Pods and Ends

Tweet As most of you know, I'm a big Top Chef fan and being from Western New York we have some proprietary-type foods here such as the chicken wing, beef on kummelweck, (i would add Genny Cream Ale for comic relief here) etc. There's a restaurant in town I like to frequent that serves a contraption called the "pod" which is simply delicious. If you're ever in the area check it out. PS, if you are a Top Chef fan be sure to check out the podcast in the link above produced by a couple of Twitter buds. Ok, on to racing and the like.

- Prince Dubai (50-1 ML) takes on top NY Breds on Sunday for Bona Venture Stables in the Mohawk Stakes on closing day at Belmont Park. Winner at 27-1 at the Spa in August, he struggled at the break in his next start, but was closing hard and fast in his last start (where we put an asterisk on it) finishing fifth at 50-1. He may be overmatched in here with these, but he may be around to catch a piece with another EquiSpace favorite My Man Lars. The ML favorite is the everpresent Banrock, who could be vulnerable. bOf course, based on the weather, this one may go off the turf altogether. We'll be keeping an eye on this one at the Space Station tomorrow afternoon.

- I was watching HRTV last night (man, I've been waiting a long time to write that) under their new online program I posted about earlier in the week, and saw that Pletcher is pointing two colts, Join in the Dance and Ready's Echo at the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. Check out my latest Dirt Mile post on the NTRA website.

- Speaking of HRTV, I received a nice email from a Senior Vice President of Distribution and Development who sent me a document to share with everyone on the new promotion they are running. I think he's the SVP who emailed me last year when I posted about the frustrations with DirecTV and the availability of HRTV. It's nice to know people are paying attention. I was not compensated for the Intellivision post, I wrote it on my own (for full disclosure purposes).

- The Syracuse Orange(men) are playing Akron in college football today and I found this amusing post which was generated via a Twitter contest to who could come up with the best (funniest) #beatakron capsules. Comedy gold. I'll be heading crossstate to the Dome next Saturday to see 'em get whupped up on by #5 Cincinnati. Guess they can have their fun this week with Ohio.

- I'm working on a Breeders' Cup post this weekend which should be up Sunday night or Monday morning dealing with a wide range of topics...stay tuned.

Push 1 for Slots, Push 2 for Drug Bans..

Tweet I read the Prescription for Racing, a 37 page full color report, this past weekend. It is quite the document, I just can't figure out why they hid it in the Thoroughbred Daily News and make you sign up for a free 2 week subscription to obtain it. This is a document that should be front and center, if they are serious about it, not buried like it is now. I'm surprised it's getting very little mention other than in a few blog sites. The doc talks about a commissioner's office, takeout, number of tracks in use, illegal drugs, the effect of slots, etc. etc. It's interesting reading and contains some well-known names in the racing business like NTRA prexy Waldrop, NYRA prez Hayward, DRF's Crist, and Keeneland's Nicholson to name a few. I encourage you to check it out and read it cover to cover.

Not much racing on my calendar this past weekend due to being on the party circuit. Dinner party Friday night with the Space Gal's crew (the Space Smo's) where I did my best Eli Kirshstein impression with a shrimp remoulade appetizer to kill for (so I'm told). Saturday included blogging for the NTRA with my latest post on the BC Dirt Mile, topped off with a black tie gala in the Falls. Sunday included a lax tourney that my nephew from the 'Cuse was in town showing off his solid bloodlines and leaving it all on the field. We won't mention the Bills game which ended a very long weekend on a dour note.

The one race I did catch was that of Prince Dubai (who drifted up to 50-1) before donning the monkey suit, who was in a turf race at Belmont. While he finished fifth in the race, he had a troubled early trip, as he was checked sharply at the start, his jock lost the irons, but finished very (and I mean very) strong in the stretch only 2 lengths out ahead of last time out winner Tobruk. The Prince won his last out for Bona Venture Stables, and we'll keep an eye on this one who should get a better trip next time out.

Don't forget to check out the Rx for Racing transcript, you can dial up whatever topic you like....

Notes, Nuggets and Frog Legs

Tweet Watched a total of two (count 'em, two) races over the weekend, the Ruffian and Garden City on Saturday. How's that for Saratoga detox? The lovely thing about watching racing during football season, is you know the post times and can flip over to watch the couple fall races of any importance and not miss any gridiron action.

Gozzip Girl had an awful trip (chart notes: steadied sharply along the inside then clipped heels and stumbled on the first turn) in the Garden City at soggy Belmont Park on Saturday and is one to file away for the next time she runs. Congrats to those who hooked their wagons to Miss World ($29.00).

There was a juicy negative show pool payoff at Emerald Downs (Race 6) yesterday. With kid duty all weekend, I wasn't paying close attention and missed a tweet. The payoffs were pretty big as all three show payoffs were triple digit. Sa-weet.

Nice workout by Bona Venture Stables Prince Dubai, who scored an impressive turf win at Saratoga on Aug. 8th who is set to return to a 1 1/16 mile on the turf at Belmont Park on Sept. 26th. He blazed 4 furlongs in 47.2 seconds, the second fastest in 72 works on Belmont's training track. The race on the 26th is an allowance optional claiming event for NY breds (purse: $46K) which have never won 2 races other than maiden, claiming or starter or which have never won 3 races or optional claiming price of $30,000.

With the Space Gal invading the Mirage for the weekend, we slipped her a few bucks to play some BC futures. My four wagers: Milwaukee Appeal (currently 40-1) in the Ladies Classic, Mine That Bird and Macho Again (both 15-1) in the BC Classic and Vineyard Haven (10-1) in the Dirt Mile. It's only money. Speaking of the BC, we're locked and loaded for our inaugural trip to Santa Anita, can't say I'm not giddy about it.

Don't forget to check out the new TBAblogs home page or the page where ALL BLOGS (140++) related to racing can be found. You can also find free past performances, videos or international news at the one stop source for all things racing.

My new favorite cocktail is the John Daly. It's an Arnold Palmer Lite (new Arizona drink: 1/2 iced tea, 1/2 lemonade), triple sec with a shot (or two) of Absolut Citron. Amusing and refreshing at the same time.

While some aren't that bemused with Twitter, I find it quite fascinating at certain times. While watching the SNF game last night and the 1,001 Jay Cutler jokes, a swarm of tweets came in about some Lady named GaGa and her outfit. I didn't even know what program they were talking about (but figured out the VMAs were on...Sherlock Holmes I'm not). Anyways, I learned that a lot of people spell Kanye, "Kayne" and that she wore some crazy dress. The funniest postscript was from her pal Kermit the Frog who escorted her to the podium. “I’m just happy that it’s not made out of someone I know,” said the famous green one. Twitter....high comedy indeed.

Speaking of twitterers, who knew the Sheikh has an account, astutely picked up by the Bug Boys.

The Bills open tonight against the mighty Pats. I've been praying for days that they don't get blown out on National TV....

Prince Dubai Strikes Turf Gold at the Spa

Tweet Bona Venture Stables, featured here last month, broke its maiden at Saratoga yesterday in a big way. Prince Dubai ($57.50) went off at odds of 27-1 and won the $49K 1 1/16th mile allowance for NY-breds in the seventh race on the Mellon Turf at ye olde Saratoga Race Course yesterday. If you were paying attention to the BVS twitter account you would have seen that this horse was ready to roll. The win by the gelding by E. Dubai out of Princess Caveat (by Caveat) was the inaugural win for Bona Venture Stables at Saratoga. The Prince is trained by Leah Gyarmati, ridden by Norberto Arroyo, Jr. and was bred by that famous Partridge kid, David Cassidy. I hope I get a chance to meet the Prince in two weeks when we visit the backstretch during Travers Day.

Perfectly timed, the victory came during a weekend when BVS' managing partner, Dan Collins was hosting a group of his ownership. He politely had invited me to attend, but I was distracted by the seven kids I was chasing at a water park in Buffalo all day. I was quite excited to read of the win upon settling down at the computer late last night and sent him a congratulatory email. He quickly responded, "We were very high on Prince Dubai today. The pattern was improving. Today was his fourth on the turf and he only lost last time out by 1 3/4 lengths. That pattern said he was prime for a big win. We had 40 people with us at the track today and many went to the IRS window and we heard people yelling among the crowd, "Go Bonnies! This was Bona Venture Stables first ever win at Saratoga, the queen of American race tracks!" Way to go, BVS.

Ironically, the horse finishing fifth (at 50-1) in the same race, Brushed Prince, was the horse the Space Gal wrote a guest blog on last summer. I watched the replay this morning and jockey Arroyo did a nice job getting Prince Dubai past the front running Fortissi More with Leparoux aboard in the stretch drive and held off both the charging Tobruk and Quiet On The Tee at the wire. Quite the exciting race.