EquiSpace

SpaceStitions & Other Stuff

2012-01-22T20:51:00.000-05:00

I was walking into my office the other day and realized that I my gait was causing me to step on every crack in the sidewalk. Pretty much have avoided that kind of situation for the past 48 years, but I couldn't stop myself. Something about breaking my mother's back...of course, she just broke her ankle, so there. (Get well quick to my biggest fan!)

Anyways it reminded me of my youth and some of the things I would do before a big basketball game in high school and/or college and the routine that I would always mimic. I guess you could say I've always been superstitious in a lot of different ways.

This got me to thinking...am I superstitious at the track? Do I have these same idiosyncrasies that I do in everyday life (park my car in same spot everyday, sidewalk crack avoidance, same seat in conference room, etc.)? Let's examine some of my quirks...

1. Going to the Windows. I will not return to a window that I have lost at. I will return to a window I have won at.

2. I always bet an exacta in the first race. It's kind of like warm-ups, if I plan on playing a whole card when on track. Not sure why I do this, but I'm pretty consistent with this scenario.

3. Last race group superfecta. Not sure this qualifies for superstition status, but whenever I'm with a group, we have to play the group $1 super. Typically we'll each pick a horse and throw in $6/each if there's four of us or $8/each if it's a three top. We've hit it a couple times, the most for $1K, so I'm highly superstitious not to walk away.

4. Always tip the bathroom attendant guy/gal. It's good karma and there's usually a nice selection of candies.

5. Never count your chickens before they're hatched. Lots of stuff can happen in that final furlong. Don't call out your winner til he's crossed the line. Better yet, keep it to yourself and do the Ickey Shuffle in your head. Made this rookie mistake early on in my horseplayer career and it wasn't pretty. Sure to get a "Don't Do That" from the Saratoga Resident.

Those are a couple of my superstitions when at the track.

Other Stuff

You may have noticed that it's been a tad dormant around here over the past couple weeks. The Space Gal had some surgery around New Year's and is still recuperating so I've had Space Kids duty and my real job busy season has started too. Glad to report that the Space Gal is ok and recovering nicely.

On New Year's Eve between hospital visits I was a call-in guest on Capitol OTB's Loose on the Lead TV show with Equidaily's Seth Merrow and At The Races' Steve Byk. It was a lot of fun discussing the year end review, the Buffalo-Toga trip and some handicapping tips I posted on my year end TBN blog.

For the third consecutive year I will be part of the Wireplayers Derby Dozen panel. I really enjoy participating with this fun group of handicappers, fans and bloggers. They all love the sport so much and we have a good time doing it. You can see some past year's dozens on my left hand sidebar.

I posted some post-Eclipse thoughts on my Friday blog over in the TBN Sports, Ink blog. My Eclipse predictions from earlier last week were pretty darn good if I must say so myself. Nailed a couple things: a) Jeannine Edwards would kill it as host; (b) Animal Kingdom would win the 3-year old male Eclipse by less than 10 votes (how about 3!); (c) Bill Mott would win his 3rd Trainer Eclipse and (d) Havre de Grace would take home Horse of the Year honors. Not too shabby, Kreskin.

It's a new year, have you joined ThoroFan or renewed your ThoroFan membership?

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So do you have any racing superstitions or idiosyncrasies to share?

Space Thoughts - Top Ten Again

2012-01-11T22:05:00.000-05:00

I was walking my trusty companion, Tanner Jones, tonight and looked up to see an almost full moon on a balmy 45 degree evening in Buffalo, NY. I thought to myself, I wonder when the last lunar eclipse was? Then that reminded me of the Eclipse Awards on Monday night. Then my dog pooped.

That's how my mind works sometimes. This is the Space Station, you know.

I went back to the archives to see what I was bellyaching about last January and ran across a post-Eclipse Award entry and in the "Pat Yourself on the Back" department I called for the extirpation of emcee Kenny Rice. Specifically: "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."

Not bad, eh? Looking forward to Ms. Edwards' debut.

I think we'll continue our one-year tradition of doing a Top Ten list for this year's Eclipse. Last year's topics were the "10 Things That Won't Happen Monday Night."

This year's Top Ten will be the Top 10 Things That Will Happen Monday Night.

10 - The television rating will be less than 0.1. To be honest, I don't even know if it will be televised. Mainly because I'm lazy. Ok, let me google it. No idea. TVG has hosted it the last seven years. This one looks like a lock.

9 - Pletcher's Red Carpet interview will steal the pre-show on E!. He's vibrant, he's handsome, he's wearing Armani.

8 - Edwards will kill it as the emcee. She's a consummate pro. She'll play right into the HOTY filly angle with Rachel, Z and possible Havre de Grace pulling the filly trifecta.

7 - Mott will win his third Eclipse. The Hall of Famer won back-to-back Eclipses in 1995-96 and his big wins in the BC Classic and the tremendous year by Royal Delta should put him over the top.

6 - Chocolate torte for dessert. The Beverly Hills Wilshire is the host and I could easily have gone with the cinnamon ice cream, but my sources say the torte will be the torte served at the $400/plate dinner. It is a Four Seasons Hotel.

5 - Animal Kingdom edges Caleb's Posse by less than 10 votes for Top 3-year old colt. I think this ones going to be close. The Derby winner will prevail due to the "two-turn" factor and the notoriety for winning the sport's biggest race. Barry Irwin + microphone = Ruh Roh Rastro.

4 - Team Valor wins Owner Eclipse. See #5 last sentence.

3 - Rapid Redux' connex gets standing O. Winner of a special Eclipse, as opposed to a real Eclipse, the connections of the streak master go to the podium amid the night's biggest ovation. (Sure hope it's televised or I'll have no clue whether I was even in the ball park here).

2 - NTRA announces there will be a new Announcer Eclipse award. Ok, not really, but wouldn't that be really cool.

1 - The filly does it. Havre de Grace holds off Game On Dude by a larger than expected margin for Horse of the Year, making it three in a row eliciting happiness all through the land. TVG (if it covers it) cuts to Northlands Park (as opposed to Ruidoso Downs).

Live Blog: Friday Night Contest

2012-01-06T20:52:00.010-05:00

I've already busted my New Year's Horseplayer Resolution #1 by entering the HorseTourneys.com qualifier tonight, with races being held at Turfway Park, Delta Downs and Charles Town, all three tracks I rarely play.

Rules are made to be broken, no?

The contest is a ten race affair that rolls through all three tracks and is mainly made up of low level claiming races. This should be fun. It's been a while since I've done a live blog, and the Space Gal is taking care of the kiddos tonight so I received the green light to play the tournament.

It's my first foray trying out HorseTourneys.com, the site seems fairly friendly and the $35 entry fee and the timing (Friday night) is perfect for someone who is chasing rugrats on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. It is a HorsePlayer World Series (HPWS) qualifier, limited to 200 entries. So first post is the 8th at Turfway, a 5 1/2 furlong $12,500 claimer. Let's get this baby rolling....

8:50pm: We're 3MTP and I'm already off last night's selection of 8-Lumpy's Ace, who now is the favorite at 5/2, instead I am jumping on a 4-year old Ghostzapper colt, 6-Z Appeal, who was 3-1 on the ML, and is up to 5-1. The next race whips back at us at 9:03 at Delta, so will need to be quick on the feet and fingers...ok, ready to turn to TVG...

8:55pm: Almost. Z Appeal made a really nice late run, but ran out of track as 15-1 Hancho split Lumpy's Ace and held off Z. Ok, it's early and we pick up place money, but some folks certainly have an early big score with Hancho. We pick up $5.20 for the placing, but need to make up some big ground on those on the Hancho wagon.

9:00pm: In DeD06, I'm on the favorite who looks to be pretty solid, the 6-Winding Road. It's still early to take chances and my second choice is 4-Sarah's Man who is 2-1. So is this the type of race to take a shot? Sure, why not...we're going to switch off the two favorites and jump on 7-North Goal (5-1 ML) who has drifted up to 11-1. Jockey is 21% and good stats second off the claim (21%) and second start with trainer (16%) and in claiming races (23%) for the trainer. Roll the dice!

9:06pm: Looks like Delta is running behind, so CT5 should go off two minutes before the Delta race. Man, this is kinda hairy, blogging, selecting, handicapping. I haven't even looked at the last three races. Figure I'll be way out of it and will be swinging for the fences by that point. Speaking of Charles Town Race 5, I'm on another long shot here, 4-Proof's Repar (10-1 ML), who is up to 15-1 on the board at post time...wish me luck. He looks to be a horse for the course!

9:13pm: Well, Proof's Repar trailed too far behind early and while closed well late could do no better than fifth. My alternate, Legendary Ridge won the CT race. On the other hand, North Goal in the Delta race finished second at 7-1 behind the even money Winding Road, so depending on prices, that might have been a pretty good deal. So after three races, I have two placings. North Goal paid $5.80 for the placing, so we have $11 through three races in the bankroll. Winding Road's win only was worth $6.40, so I still think I made the right move there. Currently sitting in 46th, the leaders are at $53.40. Lots of work to do.

The next two races will probably be going off around the same time again as CT is 17MTP and Delta is 20MTP, at least I can go to the fridge and grab a cold one. Bud Light tonight, if you're scoring at home.

9:27pm: Ok, we've settled on 6-Saladin, a Lion Heart gelding, in CT Race 6 who has had success at the distance and on the Charles Town strip. He's at 5-1, down from a 10-1 ML and hopefully will give the favorite, 5-Cape Tribulation a good race. This race features horses that have gone 1/24, 1/19, 1/21, 1/14, 1/15 and 1/17. Wowsa. Thoroughbred racing....it's fannnnntastic!

Over at Delta Race 7, I've been on and off about three horses, but settled on 1-Ide Whistle Dixie, who has two solid seconds at Delta in his last two races. My only hesitation is his jockey is 2/117...yikes! He gets a couple pounds of a weight break.

9:38pm: Damn! Was sniffing it big time there with Saladin at 10-1 who was closing like a freight train late, but couldn't catch Cape Tribulation, the 3/2 favorite...another placing that paid $7.80 (same as the WP on the winner), so we're at a $18.80 bankroll.

9:42pm: Direct Appeal, my second choice (ugh!) at 10-1 looks to have won the Delta race. I guess I probably shouldn't have played the 2% jockey there. Lesson learned and some folks just added $30 to their bankrolls on the big overlay, as Direct Appeal was 9/2 on the morning line.

9:46 pm: Delta Race 8 is up next with five races in the books and I'm sitting in 43rd place, dropped around 17 spots with that last race. But it only takes one to make a big move up the board. Time to look for big value or cupcakes, which the Space Gal picked up at the Dessert Deli tonight...mmm.

9:52pm: I've been between 8-Zip Motion and 4-Lighter Fluid, two horses that finished 1-2 in their last, with Zip being DQ'd for bumping moving the Fluid into the winners' circle. Zip is definitely the class and will probably win going away based on class, but we're trailing and a 3/5 winner isn't gonna get it done. So we'll give try and light a fire with the Fluid. Ironically, the Zippo lighter factory is just a couple hours south of here in Bradford, Pa.

Better start looking at TP11, which is the next contest race upcoming and may need to alter course from my original handicapping.

10:02pm: Yum...gotta love red velvet cupcakes with cinnamon frosting. My keys are a little sticky, but when you're sitting in 43rd place, you need all kinds of mojo to kick in some good karma. Not a Country Western guy, but their twanging some tunes over the Delta feed.

Ok we looked at TP11 and settled on 7-Kenyafly, only cuz he has all kinds of things going on. Blinkers on, down one class, route to sprint. No Joke. Oh yeah, his sire is It's No Joke. She looks like she could do some damage, not sure she'll be such a hot price though. I was torn between her and 6-Imustbeperfect, who also looks to be pretty solid. Lot of dogs in this one though. The favorite looks very vulnerable and is not battle tested on the poly (10-Boozy Bird). Back with the Delta results in a few...

10:09pm: Took my eye off the board and didn't listen to myself, as Zip Motion drifted up to 7/2, which is much more playable than 3/5 as mentioned above at the 9:52pm entry. Duh. What a dope, the Fluid got doused when hooked early trying to hang with two horses on a suicide ride. Interestingly Jake Delhomme was a part owner in Zip Motion. Big mistake there, switched off my initial pick and an easy $14. Dropping like a rock, currently in 48th. Need something big in the last four races.

10:16pm: Charles Town Race 8 will be after the Turfway race and 8-Watkins Glen, looks really good, but only at 2-1. So thinking we need to look elsewhere now that we've dug a big hole. Thinking 9-Virginia Park, a Woodbine shipper, who has some nice speed figures on the poly, so maybe on the fast CT strip, she'll take off on these in this 4 1/2 furlong sprint.

10:23pm: This is a tough game. 1 for 25 5-Ommadon's Angel at 27-1, held off 6-Imustbeperfect, my original pick who went off at 7-2. This is where I usually start playing with real money.

10:30pm: Watkins Glen cruised at 3/5 to win CT8 and I'm done like dinner. Did I ever mention I helped put the draught system in at Watkins Glen race track back in 1984? I was a college intern at the local beer distributorship and assisted the draughtmaster in installing the system in the Glen Club on the main turn at the NASCAR track.

10:35pm: Ok, last two races, TP12, we'll go with 10-Stage Success and CT9 will be 3-Big M J (now that Dunkleberger is on board). Let's bring home some prices and finish respectably. Plummeted (love that I can keep using words that describe free-falling) to 61st place, stuck on $18.80. Back with a wrap up after these two races and another Bud Light.

10:40pm: I lied. Decided to change Big M J to 11-Windsor City, the AE who drew into Charles Town Race 9. Why the change? Well Big M J is down to 4-1 from the 12-1 ML and that's just not going to vault me anywhere. At this point, it's go big or go home. Bombs away. Realizing it was over when I made the Zip Motion mistake, but why not try and make a late charge for the top 20?

11:00pm: As Porky Pig says...that's all folks. Nothing from Stage Success, and a very nice late run going last to third by Windsor City, but ran out of track at 31-1. Sniffed it, as usual, but the strategy in playing these contests always seems to escape me. To be honest, my preparation was pretty poor, but it made it fun to blog it out there and I can go back and study my thought patterns (yeah right) and see where I went wrong (see 9:52pm). Moral of the story is follow your resolutions and only play the tracks you know. Although I did fairly well at Charles Town, I'll be back for CT Classic night.

Have a great weekend, and hope you cash a few tickets.

Channeling Kreskin 2012

2011-12-28T21:01:00.000-05:00

As we approach the New Year, it's time to do my 2012 prognosticating and blind guesses at what's in store for thoroughbred racing in the coming year. A few weeks ago I reviewed the results from my 2011 selections, and I batted a meek .200 (2 for 10), right on the Mendoza Line.

We'll have to try and do much better this year, though I try to make the predictions somewhat difficult, that way I look really smart if I'm right, and if now, well they're difficult. Win-win, no?

I will probably have one gimme and this year I'm not going to jinx a 3:59 to Toga by predicting it, so sayonara seeing that pick again.

And away we go.....

1. Horse from the outside gate will win the Derby. As most of you know, there are two gates used to house the 20 horses in the Kentucky Derby. The outside gate houses 14-20. Gives me a 35% shot right? Well, no, because the two outside posts have extremely poor results over the years. Animal Kingdom did it from 16, so this is kinda gutsy going for two years in a row. You know what they say..no guts...

2. One of the Classics will end in a photo. Hmm...we haven't had a photo finish in the Derby in quite some time, so we'll throw all three races in there to take a shot that one will end in a photo. Law of averages is with me here.

3. A female jockey will be ITM in one of the classics. Another gutsy call, but Chantal Sutherland or Rosie Napravnik will make me look good here. It is all about the looks...

4. The Florida Derby will wield us the Derby winner. The Derby winner comes out of this race every few years and 2012 will follow suit.

5. One of the three winners of the Canadian classics will win a graded stake later in the year. The Plate, the Prince of Wales and Breeders' Stakes are restricted races and some folks seem to discount the horses who run in them when they run elsewhere. We're stretching a bit here, but who says a Canadian horse can't come out of one of these races and win a Grade 3, at least?

6. Haskell hat is yellow. I swung and whiffed with green in 2011 (it was black), yellow looks like it's due since it's been since 2002.

7. Pletcher will win the Saratoga Training Title. Like I said earlier, I have to have a gimme. This is as close to a gimme as they come. The Toddster doesn't mess around at the Spa and will be loaded again this summer.

8. Santa Anita will be awarded the 2013 Breeders' Cup. In a pattern of twos, I think the Great Race Place will come out of the 2012 Cup with glowing reviews and retain the championships for a second consecutive year.

9. The BC Classic winner will go off at odds greater than 10-1. Where parity was the name of the game in 2011, I don't see it being much different in 2012, and an upset winner in the Classic shouldn't be out of the question.

10. A scandal will rock the racing industry. It happens in every other sport. Cheating uncovered, a major tote breakdown, something bad is in the waters that will make the mainstream. This is one I hope doesn't happen.

There you have it Kreskin fans, my 2012 picks of the litter.....we'll be back next December to see how I do...in the meantime....Happy New Year!

It's a Racing Festivus 2011!

2011-12-21T14:07:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year where we dance around the Festivus Pole and discuss Racing’s 2011 Feats of Strength and Airing of Grievances. If you remember we had our initial Festivus post in 2009, and came right back in 2010. We're all about tradition here at Space Central.

After downing a delicious Festivus dinner and a few Festivus ales we're ready to unveil our 2011 Racing Festivus for the rest of us...

"Feats of Strength"

- Rapid Redux’s Streak. Was there any question that the little starter allowance engine that could, would crack our Festivus Feats of Strength list after winning 21 straight, 19 in 2011?

- Resorts World Casino Construction Workers. The Aqueduct racino project that was completed, pretty much on time, in New York, nonetheless?

- Shackleford’s Preakness. The horse that shouldn’t run more than a mile, turned back a late game effort by Derby champ Animal Kingdom to take the second jewel in Baltimore in May. It was a yeoman effort by the big guy, so he makes our “feats of strength section.”

- Pletcher’s Saratoga Meeting. The Toddster just blew them away at the summer place to be. His 38 training wins was unprecedented and his nearest challenger, Mechanicville native Chad Brown, had 22 wins.

- First Female Jock to Win Big Cap. She had to sweat out a ten minute inquiry, but Canadian jock Chantal Sutherland became the first female to ride the Grade 1 Big Cap winner Game On Dude at Santa Anita Park in March.

Ok, so here’s what you’re really looking to get after, my annual airing of grievances…also known as “I’ve got a lot of problems with you people!”

“Airing of Grievances”

- ESPN anchor Stan Verritt. Courier-Journal vet Jennie Rees took him to the woodshed for his asinine comments about Rapid Redux. Good thing they don’t cover horse racing….uh wait…oh. She’d like to send a big Animal House float over to Bristol, care of Mr. Verritt.

- Maryland’s cluster___. Frank from That’s Amore Stable has his annual grievance airing on the state of Maryland racing, some things never change.

- NYRA $0.50 Pick-3 wager. C’mon man, you gave us the $0.50 Pick-4, cough up the Pick-3, you can do it. I won’t even ask for the 50 cent tri this year (but if you give me the P3 this year, I’ll be sure to ask next year).

- TwinSpiresTV working on my iPad. I’m not a real big fan of the mobile TwinSpires on the iPad, but I dig the PC version where you can bet right on the screen instead of having to go back and forth. (See last year’s Apple v. Adobe – “what are we in fourth grade?” grievance.)

- Secretariat’s Belmont Scene. Really Disney, you filmed it at Keeneland? The biggest and most historic scene in the movie and it was filmed on polycrap?

If you have any of your own grievances to air, feel free to air away in the comments, tiz the season, you know. Merry Festivus, one and all!

BuffaLuck, Ranallo & Turf Accountants

2011-12-13T22:48:00.004-05:00

No, this isn't a post about the Andrew Luck sweepstakes, but another racing blog that will discuss the new HBO series Luck. I wasn't planning on discussing it other than maybe a random bullet point in a random blog....however...

I received an circuitous email sent by USA Today sportswriter and Buffalo native Erik Brady via one of my partners with the same last name (no relation) discussing the Buffalo connections of the series. Here's what I gleaned from the email:

- David Milch, the show's producer, is Buffalo-born and raised, which explains the obscure name dropping of the one-time Buffalo newspaper Courier-Express during the show. "What are you," asks the horseplayer in the wheelchair played by Kevin Dunn, “the morning Courier-Express?”

- Milch's childhood idol was the late Courier-Express columnist Phil Ranallo, who wrote a daily column called "What's New Harry." The column featured horseplayer Honest Harry who would dive into his many forays at the racetrack, along with his wife, Ruby. Ranallo also happened to win the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Newspaper Writing in 1972.

- The Buffalo News' Art Director Jeff Simon wrote this review on his former classmate Milch's newest HBO series.

Who knew the various connections to Buffalo. What did I think? Well, I'm intrigued by it so far and it's way too early to make any snap judgments about its potential success. I enjoyed the racing scenes and the Pick Six players the most. I liked how they explained to the casual viewer what a "single" in the bet represented and that the scene keyed on the singled horse. The scene was breathtaking as the "bug boy" was boxed in and forced to shoot up the rail to win the key race in the sequence.

They had to lay out a whole array of characters over the hour long show, so it did take some time to develop. While the racetrack lingo could be considered to be confusing to the non-racing fan viewer, I think in time folks will pick up on what's going on and all in all this could be very good for racing and generating new fans.

While hitting a $2.7M Pick Six doesn't happen everyday, it's similar to the way most of us were hooked on the game. A nice score and adrenaline pumping through the veins when your horse crosses the line first. We've all experienced it. That dance that the guy was doing in the hallway, yep, I know that dance.

I for one, am looking forward to giving it a chance and seeing the main characters played by Dustin Hoffman, Nick Nolte and Dennis Farina and how they develop.

On a side note, I was having lunch with my friend Moe (not my Uncle) and he mentioned that his son, a graduate of the Naval Academy, had given him a Winston Churchill book filled with quotes from the famous Englishman. He said he stumbled on the term, turf accountants, in the book and asked if I had ever heard of it. He explained that is the term used in the UK for bookmakers. We'll file that tidbit in the
"you learn something new every day" folder.

Shaking the Cobwebs Loose

2011-12-10T09:29:00.000-05:00

As the artist formerly known as the Saratoga Resident and I walked out of First Niagara Center last night after a gutty Sabres OT win, he poked me and asked why I haven't posted in a while. I told him I needed a little break in the action and was just taking a short hiatus and would be getting back to business this weekend and dust off the ole blog.

Sometimes it's good to do a little refresh from the blog and the ponies just to maintain perspective on real life and the job that pays the bills. I really haven't read much of anything in the last few weeks, and other than half-heartily playing some informal contests, I haven't made a wager since the Delta Jackpot Stakes (it was a good one, by the way).

I did enter both NTRA free contests this weekend, but as I went to handicap this morning, became annoyed that they did not supply past performances for the contest races. What's up with that? I'm probably not going to wager today so I didn't feel like downloading them from my TwinSpires account, so went searching at the TBA's Past Performances Search Engine and found seven of the ten races. The three races I couldn't find, were of course, one at each of the three tracks (Aqueduct, Hawthorne and Hollywood) of the contest races. Just plain out annoying. I seem to remember that they typically did provide them in past free contests. Looks like I'll be heading over to TwinSpires later.

I enjoyed reading Brock's post on Twitter last night on the way home from the game. He calls the RTIP to task about teaching the doings of social media and found it to be an entertaining post.

On a personal front, I was named the 21st president of a local charitable foundation, the Buffalo Renaissance Foundation, a group that has donated over $500,000 over our 30-year history. I've been a member of the group since 2004, and the treasurer (resident bean counter) since 2005. I'll be serving a two-year term and am looking forward to the challenge. Check out our website and some of the good things we have going on in Buffalo.

Two Bills home games left, and it's now all about the entertainment and social aspect. Surprisingly we are 4-2 at home (counting Toronto), but just haven't been able to get it done on the road. We have our arch rival Dolphins next weekend and the almighty Tebow on Christmas Eve (we have no chance).

I need to read more. I need to follow Twitter less. It's a great tool, but man can it be a distraction. Instead of reading the wonderful racing book collection I have. Looks like I have my first resolution ready for the new year.

I have had time to keep my Friday News' online column going. This week's post is my annual holiday shopping ideas (I know everyone does one, but I started it a few years ago and I like searching around for gifts that you wouldn't necessarily think about).

I did some self analysis on my wagering habits in 2011, and found a few interesting tidbits. The Pick-3 was my most successful wager and my average bet on it was $16. What troubled me however, was finding out that I didn't fare as well on my Pick-4 wagering, but when I looked to my average bet there, it offered a clue as to perhaps why I hadn't been successful. My average Pick-4 wager was $15, a dollar less than my Pick-3. That tells me I'm probably not investing enough or spreading enough in my Pick-4 wagering and "cheaping out" way too much. I did stick with certain tracks (something I promised myself I would do) and didn't stray to unfamiliar venues as much as I have in the past.

OK, time to start getting the tree up...enjoy the holiday weekend, and good luck.

Not That Amazing Kreskin

2011-11-29T23:16:00.001-05:00

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.

Doling out some thank yous...

2011-11-22T22:50:00.000-05:00

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.

Some times you feel like a nut...

2011-11-15T22:24:00.000-05:00

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...

Eleven Heaven

2011-11-11T00:00:00.000-05:00

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.

BC Saturday: Day in Pictures

2011-11-07T15:08:00.001-05:00

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...

Royal Lady - BC Friday Day in Pictures

2011-11-04T21:31:00.003-04:00

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):

Royal Bonnie in the paddock
before the Juvenile Fillies Turf

Royal Bonnie post parade

Dayatthespa

Juvenile Fillies Turf
first time by

Bob Baffert (@MidnightLute)

What would a BC be
without Jimmy the Hat?

Turbulent Descent
(he's 0 for Geno when I'm at the track)

Martin Garcia

Musical Romance (5) and Switch (6)

A sharp dressed man
ThoroFan's Michael Amo

Derek Brown (@NJDerek), Matt Watts (@DerbyFan78)
and Mike MacAdam (@Mike_MacAdam)

Terry Finley w/Stogie
(not the guy next to him)

Gate Break - Juvenile Fillies

Calvary Charge - Juvenile Fillies
Heading to Clubhouse Turn

My Miss Aurelia impressive
in victory (Juvenile Fillies)

Royal Delta screams by
It's Tricky to win Ladies' Classic

Will be live blogging tomorrow from The Buffalo News' Sports, Ink page...be sure to stop by!

BC Freaky Friday

2011-11-04T14:15:00.000-04:00

It could end up being Freaky Friday by the time the races have been run, especially since the track due to the constant rain yesterday has been listed as muddy and the turf course is yielding.

We've settled in here in Louisville and the weather isn't as ideal as I had anticipated. Luckily, I brought my Woodbine International jacket along (courtesy of Mr. Triple Dead Heat) as it's a little breezy and the temp is just pushing 50 degrees.

The day started out well (after shaking out the cobwebs - thanks to the Space Gal's wake-up call) after seeking out a super cool coffee shop called VINT. It had a Uncommon Grounds-like feel to it and the cran-orange scone was pretty awesome. This commercial was brought to you by Spacely Sprockets.

Oh yeah, the racing. Here's my Sports, Ink blog looking at the last four BC races on the card in today's Buffalo News. I'll be focusing mostly on the rolling Pick-3s all day and throwing in bombs to try and catch lightning in a bottle. It looks like a rather chalky card, but that's just when things can get freaky and with a number of 2-year old Juvenile races on the card anything can happen.

The TBA's Handicappers' Corner over at the ThoroFan site features a number of posts on 10 of the weekend's Breeders' Cup races by some of our group's most talented handicappers. Be sure to check out their thoughts.

I'm also participating in a Handicapping Challenge Contest for the Wireplayers team, I site that I have participated as a Derby Dozen pollster for the past two years. We are taking on a formidable team from the Hello Race Fans! site. It should make for some interesting tweeting over the weekend.

Try and check in at the Sports, Ink site tomorrow where I'll be live blogging the BC races starting around 1:30 p.m. Let's hope you end up in the winners' circle!

Good luck and enjoy the races!

Landed in Louisville

2011-11-03T08:09:00.000-04:00

That's Royal Bonnie, a 2-year old filly owned by Bona Ventures Stables, in the winner's circle after breaking her maiden at Saratoga in September. She is the feature horse in today's column in Thursday's Buffalo News. Followers of this blog may remember the Space Chat I held with managing partner Dan Collins several years ago, regarding the partnership that is made up mainly of Bonaventure grads.

Buffalo is flush with St. Bonaventure alums, so the story should generate some local buzz, as she tackles the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf in her third career race. In addition to the local connections, my brother is a SBU grad and Bonnie, ironically is my Mother's name. I would think a hunch play on the 30-1 long shot is in order.

I arrived in Louisville today and have plenty to do for The News over the next few days. My weekly Friday blog in the Sports, Ink section will look at the last four BC races on Friday. On Saturday, I will have a print advance on the Classic and a commentary on Sunday (for the local Buffalonians who follow me). Saturday around 1:00 p.m. I will be live blogging Saturday's BC races at the Sports, Ink section, which I have been fortunate to have done during each of the Triple Crown races this year.

I look forward to seeing many of my blogging compadres this weekend and meeting some folks I've communicated with through social media for the first time. It should be a fun weekend, one I've been looking forward to for some time. This will be my third BC, I attended Monmouth (2007) and Santa Anita (2009), this one could be very special.

On the handicapping front, I was asked to join the Wireplayers capping squad who have a challenge match against the Hello Race Fans team (many of whom I am tight with). I've already teased the talented Val Grash from the Foolish Pleasure and Fillies First blogs with a little smack talk that they'll be going down faster than a prom dress this weekend! Game on!

Oh yeah, there happens to be a little football game this weekend at the Ralph where the Bills take on the confident (hopefully overconfident) NY Jets. Maybe the Alans (Left at the Gate & The Bug Boys) from New Yawk will want to make friendly wager? I will hopefully will be touching down from Buffalo an hour before kickoff, to catch the game. I donated my tix to a charity auction benefitting Allen Wilson, the Bills beat guy for The News who is fighting leukemia, so I'll be watching from the Space Station back home (God willing).

I will be posting when time permits over the weekend and will hopefully have some pics ready to post after the weekend. Good luck with your BC wagering and safe travels to all making the trek to the 'Ville this weekend.

Anticipation

2011-10-25T22:26:00.002-04:00

So it's almost here....pre-entries for the Breeders' Cup World Championships will be released at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning. So what the heck have we been doing in the meantime anticipating the release of the pre-entry PP's and wondering who looks to make the cut list as the Turk comes to roost (not that Turk)?

(By the way, the old Anticipation commercial by Heinz ranks up there as one of my favorite jingles ever....if you were wondering.)

In case you've been wondering where I've been over the last week...here's are the top 10 things I've been up to while eagerly awaiting pre-entry day and Breeders' Cup betting...

1) Riding the E-Train. Follow these tips and you'll be sure to be prepared for BC day.

2) Selling worldly possessions to load up the ADW. Bills-Skins tickets in Toronto. Sold. See ya tickets, hello ADW. (Sold em on twitter, too)

3) Impulse purchase of Horse Race Analyzer on e-Bay. Eavesdropping on a Turk Facebook chat about the old Mattel Electronics contraption peaked my interest. Next thing you know I'm a proud owner of one of these bad boys. $19.99. Feels like I was watching a late night info-mercial and couldn't resist. Purchased for the memorabilia angle. (yeah right).

4) Watch Charismatic on YouTube. I missed the premier episode as I was away at a business meeting in cozy Ellicottville with my business partners, so I was forced to watch it on YouTube. After buffering it took about 2 1/2 hours to watch the 5 part documentary on You Tube. Now that's a really devoted (or really dumb) fan. It was an interesting documentary, before commenting I think I'll read "Three Strides From the Wire" before casting judgment.

5) Go on Wagering Hiatus. Took a much needed breather from the track. Went dark since being at Woodbine. TVG blackout. The three week break should keep it fresh for next weekend we ascend on Louisville.

6) Watch the World Series. It's actually been a highly entertaining Series so far. I have no real rooting interest other than hoping for highly entertaining close games that don't let me go to bed until after midnight. I like the Cardinals chances to bring it to seven. There's nothing like a 7th game.

7) Notch my 1,000th Twitter follower. Thanks @UttoxeterRaces, a race course in Staffordshire for putting me over the hump. The Saratoga Resident gives me a hard time..."Are you tweeting?" is one of his favorite questions while cocktailing together. Or "You're not that interesting." It's good to have friends that put things in perspective.

8) Plot my strategy for Top Chef - Dallas. I am the defending pool champ, you know.

9) Download the BC 11 iPad/iPhone apps. Check and check.

10) Write Blog #600. You're reading it....and I thank you for reading. Less than 24 hours to the pre-entries. The anticipation is killing me.

Giddy up.

Space Invasion: Woodbine Pattison International Day

2011-10-18T11:59:00.000-04:00

I was fortunate enough to wander up north to the Woodbine Racetrack on Sunday afternoon to take in the day's races. My host was Woodbine Entertainment's media maven Keith McCalmont of Triple Dead Heat fame. The day included three Breeders' Cup Win and You're In Grade 1 races, all resulting in double digit winners.

Mike MacAdam from the Schenectady Daily-Gazette was part of our posse during the day and the three of us competed in a handicapping contest of the Woodbine card and the 1pm NFL contests. The contest came down to the International and with yours truly holding a slim $6.50 lead over the home track Canadian. While I upheld the bragging rights, it certainly wasn't for my WO handicapping. I ended up hitting six of seven NFL games against the spread. Maybe I should start a football blog?

It was an overcast day, although the wind wasn't as brisk as it was on Saturday. The big story was the 22-1 filly Sarah Lynx becoming the first filly since Infamy in 1988 to win the $1.5M International. It doesn't sound like her connections plan on heading to the Breeders' Cup, however.

Miss Keller, the big winner for Keith on the day, captured the $1M E.P. Taylor Stakes and had our joint Pick-4 to a great start, which was quickly ruined by Don Dulce ($29.50) and Sarah Lynx ($46.90) in the next two legs. I've never had great success at Woodbine, that trend continues through Sunday.

Here are some pictures for the big day north of the border:

With the brisk weather most Woodbine patrons remained indoors

They're off in the International!

Bated Breath before the Nearctic

Gomez on Bated Breath

Hitchens before the Nearctic

Tote Board/Finish Line

Miss Keller wins E.P. Taylor

Jockey Conference

Gomez weaves through Woodbine crowd

Musical interlude

Johnny V in winners' circle on Miss Keller

The excellent tweeter @tripledeadheat

Turf Worm

2011-10-13T17:04:00.000-04:00

I went up north this morning for the post position draw for the Pattison Canadian International, Sunday's big "Win and You're In" turf race at the beautiful Woodbine Racetrack.

I went up to cover the race for my Friday Buffalo News blog, so we'll leave the racing stories for tomorrow's column.

What was different about this year's luncheon was that the drawmaster was not someone you would see at your ordinary post position draw. Former NBA star and Hall of Fame forward Dennis Rodman served that role, assisting racecaller Dan Loiselle with the draw of Sunday's big race.

The selection of Rodman, while curious, in my opinion isn't a bad thing for racing. Much noise was being made about his being the selection. Look at it this way, people were talking about racing, and about a race that may as well have been off people's radar on a lazy Thursday afternoon. Rodman has had his difficulties off the court, but he has come a long way from a difficult youth. When asked what his career highlight was, he stated "Leaving the projects in Dallas." More than once he said if he hadn't, he'd probably either be dead or in jail.

The man could rebound, and as a former small school point guard who could only master the D3 level of competition, the fact that he came out of a small college in Oklahoma and has a bust in Springfield tells you the kind of player he was. Not to mention the hard work that went into him propelling himself from a small school into the pro ranks.

The more comical and entertaining portion of the program included a back and forth episode with the witty Loiselle. They played a little game of the "first thing that comes to mind" when throwing out a name.....here's my notes on that dialogue....

Loiselle: Phil Jackson
Rodman: Love him.

Loiselle: Madonna (generated some good yuks pre-answer)
Rodman: Used to love her.

Loiselle: Michael Jordan
Rodman: The Greatest

Loiselle: Donald Trump
Rodman: Great Man, I like the way he does business

Loiselle: Carmen Electra
Rodman: (long pause) Carmen who?

Loiselle: Howard Stern
Rodman: Innovative

Loiselle: Tiger Woods
Rodman: (speechless for a good minute) Golfer

Very entertaining indeed. Woodbine did it's usual fabulous job with the video presentation of the International, dialed up another fabulous luncheon and open bar, and put together a top notch media package. I'm looking forward to spending Sunday afternoon up in Toronto and look for my blog tomorrow in the News. I had some interesting conversations with trainers Steven Chircop and Mike DePaulo that I will be sharing in Friday's blog.

Here are some photos from the draw:

The longest stretch of turf on the continent

The goods for the G1 E.P. Taylor

The goods for the Pattison International

Media frenzy

Loiselle and Rodman center stage

War Games

2011-10-07T22:53:00.000-04:00

I come from the age of Intellivision, Atari and Strat-o-matic baseball. I've loved games since my dad brought home Monopoly during a snowstorm in Cayuga, NY and we played all weekend while a blizzard kept us homebound.

Playing in handicapping contests is no different. Yes, it is on my bucket list to qualify some day for the NHC Championships in Vegas, but I haven't really taken it too seriously. Yet.

I did sign up for my NHC card this year and have taken advantage of the free online tourneys, but there are usually way too many players for a decent shot at winning. I do play in the free Equibase tourneys every weekend, but you're relegated to making your 8-10 plays before the first race and then you're stuck with them. Inter-race strategy is out the window in that contest. I've faired pretty well this year, as high as ninth in one Equibase tourney, and sniffed it on occasion.

A couple of weeks ago fellow blogger and HRN editor Brian Zipse invited me to try out the new Derby Wars contest platform. Derby Wars.com was created by Horse Racing Labs, a technology-based business focused on horse racing. These are the same folks that created the Horse Racing Nation website, which launched in 2009. I've had a great relationship with them over the years, even winning an iPad in their 2010 Derby contest, so when they asked me to test drive their new contest, I was all in.

I happened to be in central Pennsylvania at my in-laws for the weekend, so I had some time to monkey around with the site. The contest races were being held at Belmont, Arlington and Turfway, the latter two being tracks I rarely play. It's not like I was playing Global Thermonuclear War or anything.

I liked the visual effects of the platform and the ease of selecting your horse in each race. Some of the benefits of the graphics are that you could actually see the payouts on the same page after the race was run (something you usually have to hunt for at other sites). I also liked the fact that it updated as quickly as the tote board with the results after the race. In addition, being able to change your play up until one minute to post time can lead to much more of a strategic contest.

Some of the coming highlights to Derby Wars is that horseplayers can enter every Friday in October for $25 and a shot at a seat at the NHC championships. Saturdays offer bigger money games with cash prizes. Lastly, the entry fees are very reasonable with some entry fees as little as $6. I'm definitely planning on continuing to play, especially in the Friday tournaments for a relatively inexpensive shot at Vegas.

If you sign up for free before October 15, you can play in one free game (for cash money) on that day. There is also a demo video available here. Steve Munday, founder of the Wireplayers site, also has an interesting blog up about the contests.

Good luck this weekend and have fun.

Mo-verload

2011-10-04T20:35:00.000-04:00

Anybody else having a bad case of Mo-verload? Yeah, me too. It's been covered ad nauseum. So grab your barf bag, I'm about to give my plugged Buffalo Nickel's worth. It's probably half the opinion that my pal and fellow blogger Chris aka "Tencent" could put out there, but in case you were wondering where the Space Camp stands...here goes...

It was a hot summer Travers Day in the year 2010...no, I probably don't want to go all the way back to the beginning, but I do have a short story to share. The Saratoga Resident, my pop and I were sitting in the Turf Terrace (compliments of a fitty for my boy Manny - oops) watching a 2-year old named Uncle Mo destroy a $60k maiden field by about 14-1/2 lengths.

We were immediately on the bat-phone to our pal, Moe back in Buffalo. Moe, you see, is a non-racing fan, but he enjoys a good cigar and can quote Churchill even on a bad day. "We've got a Derby horse for ya, Moe," we screamed into the cellular telephone, "and he's got your name (sans the "e")!" For then next few months through his BC Juvie win and through the winter we'd see Moe and tell him Mo's the real deal. Well, you know how that ended, and our hopes for Buffalo Moe to become a hooked racing fan went astray with the scratch on Derby eve of our man, Mo.

So what does that have to do with Uncle Mo pointing towards the Breeders' Cup Classic? Well, nothing really. I just though I'd share.

Fast forward five months and we have a nostril loss in the G1 King's Bishop and a monstrous Beyer Speed Figure (BSF) in the G2 Kelso, a one turn mile.The Mo Hype machine is revving up again. Get Moe back on the horn, his horse is back in the national spotlight. You probably think by now I've done a little too much National Vodka Day celebrating, especially after you read why I think this is a good thing, but really, I've only had one John Daly, so far.

So here are my five reasons why Uncle Mo going in the Classic is okay by me.

1) Mo Got Game. Not just because he's got the big BSF (that sounds kinda dirty doesn't it?). Not because he's the defending Juvie champ. He's got that second gear. We've all seen it. Not many horses have it. Mo's got it.
2) Sporting Move. As much as you can loathe the connections, having Mo in the Classic is good for the sport. It's kind of like how Jess Jackson was viewed before he pulled Rachel out of the Classic. He gave the poly a whirl with Curlin, he bought Rach and ran her in a Classic and against older males. He did what was good for the sport. Mo has sex appeal for that national TV audience. We'll get an extra couple of fractions out of the Nielsens having him run in the Classic versus the Dirt Mile.
3) Mike Repole is a Quote Machine. Yeah, he'd be there anyway with Stay Thirsty, but you know Mo's like his favorite kid. He won't say it out loud (or maybe he will), but Repole loves Mo. I mean he looooves him. The media has to be salivating over the fact that Repole will have a mic in his hand in Louisville. Bring on the entourage, just make sure you make your reservations early.
4) Pletcher has a lot to prove. It can't hurt the ratings that the five-time Eclipse winning trainer will have to pull off quite a feat to get a bottom under Mo before the Classic. A 7-furlong race followed by a one turn mile against lesser foes in the slop aren't exactly stellar workouts. On the other hand he'll be coming in third off the long layoff and he has a win over the Churchill strip and can handle the slop on the off chance it's a sloppy track. Pletcher has some TV appeal to the public, most non-racing fans, Moe excluded, know who he is.
5) BC Marketing Campaign around Mo v. Havre de Grace. You gotta go with the girl you bring to the dance. Why not hype the two horses that have the most appeal to fans to drive ratings, attendance and the like. The BC folks must be licking their chops.

Small print alert: P.S. There's some money to be made betting against him.

What's really not to like about it? It could be Classic Mo Time. Hey Moe, whaddya think?

Catching Up

2011-09-30T21:16:00.000-04:00

I've been neglecting the ole' Space blog this week, but there's been a lot going on so let's get to it, as there's lots to cover.

- First off, one item that had me preoccupied this week was setting up a Memorial Fund for Tiznow Reynolds, who passed away prematurely earlier in the week. The Fund was approved by the Board yesterday and a link at the ThoroFan site to make donations was up early this morning. Please consider donating to support the educational future of the 8-year old daughter he left behind.

- I have to give kudos to my fellow Board Members at ThoroFan for their compassion and thoughtfulness in letting me fast track this idea and get it live so quickly. We should have the PayPal option functional by Monday evening, so thanks for your patience.

- Lastly, before I move on to the weekend racing scene, I have to sincerely thank Stacy Berge, Director of Operations of the Thoroughbred Legends Stables, who helped guide me through the process, dealing with the family and sharing with me her vision for this Fund. It's amazing how our racing community comes together in times of sorrow and need.

- Well since last weekend, my Bills and Orange keep winning (*knocks on nearest piece of wood*) and the town here is pretty alive. There's lots of football to be played though, so no need to get overly excited. They are the Bills, you know.

- I've been betting fairly lightly lately, making only one $2 bet (on Hansen) last weekend, securing my free PP's from TwinSpires. I focused most of my efforts on the Equibase Handicapping contest, where for the first time ever I picked winners in the first three contest races. Of course, I dropped quicker than a prom dress the rest of the way and finished in the mid 300s. This week's contest features races from Belmont and Santa Anita, so game on.

- I also test drove Horse Racing Nation's new Derby Wars contest site. More on this to come in a future post. Although I can say that it was a positive experience.

- My Friday News post is up over at the Sports, Ink blog, in case you missed it.

- Is it Catsup or Ketchup? These are things I'd like to know.

- Trying to figure out what to do for Super Saturday tomorrow. I didn't make the trip to Big Sandy due to a wedding tomorrow evening, but some live (or tape delay) blogging could be on tap. Maybe even a nostalgic trip over to the Wehrle OTB for old times sake is in the cards.

- The card seems kinda chalky, but man, those are usually the days where funky stuff happens and a four figure Pick-4 results. I think I'll go deeper in the JCGC than in any other race playing Rodman, Stay Thirsty, Flat Out and Drosselmeyer (horse for course) in the final leg. Although if it's wet I may narrow it down as Stay Thirsty thrived in the slop on Belmont day.

- Speaking of Super Saturday, my advance for the print edition for the News will be in tomorrow's paper. Glad I left Big Drama (who scratched late today) off my selections where I took a capsule look at the late guaranteed $500K Pick 4.

- Very impressive victory by Hansen last weekend at Turfway in the Kentucky Cup Juvenile...a certain horse named Animal Kingdom won at Turfway last year, too. Hmm.

- Ok, it is time to do some cappin' before we get after it tomorrow afternoon. Best of luck at the windows tomorrow and thanks always, for reading.

Equinoctial Ramblings

2011-09-23T08:45:00.000-04:00

I'm one who likes to mark the passage of time or a play on numbers and dates here at the Space blog and today is no different. The autumnal equinox is upon us and when summer officially turns into fall you can count on a post that signals that championship racing is not far off...so let's get ready to ramble!

- The new NTRA social media chief seems to be making an impact. The tweets coming out @NTRA and the revamping of the NTRA Notebook are well, noteworthy. Check it out for yourself here.

- Is Super Saturday here yet?

- The Breeders' Cup wagering menu was released today and a new 50-cent Pick 5 was introduced on the first five races on both days. The 50-cent minimun will also be in place for trifectas, P-3's, P-4's and the new Pick 5 play. A Ladies' Classic-Classic double will also be offered. Rolling Pick-3's throughout the card will continue to be the bet I most likely will be zoned in on.

- My next track invasion looks to be International Day up at Woodbine, really looking forward to a great day of turf racing up in Rexdale.

- Speaking of Canada, conditioner Mike dePaulo will be attempting to strike in the Grade 2 $1M Pennsylvania Derby with Pender Harbour, winner of the final two legs of the Canadian Triple Crown. Luis Contreras, who has been killing it at WO, will get the nod again on the 3-year old champ. His ML odds are 12-1, and I wouldn't count him out too quickly.

- Congrats to my fellow Buffalonian, The Turk and Little Turk, on his 3-year blog anniversary. The dude can flat out handicap and if spend some time reading his mantras and philosophies on playin' the ponies, you will come out of it much more knowledgeable then when you went in.

- I love Good n' Plentys, it's my candy of choice, especially when writing.

- Heading to Happy Valley this weekend, with a possible detour to Beaver Stadium for the Eastern Michigan game and my annual thrill of the scalp on College Avenue. The Toga Party champ has given me the green light with the appropriate chaperone.

- Nice to see the Kentucky Cup races return this year and not lose their graded status after not being run last year. Turfway Park will host five Cup races on Saturday, three of which are graded.

- Missing the Pats game this weekend due to the family trip, but will be tuned in on Sunday's ride back...check out this photo from the pre-game last weekend...not too shabby for a photo hack...

- Two weeks to Keeneland and the first Saturday of racing will be featured on NBC!

- My Friday News post is up at the Sports, Ink blog which discusses the new Fan Council created by the NYS Racing and Wagering Board and where to provide input for fan and horseplayer issues.

Have a great weekend and best of luck at the windows.

Happy International Talk Like a Pirate Day, Matey

2011-09-19T09:19:00.001-04:00

So the Bills are 2-0, the Cuse is moving to the ACC and today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. All is good in the world.

So in that order, let's discuss the Twilight Zone in which I live in. Is it ironic that the Bills came back to beat a team named the Raiders, on the eve of Int'l Talk Like a Pirate Day? It's harrrrrrd not to believe it. Seriously, that was one of the most exciting football games I've ever attended. The Ralph was jumping like we were back in the late 80s/early 90s. Let's hope the magic continues. The Evil Empire is up next. I think the Space Gal injured herself in a celebration of the next to last touchdown by Stevie Johnson, it's rough being a NFL spectator.

As for the Cuse going to the ACC...I'm actually pretty excited about it. The basketball will be spectacular and gives me even more reason to hate Duke. The lacrosse league is going to be pretty awesome too with Duke, UNC, Virginia and Maryland competing with the Orange on an annual basis. The Big East wasn't a very strong football conference, so that appears to be more of a lateral move, although Miami and Florida State can still bring it.

As far as my favorite holiday...I'll toss a few jokes out there as I do every year on this date, courtesy of the twitter account @piratejokes.

Q: Where do pirates eat fast food?
A: Arrrrrrrrrby's

Q: What do you call a good looking priate girl?
A: Aye Candy

Q: What did Black Beard say to his men before they got on the ship?
A: Let's get on the ship, men!
(that's my favorite one this year)

Q: Why didn't the pirate cross the road?
A: Because it was made of tarrrr.

Ok, that's enough.

If you're playing some pirate hunch bets today...make sure you consider these:

DEL7 #9 Going for Gold
KD5    #1A Wayward Sailor
KD6    #4 Ninety Schillings
FL1     #2 Hooked On Money
MNR1 #1 Swarr
SUF5 #10 Captain Wood
THD6 #3 Sea Dancer
THD8 #5 Raging Sea
FE2     #2 Buffalo Storm

Have a great day, mateys.

Bucket Listing

2011-09-13T23:03:00.000-04:00

It's been awhile since I've done one of my patented lists, so I figured since we have a bit of a lull in the action within the racing world that I'd share some racing (and non-racing) bucket list fodder with you.

About a year and a half ago I shared by track visit wish list, and in the past 18 months have only managed to knock off 2 tracks (Finger Lakes and Pimlico - live). Not a very good showing by yours truly. The problem is that all of my travel was confined to the Triple Crown, Woodbine and Saratoga, so I've been remiss in tackling some of the tracks on my wish list.

But this bucket list won't just be visits, it'll be other stuff that's racing related and then for those interested we'll venture onto the personal list, which of course, has a bit of a sporting twist to it...

I did knock off a couple this year, notably (a) be part of a winners circle win photo, (b) complete personal Triple Crown in one year, (c) attend a racing Hall of Fame Ceremony and (d) guest co-host of simulcast program (at Fort Erie).

Racing Bucket List

1. Visit Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. The difficulty in this one is that it runs during the Saratoga meet and that's it's clear across the country. This one is gonna happen one of these years. San Diego is too nice to pass up and it would probably show up there, but who wants duplicative lists?

2. Attend the Arlington Million. I love turf racing and hear how awesome the track facility is. I have blogger friends who could also show me a good time.

3. Hit the Derby Trifecta. Have come close a few times (last three years) hitting 2 of the 3 spots...this one is one I really want. Better yet, would love to call it cold in the paper.

4. Write a racing book for the non-racing fan. I have some thoughts here about a humorous "How to" book about horse racing. Hoping to sell more than 10 copies.

5. Wear a top hat at Royal Ascot. Those bad boys are sweet.

6. Attend one of the thoroughbred auction sales (preferably at Keeneland). It's something I've never attended and everyone says it's the place to be.

7. Qualify for the NHC Handicapping Tournament in Vegas. Haven't been too serious in my attempts, mainly the on-line free contests and survival contests. Will need to devote some bankroll one of these years and bear down and attempt to do it.

8. Attend the Eclipse Awards. I own a tuxedo, I could probably get a credential. January in a warm place? Listen to Kenny Rice bad jokes? I'm in. (Waiting for the snoozefest comments....fire away).

That's it for my racing bucket list for now...on to my personal non-racing (non-family related) short list....of course I'd love to have the Space Gal do them all with me...

1. Watch the Bills win a Super Bowl. Spoiled in the early 90s, it's been all famine since. Seriously teased last Sunday by the huge win at KC. (I'd even take a win over Tom Brady as honorable mention).

2. Watch the Sabres carry the Cup around First Niagara Center (formerly known as HSBC Arena). This could very easily be #1A, coupled entry.

3. Try Surfing. Really. I'd even wear one of those beach necklaces with a turquoise stone in the middle.

4. Attend games at Wrigley and Fenway. Two iconic parks I've never stepped inside of. I've got Notre Dame Stadium in the books already, but these two ballparks are beckoning.

5. Attend a NBA Final. Other than a Super Bowl, I've been to most major championships, would love to see an NBA Final, preferably in LA (not that I like either LA team).

6. Play a Round at Augusta. Who wouldn't want to take a shot at Amen Corner. I haven't played much golf over the past few years, but that would be one course that would be bucket-list worthy.

7. Beer Taster for a day at the Heineken Plant in the Netherlands. Quality control is right up my alley.

8. Attend a World Cup USA Soccer Game. The South Africa World Cup hooked me. I feel some allegiance to another non-mainstream sport that gets its moment in the sun every four years.

What's on your bucket list?

O'er the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave

2011-09-11T08:46:00.011-04:00

Charismatic on ESPN Films Schedule - October 18

2011-09-07T21:35:00.001-04:00

Looks like the Charismatic documentary is a go. I'm not sure how I missed this, but back at the end of July, ESPN Films released their schedule for a number of new films (7) that will be released this fall.

Originally scheduled as part of the "30 for 30" series, various issues postponed and ultimately moved if off of the schedule. I emailed the 30 for 30 folks last October and reported their reply in my "What Happened?" post that the documentary would be a future ESPN Films production, so what do you know.

The Steve Michaels documentary is scheduled for Tuesday, November 1 [Update: Changed to October 18] at 8 p.m! The film summary as listed at the ESPN site is as follows:

"In June of 1999 an unlikely colt named Charismatic, with down and out jockey Chris Antley aboard, headed down the stretch at the Belmont Stakes, just seconds away from becoming the first Triple Crown winner in nearly 21 years. Thoroughbred racing was desperate for this story of deliverance as track attendance was in steep decline. Into this void stepped Charismatic and Antley, both thought to be lost causes. Together, they became the biggest long shots in 59 years to win the Kentucky Derby, and then followed up with another underdog win at the Preakness, before tragedy struck."

Giddyup.

Guest Post: Toga Party IV Winner - The Space Gal

2011-09-06T16:43:00.000-04:00

Sometimes a blind squirrel finds a nut. Sometimes you step in the mud and pull out a twenty dollar bill. Sometimes lucky is good. Sometimes you smile and nod. This is one of those times.

As promised in yesterday's announcement of the Toga Party IV winner, in exchange for passing up the grand prize, she elected to write a guest post summing up the victory and how she trounced yours truly and all of her contest secrets.

I've let her have the helm just once before and she did not disappoint....back in June 2008, when we had a brush with a certain prince in Saratoga.

Kudos to the Space Gal. Not only did she defeat me, but 10 other bloggers, two handicappers from Buffalo and Albany, one horseplayer from Syracuse, one NYRA television personality, one horseman and my brother. Not too shabby.

Here is her guest post (and no that's not her real hair).....

Winner! This is a yearly contest, right? That means I get to gloat that I beat my husband for an entire YEAR?? My husband who sits for hours in the man cave watching every track in the country on the weekends? My husband who has attended all of the major East Coast races for the last how many years? My husband who gets paid to write racing columns and handicaps for the local paper? That guy? I beat him and I get to brag about it for an entire year? Wooooooo hoooooo!!!

I guess all of my preparation and hard work really paid off. And because I’m pretty much an open book, I’m willing to share all of my secrets. I know I should be saving them for my book “The Space Gal’s Guide to Handicapping,” but I still have some more tricks up my sleeve that I’m saving for that New York Times Best Seller.

So here’s how I did it. I googled last year’s statistics… and then picked numbers close to that. Basically, I was under the gun, had NO idea what even the ballpark answers were and didn’t want to make a fool out of myself. I mean, opening day attendance?? I have no idea! Guess, guess and guess again.

Todd Pletcher is my not-so-secret trainer crush so of course I picked him for Leading Trainer. Johnny V was nice to me at the Permanently Disabled Jockey Fund calendar signing on Belmont Stakes Day, so I picked him for Leading Jockey. I picked “Tizway” because I like going to the restaurant “Tiznow” in Saratoga. And “Stay Thirsty” who gave me 2 points, I picked him because I remember my husband talking about him a lot. I thought maybe he had won a time or two in the past.

There you have it. That’s it. That’s my BIG strategy. Now you know my secrets. I should probably add that I do know how to read the Form. But now that I have two Space Munchkins, I just don’t have the time to read it like I used to. Plus, I never won anyway. So, I’d like to accept this first prize on behalf of Google and Todd Pletcher’s hair. Without them, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to tease my husband relentlessly for an entire year. Thank you.

[Editor's Note: We'll get back to the regularly scheduled blog in a few days, once I get over this.]

Space Gal Takes Down Toga Party IV

2011-09-05T21:32:00.000-04:00

In the "I'll never hear the end of it" department, this one takes the cake.

My lovely wife (aka The Space Gal) took down Toga Party IV leaving no prisoners capturing six of the 15 possible points with her nearest competitors only having four points to show for themselves.

She did it the old fashioned way by nailing three of the five stakes races (two by Stay Thirsty), added Pletcher/Velazquez (pretty much gimmes) and missing the jockey wins by 1. Overall very impressive. She decided to pass accepting the top prize (a handicapping book of her choice or a Bills game in December) since she has access to both and decided that she wanted her own guest blog to share some of her contest secrets for earning the victory. I'm betting most of it is from hanging around me or osmosis since we share pillows at night....she may beg to differ though.

Second place ended in a tie between me (damn that Castellano) and 2009 champion Saratoga Spa, both of us garnering 4 wins buoyed by the 8/8/11 win by one #8 horse (it's a lock every year).

Some of this year's notable contest feats:
- Kennedy nailed the trainer wins on the nose with 38.
- Tencentcielo was the only one to select Royal Delta in the Alabama
- The Space Gal was the lone backer of Stay Thirsty in the Travers
- Josh of Polish Numbers missed the $2 Woodward exacta by a buck.
- Yours truly guessed the opening day attendance within 30 peeps.

I hope everyone enjoyed the ride, it was a fun contest to keep an eye on again this year with record participation. I thank all of you for taking the time to participate and look forward to next year.

I think I am going to tweak a couple of items. If you nail any of the numerical items (other than the #8 horse) I'm going to double the points. In addition, I think I'll make the leading jockey earner's dollar amount the tie-breaker. If you have any other thoughts feel free to let me know in the comments.

Thanks again and look for the (unedited) winner's guest blog in this spot tomorrow.

Travers Day 2011: The Day in Pictures

2011-08-28T22:51:00.004-04:00

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.

Shake Rattle & Roll

2011-08-23T22:14:00.000-04:00

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.

Alabama Day

2011-08-20T11:01:00.000-04:00

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.

Hall of Fame Day at the Spa

2011-08-13T13:27:00.000-04:00

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...

Randy Moss - Master of Ceremonies

HOF'er D. Wayne Lukas
presents Open Mind

DRF's Jay Privman
presents Jerry Hollendorfer

Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer

Seabiscuit Statue outside
the HOF Museum

Ramon Dominguez
after his ride on Cave's Valley

Johnny V signs for a fan

A Beautiful Friday afternoon
at the Spa attracted 23, 674 patrons

Ever A Friend ($9.40) wins the 2nd

George Weaver gives Javy
instructions before the 3rd

Was the Toddster tweeting?

Javier Castellano on the Hard Spun
filly Hard Mystery

Johnny V up on Miss Caterina,
a Pletcher firster

Miss Caterina ($4.40) rolls to a 5 3/4 length victory

Rothko ($10) rolls in the 6th

Big Blue Kitten in the paddock
with trainer Chad Brown

Julien Leparoux on Perregaux

Big Blue Kitten ($11) wins the G2 Hall of Fame

Johnny V and Big Blue Kitten
head to the Winners Circle

They're Baaack!

2011-08-11T09:23:00.000-04:00

Obviously Tuesday

You know the old Poltergeist line...it goes without saying that the boys from Obviously NY Stables reacquainted themselves in the winners' circle yesterday with their 3-year old gelding Obviously Tuesday ($10.00).

Unraced since closing week last year at the Spa, the gelding responded with a super effort in the one mile maiden special weight. Alan Garcia broke an 0 for 40 streak at the historic race track on Wednesday with an excellent ride in the Spa's nightcap.

Even though it was Wednesday, the 4-1 selection stalked the pace early and took over at the top of the stretch and held off Cincinnati Kid at the wire breaking his maiden and setting off a joyous celebration in the Saratoga winners circle by the local Albany ownership group.

I've known some of the principals of the group for several years and have followed closely some of their better horses, notably Canadian Ballet and Mother Russia, both who combined for four wins back in the 2009 Spa meet. They are a down to earth great bunch of people who pulled me into my first ever winners' circle photo. Kudos to the Obviously NY team.

It was a rather chalky day that did not net out very well for yours truly and I blew the biggest opportunity on the card in the first race by changing my bet. The horse I liked the best of the day, Hot Money (who finished second) in the first was at 15-1 and instead of just playing him under Silver Timber with the other two horses I favored, I added a couple in the show spot and dropped him down to the third slot in my trifecta. Big mistake. A $380 mistake. That shook me for the rest of the day and although I hit two Pick-3's and the Grand Slam, Rizzi's Comet (3rd) and Emerald Beech (5th) blew up two of my larger multirace plays. Back to the drawing board today.

I spent some time in the paddock and watched two races with interest in the winners' circle on Wednesday. The 4th was a 5-1/2 furlong 2-year old race which featured some interesting babies including Seeker, a Hard Spun colt trained by Steve Asmussen and Raconteur, one of Dogwood's 2-year olds trained by the Toddster. Vexor, a Wildcat Heir colt looked impressive holding off Seeker, both were sent to my watch stable.

The day's stakes race was a 1-1/2 mile turf race, the Waya, was taken by Jonathan Sheppard's Emerald Beech, Shocker, Sheppard won a long turf route, he has to be respected. Unfortunately, I did not and paid the price.

Here are some photos from a fun Wednesday at the Spa....

The Toddster with Raconteur

Steve Asmussen with the Hard Spun colt Seeker

Vexor with Javier Castellano up

Seeker and Raconteur before the 4th

Vexor ($8.20) in the Winners Circle

Dyani before the Waya

Emerald Beech ($14) takes the Waya

Son of a Beech

Alan Garcia - The O on his silks
was his Spa record before the 10th

Cincinnati Kid finished a game second

Obviously Tuesday heads to the track

Obviously Tuesday holding off
Cincinnati Kid as they approach the wire

I capped off the day by attending a lecture at Fasig-Tipton's Humphrey S. Finney Sales Pavilion, which is absolutely gorgeous. The series was promoted by the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation and featured Paul Roberts, author of the book The Spa: Saratoga's Legendary Track. It was final part of a 3-part series focusing on the original buildings of 1864 to developments made by NYRA. Mr. Roberts discussed every phase of Saratoga Race Course’s remarkable past. It was extremely interesting and fascinating to see the changes that the track has undertaken over the years. With the new VLT monies starting to flow in the fall it will be nice to see additional capital dollars being committed to the historic track.

Whitney Day and Crazy Eights

2011-08-08T15:05:00.000-04:00

I've been off the grid for a few days trying to catch up before taking a vacation from the real job. The Space Gal and I made a surgical strike for our anniversary weekend to the Spa for Whitney day (her request) for the first time since Invasor's win back in 2006. I did a Whitney/Haskell double that year and my liver still hurts.

I didn't favor Tizway and when Bond said in the post draw quotes that he thought his horse "could get the distance" of 9 furlongs, I ran the other way thinking that was the first sign that he couldn't. He proved me wrong and I took my medicine. That's the great thing about this game, when you fall off the bike, you just have to get up and get back on and ride again.

It was almost a Belmont day-like bloodbath, until the De La Rose when 25-1 Trix in the City was the peanut butter in my Pick-3 sandwich of heavy favorites Higher Court and Turbulent Descent, to salvage an otherwise miserably betting day. I was really rooting for Flay's Her Smile and Baffert's American Lady who would have quadrupled or tripled the victory. When I bet on Pletcher he lost horribly, and when I didn't his 7-1 Katz My Song pulled the upset. Go figure. I can't even take credit for Trixie, as my pop gave me the tip on Friday night when perusing the card with me, saying he saw her go gate to wire last year at the Spa and told me it could be a "horse for the course." Thanks, pop.

We spent the first six races hanging in the Paddock Bar, enjoyed my first Shake Shack burger (5.3 on the Richter) and met some fun folks along the way. Jessica and dana stopped by to say hello to me and the Space Gal and we visited with my pal BV, who was all over Tizway in a big way at the window and in Toga Party IV. We capped the day off with some drinks at the Lodge and a solid meal at the Beekman Street Bistro, one of my favorite places off the beaten path.

While we missed the mark on our News selections of Mission Impazible, I was attempting to hit all three Canadian triple crown winners and I missed it by a nose. I had selected Inglorious and Pender Harbour in the first two legs and went with Celtic Conviction over Pender Harbour in Friday's Sports, Ink blog post. Close, but no cigar. I was fortunate to speak with Luis Contreras, who swept all three Canadian TC races, at the Plate Trial barbecue. He's a fine young man, his recent success couldn't come for a nicer fellow.

Speaking of the Toga Party contest, five contestants had Tizway, including a gloating Space Gal who has assumed a share of the lead with yours truly with 2 points. There's another contest point available today (8/8), for the number of wins by the 8 horse - crazy 8's day. After four races, there's been no winners and the #8 has scratched out of the 7th and 10th, so a low number of 0 or 1 looks like it may be the right guess.

Here's a few random photos from the weekend (sorry, forgot the pink camera so you'll have to live with shots from my phone).....we'll be back in Saratoga on Wednesday through the Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Friday (and maybe a few races ;) )

Nick Zito saddles Bomber Boy before the 5th

Rajiiiiiiiiiv! Whitney winning jock.

7-1 Katz My Song before winning the 5th,
Johnny V up

Saratoga meeting leading trainer TAP

Duke of Mischief heading towards
the Whitney gate

The Whitney horses milling around before
loading for the big race

Tizway roars down the stretch
in front of Flat Out

Last three photos courtesy: Space Gal Enterprises (she charged me)

Augustus Saratogus

2011-08-02T22:58:00.002-04:00

When in Rome.....

I'm feeling that "August Place To Be" hyperbole and I can't seem to shake it. I went back into my photo set for the first Travers I ever attended in 2005 and came across one of my favorite horses, Roman Ruler. The Space Gal took a pretty good shot of horse and rider as they exited the paddock and headed past the "At The Rail" pavilion, always a good spot to capture the ponies as they head to the track for the post parade.

I think it was Jerry Bailey's last Travers, however Flower Alley was the best that day. Roman Ruler finished third behind the winner and Bellamy Road that day. He was coming off a big win in the Haskell earlier in the month after winning the Dwyer at Belmont Park. The FuPeg colt earned over $1.2 million, running one more race after the Travers, taking second in the Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap behind Rock Hard Ten.

I'm finding it fascinating to follow the first set of offspring of the first set of horses I watched as a rookie horseplayer. Of course, Roman Ruler's top two progeny are the Classic winning Ruler On Ice and the 4-year old Rule who is nearing $1 million in earnings.

Speaking of that 2005 Travers, what a sequence the late Pick-4 was that day, where two horses running in that sequence sired 2011 Classic winners. The sequence started with the Grade 2 Fourstardave Handicap was won by Leroidesanimaux, Animal Kingdom's sire. Next up was the Grade 1 Hopeful where First Samurai (with Bailey aboard) held off Henny Hughes (Gary Stevens riding) in the second leg. The next leg was the Grade 1 King's Bishop won by the legendary Lost in the Fog, followed by the Travers victory by Flower Alley. Two of those races are now run on different weekends, but I must say that was a tremendous group of horses we were blessed to see that day.

Here's a few pictures from that Travers Day in 2005....

Leroidesanimaux wins the Fourstardave

Gary Stevens aboard Henny Hughes

Jerry Bailey in the irons on Roman Ruler

Flower Alley holds off Bellamy Road to win Travers
(Hey get yo head out the picture)

Flower Alley heading to the winners circle

Let's hope we see some classic 2011 winners in the coming month of Augustus....

Can Shack Pull Off Fourth Consecutive Preakness-Haskell Double?

2011-07-27T22:47:00.000-04:00

Shackleford in Preakness Post Parade

Will Shack keep the streak alive? The past three winners of the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes have come back to win the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational. Lookin at Lucky, Rachel Alexandra and Big Brown completed the double in the last three years.

If you throw in Point Given and War Emblem, we've had five complete the double in the last 10 years. Do you see a pattern here?

I think I made the right decision in the Belmont by throwing him out when I was trying to decide what to do with him. You have to think he gets a pass after drawing an outside post, running in the slop and with the added distance of the Test of a Champion.

He does has some formidable competition with Belmont winner Ruler On Ice, stable mate Pants on Fire and Preakness third place finisher Astrology in the field. Kiaran McLaughlin throws Rattlesnake Bridge into the mix and the Tesio winner Concealed Identity will run his second race over the Jersey Shore strip after finishing third in the Grade 3 Pegasus behind Pants on Fire.

This time I think Shack gets it done and takes the lead position in the fight to be this year's 3-year old champion. By the way, those last three Preakness-Haskell double doers? They all took home a 3-year old champion Eclipse trophy.

There will be a Shack warning on the Jersey Shore this weekend...

Sending It In: Saratoga Opening Weekend in Pictures

2011-07-24T20:41:00.000-04:00

It's Tricky crosses the wire
in front of Plum Pretty in the CCAO

The voicemail that our pal G-Money played back for us Saturday morning was succint and to the point. "Send it in." The message arrived some time after midnight from Vegas Billy (a/k/a The Bossman). "The 8 horse in Race 5," he went on. "It's like walking into the vault." We laughed for a good hour over a fine breakfast at Shirley's, a cool diner on the west side of town.

It became the motto for the rest of the day and into the evening as we capped off a great opening two days at the Spa.

Unfortunately Self Control just didn't show the same things he did in his first race where he was caught badly in traffic and we sent it in on bad tip. "Tips, Schmips" was the Saratoga Resident's reply. We should all know better as we continued to play the voicemail throughout the rest of the card. "Send it in on Aptphilly ($16.80) in the 8th!"

I recovered to end the weekend in the black thanks to a $5 exacta in the Coaching Club. Caught up with a lot of folks, racing fans and made some new friends over the course of the weekend.

Some random thoughts from the cobwebs...

* I don't care much for the new Jim Dandy bar configuration, the Saratoga Resident was quick to point out it has more of an airport feel to it.
* I do like the new beer prices - $3 domestic and $4 import for a 12 oz.
* I do not like that they tossed Bud and Bud Light....what?
* I like the bands playing at the Paddock Bar after the last race on Fridays.
* I liked that the press box had air conditioning.
* I really liked having my first Genny Cream Ale in over 25 years with the WNY Horse Racing crew based out of Rochester.
* The Coaching Club American Oaks was a serious horse race. I loved every minute of that stretch drive. Plus, I sent it in!

Take a gander over a few pictures I shot over the course of the weekend with the Space Gal's pink camera....always a good chuckle, but it does the trick.

The Toddster and Mike Repole
in the paddock

Steve Asmussen tending to
My Miss Aurelia ($8.40), a solid first time winner

A dapper D. Wayne Lucas
awaiting Bourbonesque in the paddock stall

Canadian based trainer Mark Casse
with NBC's Tom Hammond chillin
before Race 3

Johnny V on Stopshoppingmaria
who finished third

Julien Leparoux on My Miss Aurelia

Mmmmm.

Corey Nakatani on Jackson Bend ($18.80)
before the James Marvin S.

Kent Desormeaux on Laurie's Rocket ($16.20)
who took it to the favorites in
Saturday's Race 2.

The well-bet Pletcher/Valezquez tandem
finished third with How Do I Win

Welcome to the Charlotte International Airport.

WNY Horse Racing Group
making a Genny commercial

Aptphilly completed a nice double for me

Martin Garcia on the Kentucky Oaks
champ Plum Pretty

They're Off in the CCAO!

Kiaran McLaughlin really likes his "nice filly."

Time to send it in with a little Rev Run...because, you know, It's Tricky.

Saratoga Opener - Day 2 Thoughts

2011-07-23T13:42:00.001-04:00

That's Todd A. Pletcher saddling Caixa Electronica in the paddock yesterday before the Marvin. More pics to come early next week of Toga's opening weekend.

All of the Toga Party IV picks have been posted, with 19 entries. Believe it or not, yours truly was within 30 folks of the opening day attendance figure of 25,155. See the link in the right sidebar for 2011 Toga Party to see the final submissions.

Today I like Self Control (7-2) in Race 5, the Chad Brown 3-year old by Lemon Drop Kid, was coming late in his maiden voyage and was caught in all kinds of traffic trying to get through. He has a fabulous work on July 16 and has Javier Castellano aboard to attack the inner turf. The only downside is the outside post.

I'll also be taking a hard look at Jimmy Sims in the 9th which looks like a highly competitive allowance race. He'll run for the first time for Anthony Dutrow after previous being conditioned by Roger Attfield's Woodbine operation.

I picked Plum Pretty in The News' Friday blog, just hoping she doesn't get hooked in a speed duel with It's Tricky in the Coaching Club American Oaks.

Stay cool and let's cash some tickets today.

Buffalo Today, Hot Tamale

2011-07-21T21:31:00.001-04:00

All signs point towards racing tomorrow even with anticipated high temperatures. I happened to be on a 3:59 excursion in August of 2006 when the one and only cancellation happened at Saratoga Race Course due to the high heat index that Wednesday morning.

The (former) Saratoga Resident, G-Money and I will be heading out first thing in the morning for the Spa and some weekend action at my favorite place in the world.

I wrote an advance article for The Buffalo News that was in this morning's paper on the coming meet where I highlighted some of my favorite things about the 'ole Spa. Check tomorrow morning's Sports, Ink blog for my handicap of the very competitive Coaching Club American Oaks, which features the winning fillies of the Kentucky Oaks, Black-Eyed Susan, Acorn, Mother Goose and Fantasy Stakes. It should be a terrific initial Grade 1 to kick off the meet. NBC will televise the CCAO with an hour broadcast Saturday afternoon.

I missed my first opener in five years last year due to family and business obligations, but we're re-starting the streak tomorrow. I spent time before this blog looking back at pictures of my first opener in 2006 and my first attendance at morning workouts at the main track.

If you haven't got your Toga Party IV picks into me, I'll extend them to emails received prior to post time tomorrow. Most of the usual cast of characters are back, but the more the merrier!

As for tomorrow's card, the James Marvin looks like a tremendous betting race. Leaning towards Here Comes Ben and Jersey Town. As for the Grade 3 Schuylerville, I like Vuvovar (8-1 ML) off a sharp workout for conditioner Eric Guillot. After picking consecutive winners publicly in the first two legs of the Canadian Triple Crown, let's hope I can keep it rollin' in the US and A.

Enjoy opening day, there's no other place to be...

Space Invasion: Prince of Wales Day at Fort Erie

2011-07-17T19:11:00.004-04:00

Winning Jockey Luis Contreras

FORT ERIE -- On a sunny Sunday afternoon across the Peace Bridge at the border oval in Fort Erie, the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown was won by my Post Time News selection Pender Harbour ($10.30) for trainer Mike DePaulo. Jockey Luis Contreras has now taken the first two legs of the Canadian Triple Crown after winning the Queen's Plate on Inglorious. He'll be looking for the jockey triple in the Breeders' Stakes at Woodbine on August 7.

Trainer Mike DePaulo sees no reason why he won't take a shot at the third leg in August, "His sire's sire is Kris S so he should love grass. He is very ratable so he doesn't have to go to the lead." He was very happy when I talked to him about grabbing Contreras as his jock at the draw last Wednesday, but he was glowing about his money jockey after the big race. "It was a genuine victory," said DePaulo, "Luis gave him a great ride."

We made it over by Race 3 after little trouble at the bridge, although once over the bridge I realized I had handicapped the card on Saturday night on my iPad, which wasn't in my possession. A quick technology lesson with the Space Gal had my selections over to me by the fourth race and we were in business.

There was a terrific crowd on hand due to the beautiful day dished up by the Southern Ontario weather gods. A nice breeze blew threough all day to keep it real and not a total sweatbath. TBA'er Jennifer Morrison was handling the simulcast handicapping along with Fort Erie Media maven Elissa Blowe for both of the stakes races.

Luis Contreras took four mounts on the day and New York Ranger Dan Girardi was on hand to judge hat contests and hand over the winning Prince of Wales trophy as the official draw master of the event.

It was great to see so many people at the track, the Tiki Bar was jammed and their wasn't a seat to be found in the (air conditioned) Race Book.

Local jock Krista Carignan took the $30K Fort Erie Slots Cup (in the 6th) on local favorite My Natalie over entry mate Gee Pari with Contreras aboard. Trainer Marty Drexler (who was a fabulous 7 for 9 going into the race) nabbed the trophy after My Natalie outlasted Gee Pari in the stretch.

Here are some photographs from the day's activities...

Jennifer Morrison and Elissa Blowe
working the simulcast

Contreras before his ride
on Magnificent Tiger in the 4th

Tapit's Brew started my
day off quite well

The Race Book was jamming

The Tiki Bar was hopping all day

Tiki location just before
the FE finish line

Jockeys head to their
mounts in the Fort Erie Slots Cup

Conditioner Marty Drexler
(no relation to the Glide)
gives Carignan and Contreras
instructions before the Slots
(finished 1-2)

DePaulo and Contreras before
the Prince of Wales

Pender Harbour in the post parade

Photo Finish in the Prince of Wales

The Goods

Fort(une) Seven

2011-07-14T00:05:00.001-04:00

Post Positions - Prince of Wales

I spent the early afternoon on Wednesday across the Peace Bridge for the Post Position Draw for the 76th running of the Prince of Wales Stakes. The $500,000 race will be held Sunday afternoon at the border oval at 1-3/16 miles on the dirt as seven horses will attempt to grab the second jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown.

As is well documented the Queen's Plate winner, the filly Inglorious has taken a pass in efforts to prepare for a date at the Spa and the Grade I Alabama Stakes in August. However, her jockey Luis Contreras has jumped aboard Pender Harbour, the third place finisher in attempts to pull off a jockey triple.

I caught up with Pender Harbour's trainer Mike DePaulo and he granted me a few moments to discuss his horse's chances on Sunday, as well as the jockey change from Chantal Sutherland to Contreras. "Luis has worked the horse for me, even before the Victoria Park, where the horse ran dynamite. He had some trouble in that race. Chantal rode well, but didn't really know him and left him with too much to do," said DePaulo. "He came out of the race in great shape and he should have no trouble with the dirt and certainly no issue with the distance," DePaulo stated.

I asked him what the strategy on Sunday would be and he replied, "It'll be up to Luis, but I don't see him up there early, he's a stalking type horse, but he'll be closer to the group than in the Plate." He also mentioned that the border oval's long stretch drive should benefit Pender Harbour, "The stretch is longer than Toronto's (Woodbine), which should be to our advantage with a smaller field there should be less trouble.

I'm leaning towards the Philanthropist gelding who went off at odds of 15-1 in the Plate and finished strong. With the red-hot Contreras on board he should be a contender late.

Fellow TBA'er Jennifer Morrison sets the morning line at Fort Erie and establish Hippolytus as the 2-1 morning line favorite. Two Fort Erie jocks have mounts on two Wales horses. Krista Carignan, last year's leading rider at the Fort has the mount on Oh Canada and Emile Ramsammy will ride Oban.

New York Ranger defenseman Dan Girardi, a local from Welland, Ontario served as the Draw Master.

Here are some random shots of the day's festivities...

Track Announcer Mike Dimoff & NY Ranger Dan Girardi

Trainer Mike DePaulo answering questions
from Channel 4's Paul Peck and Channel 2's
Adam Benigni

The Prince of Wales Board (impressive)

It was a fun day and a bonus that I was able to spend some time with my pal Keith McCalmont who came down from Toronto to cover the event for the Woodbine Media Department. The race should be very competitive and a solid betting race with four horses less than or equal to 4-1 on the morning line.

Toga Party IV: It's Time to Tango

2011-07-12T21:21:00.002-04:00

Cheers! It's Toga Party IV!

It's time to tango, Space Cadets! We're opening up Toga Party IV for submissions right up until 11:59 p.m. on Thursday July 21st. Everyone loves a Toga Party, right?

If you've been around this blog (or you just stumbled upon it by googling "bird poop good luck") you know there are two constants (and neither one is baseball): (1) the annual Derby spreadsheet and (2) the annual Saratoga meeting contest.

We had 17 brave souls enter last year and the winner had six correct answers out of 15. Six correct also won Toga Party II, so it seems to be the magic number.. Last year's final standings and correct answers can be found here.

So here are the Space rules:

Rules: I've broken it down to 5 meet questions, 5 race or raceday specific questions and 5 winners of major stake races for this year's Saratoga meeting. 1 point per correct answer. Stakes race winner selections are not due until midnight on the Friday before the race. I will have the spreadsheet up and running on the right side bar before opening day. Remember there's no Price is Right rules in effect (you can go over - it's closest to the correct number). Either email me: budmanbflo[at]hotmail.com your selections for question 1-10 items only and the tiebreaker or leave them in the comment section by next Thursday at midnight (opening day eve) with your email address (if I don't already have it). I will email the group on Thursday before the stakes races to remind you of the race selections (items 11-15)

So here goes (open to all, we don't discriminate here in Space Land):

Meet questions
1) Leading Trainer
2) # of Wins - Leading Trainer
3) Leading Jockey (wins)
4) # of Wins - Leading Jockey
5) Total turf races for entire meet

Race/Raceday questions
6) Opening day attendance
7) Travers day attendance
8) Wins by #8 horse on 8/8/2011 (It's a Monday)
9) $2 Trifecta payout on the Travers
10) $2 Exacta payout on the Woodward

Stakes Race Winners - Do not send these to me now (due Friday midnight B4 the race)
11) Jim Dandy winner
12) Whitney winner
13) Alabama winner
14) Travers winner
15) King's Bishop winner

Tie-breaker

XX) Which jockey will top the jockey earnings for the meet?

Grand Prize: 2 Tickets to Bills game in December (just kidding)
Real Grand Prize: Choice of Handicapping or Racing Book currently in print (not kidding)

Defending Champs:

Toga I: Foolish Pleasure (2008) Runnerup: Green But Game
Toga II: EquiSpace (2009); Runnerup: Saratoga Spa (*)
Toga III: Tony Bada Bing (2010); Runnerup(s): SpaceBro, Floppydog
Toga IV: Insert Your Name Here

(*) Your host deferred victory to runnerup SS who won tie-breaker over Triple Dead Heat and Green But Game.

Did you know: William Hill offers in play betting on a huge number of markets especially on soccer.

SOS: Who's Going to Save Our Season?

2011-07-10T22:06:00.000-04:00

So after six months, which horse is going to step forward and save this thoroughbred racing season? The fact that ESPN spent a solid 10 minutes on LAST year's Horse of the Year in its Hollywood Gold Cup broadcast and spent little time on the eight horses about to tackle the first Breeders' Cup Challenge race for the Classic division says a lot.

The Triple Crown season did in its biggest potential star in Animal Kingdom, who I am going to bet we've seen his last race. In addition, no clear-cut leader emerged to capture star status.

Who is going to capture our fancy by year's end or is this going to be one of the most lackluster years in recent times with parity being the biggest winner in racing circa 2011? Who has the best chance you ask? We'll tell you what needs to happen for one of these six horses to emerge.....otherwise you're going to hear a whole lotta Goldikova in November at Churchill as that will be the biggest story....

1. One of the Dudes. They've split the two big West Coast races of the year, so if one can snag the Pacific Classic and snag the BC Classic, we'll here mosre Dude references than you'd care to hear. Would be an entertaining horse either way and if Game On Dude emerges, the Chantal factor will also be a good thing for the sport.

2. Shack Attack. The best chance for a star coming out of the 3-year old division would be Shackleford, the Preakness champion. Wins in the Haskell and a return trip to Belmont in the Jockey Club Gold Cup could give him some star power heading into the Classic.

3. Havre de Grace. Think of the Zenyatta stuff ESPN could (and will) roll out if she continues to win during her 2011 campaign and tries the boys in the Classic. Best kept secret outside of inner racing circles...she's done nothing but win....where she goes from the Delaware Handicap should she win, will be telling...

4. Uncle Mo. He doesn't belong on this list but what if he wins the King's Bishop and goes on to win the BC Sprint or Dirt Mile, or does Repole and Pletcher swing for the fences by going to the JCGC? Intriguing to say the least and he does have name recognition.

5. TBD. Is there a horse out there that can still emerge and become a compelling mainstream story? The way this season has gone, it's totally possible.

Lollygagging

2011-07-06T21:35:00.000-04:00

I must say I've enjoyed relaxing and taking a break from racing over the past week, but man, I'm disappointed by the decision of the connections of Inglorious to skip the Prince of Wales Stakes.

Instead of tackling the second jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown at Fort Erie, a program for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds, the siren of Saratoga has lured the Plate champion to the Spa.

The connections (Donver Stable and trainer Josie Carroll) have won the Alabama before, with Careless Jewel in 2009, so it's not all that surprising that they'll be headed down the NYS Thruway.

Sure hope Luis Contreras grabs a mount in the $500K Prince of Wales, I really like his riding style. Since the Fort is our home track's big race, I'm a bit out of sorts by the decision. I understand it's a restricted race versus the open company that she'll face at the Spa (off an eight week layoff!), but isn't their national Triple Crown something to shoot for? I hope she finishes DFL in Saratoga (enter evil Geno).

It's almost time for Toga Party IV, so start studying the past years' spreadsheets. The questions from 2010 are listed here and the last two contest results are listed on the right sidebar. Tony Bada Bing is the defending champ who had a nice run picking stakes winners last year en route to the crown in his rookie season.

Ok...back to lollygagging for another week...we'll post the contest rules and questions next week.

Halfway There...

2011-07-01T23:37:00.001-04:00

The Annual EquiSpace Halfway There Post

You didn't think I'd let you down did you? We've given you mid-year posts for the past three years and while we've taken our talents to The Buffalo News, we'll link to the semi-annual review with our top five and bottom five moments of 2011.

If you'd like to see our prior year posts (they are quite interesting to note where our head was at) you can click here for 2008, 2009 and 2010 mid-year analysis. Last year's is particularly interesting, especially the comments, where some horse named Blame seemed to be quite prominently mentioned. Hmm...looks like we had some pretty good prograstinating readers...so what about this year...

It’s halfway through the 2011 thoroughbred racing season and we’ve taken our mid-year post to the mainstream. It’s been mostly an uneventful six months when looking back at midpoints 2010 (Zenyatta fever), 2009 (Rachel Alexandra on the scene) and 2008 (Big Brown winning first two legs of the Triple Crown and Curlin dominating the handicap division), respectively.

I wouldn’t say the glass is half empty, as the sport has generated some positive press through the Triple Crown season. Racing has both momentum and intrigue as we head into the summer racing schedule with premier meets at Del Mar and Saratoga. Without further adieu…here are our thoughts on the best and worst moments in racing at the mid-point of the 2011 racing season.

*****KEEP READING AT THE NEWS*******

Luis, Luis

2011-06-27T23:03:00.000-04:00

Inglorious
Photo Credit: Michael Burns

When I met Luis Contreras for the first time last Monday at the Plate barbecue in the walking ring at Woodbine Racetrack he didn't seem just happy to be there.

For a jockey with his first mount ever in Canada's biggest race he had a quiet confidence about him, especially when I asked him about the filly, Inglorious, and the big field he was about to encounter in the Plate.

"It's going to be tough for the filly," said Contreras, "but I know she can do it."

He had to decide to ride the filly over several other mounts. He had ridden the last three races for Bob Tiller's Oh Canada. He had won the last race on Okiyama and rode third place Plate finisher Pender Harbour to a fourth place finish in the Victoria Park. He had also last rode in Strike Oil's last two races, taking the show money in the Plate Trial.

He chose the filly. What a wise decision that was.

He's been red hot at Woodbine atop the jockey standings winning at a 22% clip and a whopping 55% ITM. He leads the veteran Patrick Husbands by 19 wins. His come from behind style was lauded by everyone I spoke to last Monday.

He grinned from ear to ear when his filly was announced and paraded in front of reporters in the paddock. His smile was infectious and

When I asked him where he'd like to be in navigating the big Plate field Contreras replied, "We'll try and stay in the middle of the field behind the speed. I'll see how she's doing after the first three furlongs before I make a decision when to make my move." After making being four wide around the far turn, he had the filly in a perfect spot to cruise by the field in the final furlong to win by 2 1/2-lengths.

I asked winning trainer Josie Carroll what she thought of Contreras riding in his first-ever Plate. "He's a smart rider who really reads the race well by putting his horse in a position to win," said Caroll. "In this field size, that's a big factor."

She was right on all accounts (and so was I - for a change).

Luis Luis - The Queen's Man.

Plate Draws Big Field

2011-06-23T23:28:00.000-04:00

Dan Loiselle with Draw Master Alex Anthopoulos

The Saratoga Resident and I made a trip up north to take part in the post position draw and breakfast for this year's 152nd edition of the Queen's Plate at Woodbine Racetrack.

No road records were set although we made some nice time up the Queen Elizabeth Way from the Queen City, after an unprecedented zero car delay entering the Great White North. Keith of Triple Dead Heat was prodding me later in the day to see if I could try for a Saratoga-like 3:59 equivalent. The bridge factor is just too much of a wild card. But 1:45 has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

As for the breakfast and event set-up, all I can say is the folks at Woodbine Entertainment know how to do it right. From a terrific press kit, the friendliest media staff you'll ever meet and a great venue, they certainly have it all together. The only thing I'd change is the old-fashioned "pill-pull" which takes forever and a day when you have a field size of 17. But if that's the worst of it, I'll take it any day.

Dan Loiselle ran an efficient and interesting draw as the master of ceremonies. He has one of the most distinctive voices in racing, and he's a good guy to boot. I found the draw master's story to be very interesting. Alex Anthopoulos is currently the Senior Vice-President, Baseball Operations and General Manager for the Toronto Blue Jays. The 34-year old self-proclaimed "fanatic" worked his way up from being the guy answering fan mail for the Montreal Expos to one of the highest positions you can achieve in major league baseball. He has a difficult job putting fannies in the seats at the Rogers Centre. He appears to have no fear when it comes to making trades, you gotta love that. During the draw, I thought he was very engaging and quite humble regarding his new found success.

As for the draw itself, I thought Pender Harbour (PP5) and Inglorious (PP9) are both in good spots. Interesting twist that the most likely top two favorites, Attfield's Check Your Soul (PP13) and Pletcher's Queen'splatekitten (PP14) are outside beside each other. The field of 17 will be the second largest field size of the year in North America behind the Kentucky Derby (19). Chad Brown's Bowman's Causeway intrigues me, as does West Point's Enduring Star. It should be a fun race to watch.

I was told all week long by my Canadian counterparts that my predecessor at the News, the late Bob Summers (the Happy Handicapper), used to call the Queen's Plate, the prep race for the Prince of Wales. What more can you say? The man was a classic.

Enjoy the race.
(P.S. It took us 3 hours to get home - damn bridge).

Plate Contenders Line Up

2011-06-22T09:14:00.000-04:00

The Filly Inglorious Parades at the Plate BBQ

Monday afternoon was Queen’s Plate Media Day where 11 of the probable starters paraded in front of a few hundred media in the walking ring outside Woodbine Racetrack in suburban Toronto. The first leg of Canada’s Triple Crown has a purse of $1 million, and will be contested by a crowded field, with potentially 17 starters, although that number could be reduced by post time on Sunday afternoon.

Sunday’s 152nd edition of North America’s oldest continuously run stakes race will be contested on the Woodbine polytrack over 1 1/4-mile. Since the inaugural Canadian Triple Crown of 1959, seven three-year olds have captured the prestigious triple, the last being Wando in 2003.

Here’s a sneak peek at the probable starters in alphabetical order (trainer, jockey and sire in parenthesis):

Bowman’s Causeway (Chad Brown, Eurico Rosa da Silva, Giant’s Causeway) – Finished third in Plate Trial after being claimed at Gulfstream from Patrick Biancone in his first try on the polytrack. He has hit the board in six of seven career races. Has the pedigree to get the mile and a quarter and should improve in the second start for the Brown barn.

Check Your Soul (Roger Attfield, Patrick Husbands, Perfect*Ire) It is highly likely that this one will most likely be your morning line favorite after his dominant performance in winning the Plate Trial. Should he win the Plate he would have a legitimate shot at sweeping the Crown due to his breeding for both the poly and the turf. Trainer Roger Attfield will be looking to notch a record ninth Plate victory.

Curgone (Greg De Gannes, Garrett Gomez, Niigon) Gomez makes the trip in to ride for the first time for De Gannes who he has rode for at Del Mar. The son of 2004 Plate champion Niigon will most likely be forwardly placed in the early stages and should be a big price.

Enduring Star (Mark Casse, Robby Albarado, Sir Shackleton) West Point Thoroughbreds puts its Plate hopes in Robby Albarado’s irons. While he just broke his maiden in April, he’s been off since then after an illness slowed his progress. His work tab indicates he’s fit and ready to roll. His third place finish in a maiden special weight over nine furlongs at Gulfstream was flattered by the winner of that race who won the Grade 3 Hill Prince Stakes at Belmont last weekend.

Head Honcho (Catherine Day Phillips, Jono Jones, Strut the Stage) He has not started well in all four of his starts, but has finished strong in each, winning two and placing in another. Seems to be somewhat outclassed in here, but stranger things have happened.

Hippolytus (Mark Casse, Tyler Pizarro, Philanthropist) Casse puts on the blinkers based on a recommendation from his jock. “You don’t usually do that going farther but Tyler feels he really gets intimidated by other horses and he was on and off the bit the whole way in the Plate Trial,” said Casse. He defeated other Plate hopefuls Curgone and Head Honcho in a May allowance race and comes in third off the layoff.

Imhotep (Todd Pletcher, TBD, Giant’s Causeway) It was announced at Media Day that Pletcher will most likely enter the maiden in the Plate. Only having raced three times, he suffered a disappointing sixth place finish in the Plate Trial after failing to break his maiden earlier in the winter at Gulfstream and Keeneland, respectively. His best effort to date was a turf race in his racing debut where the winner just came back to win the aforementioned Hill Prince, and he finished just ahead of Enduring Star.

Inglorious (Josie Carroll, Luis Contreras, Hennessy) The lone filly to start in this year’s Plate is trained by 2006 Plate winning champion Carroll. The filly comes off a Woodbine Oaks victory with red hot jockey Luis Contreras in the saddle. She finished second to highly regarded Kathmanblu in the Grade 3 Rachel Alexandra at the Fair Grounds in February. She also comes in third off the layoff on the form cycle.

Maple Leaf Kitten (Joe Woodard, Ben Creed, Kitten’s Joy) Claimed from Ken and Sarah Ramsey in Gulfstream for $75K this winter, this colt was unraced at age two. He should be a big price on Plate day where he’ll try the poly for the first time. He had a bad trip at Churchill on Derby day and came back in a nine furlong effort and narrowly missed against one of Al Stall’s top trainee’s Shrill. Added blinkers in breaking his maiden in a turf effort on June 8 at Indiana Downs.

Oh Canada (Robert Tiller, Emma-Jayne Wilson, Proud Citizen) His sire finished second in the 2002 Kentucky Derby behind War Emblem, so getting the distance shouldn’t be an issue. “If I win, I’m going to sing ‘O Canada’ and then jump into the infield pond,” said trainer Tiller who is still looking for his first Plate win since starting his first runner in 1975. “Well I won’t do that, but I’ll just cry,” Tiller exclaimed. The gelding has never missed the board in five career efforts. Contreras jumped off this horse to ride the filly.

Ojibway Signal (David Bell, Justin Stein, Niigon) Another son of Niigon, has only one win in 10 starts. His speed figures don’t seem to match up with the better contenders.

Okiyama (John Mattine, Jesse Campbell, Old Forester) This lightly raced gelding came off a six-month layoff to win an allowance race on the Woodbine poly on June 3. “He had a real quiet winter in Ontario,” said Mattine. “He’s a horse that was growing. I thought we’d let him grow up a wee bit. I’ve done that with a couple other horses and it seemed to work out.” Not convinced he’ll handle the additional distance based on his pedigree.

One Big Gator (John Ross, Jim McAleney, One Way Love) After removing the blinkers, he broke his maiden impressively in a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight under Patrick Husbands. Veteran McAleney inherits the ride as Husbands will be on the likely favorite. He’s hit the board in four of six outings and has never been further back than four lengths at the wire.

Pender Harbour (Mike DePaulo, Chantal Sutherland, Philanthropist) Chantal flies in from California for the mount on the chestnut gelding. He has fared well in his two route races, winning the Kingarvie Stakes last November over Plate starters Hippolytus and Ojibway Signal and finishing fourth in the Victoria Park Stakes only two lengths back on June 12.

Queen’splatekitten (Todd Pletcher, John Velazquez, Kitten’s Joy) He figures to take some money at the windows due to the name as well as the Pletcher/Velazquez combo. The Toddster has won the Plate before in 1998 with Archers Bay. Solid speed figures and hasn’t shied away from top notch competition over the Derby prep season. “When we bought him (from Ken Ramsey this winter), we had this race in mind. It’s always been our primary focus, so we feel like we’ve gotten to this point the way we had planned,” said Pletcher who is on his way home from spending a week at Royal Ascot.

Seawatch (Josie Carroll, TBD, Woodman) At this time, Carroll is still undecided whether they will go. He finished just behind Pender Harbour in the aforementioned Victoria Park Stakes. It is highly likely that this one doesn’t make the gate on Sunday.

Strike Oil (Mark Casse, Willie Martinez, Forest Wildcat) The colt finished third in the Plate Trial behind Check Your Soul and Bowman’s Causeway after being wide most of the race. Won the Coronation Futurity as a two-year old last November, but was waxed by Preakness champ Shackleford in his three-year old debut at Gulfstream finishing 22 lengths behind. He’s another horse that Contreras was on before jumping off to ride the filly. The Forest Wildcat colt will need some pace to fully utilize his late closing style.

We’ll be up to attend the Post Position Draw breakfast tomorrow to prepare for a full print advance in Saturday’s Buffalo News to keep you up to date with all of the happenings north of the border as we kick off the Canadian Triple Crown season.

Across The Board

2011-06-19T22:11:00.001-04:00

Happy Father's Day to all of the horse racing dads out there. I hope your day was as good as mine. P.S. Thanks Dad for teaching me that bank shot all those years ago (and how to be a good dad!).

Laid off horse racing this weekend, other than the occasional peek at the results or twitter to see who was winning the big races. Capped the Churchill Foster card for this weekend's Equibase tournament and let's just say I'm glad I wasn't betting.

I wish the NYRA Pick-6 wager wasn't in $2 increments. I think it takes a lot of folks out of the game. Our syndicate pooled $650 for Belmont's $1.3M carryover and it was a competitive ticket (4 of 6 -- no one had the bomb and our last toss was the winner in the second leg). But it is just too difficult to hit with a smaller bankroll. Trying to get the syndicate on the same page isn't always easy, although we were pretty much on the same page on Wednesday. We had a nice lunch out at Buffalo Raceway before placing our bets.

Heading up north this week for the Queen's Plate post position draw to write an advance for Saturday's News. Looking forward to seeing the new Media Coordinator, Thoroughbred Racing for the Woodbine Entertainment Group and covering the first leg of Canada's Triple Crown.

Speaking of Pick-6s, I still haven't tried the Monmouth Place Pick Six wager yet. I've always been a fan of NYRA's Grand Slam wager, this has the same kind of feeling to it. Not sure why I haven't paid much attention to MTH yet, although forgetting to make my Survival at the Shore selections two days into the contest could be a big reason. Doh.

Solidified my Saratoga calendar with the Saratoga Resident, looks like three trips into the Spa City, including opening day, after missing my first in five years last year. Always time to start another streak.

Fort Erie unveiled a new Tiki Bar and lowered takeout on the Win-4 wager from 26.2 to 14 percent. Nice and Double Nice.

Interesting post by Val over at the Foolish Pleasure blog about the downward spiral of the Cali and NY Derby prep races. I tend to agree with her analysis. Although it appears the Derby will be coming through Turfway now that they broke the synthetic maiden at Churchill.

It's good to hear Gourmet Dinner is on the comeback trail. I hope he makes it in the gate for the Travers. There's something about Delta Jackpot winners that grabs my fancy.

Degenerate gambling memory of the week: Sitting in the Niagara Falls OTB in between co-worker's wedding ceremony and reception (all suited up) hitting the tri on the 2005 Mother Goose. Definitely would have won Best Dressed. Space Gal >>> not amused.

I wonder if Belmont Park has a shot at the 2012 Breeders' Cup?

Other sports thoughts: 1) NBA - Happy for Dallas (did someone from Buffalo actually just write that?). 2) NHL - Kinda feel sad for Canadians, probably best chance in a long time to win the Cup, which will make a Buffalo appearance as Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs resides in the Queen City. 3) US Open - Can we let the kid (McIlroy) enjoy this one before anointing him as the next coming? He's good, but to play consistently over the next three decades will be the measuring stick. That sport is salivating over another star as ratings have suffered without TW on the weekend leaderboard. They'd love a decent rivalry as much as our sport would.

Ok, we've been across the board....back later in the week.

Belmont Bejesus: The Day in Pictures

2011-06-13T20:57:00.000-04:00

Belmont Surprise: Ruler On Ice in the Post Parade

As in I got the bejesus knocked out of my advance deposit wagering account on Saturday. It wasn't quite the bloodbath of 2010 when no tickets were cashed, but we just didn't have our mojo going this year.

But the day was terrific and we only lost our limit, the house is safe and the kids' education funds are still in tact.

The Space Gal and I arrived at Belmont Park early in the morning after navigating with a GPS that just didn't want to take us over the George Washington Bridge.She decided to be my star photographer for the day and she did a pretty awesome job capturing the moment in the backyard, in the paddock and on the track. I was busy live blogging for The Buffalo News and writing a post-race commentary for the Sunday print edition.

Her adventures started by trying to search out the Beefcake Calendar jockey signing (scheduled for 10:30 a.m.) and after asking several folks she tracked them down (picture proof below). They were very cordial to her and when she asked Edgar Prado where she could get a PDJF (Permanently Disabled Jockey Fund) hat like the one he was wearing, he offered it to her right then and there. Of course, Johnny V jumped in and said "It's for sale, for 35 bucks!" She obliged and I had my early Father's Day present, after getting it signed by those two, Ramon and Javier Castellano (the Space Gal's personal favorite jock). She asked Johnny V if he reads our blogs and he replied...."Nah...sometimes those bloggers... they get silly." Good stuff and they all signed her beefcake calendar for charity. Mission accomplished.

Since she was flying solo much of the day she would randomly run into half-famous people. Like John DaSilva's (NY Post handicapper) college roommate Paul, Castellano's Saratoga bodyguard Leroy (after the Borel incident, he's obviously not taking any chances) and well, some other notable racing bloggers like Joe DePaolo, Derek Brown and Alan Heitner.

We also stumped Ernie once and answered one of two questions. Of course she burned the $2 on Prime Cut. She asked me all day long why Zito didn't have any horses running (another of her favorites) and that it had to be some type of conspiracy. She continued to question it on the ride home on Sunday, I just couldn't provide a good answer. Leroy told her it was highly suspicious, so she's not letting it go.

I'm telling you about her day because mine just wasn't as exciting. She offered some suggestions on how to improve the day like "maybe the grandstand shouldn't smell like an armpit" and "fixing up the ladies bathrooms would make some sense, no women would want to come back to those." She said she had a moment of irony when she realized she was sipping champagne out of a plastic cup several feet from a pile of horse manure. Sport of Kings, huh?

Back to the handicapping front...I did have 31-1 Bim Bam across the board in the Manhattan, but my joint Pick-4 tickets with DePaolo went up in flames with Gio Ponti's hard luck trip after capturing the first two legs. I was done at the break with my top two horses, Animal Kingdom and Master of Hounds. Only Brilliant Speed held up in my selections and for a moment I thought he was in a great spot in the stretch in the middle of a muddy track. But the wheels just spun and the winner wasn't going to let anyone past.

Here's a look at the day in pictures, with some color commentary (of course)....

Johnny V and Ramon D sign
the Beefcake Calendar for the Space Gal

Javier - Mr. February

My Father's Day Gift

The Man, The Myth, The Legend

This fellow was from Horseheads, New York

The Lederhosen Nine

Turbulent Descent, Money Burner

It's Tricky - Money Maker

Gate Break - Manhattan Handicap

Stay Thirsty & The Toddster

Ruler on Ice, Validivia & Breen

Brilliant Speed

Shackleford

Down The Stretch They Come

That's a wrap for Triple Crown Season 2011.Wild.Wacky.Fun.Can't wait 'til next year...

What to do with Shack?

2011-06-08T22:52:00.002-04:00

Photo Credit: NYRA, Adam Coglianese

So what is a horseplayer to do with the Shack Man?

The Preakness winner is quite the physical specimen and if I saw him in the paddock before the Derby I think I would have dropped a few bucks on him just on appearance.

Ironically he was washed out in the Preakness post parade but still romped home with a half-length victory over the Derby champ.

Now we move on to Belmont Park and the Test of the Champion and the daunting mile and a half distance.

Here's what's going through my noggin.....

- He couldn't hang on to the lead with soft fractions in the ten furlong Derby, wouldn't that suggest twelve furlongs isn't his gig?

- If not for a difficult start by Animal Kingdom and taking dirt in the face for the first time, would he have caught him at Pimlico? Granted, I give you Shack bobbled at the gate also may equalize this argument.

- Is the three races in five weeks and a very tough Florida Derby duel too much for trainer Dale Romans' star colt?

- In a Troy Record article analyzing Thoro-Graph trends the author wrote: "last time he had 21 days between races after a new top, Shackleford bounced to the moon." Is he a prime bounce candidate?

- It's been well documented that Shack wouldn't let AK by him during the gallop out after the Preakness wire, does this really carry out any weight for a handicapper?

- Will Shack's outside #12 post cause him to exert early energy to get to a better position before the clubhouse turn? The race is 12 furlongs, does this really matter?

- Jockey Jesus Castanon does not have a mount on the undercard and is not familiar with Belmont where the half mile pole is where the three-eighths pole is at most North American tracks (at the far turn). Gotta know yo' poles, no?

- Shaq retired this week.....omen?

- Shake Shack owner is giving away free shake with a Shack win in the Belmont...can he really go two for two with this promotion?

- My gut tells me to toss him....this time I'm going with my gut. What do you think?

Full disclosure: I really love this horse....just not Saturday.

One to Go...

2011-06-02T22:25:00.001-04:00

Photo Courtesy: ThoroFan Michelle Godin

Well, we're down to one Classic race left in the Triple Crown series and I for one, am pretty excited about it. It's gone by almost too fast after all of the anticipation...just think, over five weeks ago, Uncle Mo was still on the radar...so what's been on my mind lately....

- The Belmont condition book states that the Belmont Stakes could handle 16 entrants (I don't believe it's ever happened), the most being 15 in 1983.

- Pull the Pocket's recent post is on point regarding the NTRA chief bottle washer. The dude has no authority, thus no foot to stand on. You know what they say, no hoof, no horse.

- Really, really enjoyed Nick Tammaro's latest post on Belmont's myths and "rules" and not just because he gave me a mention. I think its some good stuff to consider before heading to the window next weekend.

- The Space Kid has cornered my iPad. He's addicted to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. That's not the issue, the fact that he watches it in Japanese has me concerned.

- Why aren't there more dirt races at a mile and a half on the racing calendar?

- Why doesn't NYRA move the Acorn to pre-Belmont Friday and try and make a weekend of it? Many of us out-of-town commuters would probably come a day early and drop some additional dough...

- Looking forward to seeing the changes at Belmont Park since my last visit, especially the Belmont Cafe.

- Fort Erie starts twilight racing next week for the next three months on Mondays and Tuesdays. Post time is 4 p.m. and the new Tiki Bar near the finish line opens up next Tuesday. They will also have live bands playing after the last race.

- Isn't that photo above of the Derby's clubhouse turn absolutely awesome? I met Michelle (a ThoroFan) at the Derby and she sent it to me and let me use it on the blog...

- TKS gave me a shoutout that I nudged him over the Twitter cliff in this post, based on a post back in January on horse racing Twitter accounts I'd like to see. One person on the list is already deceased, not sure that's a good sign for my pal, TKS.

- Only bet one race all last weekend.....Exchange Funds. Slump broken. TwinSpires walk of shame averted.

- Talked to Jon Cramer from Buffalo Raceway today, the NY Sire Stakes are about to get underway at the harness track and they have a nice promotion in mid-July for the whole fam called "Back to the Track Night." Space Kid's going on a pony ride.

- Is it really only seven weeks to opening day at Saratoga?

- One more to go...and no, I won't be picking Mucho Macho Man.

Top 5 Things - Belmont Edition

2011-05-28T15:08:00.000-04:00

As I was snoozing at my parent's house in the 'Cuse, after spending two of the last three weekends at major racing venues my mind started to wander (dangerous, I know). I wondered what would it take for me to miss the Belmont Stakes, a race day I love to attend as much as any other...of course a list came to mind.

What would be the Top 5 things that would keep me away?

1. Family Commitment or Event. Easy one here....the fam always comes first. This would include weddings, graduations, dance recitals (Space Filly), Space Kid ball games, selected funerals and a sick dog. Nothing shocking here...most bases covered.

2. Sabres Stanley Cup-clinching game. I have seen Lord Stanley's Cup grace the ice at Buffalo's HSBC Arena...I'd just like to see the good guys carry it around the ice. As a long suffering Buffalo fan for over 25 years, this would make me pass on the third jewel (although if it were a Triple Crown year I might think twice).

3. Livin' it up at the Hotel California. If the Space Gal wanted to do a trip and it was the only weekend she could swing it. Plus, I hear it's a lovely place.

4. Vegas. Do I need to explain? Speaking of the Space Gal...she's already planning for my big 5-0 in a few years to be a Breeders' Cup weekend in Vegas with my pals. How cool is that? November 2013 at the Mirage...mark your calendar.

5. Meet and Greet including dinner with one of my childhood idols. The list? A) Brooks Robinson; B) the late Johnny Unitas; C) Muhammad Ali; D) Dr. J; or E) the late Pete Maravich. I debated on a couple here: Smokin' Joe Frazier, Howard Cosell, David Cassidy and Steve Carlton all receiving votes.

I can't think of much else that would keep me away, other than a work commitment, natural disaster or invitation from the President to play the ponies together....how about you?