EquiSpace: November 2011

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Not That Amazing Kreskin

Back in December, I channeled my inner-Kreskin and delivered my blind 2011 predictions for horse racing. The only part that rang true was the word blind. It was a dismal performance, albeit with a couple close calls.

Let's recap each of my 10 predictions and see where I went wrong in most of the cases....

1) A Derby/Preakness Double. We almost started off fairly strong here with Animal Kingdom running a close second in the Preakness and was in position to grab the double as he flew down the stretch after Shackleford. But close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, so we're 0 for 2011 so far.

2) A Filly will be ITM in a TC Race. Whoops. Swing and a miss. He heads back to the bench with his head lowered. 0 for 2 space fans.

3) The Belmont will be won by a horse with double digit odds. Huzzah, we're on the board. You probably could say I didn't really go out on a limb here but there was some serious 3-year olds in the field. Ruler On Ice won in the slop at odds approaching 25-1. No shut out here, 1 for 3.

4) Fly Down will win a Grade 1. Was caught with my fly down on this one. XYZ, as they say. He ran in two Grade 1's in the first quarter of the year, finishing 5th in the Donn Handicap at Gulfstream and a disappointing 13th at Meydan in the Dubai World Cup. Scorecard: 1 for 4.

5) The Arkansas Derby will give us the 2011 Derby winner. Close but no cigar. Nehro, the second place finisher in the Derby came out of the Arkansas Derby, and unfortunately Archarcharch drew the dreaded rail and was doomed from the start, suffering a career-ending injury during the early going of the Run for the Roses. See what I mean about being close. 1 for 5 folks.

6) Sub 4 hour trek to the Spa. 4:02. What can I say...it's probably just not meant to be. Construction on the Thruway between Exits 40 and 41 all summer set me back enough to not make the final stretch drive. 1 for 6 (and reeling).

7) Santa Anita is awarded the 2012 Breeders' Cup. Bingo. At this time last year, folks were still figuring Belmont was in the mix. Not so fast, hoss. Back on the board. 2 for 7 (kinda like my shooting percentage in college).

8) A 3 year old wins the BC Classic. I should've prognosticated that a 3-year-old would be the morning line favorite. Had a few chances here in Stay Thirsty, Uncle Mo and To Honor and Serve. The 4-year-old Drosselmeyer upset my projection here. 2 for 8, batting .250 and barely above the Mendoza line.

9) Haskell Hat is green. I studied the past 12 years worth of hats, and went with green for the 2011 color of the premier big racing day hat. Blew it again...black. 2 for 9 (.222)

10) Garret Gomez wins his first TC race. He rode Master of Hounds in the Derby and Belmont, where the best he could do was 5th in the Derby. He rode Sway Away, a buzz horse, in the Preakness and is still searching for that elusive first Triple Crown victory. Final tally: 2 for 10 (.200).

We'll be back after a trip down to Lily Dale to read the 2012 tea leaves in December to see if we can improve on our 2011 scorecard and get back to the over .500 record posted in 2010.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Doling out some thank yous...

As another Thanksgiving approaches, it's good to reflect on the past year and while we skipped giving thanks last year there was certainly enough to be thankful for during the past 12 months that it deserves it's own post.

- The day after Thanksgiving 2011 brought us the birth of the Space Filly. She has certainly brought us great joy over the past year and she gets to celebrate her first Black Friday with the Space Gal in the Cuse. Not a bad way to get this year off to a good start.

- The Space Gal is one special woman, and I'm thankful she was able to enjoy her first Oaks/Derby experience with me this year. We also enjoyed an impromptu trip to Toga for the Whitney where we hung out like old times all afternoon at the Paddock Bar. The big thanks though is for putting up with my obsession and track excursions during the year while she holds down the fort at home. (She's also one of the best proof-readers in the business).

- Thanks to The Buffalo News for taking a chance on a racing blogger to fill a huge void created by the untimely death of longtime writer and Buffalo legend Bob Summers. It was a tremendous experience covering the Triple Crown, Saratoga, Woodbine and the Breeders' Cup over the past 12 months. Thanks also goes to the Space Gal and Saratoga Resident in this area as they both pushed me and helped me get over the hump.

- I'm thankful for the Canadian friends I met this year at Fort Erie and Woodbine, and of course, Keith McCalmont, who is one of the hardest working guys in the business.

- Thanks to guys like Tim Wilkin and Mike MacAdam from the Capitol District who helped show me the ropes as I wandered aimlessly as a rookie at Saratoga and the Derby.

- I'm thankful that I got to meet a lot of folks who have read this blog, my Twitter feed and the Sports, Ink blog from the Buffalo area, including the folks at Buffalo Raceway. They run run a top-flight racetrack and I've seen it first-hand during my first ever harness track visit in January. It was also great meeting the Rochester-based WNY Horse Racing Group at Finger Lakes opening day in April, even if they did card eight straight 4-1/2 furlong races that day.

- Thanks to Joe DePaulo from HRN, for interviewing me at the Preakness, so when potential CPA clients google me they find me at a race track talking horses.

- I'm lucky to be a part of ThoroFan, a grass roots group that is doing the right things to give the fan a voice when it comes to thoroughbred racing. We're just getting started and before long it'll be bigger than we ever imagined. Thanks to the Board for listening to my idea for creating the Tiznow Fund, it's going to help make a difference in a little girl's life.

- I'm thankful for having the occasional Saturday morning cigar with The Turk (and that I was able to meet the Little Turk at the BC!).

- I enjoy being part of the Wireplayers Derby Dozen poll and being included on their team from time to time.

- I'm forever indebted to the TBA, as they provided the platform for starting this blog and launching into other areas. I appreciate all of the TBA'ers who assist me in keeping up the weekly Handicappers' Corner over at ThoroFan, you're hard work is truly appreciated. I actually recently wrote a piece for a local Buffalo magazine that should hit the stands soon, so stay tuned.

- I'm also fortunate that I was invited to be part of the newly-formed Turf group, and am humbled for being included by the talented founding members.

- I'm most thankful that my laptop never failed in the middle of a deadline, because that would have really sucked.

- I'm sure I missed somebody, so if I did, thank you too (you know who you are).

Have a great Thanksgiving, enjoy the big racing weekend.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Some times you feel like a nut...

We're at that lull in the racing schedule between the Breeders' Cup and Thanksgiving weekend which will give us the Clark Handicap from Churchill and the Cigar Mile from the Big A. I think it's time to have some fun.

We're giving away candy bars to our favorite horses, whether they won a BC or not and with our warped theory behind each horses' candy bar award. So let's get after it....

Reggie Bar. We give the Reggie Bar to Uncle Mo. Lots of hype, not much substance.

Kit Kat. Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf champ Stephanie's Kitten. Easy pickins'.

Everlasting Gobstopper. No brainer again. Drosselmeyer gets this long-lasting candy hands down. The horse with amazing stamina matches up perfectly with the gobstopper.

Ghirardelli White Chocolate bars. I used to love when they called Jason Williams, "White Chocolate" on the hoops floor. Now Hansen takes over the reins as the premier white horse.and gets a Ghirardelli wrapped white chocolate bar to go with the nickname.

Oh Henry. We'll give one of these to Gio Ponti, for being a war horse along the lines of Hank Aaron. He gave us a great career trying all different types of surfaces and not afraid to run against the best.

Baby Ruth. The sultan of the BC, winning three straight and ever immortalized in the record books, Goldikova gains a Baby Ruth bar. Shackleford gets a mention here for winning the Preakness in Baltimore, the Babe's hometown.

$100,000 bar (aka 100 Grand Bar). We'll just award this one to trainer Todd Pletcher based on the tweet of his alter ego in last night's twitterverse.

Heath Bar. Made with old English toffee...we'll send one of these to Wrote, it just seems right, doesn't it.

Whoppers. Another easy one. Court Vision $131.60 and Afleet Again ($85.20). Need I say more?

Wonka Bar. Who's got a golden ticket? Capt. Candyman Can takes this one hands down.

That's all I got....here's some more horseplay for you...

Friday, November 11, 2011

Eleven Heaven

Most folks know I'm a numbers guy. No way I'm passing up a post on 11-11-11. It's a race fan's dream. Think about the running lines on a horse. When you see all of those 1's you know that you have a horse that can wire the field and he's a speed horse.

Pretty sure I won't be seeing another 11-11-11 in my lifetime, so we're going to enjoy this one. Ironically we're headed to Happy Valley to celebrate the Space Filly's 1st birthday with the in-laws. The Space Gal's step-uncle was the arresting officer for the AG in the case going on down there, so should make for some interesting conversation this weekend.

I'd give 11 reasons to like the number 11, but that seems a little much...so here's a few...

1) I guess I have a special place in my heart for #11 as #10 was my favorite number and jersey in college and high school, so #11 was typically the road jersey I would wear. I found this site that discussed different life path's which seemed to focus on many world leaders. Not sure what it means, but interesting nonetheless.

2) November, being the 11th month, typically hosts the Breeders' Cup, so that works.

3) Any wide receiver (see Larry Fitzgerald) who wears #11 is pretty cool in my book.

4) WPIX Channel 11 was one of the first cable channels I ever discovered as a young boy in Syracuse. While I'm not a Yankees fan, I loved listening to Scooter Rizzuto and Bill White call NYY games in the late 70s on that channel.

5) Mark Messier was a pretty cool #11, loved when he called that victory back in '94 against the Devils. Good stuff.

6) Penn State was the 11th school to enter the Big Ten. Bad Karma.

7) After some extensive research (Google), I found several horses who won the Kentucky Derby from post position 11 including Bubbling Over (1926) and Brokers Tip (1933).

We'll put a wrap on it after 7. Time to grab a slurpee at 7-Eleven.

Monday, November 7, 2011

BC Saturday: Day in Pictures

Breeders' Cup (BC) Saturday is always one of the most exciting days of the year in thoroughbred racing. This year was no different, wherein 65,000 plus showed up to witness a rollercoaster ride of an afternoon.

Here are some thoughts as to Saturday's events and various pictures I took throughout the day. I was fortunate to be in the paddock for the BC Dirt Mile, one of my favorite races of the year, and on the rail for the BC Marathon and BC Mile for Goldikova's shot at history. I had fun live-blogging the event for The News all day long, so I didn't get much time to visit, although I caught up with The Bug Boys Crew, Frank from That's Amore, The Turk and Stacy Berge from Thoroughbred Legends Stables.

I missed my flight home on Sunday morning, but was able to get on the next available flight on standby, and as luck would have it, sat next to trainer Kiaran McLaughlin for the ride to Chicago-Midway before heading home to Buffalo. He was extremely nice to me and we shared a few laughs about Saturday's track conditions, Horse of the Year, Sheikh Mo and It's Tricky. Of course, we were off the record, so I'd have to kill you if I told you what he said. The guy is top notch all the way around.

So here are some of my preliminary thoughts before I barrage you with pictures taken with my wife's pink point and shoot.

Best Moment of the Day: When Caleb's Posse flew by me at the rail in the BC Dirt Mile overtaking a game Shackleford in the final furlong. In using an old Joe Hirsch phrase - "He was a bullet on four legs!"

Worst Moment of the Day: Union Rags drifting out in deep stretch after being caught 4-wide and unable to catch Hansen who wired the BC Juvenile. It not only blew up a decent Pick-3 play I had, but our joint Pick-4 ticket. I could punch myself in the face for not including him after touting him in last weekend's preview article in The News.

Most Disappointing: Uncle Mo stopped right where we thought he would.

Biggest Surprise: Court Vision's win at 64-1 caught more than a few of us off guard. There was more than one person also excited that he was not in the IEAH silks for that one. Afleet Again at 41-1 was a close second.

Funniest Moment of the Day: Jerry Bossert of the NY Daily News saying if Chantal would have nipped Mike Smith, the headline would have been "The Nutcracker."

Most Annoying Moment of the Day: I didn't have one.

Most Enjoyable Moment of the Day: Cashing a nice Pick-3 with Wrote-Amazombie-Regally Ready that paid for a lot of bad betting. If Grand Adventure comes in during the Turf Sprint, we would have been even happier, like $2,300 happier. Just have to remember the old mantra, "first you cash the ticket, then..."

Best Pants of the Day: DerbyFan78's Secretariat pants wins by a landslide.

Here are some of my day's activities in pictures....Enjoy:

Army sky-diver w/Breeders' Cup Flag

Birdrun - Second in the BC Marathon

Press Box - Top Floor

Bill Mott - Big Weekend!

Giant Oak in Paddock before Marathon
(finished third)

The incredible E-Train

Brigantin before Marathon

The Turk and Little Turk

A.U. Miner and Calvin Borel

Cease and Garret Gomez

Afleet Again takes over in BC Marathon

Martin Garcia on The Factor

Baffert saddling The Factor

Jersey Town

BC Dirt Mile winner Caleb's Posse

Trying to rake it in all day

Shack Attack

Tapizar before BC Dirt Mile
Gomez up

Tres Borrachos with Rosario up

Wilburn w/JuLep in the irons

Irrefutable before Dirt Mile
(Bejarano up)

Jersey Town

Caleb's Posse and Rajiv Maragh

Trappe Shot and Johnny V

Gio Ponti in Post Parade
before BC Mile

Gio Ponti heading to the paddock

Goldi heading to the paddock

Team Goldikova

Courageous Cat with P-Val

Mr. Commons getting a pat
from Mike Smith

Court Vision in the Upset Special
(Robby Albarado with the win)

Turralure was second by a nose

Goldi in the Post Parade
before finishing third

Stretch drive in the BC Mile

Drosselmeyer and Ruler On Ice
in BC Classic Post Parade

Headache and Uncle Mo (one in the same)

That's a wrap from Louisville....time for a little break...

Friday, November 4, 2011

Royal Lady - BC Friday Day in Pictures

After the sun came out today over the Twin Spires, it ended up being a very comfortable day watching the races. Friday was my easy day of the two BC days, so I took advantage of the free time to watch, wager, visit and have a great day at the track.

I was able to snap a few photos, get into the paddock for the Filly & Mare Sprint and watched from different vantage points throughout the day. Wagering wise I hit one trifecta and one exacta, nothing special, but there was no blood-letting either. None of my Pick-3's survived and Musical Romance did me in in the F&M Sprint. Ironically, I was camped out in the paddock right in front of her stall and was standing next to her owners the whole time.

I'm guessing there were around 40,000 people there so it was pretty comfortable to move around the track. I caught up with the Bug Boys, including Papa Bug Boy, Bug Boy Friend and Uncle Bug Boy to watch the Filly & Mare Turf, where my pick Nahrain came in second.

The Wireplayers team has jumped out to a nice lead in our grudge match with the HRF folks, but there's lots of racing to go tomorrow, and they should rebound tomorrow to make it much closer.

Here's a look at my day in pictures (notice no Pletcher photos - waiting for tomorrow):