Space Invasion: Big A (The Spaceman Cometh Again)

Tweet I selected quite a day to visit the Big A last week. Little did I know when making plans for my annual January business trip to the Big Apple that Mother Nature would dump 16-18 inches of snow into the area.


I had booked a Delta flight into nearby JFK which would get me in by noon so I could catch most of the card. When that flight canceled first thing in the morning, I scrambled to get on a JetBlue flight that would land me at Aqueduct sometime around Race 4.
Somehow we made it and I arrived in time to watch the 4th. I was disappointed I didn't get to see the 3rd which had a number of decent 3-year old fillies, won by It's Tricky ($3.20). Last year's Schuylerville winner Le Mi Geaux finished third. I only made two wagers on the day so I could walk around and enjoy the day. I spent a lot of time perusing the old photos on the wall from Saratoga, Belmont and Aqueduct.
I scored an Aqueduct ski hat, the last one left in the NYRA store for a bargain $2. That was worth the trip for me. Well, that and hitting the late Pick 4 with a 5x3x2x1 sequence that paid $59. I also had a 25-1 in the first race that came in second, but doubling your money is better than a sharp stick in the eye, no?
The 7th (2nd leg) of the late Pick 4, was won by Awesome Bull ($7.20), who impressed me with a solid victory. Don't you hate when your three horses in the Pick 4 complete the trifecta and you don't play it? Oh well. He kept me alive and I was happy to see him run...here's a picture of him in the snowy paddock:














I wrapped up my day spending time with TRNY pal Ernie Munick who is always great to catch up with everything going on in his world. We watched the last two races together, including a brilliant ride by Eddie Castro on Inherit the Gold in the Mr. International S.

I didn't check out any of the construction and only went outside to watch the Awesome Bull victory as the temperature was hovering around 10-15 degrees. The place was pretty crowded for a Wednesday afternoon, I'm having trouble finding the actual attendance figures. I'm glad the card actually went off as they canceled racing for Thursday. As for this Buffalo guy, a little snow didn't hamper my spirits or my time at the Big A.

Speaking of Buffalo...here's my latest Post Time blog on the initial trek down the 2011 Derby Trail in The News.

Horse Racing Twitter Accounts I'd Like to See

Tweet There are a vast amount of Twitter accounts out there that cover horse racing. I enjoy following the many viewpoints and banter that fill the Twitterverse on the weekends during the big races. Several of the sport's media giants such as The Thoroughbred Times and the Bloodhorse have a solid presence on Twitter, but there are a number of folks I'd love to see give it a whirl....so I'll break it down to a couple of categories and who I'd like to see start tweeting (or increase their current participation) some horse racing.....

Handicappers (some are media folk too)

1) Steve Crist. He's got a great blog that we all follow. Who wouldn't want to know his thoughts as a mammoth Pick 6 he's playing is unfolding?

2) Richard Eng. His book Horse Racing for Dummies is one of the first I ever read when I was starting out in the sport. A view from his Las Vegas perch would be an interesting follow.

3) Mike Maloney. His name is usually followed with ", whale." Wouldn't you love to hear a tweet from him a minute to post like..."I got a grand on the 2....kinda nervous."

4) Jimmy the Hat. He's all but disappeared after his 15 minutes of fame as the Southern California handicapping maven on Jockeys. Following @JimmyTheHat would be worth the price of twitmission. P.S. Just showing some West Coast love....

Media Folk (other than 1 and 2 above)

5) Ernie Munick. He's got the corner on the Facebook market. But think about Stump the E on Twitter? Technically he's got an account, but would love to see him mix it up on there.

6) Steve Byk. Love listening to his At The Races on Sirius (channel 126). He, too, has an account, but like Munick, doesn't tweet so much. He's a pretty sharp handicapper and would be great to interact with and get his take on the big race days. He should take a cue from Jim Rome, who tweets his upcoming guests, etc. to drive traffic to his daily radio show.

7) Hank Goldberg. Who wouldn't love to poke @TheHammer's Piggy Bank?

8) Steve Haskin. One of the respected members of the press. Probably too old fashioned for Twitter.

9) Jerry Bailey and Randy Moss. The ESPN television team are just the horse racing tweeps that would fit right in. Plus they could make fun of @TheHammer during commercial breaks.

Bloggers

10) Alan from Left at the Gate - Probably would have 1,000 followers within the first month, of course, 750 would be politically based...but hey we could all learn something from him when it comes to politics. Great sense of humor and he would be right in the thick of some of the Twitter battles that have taken place.

11) Norm from The Knight Sky Racing Blog - He could drive some serious traffic to his weekly handicapping contests and he has a great take on the state of racing. Has a firm grip on his handicapping and we all could learn from him.

12) Sue from Post Parade - Funny as all get out. Give her 140 characters and look out. Would be a nice Texas presence for racing tweeters.

Industry folk (NTRA, trainers, owners, etc)

13) Babe Dutrow. Need I saw more? Can you imagine his tweets during the Big Brown Triple Crown run.

14) Jess Jackson. Who wouldn't love to volley a few tweets with the outspoken millionaire. I imagine he'd have a few things to say about this year's HoTY doings.

15) Alex Waldrop. Just kidding.

So, as @QBKilla (former NFL DE Warren Sapp) would tweet: What I miss?

Sunday Slippers

Tweet Today is definitely a prop the feet up on the couch type of Sunday. Thanks to the NFL for not starting until 3pm today! That way we can continue our Tampa experiment.....

- I decided to play Tampa Bay Downs this weekend, for no apparent reason other than the TVG Bonanza contest. Of course, in the "I Never Read the Rules" department, I skimmed them and made all 10 of my $20 WP wagers on Saturday, thinking I had 10 more to make today. I did fairly well winning $498 on $400 wagered, with 4 winners and a second and some decent price horses. I played along as well and hit two moderate Pick 3's. We're playing again today before the football games start up. Lots of low level claimers, but the track seemed to be playing fair and the answers are always somewhere in those past performances.

- The 6th Race at Tampa is extremely interesting today, where three of the five remaining entries in the $24,500 Allowance are stakes horses, including You Go West Girl, Keertana and Romacaca. I'll be siding with Romacaca with Daniel Centeno up. She finished 4th in the Beverly D at Arlington last summer and I think she'll go wire to wire here.

- Other stuff going on...I'm again a willing participant in the Wireplayers.com Derby Dozen and the only person to select To Honor and Serve as his #1 horse over Uncle Mo. I have good vibes about this horse and look forward to his next race. Of course, it's way too early in the game to be selecting Derby horses, but what I like about participating it makes me do my homework on pedigree and statistics about the top contenders. I was a big Bernardini fan, so he has some decent pedigree, his dam Pilfer won 3 of 11 starts. Trainer Bill Mott will be looking to add to his new found Triple Crown trail success after training last year's Belmont Stakes winner Drosselmeyer.

- I wrote a quick recap of the Eclipse Awards earlier in the week for The Buffalo News....which you can find here.

- Buffalo Raceway opened a week ago Friday and the first race winner paid over $100! Not a bad way to start a meeting!

- My Ice Ice Baby post from the 2009 Belmont Stakes has been getting some mongo hits, based on a photo I took of Jeannine Edwards in the paddock...Word to your Mother!

Enjoy Championship Sunday, and put on those slippers!

Author Says Zenyatta was Hickok Belt Worthy

Tweet My friend of 47 years and current Editor of Syracuse University Magazine, Jay Cox, turned me onto an USA Today article, while we were corresponding via email. The article written by former Buffalonian Erik Brady, featured a book authored by one of Jay's pals, Scott Pitoniak, a former Rochester Democrat & Chronicle sportswriter, called Jewel of the Sports World: The Story of the Hickok Belt Award ($24.95, RIT Press).

The Hickok belt was given away from 1950 to 1976, honoring the Professional Athlete of the Year. The list of winners during that time period is absolutely incredible. A number of my idols are on the list, Frank Robinson (1966), Brooks Robinson (1970), Arnold Palmer (1960) and Steve Carlton (1972). Boxing is well represented on the list with Rocky Marciano (1952), Carmen Basilio (1957) and Muhammed Ali (1974). Brooks Robinson called the award the "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval for sports."

Brady's article discusses the history of the Belt:

"The award was given by the Hickok Manufacturing Company of Rochester, N.Y., once a leading manufacturer of men's belts and accessories — thus the prize, an alligator-skin belt with a five-pound, solid gold buckle encrusted with diamonds, rubies and sapphires."

The Wikipedia site describes it as "an alligator-skin belt with a solid gold buckle, an encrusted 4 carat (800 mg) diamond, and 26 gem chips. It was valued at over $10,000 in the currency of the time."

Pitoniak when asked by Brady of who was worthy to win the award this year, he had an interesting answer that would make us in our little niche sport smile:

"Wow. Great question. I might go with Zenyatta. You laugh. But Secretariat finished in the top 10 in voting after his Triple Crown year in 1973. (Imagine how big the belt would have had to be to fit around Big Red's waist; probably would have needed to award a Hickok saddle instead"

I know I will be picking up a copy of Pitoniak's book, it should be an interesting read to find out what has happened to some of the belts over the years (i.e., Pete Rose and O.J. Simpson were both winners) and how the Rochester (NY) event evolved and eventually died in 1976.

Closing One Chapter, Opens Another

Tweet I can't tell you how many times in my life I've been asked if I'm related to Uncle Don (I'm not, different spelling), but I do remember his late night Rock Concerts during my youth. He unfortunately passed away yesterday at age 76 due to heart failure. It seems like a lot of folks from my childhood have been passing away in the past few months, we're just getting older I guess...and when one chapter closes, another opens.

We finally can close the Zenyatta chapter (she got the quan), the mare who has dominated the racing scene over the past two years. She really was not a factor in 2008, as Big Brown and Curlin were the horses grabbing the main headlines. Which goes to show you that another horse will step up in the next nine or ten months to grab our fancy......

Some thoughts and notes on last night's affair and whatnot....

- I'll apologize ahead of time, and I'll probably be skewered for this, but Marylou Whitney didn't impress me to the extent that others seem to be gushing all over her. To be honest, she reminded me of Lovey Howell who just finished her tea and crumpets. Ok, she said some nice things about the backstretch workers and taking care of the horses, I get it, but something just rubbed me the wrong way about her....maybe it's the blueblood, political connectivity thing....oh well, you know what they say about opinions.

- Now Omar Moreno did impress me. When he said "this is the best day of my life" I thought it was coming from the heart and I felt good for the kid. He seems to have a good head on his shoulders.

- Can we dump Kenny Rice as emcee (I called the brutal jokes, by the way)? Here's a vote for Jeannine Edwards or even Jerry Bailey to emcee next year's Awards. Some of his comments were waaaay out of line and completely sexist.

- Kudos to Big Drama for winning the Male Sprinter category. I've always been a Drama fan and although he lost at Saratoga to his main competition Majesticperfection, I'm glad he won the Award. Based on his 4 5 year old debut, a track record performance Saturday at Gulfstream, it looks like he's full steam ahead for 2011.

- Another way to put the HoY debate behind us would be a Triple Crown chance in June at Belmont Park. Wouldn't that be sweet?

- Interesting that the DRF voting bloc favored Blame by a pretty wide margin, 38-21.

- No Such Word got a vote denying Blind Luck from being a unanimous selection. Can I get some of the drugs that voter was on?

- Lots of mentions about "the fans" all night long in just about every speech. I'm not a supporter for the fans to vote on these awards. I say leave it to those who cover the sport day in and day out all year long. The NTRA should be trying to recruit new bettors, not fans. The business side of me says that's what pays the bills. Maybe it's time for a leadership change.

- They need to put a time limit on speeches. Maybe they could play Fugue for Tinhorns as the "hook music."

- No mention by the Handicapper of the Year about takeout or boycotts?

- Mike Repole could have been played by a young Al Pacino, no?

Ok, here's our Don Kirshner tribute.....have a good week.

Total Eclipse of the...

Tweet Top 10 Things That Won’t Happen Monday Night

Pletcher! Zenyatta! Blame! Claiborne Farm! It’s the Eclipse Awards from the Fountainebleau Miami Beach Hotel! The excitement is killing me! Ok….it’s time for one of my Top Ten Lists for things that definitely won’t happen Monday night, but we wish they would so it would liven up the annual yawner that is the Eclipse Awards….

10 – LeBron James accidently stops by looking for his 2010 MVP award, even though Kobe beat him by a nose. Take your talents to a different awards ceremony LBJ….

9 – The PlayersBoycott.org group pickets the event, racing press asks…”and who are you again?”

8 – Calvin Borel storms the stage looking for Castellano….he’s informed that Javier is not a finalist and bursts a vein in his forehead.

7 – DRF/NTRA Handicapper of the Year and Canadian Brian Troop steals the show, thanks Andy Beyer for all he knows about handicapping (this one actually may happen).

6 – Dominguez rides six winners at the Big A and catches last minute flight from JFK to collect his Eclipse for Outstanding Jockey.

5 – Todd Pletcher wins his fifth Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer and thanks his fake twitter account for his new found popularity.

4 – Emcee Kenny Rice tells a number of really funny jokes.

3 – Jess Jackson shows up tipsy and mentions the phrase “always a bridesmaid, eh Jerry?” to Moss causing a free-for-all in the Fountainebleau lobby. Seth Hancock comes to Moss' defense.

2 – Mike Repole announces Uncle Mo’s retirement saying he’s way too valuable at stud to run in the Kentucky Derby……and finally the #1 thing that definitely won’t happen on Monday night….

1 – Blame wins Horse of the Year and a nation rejoices…TVG cuts to Ruidoso Downs.

Must be a Buffalo Thing

Tweet It seemed like every time I turned around this weekend there was a Buffalo guy or someone tied to Buffalo's past that was on television doing something great. It's been that way since New Year's Eve when a little known harness racer named Boomer Berman splashed onto the ESPN scene in Chris Berman's "Two Minute Drill" (video at end of the post).

I spent Friday afternoon touring Buffalo Raceway with Chief Operating Officer, James Mango and Marketing Director Jonathan Cramer preparing for an article on Friday's opening of the 69th season of racing at the half mile track for The News. I look forward to sharing more insights into my visit in future posts and a Space Invasion visit during a winter weekend in the coming months. Western New York is fortunate to have a customer-friendly harness track in our backyard, if you're from this part of the State be sure to check it out.

The week didn't start off so good for our neighbors to the north who squandered a three goal lead to the Russians who scored five unanswered third period goals to upset the Canadians in the World Juniors gold medal game. Buffalo's airport was in the news on Thursday when Delta officials refused to let the Russian team on the plane, due to...ummm...being a bit overserved.

Yesterday former Bills running back Marshawn Lynch played pinball through former Bills coach Gregg Williams' defensive secondary, with an exhilarting 67 yard touchdown. That highlight has been seen over 1,000 times now, but it gets better every time.

This afternoon, another former Bills running back Willis McGahee broke a few tackles en route to a back breaking touchdown in Kansas City, highlighted by a tomahawk chop taunt in the end zone after the run.

Finally, former University of Buffalo running back James Starks and sixth round draft choice of the Green Bay Packers was called into duty for an injury-riddled backfield only to set a Packer rookie rushing record in a playoff game. He carried 23 times for 123 yards to lead the Packers over the Eagles and completed the Buffalo running back trifecta for the weekend.

I already have my year's baddest beat in the G3 Fort Lauderdale Stakes today when 11-1 Blues Street was beaten by a nostril by 12-1 Little Mike at Gulfstream Park. That's why they call it gambling. Back to the drawing board.

As promised here is our very own Boomer Berman on ESPN (via @BuffaloRaceway):

In Other News....

Tweet The calendar has turned, and the slate has been swept clean. 2011 is here and the racing year 2010 is in the history books....well, other than that little vote to be revealed in a couple weeks in Miami Beach. So what's been cookin' in the Space Station over the holidays, you ask? Well...in other news.....

- You may have noticed that I have a new blog logo in the upper left hand sidebar. I have a couple of acquaintances in the Marketing/PR world, but I didn't want to bother them with my little blog, so I searched around to have someone design me a logo for the blog, among other things. I landed on the 48hourslogo.com website that holds contests for web designers to create logos for a minimum of $79, over a two-day period. You submit your logo specs, what look you have in mind, your price and then you receive designs to judge (my contest had 27 entries). My winning selection was from a designer in the Phillipines that kept working with me as I tweaked his logo through the structured process. I thought it was a very well run site and a great business concept. The website charges 10% on top of the logo price to host the contest. Let me know what you think....

- I joined the NHC Tour and got my arse handed to me in Sunday's online contest which featured races from Aqueduct, Fair Grounds and Santa Anita. But finishing last means the same as finishing 6th (top 5 qualified), so we'll chalk it up to a learning experience.

- Space Gal gave me Satellite Radio (Sirius) for Xmas and I'm loving it. Especially channel 126!

- I attended the US-Canada World Juniors Hockey semifinal last night at HSBC Arena in Buffalo, and sat in the M&T suite (my firm's bankers) and I have to say that it was one of the best environments I've ever been in, prior to a sporting event. It was unbelievably electric and you could sense that the first goal would be a huge factor in setting the tone to the game. The crowd was a sea of red-clad Canadian fanatics who were as boisterous as any fan base I've ever been around. And I've been to Stanley Cup Finals, a World Series and an NCAA Hoop Final. They completely took over the arena, any attempt to get a USA chant going was completely drowned out by the Can-a-da chant to the same rhythm. Not to mention their boys took it to the red, white and blue all night long. After scoring the first goal three minutes into the game, they never looked back. It was an excellent experience, nonetheless.

- I spent some time studying my last three years of wagering (investing) statistics and found that my average wager increased 34%, my number of wagers was almost cut in half and I found myself in the black for the first time in three years. What do I attribute the positive results to? 1) I found that I had success at certain tracks (Gulfstream, Churchill and Saratoga) that I concentrated on; 2) My bet discipline was much better, as I focused on certain races that I felt confident in betting by taking a stand; 3) I didn't bet every race on the card; 4) I focused on Pick 3's and Pick 4's which focused myself on picking winners and; 5) I took long periods of time off to refresh in January, September and December.

- I've decided my wagering resolutions will be to stick with 2010's strategy and to stay away from tracks I don't normally play, other than a big prep race where I have some knowledge of the horses and trainers. I'm also resolved to have a winning Belmont Stakes Day for a change (haha) and avoid the annual bloodbath.

Ok....Gulfstream starts tomorrow...let's get after it...