Straight Up (the river without a paddle)

Tweet It's one of those opinionated days again, while wondering whatever happened to Big Chuck?

Lexi's at it again, can the man pat himself on the back more than any CEO in history? He's been a busy guy earning that $425K+ compensation package, writing letters to the editor to the venerable NY Times, keeping UP his blog and making sure everyone knows his Safety Alliance project is gaining momentum. The fact that it can't be enforced is besides the point. Don't worry about that, we've got 55 tracks who've PLEDGED their support. Super. He's garnered a whole 4 comments on his Bloodhorse article today and not one is positive. The fact that he keeps harping on the PETA factor and the Eight Belles tragedy is evidence that he continues to shine the light on the sport's vulnerabilities in his efforts to show that the industry is doing something about it. I don't think this is what we want to remind people of, or get the PETA folk riled up again.

Face it folks, we need a leader who people will follow. Look at David Stern as an example of a true leader. Even Gary Bettman created the Ice Bowl on New Year's Day, a tradition gaining momentum and turning the spotlight on a sport that has its own issues. We have a trade group with no enforcement abilities, a "consensus builder" in his own words. During the congressional hearings Arthur Hancock stated "The army needs a general", boy was he on point. He makes a point (every week) to say they are making progress on safety, but the NTRA takes no position on the slaughter bill.

I found the NTRA's 2007 Form 990 which shows they had $12M in revenues and $9M in expenses and have over $24M in combined cash and investments (at 12/31/07). Television spending was $2.6M (over $5M in 2006). He talks of a "limited marketing budget" and "breaking the bank" on his blog. Looks to me like there's some cash in the pot. Man, don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining. Rudderless ship, indeed.

The Rich Girl Returns

Tweet After a long winter layoff, La Chica Rica takes to the track tonight under the lights at Mountaineer Race Track at 10:20pm in Race 9. Off since October, she goes in a $41,600 allowance for non-winners of two races since January 30th. She enters her 6yo campaign for Western NY-based Bella Cavello Stables, coming off a stellar 2008 where she was (11-6-2-2), winning over $230K. The Disco Rico mare is the morning line favorite at 5-2 over Big Lou, a 4yo filly, who is coming off a tough beat in a non-graded stakes where he placed fourth after leading until the final sixteenth. Also entered is Moonlight Dreamer coming off an 11 1/2 length win with a BRIS speed figure of 103. Moonlight Dreamer looms to be the other main contender for Chica. If you are not doing anything tonight tune into TVG to check out La Chica's return.

Back in the saddle after a weekend wedding sojourn to the Jersey shore. Plans to sneak over to Monmouth before the wedding were scuttled early Saturday morning, but I did happen to check out the first couple races from Dubai on TwinSpiresTV and make a few sheckles on the Big City Man -Indian Blessing exacta in the sprint race, I boxed those two with Diabolical in an exacta instead of a triple (which paid $72 for $1)...first you cash the ticket, than you complain, i know.

Being a twitterer paid off being out of the loop, so I could follow what was happening at Dubai and at Gulfstream. I did finally convince the bartender at 5:45pm to switch off the basketball game for 5 minutes to watch the Florida Derby on the awesome 52 inch HD screen they had at the country club bar (I'm a good tipper). Wow, horse racing is simply awesome to watch on HD. We even got some of the attendees interested in the switch over and there was more than one person attending that was cheering during the stretch run. I guess I wasn't the only one with some dough on Theregoesjojo (an unfortunate pinch that it was)...Selfishly, I'm hoping that if Dunkirk doesn't go to the Derby due to a graded earnings shortfall, that maybe Pletcher will put him in the Derby Trial Stakes on Churchill's opening day card (which I will be there for), but it's only a 7 1/2 furlong race so he may prep for the Preakness elsewhere (Withers at AQU - mile?).

I watched my guy, Big Drama, take a DQ in the Swale this morning via replay. It looked like a tremendous race and it's too bad that he had to be taken down (but I'll take the R2R Gomez points any way I can get 'em). I'm looking forward to his next challenge in the Preakness or Belmont.

Looking For Some Preakness Drama?

Tweet

One of the horses I have been keeping an eye on (and foolishly made a pool #1 future wager on at 48-1) is Big Drama. He unfortunately went off the Derby trail right as Pool #2 was released (he was scratched before the pool opened i believe) due to a bone bruise that required minor surgery that occurred prior to the Holy Bull Stakes. Well, he's back already returning in the 7 furlong Swale Stakes (G2) this weekend on the Florida Derby undercard. That's good news.

The Thoroughbred Times reports that trainer David Fawkes said Drama could start in “possibly one of the Triple Crown races” which is even better news. The Swale will feature Dutrow speedball This One's for Phil and Nick Zito's Brave Victory, both of whom should be solid tests for Drama. The layoff certainly won't make Drama the favorite here, but he's 5 for 6 and the Montbrook colt has won at both sprint and route distances during his 2yo campaign. I look forward to seeing how he does in this one and hoping he can get to the third Saturday in May.

On the Not Paying Attention to Details front, I totally missed the R2R contest supplemental draft and I'll be paying for it this weekend without some of the main horses going in the Florida Derby. Oh well, that gives me 5 horses to go with in the next draft slated for early April. I thought I had a throw away in my stable in Square Eddie, but there seems to be a glimmer of hope that he may be in the gate on 02May at CD, regardless if he preps in the Coolmore Lexington Stakes on April 18th.

I'm off to the Joisey shore for a big family reunion/wedding tomorrow...so the Gone Fishin' sign is up for the next few days. Enjoy the Fla Derby and Dubai races this weekend....

Did You Know...

Tweet This month's edition has a bit of a triple crown flavor to it. March 24th (yesterday) was certainly a signifcant day in horse racing history.

- That 2 (count 'em two) triple crown winners were foaled on this date? Both Omaha (1932) and Count Fleet (1940) were foaled on March 24th!

- That Omaha was the only triple crown winner to be sired by another triple crown winner, Gallant Fox? How cool is that?

- That Upset, the only horse to defeat the great Man o' War died at age 24, the following year in 1941. The term "upset" is thought to have originated from this surprising accomplishment. That I did not know.

- That in 1953, Saturday programming for nationwide televising of 10 of the richest races being run in New York and Delaware, was announced. NBC and ABC provided network coverage for the broadcasts, which ran from mid April until mid June. Kevin, there's still hope for Take Back Saturday!

- That in 1997, an underwriting company (Assicurazioni Generali) agreed to pay a $25 million claim filed by Cigar's owners Allen Paulson and Coolmore Stud on their congenital infertility insurance policy.

- That the original Derby poll is over at the CJ? Does that mean Ray's is extra crispy?

- That one of Microsoft's interview questions (so the Space Gal tells me) is: Why are manholes round? Answer: A round manhole cover can't fall into the manhole no matter how much you twist and turn it. A rectangular cover can, all you have to do is tilt it sideways. There you go. Bill Gates, beware your little secret is out.

Remember for the best history lessons within the TBA, check out the resident expert, Colin's Ghost.

LL Cool G

Tweet I was never one of the cool kids in school. Always behind in fashion, the newest gadgets or whatever was cool. Fast forward 25-30 years, yep, same guy, different decade. In hindsight, I do wish I could have had big hair like these dudes though. If I was cool, I'd definitely have one of these. These days, I have to google idioms like RT and FML just to stay up with the lingo, while using technology I never dreamed would exist. To corroborate this fact I used eBay for the first time this weekend and was uber nervous that I would mess up the payment part. My first purchase? A 1996 Kentucky Derby pin, thank you very much. So I've outted myself as a nerdy accountant who is faking it the best he can. Think what you want.

Heading to the Jersey Shore this weekend for my cousin's wedding. Don't ask me about getting married on the Shore in March, was hoping it would have been this summer with a little side visit to MTH, but alas, love conquers all. However, I think the timing may be perfect to catch the Florida Derby on ESPN (the only prep that isn't on "The Deuce") as I think it should be right between the ceremony and reception...sweet. Looking forward to seeing if Dunkirk can withstand the class test.

Speaking of TV broadcasts, it appears that the April 4th preps will not be televised as part of the Road to the Kentucky Derby Series, which means we'll have to find alternative means to watching the Wood Memorial and/or the Santa Anita Derby. Two HUGE freaking races. The big showdown between the Mousse and Pioneerof the Nile will be relegated to TwinSpires TV and/or HRTV. I'm wondering if TVG will be preempted on the Wood, similar to the Gotham (which I guess is owned by ABC), meaning we'll be relegated to a replay? Plus we get to see Keeneland's Coolmore Lexington Stakes on the 18th, three weeks prior to Derby Day. Number of Derby winners coming out of this race in the past 35 years: uno, Charismatic in 1999. (update thanks to commenter Eddie D....NBC has the April 4th preps - cool!)

Anyone try the Wii G1 Jockey 2008 game? Is it only available overseas? Let me know what you think? I'm not a gamer, but my kids love the Wii and I need a game I can beat them at.

It's definitely a small world. My handicapping pal, JB, who was guest blogging for me last week, played D-3 college hoops at a rival school and we just missed playing against each other by a year or two in the mid/late 80's. Of course, one of his teammates did happen to light me up one night in Elmira circa 1983. I was having a rough night (too much celebration after finals, if I remember correctly) which caused me to ask the coach during a timeout "i think it's time we went back to the zone, coach." Hoops and horses, can't beat it.

Ok, off to see if I won an old racing program on eBay, pretty cool eh?

$how Time...Really?

Tweet Wasn't that just a thrilling prep race today? Worst. Race. Ever. Lexi Waldrop rationalizes in his recent Show Time post why there's not more Saturday races on ESPN due to the money situation. You know, the fact that horse racing is probably the only sport that pays the networks to be televised instead of vice versa. I know we're not the NFL or even MLB, but you spend all that time complaining that it's expensive, then you ask us for our opinion? Seriously, isn't that your job? Then a weak plea for advertisers? Wow, don't you have a marketing department for that? I'm sure he's doing something, right?

OK, you want a suggestion, here's one. When you do select a weekend prep to televise, don't pick Turfway Park and the Lane's End. Do you know where last year's champ finished in the Derby? He hasn't yet (although he's a damn good turf horse). Really, you couldn't select last weekend when FOUR major preps went off within an hour of each other in the San Felipe, the Rebel, the TB Derby and the Louisiana Derby. Nope. The NTRA picked the Worst Race Ever on a synthetic track to spend their thin marketing budget on, that will have absolutely NO impact on the Triple Crown this year. Even the announcers were downplaying the race and that it wouldn't play into this year's Derby storyline. Didn't you say in your blog that showing these races are supposed to attract casual fans so they become enamored with the Derby and Breeders Cup trails. Bet you grabbed a bunch of new viewers after that spectacular race today. I do hear they have good grilled cheese though.

I'm not usually a complainer, but this just seems like common sense to me. I posted a comment ONCE on Lexi's blog asking him to step up and take control of the industry (right after the congressional hearings when the sport was screaming for leadership), and it got booted or lost in cyberspace somewhere. I don't have a problem with that, but when you say stuff like "ESPN's commitment to Thoroughbred racing is as strong, if not stronger, than ever" the week they drop probably the biggest filly race of the year to be shown on a station best known for runway models, well heck, if that's commitment then I'm Top Chef.

Our sport is a public relations nightmare and could use a little Marketing 101. Maybe the Worldwide Leader is not the answer. I don't know and don't have the information necessary to make those decisions, but I know the NTRA Marketing Summit threw out some good ideas. I haven't heard boo on any of them (wasn't there a 100 day promise in there somewhere?). Hey, I'm just a fan and horseplayer who got hooked on the sport five years ago, probably just the kind of person you're trying to attract. Someone who has passion for the sport and will spend hard earned money on it. Got news for ya, you spend your money on the crap that was shown today and you're just chasing your own tail.

I would have posted this as a comment, but not sure anyone would have ever seen it.

Best Sports Day of the Year?

Tweet I was listening to the local sports talk radio station on my way to work this morning and they were tossing around the question "what is the best sports day of the year?" Today has to rank right up there, with the amount of office pools, games running from just after noontime 'til midnight, usually with some fantastic finishes (buzzer beaters and the like). I know it ranks up there for me and the office and conference room TV's will be tuned in all day for occassional viewing.

What was interesting is that the hosts threw the Kentucky Derby out there, you know, because of the "gambling" and "the pageantry", in addition to the "beautiful May weather." Now that's one debate (the gambling part) I'm not going to start or subscribe to, but I found it interesting that it was the second event mentioned on a radio show out of Buffalo. I would think the Super Bowl would be right up there as one of the best sports days. Note the parallels with gambling with these big events though (SB, KD, NCAA's...pretty interesting). I remember a guy out of San Francisco (Brian Murphy...just looked it up - wonder where he is now, used to enjoy reading his schtick), who used to write for ESPN who always thought Cooler Day was the best day (NCAA Championship, MLB opening day and Masters opening day) which typically occurs on the first Monday in April every year.

My personal faves:
1 - Today
2 - Kentucky Derby day
3 - Opening day at the Ralph (Bills home opener)
4 - Opening day at the Spa
5 - Super Bowl
6 - Masters Sunday

What do you think the best sports day of the year is and why?

JB in the House

Tweet With tax season still looming here for me and being the Commish for the annual office NCAA Calcutta starting tonight I've enlisted my guest blogger dude, JB, to provide us with some in-depth analysis over the next few weeks on the Road to Louisville. Let's give him a warm Space Station welcome, grab a little JB and diet and enjoy...

It's that time of year again when racetrackers from across the country catch Derby fever. I, for one, suffer from a more advance malady I like to call Triple Crown hysteria. So for the next few weeks I will be examining the horses getting set to run in the most exciting two minutes, or 1:59 if you're Secretariat, in sports. With the First Saturday in May still more than seven weeks away, which can either be an eternity or not enough time, depending on the condition of your horse, we'll have plenty of time to separate the contenders from the pretenders.

Let me start out by saying the last two three year old crops have produced two racing freaks; Jess Jackson's magnificent Curlin and IEAH Stables Derby phenom, Big Brown. Compared to their respective Derby fields, both these horses were very lightly raced coming into the Triple Crown series, yet Big Brown, breaking from the 20 post and running wide the entire way, threw an anchor on the field at the top of the stretch and won VERY IMPRESSIVELY. Curlin ran a miraculous third in tight quarters behind a Churchill Downs loving Street Sense and dead game Hard Spun. So despite their lack of traditional Derby prepping both horses stepped up significantly on Derby day.

So is there a a proverbial freak in this years crop? Well if you're a tote board watcher (and who isn't) the odds-on favorite at the close of Derby pool #2 is the lightly raced, Todd Pletcher trained Dunkirk. Clearly he is not taking a traditional path to the Derby. Pointing to the 1 1/8 mile Florida Derby on March 28th, and with $0 in graded stakes earnings, he'll need to step up huge to even make it into the field. If you're one of those accountant types [Editors Note: I think he just took a shot at me] who like to follow the money, even early money, you have to take notice. Speaking of taking notice, a trainer with great recent success in the 3YO colt (the aforementioned Hard Spun) and filly (Eight Belles and 3YO Filly Champ Proud Spell) divisions has decided to put off retiring and train two very capable Derby bound colts. Larry Jones is loaded and now we all know it. He is training both the royally bred (AP Indy) Friesan Fire, fresh off a sweep of Louisiana's Fair Grounds 3YO series; and a 5-6 lifetime speedball Old Fashioned (named after everyone's grandmother's favorite drink), ridden by the very talented and under-rated Ramon Dominquez. I love Friesan Fire. He is battle tested, running against fields of quality and size. He is bred for the Derby and Triple Crown distances. He can rate and relax off the pace, changes gears on command for stable rider Gabriel Saez and will get over 7 weeks rest before the Derby. I hold that he is the best and most proven of all the east coast runners on the triple crown trail. Old Fashioned is fast, very fast. But his last race, after chasing a very hot pace and making the lead, he was hooked by a bomb down the lane, handing him his first career defeat. Larry Jones said post race "the track was heavy." But with the game's most patient jock on his back, Old Fashioned must learn to to settle down right quick. Stay tuned for his next start in the Arkansas Derby on April 11th. I Want Revenge's breakout performance in the 1 1/16 two turn Gotham on the Big A's inner track was a head turner for sure. But my head was turned before he entered the gate. Revenge's trainer J-Mull aka Jeff Mullens shipped his first time dirt starter from the left coast with hot shot rider Joe Talamo. That was news. I can't remember the last time J-Mull shipped in a 3YO to Aqueduct. And I know I've never seen Talamo in a winter/spring stakes race in the Big Apple. So what gives? Revenge is a solid, mature race horse who was in complete control from the first call, making legitimate fractions while leaving plenty in the tank for his stretch run. Maybe it wasn't the most stellar field, certainly not compared to the Lousiana Derby, but there was one horse who caught my eye. Imperial Council, trained by Shug McGaughey, took a lot of money that day, maybe because everyone in New York gets excited when Shug shows up in the spring with a 3YO (we all loved Easy Goer). But Shug isn't the kind of trainer to bring a horse to Churchill unless he thinks he has a legitimate shot to make some noise. He closed very well in the Gotham. Maybe there will be a hotter pace for him to close into when he faces Revenge again in the Wood Memorial on April 4th.

Two very impressive California based runners are now on a collision course to lock horns in the Santa Anita Derby on April 4th, following Pioneerof the Nile's win (he was giving the field 5-7 lbs.) in the San Felipe and The Pamplemousse's 6 length victory in the Sham. Top notch trainer Bob Baffert and the world's #1 jockey Garret Gomez combine to make Pioneerof the Nile the west coast's best chance for meeting Kentucky's governor. Garret Gomez is riding like Jordan played in the Finals -- he is in the zone. So if Gomez is up on a horse with a shot, and Baffert, who is very well known for getting horses ready for Kentucky's annual rose party, Pioneer will be ready. The Pamplemousse has looked like a world beater in his 2009 season, taking down 2008 BC Juvenile runner-up Square Eddie and running comfortably on or near the lead in all his starts. But he has yet to be looked in the eye and go belly down in the stretch. A lot of horses look uncatchable when running up front. But inevitably, another horse will look them in the eye and reveal what's inside. The Pamplemousse has yet to show this dimension. As far as Cali horses going from synthetics to dirt, Colonel John's (Garret Gomez up) performance in last year's midsummer derby at the Spa demonstrated that a horse who runs big on synthetics with a legitimate dirt foundation in his pedigree, can win anywhere.

JB's Baker's (1/2) Dozen Derby List:

1. Friesan Fire - Resting and Right
2. Dunkirk - Key him the Florida Derby
3. Pioneerof the Nile - Hasn't run his best race yet
4. Old Fashioned - Needs to discover patience is a virtue
5. I Want Revenge - Not going to get an easy lead in Wood
6. The Pamplemousse - Gut check next time out
7. Imperial Council - I wish there was a Derby Show pool. Belmont calling

Next Entry: Handicapping the Race

Monday Evening Quarterback

Tweet After watching the prep replays today on TVG this afternoon (I'm not a total degenerate, I was babysitting/fathering/transferring wisdom), I'm convinced that Old Fashioned was totally hooked into Silver City's hot pace and Dominguez made a huge mistake taking the bait and not having enough gas to hang on to claim victory. The good news is that this was just a prep and thus, a learning experience. Plus he was still there at the end regardless of the fractions he had to endure. I may have thought twice about my futuracta play (to be discussed later in this post) had I watched the replay more closely yesterday afternoon. Lots are jumping off his bandwagon, but the Derby isn't run in March, so no reason to throw in the towel just yet (Unbridled's Song and all)...Folks are spouting he's a miler...I'm not so sure yet...

After Pioneerof the Nile's ho-hum (my words) win at the San Felipe in regular fashion (90 beyer), I'm wondering what GoGo will do should he ride Dunkirk to victory in the Fla Derby in two weeks and PoTN faces his toughest test with the Mousse on Santa Anita Derby day the week after...high drama indeed. This vote says he'll go with the hype horse Dunkirk should he prevail...

Ok...I made a late futuracta play yesterday with house money (after having a solid Aqueduct day playing chalk on top of trifectas late in the day) with a four horse exacta box. I went with Friesen Fire/The Pamplemousse/Imperial Council/All Others for a buck. FF appears to be the real deal (although the comparisons with Pyro right down to the name factor scares me). The Big Grapefruit will trounce PoTN in three weeks and will be the biggest Cali factor (and Colonel John Travers sold me so I won't totally discount the West Coasters). Imperial Council impressed me in the Gotham with his late run, and I look for him to take the Wood and his price will come way down. Finally the "all others" inclusion is only for the fact that a large number of the horse included in pool 2 won't even be in the gate on 02May and I will pick up a number of horses in my box play that aren't even on the board at present. Oh, and I have a 19-1 Pool one future play at $3 on Friesen Fire to boot. I know it's silly to try and hit something early on the trail, but with house money in hand, why not?

Colin's Ghost had an ironic tweet (to me) tonight basically saying Talamo is the wild card to I Want Revenge's hopes. Ironic, because I email replied to frequent commenter the horse maven earlier in the week after he was touting Talamo as my next Stevie Cauthen on IWR with the following "Talamo is still very green and a loose cannon at times…I think you saw I Want Revenge’s best effort (peaked too early), but that’s IMHO….waiting to see what happens this weekend before wagering on Sunday." Great minds think alike?

Finally learned my lesson...Geno Green ($8.60) won the 3rd at the Big A yesterday....played it hard and heavy.....Geno going on Thursday in the 10th at Fair Ground...will my luck hold up? Stay tuned.

Will be off for a few days concentrating on the NCAA's and the annual calcutta that I run out of my office (more on this in a later post), but my handicapping pal JB will be chiming in with a guest Derby prep post in the near future to fill the gap....happy cinderella hunting and go 'Cuse.

By the way, what ever happened to that Big Chuck horse anyways?

Big Chuck?

Tweet This is what happens when you let a non-turf writer cover a race....really...Big Chuck? Maybe he covers the NBA?

I think he meant to refer to Big Truck...

Formulator Rocks

Tweet And I'm not just shilling for the TBA and the DRF here. I used Formulator yesterday for the first time and hit the all-stakes Pick-4 at the Fair Grounds on a $6 ticket and was live to four horses in the Louisiana Derby. Granted I would have been happier to see Flying Pegasus , Giant Oak or Patena come home with the victory, let's just say I was a happy man yesterday afternoon as Friesen Fire roared home with a 7 length victory in the slop. I probably wouldn't have even played it if it wasn't a $0.50 P4, but it was fun just sitting back and watching the races instead of my usual speed-capping (not a recommended course of action). Rachel Alexandra, headed for the Kentucky Oaks after her impressive win in the Fair Grounds Oaks, was the easy single to start the sequence. The big play was Macho Again (11-1) who closed like a "freight train by a hobo" per twitterer bloodstock in the New Orleans Handicap after running six wide around the turn! He beat me in the Dandy last summer at the Spa on an off track, wasn't going to happen again. The other angle I focused on was outside posts on the main sloppy track, an angle I learned on the Spa's opener last year. Macho from the 11 post and Friesen from the 9 post. It was extremely fun to be following the races on twitter with fellow race fans and bloggers yesterday, lots of insights from folks on and off track. Join the TBA feed here and at the homepage to follow your favorite bloggers.

Where Formulator came in handy for me was researching wet track statistics, trainer statistics, beyer graphs and the like. Formulator, I'm sold. It would have paid even larger had El Caballo (17-1 from post 9), who I had on a backup ticket (and would have been alive to Flying Pegasus and Friesen in the finale) not been beaten by a head bob with Proudinsky (3-1) in the Muniz. El C, had an improving beyer pattern (see Formulator) and had won 2 of 3 on off tracks (placed in the other) and had a nice wet Tomlinson rating. Man, it is a game of inches! It must be DRF day here in SpaceLand as I also have to give credit to Steve Crist's multirace betting techniques depicted in EquiSpace #1 ranked book Exotic Betting. I played about 7 tickets for a total of $25, with A and B horses, it is a nice way to play and cover a large number of horses with a lighter bankroll. Formulator, it rocks, and I have 9 cards remaining for another 29 days. It was a fun day with a rare multirace victory for the home team.

You'd think I'd learn my lesson. After the Geno fiasco noted last week's Go East Young Man post, when my namesake at 60-1 showed and paid $13.00. The Saratoga Resident, the Puma and I exchanged emails yesterday morning and had planned laying $10 across the board on Kinsella, a Pletcher $2.2M firster racing in the finale at GP in tough conditions against 3yos and older on the turf. Kinsella just happens to have the same name as someone in our handicapping circle. Somehow the Puma convinced us to play a four horse tri, which I modified down from a $2 to a $1ticket and I added a $2 WPS (in case he won and the tri blew up). Well, we should have stayed with our original $10 across the board strategy (pointed out in maybe 10-15 follow up post race emails from the Saratoga Resident) as he won going off at 6-1. Another lesson learned the hard way. At least my late play averted total disaster. Geno is entered on Thursday in a maiden claimer at the Fair Grounds....stay tuned.

I was hoping my P4 good luck would translate to a couple of conference championship wins for the University of Buffalo and the Orangemen last night, but both teams ran out of gas and had to settle for second best. Here's hoping the selection committee places the Orange in a Friday subregional to give them an extra day of much needed rest before the Big Dance. We'll be glued here to see where they end up, the last few days surely had to help their seeding. The Bulls on the other hand will hopefully, along with Niagara, grab a NIT bid and maybe a home game to attend!

Nice tip that the Turk gave out yesterday on Facebook to his cousin who was requesting a St. Patty's Day weekend pick, touting Win Willy ($115!) as a live longshot. Nice work Turk!

Enjoy Selection Sunday!

Orange You Glad You Stayed Up?

Tweet The Space Station was locked and loaded last night for the big UConn-Syracuse game. Little did we know that the Space Kid and I were destined for a six OT thriller in the Garden. I know this isn't horse racing related, but it's one of my three passions (the Orangemen, the Bills and racing) and it was center stage last night. My three passions have had quite the week, with the TO signing last weekend (screw the Onion - hat tip to Colin's Ghost), the Cuse staying alive in the Big East (can they do it again with G-Mac in the house?) and a huge Derby prep weekend lined up. They say things happen in threes (let's count Fort Erie's good news as the third?). For the record, I do not have triskaidekaphobia, and last night's victory actually occurred today (1:30am or so), so begat any of you Mountaineer fans who may be throwing some voodoo my way! Things are actually setting up nicely with West Virginia knocking off Pitt, but the team (who went only 7 deep through 5 overtimes) will be exhausted and the minutes may start taking its toll. Now, mind you, I grew up in Central New York and attended the triple OT Big East finale in 1981 as a pimply-faced teenager, where Leo Rautins (Andy's father) tipped in the winner with 0:03 on the clock at the Dome. My whole family still resides there and are all season ticket-holding crazies and my father still makes the annual trek to Manhattan to enjoy the tournament (with occassional detours to AC, of course). Anyways, I'm a tad sleep deprived this morning and giddy over the big win. Two more to go. Another 9 o'clocker tonight.

I was all set to blog on the Derby preps last night, but the game just overthrew that notion. I did sneak a peak at the four main prep BRIS PP's (after negotiating through the trainer sites at the TBA homepage - bottom right hand corner). It is a huge weekend for the EquiSpace R2R stable with four horses live (Old Fashioned, Patena, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesen Fire) for me. I think the most intriguing races are the Louisiana Derby and the Tampa Bay Derby. I'm thinking Old Fashioned and PoTN will run off with their respective races, but the other two look much more interesting from a betting perspective. Three horses that have my attention in the La Derby are Patena, Papa Clem and Terrain (who emerges after a disappointing fifth in the Delta Jackpot). Raf Bejarano selected Papa Clem over New Bay (picks up Talamo) who will be running at his home track in the San Felipe for Richard Mandella and owner B. Wayne Hughes, always a telling angle. Late Saturday afternoon will be a fun time this weekend. More on the TB Derby tomorrow.

The second Derby futures pool is open until Sunday night, on that note I'm disappointed Big Drama is off the trail, I hope to see him down the line at the Spa this summer. Speaking of the Derby, it looks like they will be adding another race to both the Oaks and Derby cards, which makes for a rather long day. It's nice that the Oaks has partnered with the Cure, a rather positive development and positive news for our sport and a great cause.

I didn't get to watch the allowance race at Oaklawn yesterday afternoon featuring last year's 3yo Eclipse champion Proud Spell (see firewall post), but was obtain updates through my fellow twitterers while watching the Live Odds at the DRF. Whenever a big favorite is running (especially after a layoff like Proud Spell) I look for the negative show pool, which occurred as she took $118K of the $127K show pool. Hoping maybe she'd run out of the money I sprinkled a few bucks on the second through fourth choices, only to break even. Will keep trying, Old Fashioned will probably attract the bridgejumpers again this weekend, but not sure he will fall off the board in this one.

Make sure you pick up your race cards for this weekends preps at DRF, using the special TBA code (found in the middle of the homepage - see Formulator ad above the 3yo filly division standings) where you can grab 10 cards for the low, low, low (dare I say rollback?) price of $10. I'll be trying Formulator this weekend for the first time and am looking forward to it.

Wassup Around the TBA

Tweet Lots happening over at the Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance, of which yours truly is a proud-standing member thereof.

First off, after the PP censorship came down late last week, we have your answer via DRF Formulator. Now, mind you, I am looking forward to trying this out myself (even though I am a twinspires.com member who can get the BRIS pp's for free). We have struck a fabulous deal for our TBA readers. You can pick up 10 cards for $10 by using the special TBA code found on the homepage. Check it out before the big prep weekend! DRF Formulator is now a welcomed sponsor of the TBA's 3yo Filly Divison (see TBA Standings on the left sidebar).

Secondly, the TBA's R2R Group (see R2R tab on the homepage and current standings at the bottom of the page) is off an running a month into the prep races. Handride has a nice recap of how things are shaking out and us bloggers need to pick up the pieces this weekend.

The group donated a handsome sum last year to Old Friends Retirement in the name of our Horse of the Year, Zenyatta. In addition to TwinSpires and DRF, we welcome OCD Pellets as our new sponsor of the 3yo Colt Division. We've had a spot in the BloodHorse Blog Stable since October where you can find many of the group's best blog posts. Check 'em out!

The Twitter and Twackle waves are full of TBA bloggers and we have our own feed (pick it up here), be sure to grab it to grab the latest links to our posts.

The Paulick Derby Index (poll includes 6 TBA bloggers) is out and as expected, a big jump up by I Want Revenge into the cleanup spot. I'm really looking forward to Chocolate Candy squaring off against Pioneerof the Nile this weekend in the San Felipe, should be a dandy.

Things have been very busy around the Space Ranch lately so after I initially laughed at LATG's wanting one of "those road to the triple crown guest blogger dudes..." comment, I went ahead and signed up my pal, JB, an excellent handicapper in his own right. JB was last seen on Belmont Day making a guest appearance in the background of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog's jaunt around the park. I won't give him away, but he's seen watching the monitors during one of the races rooting home is favorite sprinter J be K. He'll be guest blogging from time to time with his thoughts on the road to Louisville...looking forward to it as he is a real student of the game.

Go East Young Man

Tweet So how receptive was New York yesterday when west coast shipper I Want Revenge arrived at the Big A and stole the honors away from the locals [two major NY-breds Mr. Fantasy (3rd) and Haynesfield (6th)]. Based on the pictures I saw at another blog site, didn't look like anyone was there anyway. Smokin' Joe Talamo (sounds good doesn't it?) he of the big dorky grin lost only time yesterday as he flew in from Cali for the Gotham. Revenge, obviously is best served cold on the East Coast based on yesterday's performance. The second horse in as many weeks destined to move up the PDI ladder from last week's #20 ranking. Last week Quality Road came from off the board to cop the 4th spot.

Speakin of Smokin' Joes, I'll point the Wind Gatherer there to pick up some tax-free 'gars on his next WNY jaunt.

Speaking of WG, a few months ago he sent me a text message when my namesake Geno Green was running at the Big A, who I indeed wagered on and he lost badly. This week one of my handicapping pals, Double G, sent me an email notifying me that a horse named Geno was running at the Fair Grounds on Thursday in finale, a 6 furlong maiden claimer for $16K. The exact message was "There is a horse in the last at Fairgrounds Thurs named Geno, but dont (sic) bet him, he does not look good." Of course, this time of year it's easy for me to lose track of time, so I forgot to check the odds or make a hunch bet. Ends up he goes off at 60-1 and finishes third. Needless to say, he's now in my watch list.

Hit 1 of 3 on my Public Handicapper picks yesterday with Einstein ($12.00) in the Big Cap being my only winner to keep the lifetime winnings over the mendoza line. Mr. Fantasy (3rd) and Get Rich Quick (2nd) were my other two selections. I laid off the Kilroe. Not gonna win any contests this way though.

Of course, when going to the windows for the Big Cap yesterday I keyed-boxed Cowboy Cal instead of Einstein in my exacta play with Champs Elysses underneath also...Saratoga Resident Rule #234 "when you have a gut feel, stick with it."

I'm unsure of how I feel about the Bills signing TO yesterday. While he is already creating quite a buzz around Western New York (and Southern Ontario) his impact in the locker room is definitely a concern. However, he should do wonders for Lee Evans who saw double coverage for most of the last two years. Buckle your seat belts, it should be interesting.

Gunning the Jump...

Tweet I'm pretty excited about the number of comments that my Blood-horse post on Why Can't Racing Generate America's Next Hero? has generated and the thoughts it provoked regarding what it's going to take to get our sport back into the forefront of the national sports scene. It's been there before, and it can get back there. It has some momentum, that with the new Jockeys series on Animal Planet, and the Triple Crown season starting to build. The key would certainly be a Triple Crown winner and how the ambassadors of the sport could market that to promote it to its fullest. I'm sure I put the cart before the horse here, but should we gain that elusive TC winner anything is possible.

Ernie continues to throw out great ideas: "We need a Gates or a Trump or a Mark Cuban---we need to turn those guys on---to finance huge events to keep horses in training for their four- and five-year-old years. Half-time of the Lions game on Thanksgiving, halftime of Knicks game on Christmas, a bonus for running in both, a HUGE bonus for winning both." Man, The Donald has casinos, he'd be a natural to promote something like this.

Some folks misinterpreted the thought process of the post regarding the Thanksgiving Day race, thinking a match race between Curlin and Big Brown would generate the buzz, a match race is not what we were thinking, on the contrary. The thought was to have them featured in a big race with other quality foes on a huge TV viewing day (what better than Turkey or Xmas Day)...

Some major themes in the commentary was keeping the horses running past their three year old campaigns and regaining national TV exposure (a la the old Wide World of Sports Days with Jim McKay). Kevin's "Take Back Saturday" concept wasn't mentioned specifically, but this was the theme that seemed to reverberate from the readers.

Hey, I know it's not easy and I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but I wasn't a fan of horse racing 5 years ago, and now I write a blog and am passionate about this sport, why can't it happen to others?

Speaking of Jockeys, Dana over at GbG has a great post about why there isn't any cross advertising (silly networks) happening during the weekly hourlong reality broadcast on Animal Planet. Here's a preview for tomorrow's show...maybe one of these jocks will ride the next Derby or TC winner and end up on a cover of SI...which would be the first step on the road to national acclaim...

Coincidence?

Tweet I was walking out of my office today and something caught my eye. I have my 2006 Derby ticket up on my horse shelf (yeah, I'm a dork) in a plastic casing and for the first time I noticed the horse's number 8 on the ticket. If you remember Barbaro wore 8 and went out and won the Derby. Two weeks later, Bernardini wore 8 to win the Preakness and finally Jazil wore 8 to win the Belmont. Coincidence? I think not.

Keep an eye out for this year's Derby design, you never know!

Jump to it mate...

Tweet With the Cheltenham Festival taking place next week in Gloucestershire in the UK, I thought I’d take a break from the Derby trail to take a look at the phenomenon that takes place annually over a four day period across the pond. An interesting twist to the Festival this year is that the newly appointed track announcer at Churchill Downs, Mark Johnson, who will call his first Kentucky Derby this May, will be calling the Festival’s 26 races. After the Festival, he will stay abroad to call “the inaugural $150,000 Kentucky Derby Challenge Stakes at Kempton Park Racecourse on March 18th. The winner of the 1 1/8-mile clockwise race over Polytrack will earn a guaranteed spot in the starting gate for Kentucky Derby 135 and a $100,000 bonus should the winner start in the May 2 race.” OK, so I couldn’t get away from the Derby altogether when composing this post!

The Festival races take place starting next Tuesday the 10th and carry through Friday the 13th (feeling lucky?) culminating with the feature race, the Cheltenham Gold Cup Steeple Chase, the fourth race on day four of the meeting. Of course, if you are looking to wager on the Festival’s excellent betting races, the best place to look for the current odds and wagering opportunities is at Betfair. Betfair, is the organization that signed an agreement to purchase TVG for $50 million in January. This organization will definitely factor into a changing betting landscape over the next few years.

The steeplechase has a special part in my racing heart, as the first race I ever attended at Saratoga Race Course was a steeplechase in 2004. The Saratoga Resident explained racing and betting to me that day and I’ve been forever hooked (see junky). I still enjoy the steeplechase races at the Spa, and someday I hope to attend my first Cheltenham Festival, after checking out all of the blogs and stories surrounding next week’s races.

One of the best parts that the Festival offers is great betting opportunities. Only 22% of the favorites have won since 2003, during the Festival races, as Betfair blogger Wayne Bailey points out here. So grab a pint, check out the Festival, bet a few races and enjoy!

Timely Quote

Tweet Best quote of the weekend, when asked about The Pamplemousse's time in the Sham, trainer Julio Canani replied, "Time only counts when you are trying to get out of jail." High comedy. Mike Vick seconds that motion. This could get good if the grapefruit keeps on ripening.

Speaking of time, Ramon Dominguez is having the time of his life at the Big A. The longtime Delaware Park rider is killing them during the current winter meeting. I had my eye on Aqueduct for most of the afternoon yesterday where he rode four more winners and one runnerup. He is absolutely running away with the jockey laurels (40 more wins than his closest competitor). Paul Moran had a nice feature on him yesterday. I wonder, though, how not riding in a turf race for two or three months can affect a rider after the rest of the regular NY colony rejoins Ramon for the Belmont spring meet. I need to know these things.

Speaking of NY racing, interesting stat on wins via post positions. Sprint winners coming from the first six slots are pretty much clipping at either 12 or 13% (five of six posts are within 1%). It's that close. The other interest to me has been the emergence of Rosie Napravnik (currently tied for 4th) and the virtual disappearance of Channing Hill (should we call him Chandra?). Napravnik impressed me yesterday with her ride in the sixth on No Questions, when she made her move at the top of the stretch and pulled away for a six length victory. She's definitely on my radar. Hill, on the other hand, is currently mired in a wicked slump (9% win, 34% ITM). He has been getting a lot of mounts (he has five today), but hasn't generated the numbers. He seemed to be emerging at the Spa last summer as the next young riding phenom, but his winter meeting has been other than spectacular. I wonder if the Big Apple and its many distractions have affected this midwestern boy? Let's hope he rebounds, he has a lot of promise.