Belmont Stakes Current Odds and Selections

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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.