EquiSpace: August 2011

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Travers Day 2011: The Day in Pictures

The 142nd running of the Travers Stakes gave us all we could ask for with the gritty Stay Thirsty taking the laurels and reins of the 3-year-old division.

He thumped the Preakness, Belmont and Haskell winners in fine fashion under jockey Javier Castellano, who gave him a perfect ride.

The undercard was filled with excellent efforts, notably the 2-year old colt, Fire On Ice who scored an impressive victory in a maiden special weight, reminiscent of a colt who broke his maiden a year earlier who happened to be returning in the King's Bishop off a long layoff.

My three singles of the day, Good Prospect (4th), Fizzano (7th) and Cincinnati Kid (13th) kept me out of trouble at the windows, which enabled me to go deep in a Pick-3 with Hot Summer in the Victory Ride anchoring a nice payday. My Pick-4 blew up however when I tried to beat Hilda's Passion in the Ballerina, which proved to be not a good move.

I took my father for the second consecutive Travers and we had a fun day in the backyard with the Vattimo crew and later at Prime with the Saratoga Resident, the Puma and the Twins. Prime is a tremendous venue to hang out after the races and I'll be back to tackle the golf course at National on Thursday.

Oh, I had to work also, you can find my post-race commentary for The Buffalo News here.

The Toga Party contest has tightened.up and the Space Gal has evened up with yours truly at the top of the leaderboard as she was the only contestant out of 19 to select Stay Thirsty. dana from Hello Race Fans captured a couple points with Caleb's Posse and the $2 trifecta to get back into the hunt. It still is anybody's ball game.

Here's our day in pictures....

Steven Crist and Andy Serling Talkin' Horses

Miss Netta scores with Rajiv Maragh up

Kieran McLaughlin had a big day

Daveron wins the Grade 2 Ballston Spa

Eddie Castro, Graham Motion
win for Team Valor

Near the top of the stretch in
the Victory Ride, where's Hot Summer?
Answer: On her way.

Uncle Mo in the paddock

Why is this guy always taking my picture?

Caleb's Posse heads to the track

Uncle Mo ready to return to the races

Photo Finish in the King's Bishop!

The Toddster and a dejected Johnny V

Rajiv Maragh and Caleb's Posse, the
2011 King's Bishop champ

Mike Battaglia from NBC
interviews Bob Baffert

Kelly Breen with Belmont champ
Ruler On Ice

Huddle Up....go down to the Chevy and
cut across the middle

Rattlesnake Bridge, Travers runnerup

Martin Garcia and Haskell champ Coil

The Baffert

Show horse JW Blue (32-1)

Preakness champ Shackleford

By the Grandstand for the first time in the Travers

Stay Thirsty heads for the wire

Hug it out, bro

The Travers champ gets the sponge

Javy closes in on Johnny V with his 44th win of the meet

The Goods

A great day was had by all....hope you enjoyed the pics.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Shake Rattle & Roll

So what's shakin' in your 'hood?

Some mundane thoughts as we inch closer towards Travers weekend....with some random Buffalo stuff thrown in for good measure....

- I'm warming to Ruler On Ice this weekend with a no-name long shot coming in second. That's my story and I'm sticking to it (maybe).

- What's with The Factor not coming East for a date with Mo in the King's Bishop? Bawk to the Bawk.

- The Bills should trade for Tebow? According to my pal, The Kick is Good...yes. I'd like to have whatever he's smoking. He loves the Bills more than Ralph Wilson, so I'll give him a pass this time.

- The Toga Party is heating up and 4 (count em, 4) points are up for grabs this weekend. Pick 'ems for the Travers and the King's Bishop and previously submitted selections for Travers Day attendance and the $2 trifecta. Who will make the late move this weekend as we hit the quarter pole? It just can't be the Space Gal, who is hovering around the lead...I'd never hear the end of it...

- Congrats to Tencentcielo, the only contestant to select Royal Delta (out of 19) in last weekend's Alabama.

- The local columnists have already written off the Bills after two preseason games. Thanks for coming.

- Still haven't read the McKinsey Report....better get to it...may even have to dust off the old Jockey Club Form 990 post and update it for all the dough they're stowing away. Heard on Byk's show they spent upwards of $2M on the report. Dat's a lot of bread, Fred.

- No 3:59 attempt on Travers Day, but a surgical strike next Wednesday (8/31) with the Saratoga Resident may be in the cards to crack the magic number. Only downside is it could be quota day for the NYS Troopers being the last day of the month.

- This week's Post Time features for TBN will be a Travers advance (Friday or Saturday paper) and post-race commentary (Sunday paper) and the Friday Sports, Ink blog will take a look at the King's Bishop - for you locals who are following along at home.

- Disappointed that I didn't get to a Bisons game this year. Took the Space Kid to see Winnie the Pooh instead. Just don't think he's ready to sit still just yet at the ballpark. He does like "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" so there is hope. This for a kid at 2 1/2 who has been to four race tracks already.

- Started reading Kenny Mayne's book. Utter hilariousness. I'm only on the C's (he reviews various sports from A to Z), but he already has me peeing my pants.

- I can't bring myself to listen to podcasts. Am I alone here? I'd rather read an article any day than listen to a podcast. Am I missing something?

- I've been in the black for the Saratoga meet for the last two meets. The 2011 meeting: not so much. There's still time (said the optimist who has a big hole to dig out of).

- Congrats to TBA'er Joe Nevills, who has hooked onto a staff writer's job at The Thoroughbred Times. The Michigan-bred Claimer has taken his talents to Lexington. I read his print article last night on the Oklahoma racing scene...good stuff. Way to go, Joe.

That's all I have.....thanks for reading.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Alabama Day

One of my favorite races of the year is the Alabama for 3-year old fillies at historic Saratoga Race Course. Not only did I see Lynryd Skynyrd play Sweet Home Alabama last summer, but I've actually been to Mobile, Alabama. Memories of watching the sunset over the Gulf on an August evening has never escaped me. I wish I could have spent more time there and the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail is supposed to be fabulous....but I digress.

I picked the Kentucky Oaks champ Plum Pretty in my Friday blog at The News and I'm sticking with her, although the People's Choice seems to be St. John's River (who I selected second). It's Tricky has to be respected, but I am actually rooting for Inglorious. I was fortunate to spend some time with her connections at the Plate BBQ up in Toronto in June and Luis Contreras has been en fuego up north. Inglorious has mastered the classic mile and a quarter distance and has beat the boys (even if they are Canadian). I'll probably take a poke at the Late Pick 4 today before heading to my company picnic. In consecutive days last weekend I was ousted in the last leg by a total bomb, that's getting kinda old, isn't it?

I was fortunate to attend three straight Alabama Stakes from 2006-2008 to see Pine Island, Lady Joanne and Proud Spell win the feature. The duel between Proud Spell and Music Note still goes down as one of my favorite live races I've witnessed in my short span as a horse racing fan.

I've been mostly silent on the Breeders' Cup decision to go back to Santa Anita. I put a rotation plan out there (which I would totally change with what I know today) over at the Blood-horse blog stable in November 2009. At least the post is entertaining, and the comments (61!) were even more entertaining. I'm not a fan of permanent hosting or even a three-track rotation. I would favor more of the main three tracks (CD, BEL, SA) with a fourth track rotated in to spread it around. Santa Anita is beautiful, the Pacific time zones helps push it into prime viewing time in the East, and who doesn't like to go to sunny California. But not as a permanent host, thank you.

If you have a moment take a look at today's article on my sit down with John D. Sabini, the Chairman of the New York State Racing & Wagering Board. He was a great interview and very open on his stance on such things as night racing in New York, the 'less is more' concept, his thoughts on the Western New York track and the racing industry in general.

Have a great Saturday.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Hall of Fame Day at the Spa

Chef Bobby Flay serves up
keynote speech

The last of my three day excursion to the Spa started at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion and the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame's 2011 Induction Ceremony.

Bobby Flay delivered a rousing keynote address to start things off, stating he's watched More Than Real's Breeders' Cup victory video "over 300 times, and that's probably a low number." He spoke of the thrill of competition and how his father taught him to always "do the right thing and success will follow."

Randy Moss was the Master of Ceremonies and did a very nice job with his opening and closing remarks and moving the induction along at a nice pace.

It was my first Hall of Fame ceremony of any kind and I enjoyed the passion and emotion that was on display throughout the acceptance speeches. Three fillies were honored, Open Mind, Safely Kept and Sky Beauty all with impressive careers. California-based trainer Jerry Hollendorfer rounded out the contemporary Hall of Fame honorees. My Friday News blog highlighted the different Hall of Fames that you can go to in New York State.

The two races I keyed on during the day were the 2-year old filly race and the Grade 2 Hall of Fame. It was hard leaving the Spa after the feature race knowing I'll only be back one more time for the Travers in two weeks. The place is so special and where I fell in love with the sport.

Here is a few photos from Friday's induction and from the racetrack...