead by a 60 Minutes piece and a long feature article in Sports Illustrated. I can only wonder how much wider known she would have been had she ventured East a few times in the past 2 years, to dirt tracks such as Belmont, Monmouth or Saratoga.

The Breeders Cup Also-Rans

2010-11-09T00:35:00.008-05:00

With so many words now being written on the Thrilling finish Blame and Zenyatta gave us in the Classic , I don't know if I can add much, so let us take a look at some of the weekends also-rans as described in the Equibase Result Charts:

Mine That Bird (Dirt Mile, finished 1oth out of 12 starters):

Steadied at the start when Morning Line drifted out, raced three wide and was no factor.

This pretty much describes his year where he was never a factor in 4 starts. Mine That Bird was retired today.

Lookin at Lucky (Classic, finished 4th out of 12 starters):

within reach of the leaders the opening half while unhurried, advanced four wide past the three furlong marker, rallied in company with the winner approaching the stretch, battled that one to inside the final furlong and weakened

Part of my Tri-Box with Blame and Zenyatta, it looked for a minute that he would go with both of them all the way to the line, but he didn't do it and also allowed Fly Down to beat him by a neck at the finish for 3rd.

Quality Road (Classic, finished 12th out of 12 starters):

close up along the inside, moved off the rail on the second turn and stopped after six furlongs

Man did he stop.

BC Friday Winners and Losers

2010-11-06T11:07:00.003-04:00

WINNERS:

Churchill Downs: Lights worked; Great Friday attendance of over 41,000
ESPN: Great video of the Borel-Castellano Fight; Jumped right on Life at Ten story
Longshot Bettors: All winners paid double digits with Shared Account paying $94
Bobby Flay: He made me $29 bucks and change on Real for More, plus he loves the sport

LOSERS:

Track Vets: Gotta do a better job of checking on Life at Ten
Borel: Can't say I blame him, but this will tarnish his good guy image
Chalk Players: You took a bath, only paying favorite was Awesome Feather

Saturday's Predicted Winners:

Sprint: Big Drama with Supreme Summit underneath
Juvenile: Uncle Mo with Biondetti underneath
Mile: Gio Ponti
Classic: Lookin at Lucky, Zenyatta, Blame

Breeders Cup 2010 Prop Bets

2010-11-04T23:49:00.009-04:00

I direct you to the Thorofan "Handicapper's Corner" for a serious look at each BC race authored by many of us at the Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance, including your truly where I took on the BC Sprint (love Big Drama).

You can also head over to the TBA Home Page and check out the Public Handicapping page for the BC races, where thus far 16 bloggers, writers, and tweeters have checked in with their picks (where 2 other 'cappers join me in picking Lookin at Lucky over the Superstar Queen Z).

For some less than serious bets, here are some Prop bets, culled from various gaming sites and my own curious mind:

How Many times will Zenyatta's name be mentioned in the race call-Over/Under: 8.5

How Many times will the ESPN TV crew mention Zenyatta's name during the entire 3:30-7:00 pm Saturday broadcast: Over/Under: 100

How Many times will ESPN mention BC Classic Longshot Pleasant Prince: Over/Under: 3

What will the Saturday ESPN TV rating be: Over/Under: 1.9

First adjective/expression to be used by winning BC Classic Jockey after the race:

"Amazing": 3-1
"She's the Greatest": 7-2
"Thrilling": 6-1
"He's the Best": 8-1
"This is the greatest feeling in the world": 10-1
"Unbelievable": 12-1
"I believed in my horse": 15-1
"I just would Like to thank God for all this": 20-1

Zenyatta on 60 Minutes = Web search buzz

2010-10-31T21:05:00.009-04:00

If you are reading this blog, you most likely found your way to a TV set or computer Sunday evening to watch the 60 Minutes piece on Zenyatta.

It was purely a puff piece, nothing to be learned if you are already a fan of the great Mare. But the exposure of being on 60 Minutes cannot be discounted. Even in this age of a fractured television audience 60 minutes is a ratings juggernaut. More people watched her last night on CBS than did last year in the Breeders' Cup Classic.

A search on Google Trends at 9:00 pm Eastern time on Sunday, about an hour after the piece ran on Zenyatta, showed that she had zoomed all the way up to #14 on the Google "Hot Search" Chart for searches in the USA. The search "Breeders Cup 2010" zoomed all the way to #5, indicating the casual fan was intrigued enough by the Zenyatta piece to do a little research on this Breeders' Cup gig. The only sports themed search higher, at #3, was the search for "Brett Favre Injury". Below is the Google Trends search volume index graph for Sunday on Zenyatta:

BC Pre-Entries in-Now it gets serious

2010-10-28T08:07:00.003-04:00

Now with all the Pre-Entries for the Breeders' Cup races in, the build up begins in earnest. Past Performances will be studied, trainer interviews will be published and Horse of the Year debates will continue.

The biggest of all is the return to dirt, The Breeders' Cup Classic, set to go off at 6:45 pm.

Looking at the field, if the great Zenyatta is to retire at 20-0, she will have earned it. Two horses have my interest at this moment. I have been reading alot about Blame, and I am intrigued by the amount of fans who absolutely stand by this horse and feel he will beat Queen Z. And what about Lookin at Lucky, who always runs, never quits, and looks really ready to go in this one.

Arrogance of Power

2010-10-22T09:58:00.004-04:00

Joseph Fisch, New York State Inspector General has released his report on the Aqueduct Entertainment Group VLT fiasco and as expected, it is a treatise on New York State Politics and its corruption filled, lobbyist controlled, greed fiefdom.

One of the culprits slammed by the Inspector General includes State Senator Malcom D. Smith (D). Just how can these shenanigans involving our elected officials continue to occur in New York State?

Easy, when you are continually reelected no matter what you do in office a sense of entitlement reigns. This goes for both sides of the aisle, whether Democrat or Republican. The New York State Senate has members each elected to two year terms. There are no limits on the number of terms one may serve.

Senator Malcom D. Smith (D) has been a senator in the 14th district since 2001. Despite what can kindly be called a checkered career with many questionable activities, he wins all his reelections and ran unopposed in 2008. He is up for reelection this November. Should he win as expected, he enters his 10th year in office. This is par for the course in New York State, once you get it, you are basically in, provided you play the game and don't piss off your fellow long term incumbent fellow state politicians. The residents of New York State, the constituents they are elected to represent-they don't count.

For all the sleazy details, you can read the entire 304 page Inspector General report here.

Shirreffs on Zenyatta-Just Sayin'

2010-10-16T12:44:00.007-04:00

Like any good campaign manager John Shirreffs is telling all who will listen that Zenyatta should win the Eclipse award for 2010 Horse of the Year, even if she loses the Breeders Cup Classic. You can find all the quotes in Jeff Lowe's article in the Thoroughbred Times. I have no problem with the quotes, he believes in his horse and should say so, plus planting the seed into the writers (and voters) heads about winning the award even if she loses the BC Classic is pretty smart.

He further said, should she lose out on the award this year:

“For what she has done for the last three years, I would have to say that would be a real slap in the face"

He also said he thinks the award should have been split between Rachel and Zenyatta in '09.

It seems that Shirreffs feels Zenyatta's continued dominance in 2010 diminishes Rachel's dominance in 2009. For 2009, Rachel was 8-0, with 3 Grade 1 wins against males. You can't go back in time and make the award a "Lifetime Achievement Award". If so, Zenyatta wins hands down. But the award is for Horse of the Year, and that is a whole different animal.

Of Hope and Promise

2010-10-10T19:43:00.004-04:00

Another great weekend for a sports junkie, and if you are like me, your remote control got a big workout this weekend. Saturday was big, juggling between the MLB playoffs and watching Belmont and Keeneland on the OTB channel. I could not watch the ESPN Classic television coverage from Keeneland on Saturday card as ESPN Classic is no longer part of my cable package-thank you Time Warner.

The Saturday highlight was 2 year old Uncle Mo, now unbeaten in 2 starts and headed to the Breeders Cup Juvenile. Is he the real thing? Let's wait and see, his time on Saturday was impressive and he certainly looks to have the type of body to endure a 3 year old TC campaign run. But the Champagne field was really of an allowance quality and not Grade 1 stakes material. On Sunday at Belmont, 2 runners coming out of Uncle Mo's Travers undercard debut win, Research Report and King Congie looked very unimpressive finishing 4th & 5th in a 5 horse field.

Someone who did look impressive was 5 year old gelding Little Nick in winning an $70,000 Overnight Stakes race at Belmont on Sunday, beating a nice field. I touted Little Nick and trainer Anthony Quartarolo last month on this blog when Little Nick was an Alternate Entry in an $47,000 turf at Belmont. Hopefully you remembered his name and cashed in on a $22 winning ticket today. In usual Murphy's Law fashion, yours truly forget to get his bet in.

Slots Welfare

2010-10-05T22:44:00.006-04:00

Using the funds from casinos and VLT's to prop up horse racing has been described by some as "slots welfare" for racing. Well, who would have thought that some of the money spent on slots and at casinos is actually generated from our welfare system. The LA Times has reported that between January of 2007 and May 0f 2010 about $11 million dollars in cash was spent or withdrawn from California issued welfare aid debit cards in Las Vegas with $1 million spent directly on the Vegas Strip. Ya can't make this stuff up.

Maybe in a strange way this makes sense, the Taxpayer funds the welfare recipient who than spends his welfare cash at a slot machine to than fund an industry also in need of help.

In reaction to the Times article, The Schwarzenegger administration is now cutting off use of state-issued welfare debit cards at casinos across the country and on cruise ships.

Before we start amping up the NY Breds Program in anticipation of slot-infused mega purses, Maybe we should ask the New York candidates for Governor, Andrew Cuomo and Carl Paladino, their position on the use of welfare debit cards at the soon to be built Aqueduct VLT's.

Super Saturday Coverage

2010-10-01T18:04:00.005-04:00

Unlike most weekends, there will be sufficient television coverage of the big races this weekend if you are not lucky enough to get yourself to Belmont Park or Hollywood Park this weekend.

In addition to the usual TVG and HRTV coverage, MSG+ Network will broadcast from Belmont Park on 5-6 pm eastern time Saturday with live coverage of the Jockey Club Gold Cup and the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational. They will also show taped coverage of the 3 other Saturday Grade 1 races at Belmont. You can find my analysis of the Jockey Club Gold Cup over at the Thorofan website.

In the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic I'm looking forward to see how Paddy O'Prado does going 12 furlongs and against older males for the 1st time. Paddy is fast becoming one of my favorite horses to watch. He reminds of me of a reliable baseball player-someone like ex-Met Keith Hernandez-he shows up to compete and is always looking for a way to win.

ESPN actually decides to parachute into the Horse Racing scene and will be broadcasting live from Hollywood Park from 6:30-8:00 pm eastern time with live coverage of Zenyatta in the Lady's Secret Stakes as she shoots for her 19th consecutive win in the Lady’s Secret Stakes.

Rachel Alexandra-Something we can Remember

2010-09-28T19:41:00.006-04:00

So now it is official, Rachel Alexandra is retired.

She ends with a race record of 13 wins and 5 seconds from 19 starts with career earnings of $3,506,730.

In an age where the news cycle spins and spins and we just go on the next thing, the next name, the next item and forget everything we just saw or learned, Rachel Alexandra stands out for being memorable and remaining in the news these last 2 years. Hard to do in America, where only Zenyatta is on equal par as far as name recognition to the everyday casual racing fan.

In a country where seemingly everything that is new gets old quick and than forgotten, like the oil spill we were all riled up about but now gets nary a mention in the media, Rachel continued to get her media ink ,website, and social media mentions. Heck she might even be trending today on Twitter, although the twitless seem to think the topic "signshesahoe" seems to be important enough today to be a trending subject. If only I was joking.

On a personal note, I was lucky enough to see Rachel race in the flesh twice, in the Woodward Stakes in '09 and this past summer in the Personal Ensign Stakes. I will always remember her Woodward Stakes victory. I have never heard the crowd roar like they did that day at the Spa. Here is a picture (click to enlarge) I took as Rachel entered the final furlong of the Woodward Stakes. I love how everyone in the crowd is looking intently at the race as Rachel roars down the stretch holding off Macho Again and Bullsbay. We all know it takes a special horse to hold the attention of an entire crowd like that.

Travers to BC Classic Drought Continues

2010-09-22T20:48:00.006-04:00

It is now official, another year will pass without a horse winning both the Travers Stakes and the Breeders Cup Classic. Not that he was confirmed to even run in the BC Classic anyway, but it won't be Afleet Express as he will not run for the rest of the year after being injured. He was slated to run in the Jockey Club Gold Cup next on October 2nd.

No Travers winner has gone on to win the Breeders Cup Classic since its inception in 1984, despite great Travers Stakes winners in the past such as Point Given, Lemon Drop Kid and Easy Goer. In the last decade Medaglia d'Oro, Flower Alley and Bernardini all came close. The one to come the closest recently was when Bernardini lost a stretch duel to the great Invasor in 2006. Here is a look at the last 10 Travers winners and how they fared in the Breeders Cup Classic and if/how they raced as a 4 year old :

Horse	Year of Travers Win	BC Classic Finish	# of Wins as 4 year old
Point Given	2001	Did Not Run	None-Retired @ 3
Medaglia d'Oro	2002	2nd	3 (5 Races)
Ten Most Wanted	2003	8th	None (1 race)
Birdstone	2004	7th	None-Retired @ 3
Flower Alley	2005	2nd	None (3 races)
Bernardini	2006	2nd	None-Retired @ 3
Street Sense	2007	4th	None-Retired @ 3
Colonel John	2008	6th	1 (4 races)
Summer Bird	2009	4th	None-Retired @3
Afleet Express	2010	Will Not Run	??

Names of Interest at Belmont Park

2010-09-17T09:15:00.004-04:00

Coming off the high of the summer season at Saratoga, it takes me about a week to get into the fall meet at Belmont Park. 4 Days into the meet and I have yet to place a bet. But today has some familiar names on the Belmont Card so maybe today is the day I come out of my cave and take a look around.

The familiar names include 3 year old's Aikenite and Radiohead in the 1st in a $60,000 overnight stakes on the turf.

In the 3rd we have a $60,000 NY-bred Overnight Stakes with a short field but familiar NY-breds in Manteca, Giant Moon and the senior warrior Naughty New Yorker.

In the 7th, an allowance optional claiming for $47K over the Widener turf, keep your eye on also eligible Little Nick, shipping in from Monmouth. He will have to scratch into the race but if he does, worth a shot if he doesn't come down too much from his morning line odds of 6-1. He's trained by Anthony T. Quartarolo, who returned to the training game this summer at Monmouth after a long layoff. He may be familiar to Harness fans at the Meadowlands as he was a harness driver there back in the day, than a harness trainer, before jumping over to train the Thoroughbred's.

At Monmouth this summer he was 50% in the money out of 10 starts.

Blue Skies, 9-11 and Belmont Park

2010-09-11T11:03:00.006-04:00

Those who expect to reap the blessings of Freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it. -Thomas Paine, "The American Crisis"

As I went out for my morning run this morning, I was struck by the crystal blue skies above my head, with nary a cloud in the sky. Of course, 9 years ago today on 09/11/01 the sky was also crystal blue above the greatest city in the world-New York.

Today as you go about your activities try and make today a day of remembrance and reflection for the 2,976 victims who were murdered on 09/11/01.

If you make your way to beautiful Belmont Park for opening day of the Fall meet, throw a few bucks on Aces Mark in the 8th race, an allowance for NY breds. Aces Mark is named after Ace Bailey and Mark Bavis, scouts for the Los Angeles Kings, who were aboard United Airlines flight 175 when it was deliberately crashed into the World Trade Center on September 11. You can read more about the story of Aces Mark over at Teresa Genaro's Brooklyn Backstretch site.

Never forget the what happened that day, and never forget how lucky we are in this country, to truly pursue liberty, do work of our choosing, and enjoy our leisure time unencumbered and of our choosing at home with family and friends or at various destinations across our land including our local track.

Saratoga Numbers

2010-09-06T23:27:00.004-04:00

NYRA's Dan Silver puts his best spin on attendance and handle at Saratoga over at the NYRA website. It seems just silly to compare this years 40 day meet with the 36 day 2009 meet plus the last three days at the Belmont 2009 meet. I only took 9th grade Prob and Stats but somehow I conclude this is an apples and oranges comparison.

Just compare Saratoga 2009 vs. Saratoga 2010, something like this:

2009 attendance : 854,424 (36 days) Average: 23,734
2010 attendance: 878,284 (40 days) Average: 21,957

2009 on track handle: 112,005,864 Average: 3,111,274
2010 on track handle: 114,693,168 Average: 2,867,329

Day 36 and the Trap Door

2010-09-02T23:31:00.005-04:00

Day 36 is usually Labor Day, where we watch the final race, tally up the Jockey and Trainer titles and say goodbye to the Spa. Instead we plow on with 4 more days of racing.

Attendance stands at 758,153 after Day 36, an average of 21,059 per day- about 5% down from 2009 figures. Maybe I'm getting old, but it doesn't seem that long ago that attendance was in excess of 900,000 for the 36 days of Saratoga racing.

Today was a weird day at Saratoga with the very popular 3 year old filly Lisa's Booby Trap going off at even money odds in the second division of the $70,000 Riskaverse. At one point with about 15 minutes to post she was at 3-5 odds, even though she had never run a race on turf before. I guess this shows how everyone loves a good story. However you were shown the trap door if you bet on her, as Lisa's Booby Trap finished dead last, 17 lengths behind the winner.

Supposedly Dateline NBC had a film crew following around owner/trainer Tim Snyder and Lisa's Booby Trap all day for a possible network special on the horse. It's unknown if the Van seen speeding down Union Avenue towards I-87 South right after the race was indeed the NBC crew getting out of town.

Travers Weekend Recap 2010

2010-08-29T20:01:00.010-04:00

69,111 folks showed up Saturday and Sunday for the 2010 Travers Stakes and to see Rachel Alexandra in the Personal Ensign Stakes. Almost 70% of that number showed up on Saturday (45,764) proving at least in this case, that great weather and a traditional stakes race (The Travers Stakes) trump any one individual horse as 23,247 were on hand Sunday to watch Rachel Alexandra.

Count me among the ones who attended both days, although I did not arrive until midway to see Sunday's Card after spending the entire day at Saratoga on Saturday with my party of 5.

The Travers Stakes this year won't go down in history as one of the fastest (2:03.28), but it was a thrilling photo finish on a sun drenched humidity free day. For me, that's all I need to have a great day at the track.

Besides, I hit the Trifecta in the Travers. The photo finish fell in my favor with the winner Afleet Express tipping the $2 Trifecta bet to $970.00. Special track salute to Geno at EquiSpace for stopping by to say hi during the card and strongly tout Afleet Express. His thoughts helped me go confidently to the window. I had drawn an O-fer the first 11 races so hitting the Trifecta out the door sure made the drinks at Siro's taste sweeter.

Sunday at the track for me was a day for light betting and just enjoying the day with the better half, and seeing Rachel win the Personal Ensign Stakes...I mean err...place. Oh well, don't think we will see that RA vs. Zenyatta BC Classic matchup after all.

I leave you with a photo I took Sunday at the 1/16 pole of Rachel still in the lead in the Personal Ensign Stakes. If the race was a mile and eighth she wins, but it was not and RA was gasping the rest of the way home.

The Travers-a Holy Race of Obligation

2010-08-27T23:14:00.005-04:00

This week I have been reading the marvelous "The History and Art of 25 Travers" by Vic Zast and featuring the wonderful art & posters of Greg Montgomery. While reading it I came across Bob Summers, racing columnist for The Buffalo News quoting a horseplayer who called The Travers a "Holy Day of Obligation".

How perfect I thought-- for me that is what it is. Some people never miss Sunday Church, but for me my Church is on Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs NY and it would be a sin to miss a Stakes day, especially the Travers Stakes. This will be my eighth attended Travers in a row and though it might seem silly to some, I can't see myself missing one anytime soon.

We all have our favorites but among the ones I have attended I remember 2004 when Birdstone proved the Belmont upset of Smarty Jones was no fluke. I never forget how dark it got when the race went off and how the heavens opened up with a violent thunderstorm as Birdstone crossed the finish line the winner.

As for the 2010 Travers, every time I look at the past performances I come up with another horse I think can win the thing. For me it comes down to who can get the classic Mile and a quarter distance. Maybe come post time I will change my mind yet again, but right now I like Fly Down on top with First Dude, Afleet Express and Ice Box underneath.

Travers Exotic Bets/Play on Words

2010-08-25T20:37:00.003-04:00

As you study the PP's here's a few exotic bets to ponder:

The Afleet Alex Trifecta: Admiral Alex., Afleet Again, Afleet Express

The Nick Zito Trifecta: Miner's Reserve, Ice Box, Fly Down

The Restrained Exacta: Miner's Reserve, Super Saver

The Friends Exacta: First Dude, Friend or Foe

The Antipodal Exacta: A Little Warm, Ice Box

The Air Force Exacta: Fly Down, Trappe Shot

Travers week off to Soggy Start

2010-08-23T23:35:00.005-04:00

Not the way you want to head into Travers week with 2 days of rain dampening the usual festive feel of the Spa. NYRA had ordered 60,000 giveaway umbrella's for Sunday but had leftovers with an announced crowd of 45,171. My experience on giveaway days is too divide the attendance # by 3 to get the real #, which in this case would be 15,057. Probably the right number if you look at on track handle, which was $1,956,816. If you believe the 45,171 figure that is only $43.32 spent on track per person there.

Monday saw similarly crappy weather and 69 souls kept the # over 10,000 at 10,069. Mondays on track handle was $1,374,511 which equates too a more healthy $136.51 per person.

If you use my divide by 3 formula, the Sunday per person handle (1,956,816/15,057) would actually be $129.96.

On to the rest of the week, where you know NYRA has one eye on the weather forecast. So far the extended forecast shows rain on and off through Thursday but than clear, dry and cool Friday through Sunday.

NYRA is betting heavily on the promote Rachel Alexandra angle, including announcing today a special Travers-Personal Ensign Double (would it be called a weekend double?)

A betting angle is a betting angle

2010-08-19T21:03:00.007-04:00

I just read about abut two public handicappers-one who swears visual handicapping, (i.e. watching the horses in the paddock and the walk up to the gate before making a bet) is a great way to bet and one other handicapper who says he never does it-They both have good ROI records-so who’s to say what really is a good betting angle or not?

Here are some betting angles I have been using lately with some success.

When a jockey is injured and is than off his mounts for the rest of the day, bet the very next mount that Jockey would have had. Yesterday when Rajiv Maragh was thrown off Pico Dinero in the 7th race at Saratoga and sent to the hospital for observation, he could not make his next mount aboard Glacier Bay in the nightcap. I always feel this is like a freebie for the jockey getting the mount-he wasn’t expected to race and all of a sudden he gets a chance to make some extra coin-most jocks seem to ride with an extra zest when this happens. Eibar Coa got the mount and I jumped all over Glacier Bay who won at long odds paying $26.20 to win.

Another angle is to bet against the very, very hot trainer when every horse he sends out gets automatically bet down. Trainer Chad Brown was red hot the first 2 weeks of the meet, and his horses were getting bet down like crazy. If you took a stand against him with one of the long shots starting in week 3 you did ok. For instance on Sunday at the Spa, Brown’s horse Payout at 1-2 odds finished fourth with long shot winner Who’s Willie Fitz paying $44.80. Of course, knowing when to keep with the hot trainer or jump off board is the tricky part, you don’t want to jump too soon, but when the odds get crazily bet down, I’m well off board.

Conversely at some point a slumping trainer breaks his streak, especially a good one. Nick Zito was 0 for twenty-something entering Today's card at Saratoga, but when everyone stays away in droves at some point you gotta jump back on him as the odds should be pretty square. Today in the 5th, 2 year old Mountain Town paid $16.40 for winning trainer Zito and his pal Marylou Whitney.

Speaking of betting, you check out the handicapping selections of your favorite bloggers and writers at the TBA home page here for Arlington Million Day.

Saratoga Midterm Observations and Comments

2010-08-15T19:31:00.008-04:00

21 Days in the book, 19 to go for the 2010 Saratoga Meet.

Here are some midterm observations:

Jockey Title: It’s a 3 man race at this point; Javier Castellano came out red hot, but has cooled off a little and sits at 24 wins with Johnny Velazquez the hot one and your leader at 28, winning 3 races on Sunday. And beware Ramon Dominguez sitting with 21 wins and plenty of good mounts left in the meet.

Trainer Title: This has been a two man race from the start between Todd Pletcher and local trainer Chad Brown. Chad came into Sunday’s card with a remarkable win percentage of 43% but failed to cash in on any of his 3 horses going on Sunday including 2-5 favorite Payout in the 3^rd race, who finished out of the money. When we look back at this meet I think Sunday will be the day Pletcher pulled away and never looked back- he picked up 2 wins and leads Brown 17-12.

The “Golden Sombrero times 5” award goes to Nick Zito currently an ice cold 0-20 in the win column with only 2 seconds and a third to show for his efforts.

The new infield Tote Board: I’m mixed on this one. I often sit over in Section J, so from those seats I have a dead on center view of the new infield Tote Board. It has a nice clean look and the odds can be clearly seen on the board, something the old infield Tote never reliably did, with multiple blown bulbs seemingly every day. But the new board does not show the post race payouts so if you are seated anywhere in the middle of the track you have to rely on the side totes or the small overhead televisions to figure out what they are. The right side of the tote is reserved for ad space and announcements-can't the race payouts be rotated in this space with the ads?.

The Paddock Bar: NYRA gets an A-Plus on this one. I relished the first few days of the meet, when significant other and I saddled up to the bar behind the Paddock in relative small company with great drinks, betting machines and a view of the Paddock to boot. But of course, despite my best attempts to keep the place a secret, word has gotten out and the place is jammed, especially on Saturday.

Other Track Amenities: NYRA gets kudos on this one also, adding the Shake Shack and the Blue Smoke to the grounds. Moderately priced with lines that move pretty quickly- both places serve tasty food, with betting windows in between the two places to boot, so you can still get your bet in. You really can’t go wrong with the Shake Burger and a Shake.

A returning eatery however remains my favorite. Hattie’s formerly on “restaurant row” moved to a separate location to a bigger space this year just outside the clubhouse escalators. I find a Hattie’s fried chicken sandwich eaten around the 6^th race or so has just the perfect mix of ingredients to give me the proper nourishment to continue on for the remainder of the card.

Day 20 at the Spa

2010-08-14T12:43:00.005-04:00

We are half way through the 40 day meet at Saratoga. Just a few quick notes before I zip off to the Track for this beautiful Saturday where it is 80 degrees now with a nice breeze.

NYRA gets lucky two weekends in a row with the weather-last week on Whitney weekend and now again where the feature race is the Sword Dancer Invitational (G1) on Turf. You can read my thoughts about the race here at the handicappers corner section of the Thorofan website. This is probably the weakest Stakes weekend of the meet, so this great weather will help to bring up a few more souls at the track, that might otherwise pass. The attendance this week has been pretty strong, so expect a good turnout today.

I'll be back in a day or so with my midterm report card on the highlights and low lights thus far of the meet.

Completing the Saratoga Double Whitney Style

2010-08-08T23:39:00.004-04:00

The 2010 Grade 1 Whitney Handicap is now complete as is my long but fun day at Saratoga. I started the morning bright and early running in the 2nd annual Fasig-Tipton 5K, where all racers got off well right at 8 am. I was happy with my finishing time of 25:38 among the 266 finishers. This is one very well managed race benefiting 4 backstretch charities. For more details on the 4 racing charities and some of their upcoming benefits along with her recap of the race you can read writer Teresa Genero's account at her blog Brooklyn Backstretch.

I later returned to Saratoga with family and friends for the full racing card at the Spa.

With the race under my belt and a 11 race card ahead of me, plus drinks at Siro's, dinner downtown and than post dinner nightspot visiting, I was in for a long day. But I was bred for distance so I relished the waking hours still ahead of me.

Regarding the Whitney Handicap, like many others I really loved Quality Road on top. So confident was I, that I keyed him on top in my Trifecta, over Blame and Musket Man. However, this is one of these races when you look back at the Past Performance charts and it seems so logical that Blame was primed to win this race. He is one fine looking race horse, and man did he cruise down that final stretch.

The Saratoga Double-Whitney Version

2010-08-06T13:44:00.004-04:00

This year I attempt my Saratoga Double for the second year. This consists of running in the Fasig-Tipton 5K in Saratoga Saturday morning followed by a full day stay at the track highlighted by The Grade 1 Whitney Handicap.

My training for the 2^nd running of the Fasig-Tipton 5K has not been as strong as last year so beating my finishing 2009 time of 25:00 minutes may be tough, but I will give it the old college try. If you are in the area and want to give it a shot you can sign up on race day, 08/07/10, starting at 6:30am at the Fasig-Tipton Pavilion.

All proceeds from the race will be divided equally among the New York Racing Association's four charities: The Anna House, Backstretch Employee Service Team, New York Racetrack Chaplaincy and The Backstretch Education Fund.

Regarding The Whitney, you can read my preview at the Thorofan Website. The weather will be pristine and it should be a great day.

Saratoga holds up well for Weekend #2

2010-08-01T19:59:00.005-04:00

Blessed by near perfect weather, NYRA has to be very happy with the weekend 2 results at Saratoga.

74,649 fans walked through the Saratoga gates Friday, Saturday and Sunday, a nice healthy number, especially considering this was a "non-spinner" weekend as there was no giveaway day on Sunday. Monmouth Park had 58,175 fans over the same 3 days.

Monmouth was a big winner on Sunday with 40,904 fans coming to see the Haskell, but the Spa still drew 22,190 on Sunday and almost drew even with on track handle ($3,270,939 at Monmouth vs $3,152,520 for Saratoga).

On Saturday it was no contest as Saratoga had 28,682 fans with $4,682,285 in track handle compared to only 9,890 fans and $720,090 in on track handle at Monmouth. I guess it was so nice, everyone in Jersey just stayed at the Shore.

Friday was a big success for Saratoga as 23,777 fans came out for Twilight racing with an on track handle of $2,762,008. Monmouth on Friday drew 7,381 fans with $622,391 in on track handle.

NYRA heavily promoted the Friday Twilight card as "Party at the Spa" with tons of signs throughout the track and ads in the local media. They had a band, The Sean Dolan Band, playing after the last race outside the Clubhouse gates. I don't know if they are any good, but Ernie Munick said they are, and that's good enough for me. Plus Ernie himself was there playing in the backyard on Friday.

With such nice weather, the fans showed up all weekend and with the oppressive humidity of week one gone, everyone I bumped into over the weekend seemed happy. I also had my first Shake Shack Shake, a black and white Shake, on Saturday. After drawing a goose egg all day Saturday at the betting windows, the $13.00 for 2 Shakes, (one for the better half) was the best bet I made all day.

40 Day Spa Meet-Around the Horn 4 days In

2010-07-27T23:42:00.013-04:00

After 4 days of racing, I thought it would be interesting to see what people in the know are saying about the first week of the expanded 40 day meet at Saratoga.

NYRA has declared the first week a success, boasting that it outperformed the final weekend of racing at Belmont in 2009. This is an apples and orange comparison if there ever was one, and the comparison by NYRA really seems silly.

NYRA did report that attendance and handle met expectations with an average of 18,113 fans and a little over 2.5 million in daily on track handle. Considering 2 of the 4 days were pretty awful weather wise- the all day rain for the Opener and the oppressive humidity on Saturday, I think the attendance and handle figures are good numbers.

Fellow TBA Blogger Steve Zorn has a fact filled post up comparing all the numbers for the Spa weekend 1 vs. Monmouth Weekend.

Steve Crist of the DRF is happy so far stating:

"It looks like opening up a few days early was a good idea, and it is hard not to be optimistic about the 36 days of racing still ahead."

Even Paul Moran, the Debbie Downer of racing writers, seems happy about the first 4 days in his ESPN website column, describing the meet thus far as :

"So far, so good."

Saratoga Opener in Pictures

2010-07-24T09:13:00.014-04:00

As Geno would say, there is nothing like a Saratoga Opener.

Despite persistent showers that got worse as the day went on, 23,178 fans showed up.

A hearty fan not afraid of a little rain scopes out Tar Beach, winner of the 4th race.

Note the garish looking Shake Shack Restaurant Building behind the paddock on the left side. Doesn't make the Spa Paddock seem so quaint anymore.

Notes from the Day: Yes it rained but you could find many worse places to spend a Friday afternoon. Vineyard Haven was impressive, Le Mi Geaux wins the Schuylerville, but I will keep my eye on the very green but talented Show Me the Bling. Even with all the scratches five of the ten races saw the Win bet pay over 20 dollars with 4 of them paying over 25 bucks. After placing a $5 win bet on Bank Merger in the 3rd race, bringing home a $63 return, I had my drinking money for the night and all was well. 39 days to go.

Photo Credits: Me

Opening Day at the Spa-Full Field Friday

2010-07-20T15:12:00.008-04:00

It’s still a little weird for me getting used to the early start at Saratoga, but the juices are starting to flow for me. It seems the people are ready if you want to go by anecdotal evidence of the buzz around town. Yesterday I had some business to do in downtown Saratoga around 2 pm and it was crowded. Everything seemed to be bustling and no one was around griping about the 40 days. I guess even if you think this year the Meet is too long, once you get up here, you just feel in a better mood and forget about it.

The entries for opening day at Saratoga are out and available for viewing at the NYRA website.

First thing I noticed was the full fields, quite a difference from the last few weeks at Belmont, where short fields and short purses seemed the norm. Of the days 10 races, 7 have at least 10 entries.

The feature race is the Grade III $100,000 Schuylerville Stakes for 2 year old fillies, won last year by Hot Dixie Chick.

Another nice race is the ungraded James Marvin Stakes (won last year by Gold Trippi) featuring familiar names such as You and I Forever, Cool Coal Man, Vineyard Haven, Friesan Fire, and Le Grand Cru. With betting spread out in this10 horse field, this should be one nice betting race.

In addition to the Schuylerville Stakes there is a 2 year old Maiden Special Weight race (the 7th), for fillies with a $50,000 purse.

On a down note, for the first time in recent memory, no races for the 2 year old colts, something I always looked forward to on opening day. Don't understand the logic of having the 2 year old colts skip opening day.

Last years opening day had two races for 2 year old colts, a Maiden NY Bred race won by Come From Behind and a $55,000 Maiden race for 2 year old colts won by Westover Wildcat. The hot 3 year old of this years early summer season, Trappe Shot, finished out of the money in that race.

Guess who's coming to dinner??

2010-07-12T23:01:00.005-04:00

Jimmy Vielkind of The Times Union (Albany, NY) confirms in the Capitol Confidential Blog that Sarah Palin and her husband Todd Palin have been invited to the annual Whitney Gala thrown by Mary Lou Whitney and her husband John Hendrickson. Like past years, it will be held at the Canfield Casino in Congress Park in downtown Saratoga on the eve of the Whitney Stakes.

In deference to the state of the economy, the socialite couple cancelled last year's invitation only gala. But this year, the party is back on.

The Palins were also guests of Whitney and Hendrickson at this years Belmont Stakes. The Belmont appearance drew the expected mixed reaction. As the Whitney event is invitation only, and with tight security, forget about getting inside the event at the Canfield Casino.

But the public can assemble in Congress Park outside the Canfield Casino building to welcome or heckle guests, including Palin, as they seem fit. No word yet if fellow TBA blogger Alan from Left at the Gate who previously voiced his feelings about the Palin Belmont appearance over at Teresa Genaro's Brooklyn Backstretch blog, is on the invite list.

Saratoga Heat

2010-07-07T23:55:00.005-04:00

It is an official heat wave in Saratoga County as we hit our 3rd straight day over 90 degrees (apparently you need to hit 3 straight days over 90 in these environs before you can call it a heat wave).

As of this post writing, the Thursday NYRA card at Belmont is on, as temperatures are expected to be less humid and in the high 80's at Belmont. With an east wind blowing over Long Island, they should be good to go. That wind won't be anywhere near Saratoga as we face another humid day where temperature should easily eclipse 90 once again on Thursday.

The water sprinklers were going full blast on the Saratoga Race Course Turf surfaces on Wednesday, as the staff did what they could to keep the turf from becoming rock hard. If you look closely at the photo here taken of the track today, you could see a few brown patches on the turf, something rare this time of year.

Unless we get a significant amount of rain between now and opening day, don't expect any soft turf at the Spa.

The Puzzling Rachel Alexandra Camp

2010-07-02T00:00:00.007-04:00

Yesterday, I received via e mail the media advisory statement from the Jess Jackson camp that Rachel Alexandra will be running in the ungraded Lady 's Secret at Monmouth Park. The Monmouth people were kind enough to move the race up a week and also kick up the purse from $150,000 to $400,000.

The subject of tracks increasing purses and offering other incentives to attract stars is the big topic of the day at the Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance home page (www.tbablogs.com). Check it out throughout the day for various takes on the subject.

Didn't see this one coming, but I can only imagine the reaction by NYRA, as it was hoped Rachel would be running in the $250,00 Grade 1 Ruffian on August 1 at Saratoga.

NYRA President Charles Hayward had this to say:

"We are puzzled and disappointed that Rachel Alexandra, who performed so well at Saratoga last year, is passing up the Grade 1 Ruffian to run in a non-graded race at Monmouth over the same distance"

Puzzled is right.

What really struck me as weird was this statement from Jackson in the media advisory release:

“We had a great experience at Monmouth Park and we appreciate the overwhelming show of support the fans there have given us."

No doubt the Haskell victory by Rachel at Monmouth last year was well appreciated by the fans who came out, but no less appreciative were the 31,171 fans in attendance roaring Rachel down the stretch at the Spa during last years Woodward Stakes.

Said Jess Jackson about running in the Lady's Secret at Monmouth:

"It’s the perfect place to start what we hope will be another championship run.”

Maybe I am missing something here. What championship run exactly? Wouldn't a true championship run be better served by running in an Grade 1 race instead of a ungraded race?

Saratoga Swag

2010-06-28T23:25:00.004-04:00

Just Like Christopher Moltisanti, people love getting their free swag. Thus we have the Saratoga Race Course 2010 Track Giveaways, 4 of them in all.

Here is a quick take on the items with my initial thoughts and Grade for each item:

Mid Summer St. Patrick's Day T-Shirt-7/29/10 (Thursday): Your typical Wal-Mart quality T-Shirt worth about 2 bucks, a dollar less than the $3 admission you pay to get in to the joint. But its "free" so people will line up for them like heroin addicts at a methadone clinic. I don't quite get the tie in to St. Pats day- seems strange. Grade: C-

Rachel Alexandra Cap-8/8/10 (Sunday): The cap has a Woodward Stakes emblem on the front and Rachel lettering on the back-looks like pretty good quality from the photo, probably worth a walk over between bets to pick one up. Grade: B+

Umbrellas: 8/22/10 (Sunday): Always a popular item, although the last few umbrella's given out have been poor quality, like the ones you buy outside Grand Central in a rainstorm. The ones given out years ago were big with a nice wood handle-I still have one I got about 15 years ago and use it all the time-you can't kill the thing. This years model looks like it might be pretty good quality. Grade: A-

Long Sleeve T-Shirt: 9/05/10: Slightly Better quality than the T-shirt, but don't expect it to be in the same condition you got it after about the 2nd time through the wash & dry process. Grade: B-

Straight Talk from Charlie

2010-06-25T21:41:00.005-04:00

New York Racing Assocation President and CEO Charles Hayward spent 90 minutes on the Friday Night NYRA Live Web Chat answering questions from the web chat participants. For the most part the answers to the questions were detailed and straightforward.

Of course one question posted was based on the misconception that NY State gave $25 million to NYRA as a bailout so it could continue operations. It must be frustrating for Hayward to deal with this all the time. Charlie shot back with this answer:

"First of all, the state loaned NYRA money under the terms of our franchise agreement. That obligation of the state will be assumed by the VLT operator at Aqueduct when a VLT operator is selected and repays the state $25 million. I am extremely optimistic about the current state VLT operator procurement process. New York State Lottery is running the selection of the Aqueduct VLT operator under strict NYS procurement rules. This has not been the case in the past."

Charlie also was asked to address the possibility of reducing the racing days at Aqueduct. Charlie gave a detailed answer citing the state requirement under the franchise agreement to run 250 dates a year on NYRA tracks. He also cited the money issue:

"....this year the Aqueduct meet from January through late April, NYRA paid $5 million less in purses than we earned on wagering on Aqueduct. At Saratoga this summer, NYRA will pay $2 million more in purses than will be earned during the meet. What that means is that racing at Aqueduct in the winter subsidizes the purse structure at both Saratoga and Belmont Park."

Lastly Hayward put to rest (thank goodness) the rumor that Saratoga is looking to further expand it's racing season (this year increases from 36 to 40 racing days)

"For innumerable reasons, I think the 40 days has maxed out the Saratoga meet for the foreseeable future."

Zenyatta and the East Coast Crowd

2010-06-21T23:40:00.006-04:00

Those west coast fans may constantly proclaim how much they love Zenyatta but they sure don't show up for her. On a beautiful Sunday (June 13th) at Hollywood Park with a Giveaway day (Zenyatta Bobblehead) and Zenyatta trying to go 17-0 by winning the Grade 1 Vanity Handicap, only 12,232 fans showed up.

Compare that to the east coast this past Sunday. At Monmouth Park, 24,262 fans (on track handle of $1,116,879) were in attendance. At Belmont Park, with no Giveaway and no Graded Stakes on the card, ( The feature race was the Mike Lee Stakes for NY Bred 3 year olds) attendance was 11,304 with an on track handle of $1,225,384.

A combined 35,566 showed up at the 2 tracks, which are 70 miles apart. Can you imagine if Zenyatta had been running at either of the two tracks this Sunday instead of last Sunday at Hollywood Park? For fun, throw Rachel into the mix and the numbers go even higher (RA drew 31,171 at Saratoga last summer to see her run in the Woodward Stakes).

Plus you had 49,240 at Yankee Stadium on Sunday. I'm not even counting the thousands who showed up at NY Watering Holes all over the Metro NY-NJ area to watch the World Cup with their drinking buddies. Too bad Zenyatta will probably never run on NY-NJ east coast soil, she deserves that east coast crowd.

Great Races on a Vuvuzela Weekend

2010-06-13T23:01:00.006-04:00

Two big wins in the racing world - First we got to see Rachel Alexandra return to form at Churchill Downs on Saturday with a 10 1/2 romp and than on Sunday we witness Zenyatta win in heart pumping fashion at Hollywood Park. Like many of you, these two wins have me looking forward to this summer to see what is next for Rachel and Zenyatta (man, would I love for them to battle it out at the Spa this summer).

Unfortunately the victories came on a very big sports weekend and getting space in the Sports headlines and News pages is a battle.

ESPN, the self proclaimed Worldwide leader in Sports, did not have it in it's list of top headlines on either its website or Sportscenter Shows. Top headline was the Celtics Game 5 NBA Finals victory, followed by Stephen Strasburgs 2nd win for the Washington Nationals, Tennessee Titans' Vince Young's altercation at a Strip Club, World Cup results and and a story on the World Cup officials considering silencing the vuvuzelas.

The vuvuzela is a plastic trumpet that the fans blow into at the World Cup. I am sure it is fun if you are in attendance, but at home watching on TV, it gets pretty annoying and that swarm like bee sound the horns make get stuck in your head. ESPN/ABC are lowering the sound mix from the crowd to keep it down, but after watching the US-England game and parts of 3 other World Cup games over the weekend, I feel like a war vet with shell shock syndrome, I can't get the bees out of my head.

I swear I heard bees swarming at Hollywood Park during Vic Stauffer's call of Zenyatta's win in The Vanity Handicap.

Friday Funny

2010-06-11T15:38:00.002-04:00

Credit: In The Bleachers by Steve Moore

At the Park for the 2010 Belmont Stakes

2010-06-06T23:14:00.006-04:00

Yours truly was on hand at Belmont Park for the Belmont Stakes, extending my streak of consecutive Belmont Stakes attended at 7 (I missed the Funny Cide failed Triple Crown attempt in ’03 due to a wedding thrown by someone who can’t read a racing schedule).

Despite a pretty hot and humid day the crowd appeared to be in good spirits and happy to at the big Park for the day. It was real hot walking around the Paddock area, but after the Big Brown Humidity-Toilet Fiasco of 2008 all future Belmont Stakes will feel comfortable to me.

The crowd was announced at 45,243. I always wonder about these numbers and whether they are accurate or not. Before I heard the announced #, I calculated in my head what I thought the right number was by comparing the crowd I saw in the seats and out in the backyard area to last years # of 52,186. I came up with about 48,000 so the 45,243 figure is probably right. This years crowd did not appear to be to be that much lower than last years crowd.

After meeting up with Geno of EquiSpace fame at the Paddock, I returned to the Clubhouse to prepare my pick 6 ticket with 2 others in our group. We rolled through the first 3 races before Champagne d’Oro hit at 39-1 in the Acorn. All my worries about leaving Tanda off the ticket was for naught once Champagne whoever crossed the line and crashed our Pick 4 ticket also.

I’ve read criticism elsewhere of Jasmine Villegas’ version of “Empire State of Mind” sung live before the big race. Hate to pile on the young singer, but it sucked. While I didn’t join the fray I can confirm about half the crowd in my section of the clubhouse were booing as the song played.

As for the big race, I loved Fly Down and First Dude and had both in a bunch of exactas and Tri’s but Drosselmeyer was nowhere to be found on any of my tickets. Don’t know what to think about this year’s 3 year old crop-lets see how the Haskell and Travers shakes out.

The Starting Gate being driven onto the dirt track before the Belmont Stakes:

Photo credit: Me

Coming out to Belmont Park

2010-06-03T00:56:00.003-04:00

We all know the Belmont Stakes packs in over 100,000 fans when the Triple Crown is on the line but with no Triple in the offering this year lets take a look at attendance this decade going into non-Triple Crown Belmonts.

New York is an event town and the Belmont Stakes remains an event, drawing an average of 60,694 fans in non-Triple Crown years this decade. So far the weather looks good for Saturday-partly cloudy, low 80’s. Assuming you can see the Sun in the sky Saturday Morning, and with 5 graded stakes on the undercard, I think a tad higher than last years #, lets say 53,000, looks like a realistic number.

Year	Winner	TV Rating	Network	Attendance
2009	Summer Bird	4.4	ABC	52,186
2007	Rags to Riches	3.2	ABC	46,870
2006	Jazil	3.5	ABC	61,168
2005	Afleet Alex	5.4	NBC	62,274
2001	Point Given	4.9	NBC	73,857
2001	Commendable	2.8	ABC	67,810

I'll Shake to that.

2010-05-27T22:31:00.003-04:00

Good news comes twice this week for those planning to spend the summer at Saratoga Race this summer. First we learn of the New York State legislature’s approval of a $25 million loan which will enable racing to continue at Belmont Park, Saratoga Race Course and Aqueduct Racetrack.

Then, On Wednesday, we learn that the Union Square Hospitality Group will operate 2 racetrack versions of their NYC restaurants at the Spa, Blue Smoke and Shake Shack.

I now have a new schedule upon my visits to the Spa, especially during weekdays, when I duck in midday while in between work appointments, catch a few races, that hit the road again.

The new schedule: Enter through clubhouse side entrance, walk about 50 yards, turn left into Paddock Tent, get in line for Shake Shack, order ShackBurger with Iced Tea, study Daily Racing Form and people watch while eating, bet a few races, contemplate buying Vanilla Shake from Shake Shack on my way out to resume rest of workday.

Finish work day, Run 3 miles upon arriving home.

If Vanilla Shake purchased run 6 miles.

Only in New York

2010-05-24T23:26:00.007-04:00

Only in New York can someone make a deal with the state, have New York State than stiff you and you look like the bad guy. New York State has contractually owed money to NYRA since 03/31/10 but NYRA was given the big FU by the State and on top of that NYC-OTB has stopped paying what they owe to NYRA. Of course if you read any of the local news media comments sections online or the "letters to the Editor" section you would think NYRA officials are robbing the State instead of the other way around.

Tonight the NY State Senate and Assembly has passed an emergency extender budget bill which includes a $25 million loan to NYRA. Can you imagine some of the inane comments to follow in the coming days. Maybe one like this commenter to the Times Union who signed his comment "State Worker":

"I, like many colleagues, do not care if the racing season continues now or ever. It is unfortunate that state dollars are used to support an industry marked by poor management and NOT VITAL to the state’s long term interests while education and other prioroities(sic) suffer. Perhaps those currently in positions of leadership are blind to the depth of the public’s disappointment and distruct(sic) of their performance. I cannot support or condone the NYRA bailout while the state lacks a budget or vision for its fiscal welfare. It is time that we all share the pain and burden of corrective action and not cater to a few special interests."

Guess "State Worker" doesn't realize racing is a New York State Industry that pays almost 40 million in direct tax payments each year and millions more in state payroll taxes.

The $25 million dollar loan must be repaid by March 31, the end of this fiscal year, or 30 days after a deal with a VLT vendor is reached. Governor Paterson wants a deal by August. Any bets on when a VLT deal will actually happen? Only in New York.