Things About Racing That Don't Bug Me....

Tweet I've designed a one-part series on "Things About Racing That Don't Bug Me," just to show that I'm not always harping on the negative. It's not healthy to be all pissy and moany all the time, if you know what I mean. I started to draft a blog that was about things that bug me, but I figured why be all negative and uptight. So the happy me is editing today's number......

1. Saratoga. Opening day is a couple weeks away. I've already started to thing about Toga Party 3, the lone contest run here in the Space Station. 40 days watering down the meet? Hrrmph to the haters, I'll take the extra few days to enjoy the additional racing and the quaint little town in the Adirondacks. I also have a super secret back roads route that a new reader and former WNYer emailed me (and he's an ex-copper!) to help me get about the mendoza line of 4 hours.

2. 50 cent pick fours. Not gonna hate on the $2 pick six cuz that would just be negative. I'm not a huge player, but give me some 50 cent love and I'll rock that bet all day long. Memo to tracks that carry this: I will play your track (especially if the takeout is decent).

3. Fort Erie's day in the sun is approaching. With Ft. Erie trainer Nick Gonzalez winning the Queen's Plate with Big Red Mike, the Prince of Wales is around the corner and should draw a pretty decent crowd with the added local flavor. With Big Red's Disney flick coming out this year and Signature Red winning on the undercard, what more did you need to make a hunch bet on Mikey? Nice Plate Trial/Queen's Plate double for the big guy.

4. Late bloomers. I was sitting behind Kiaran McLaughlin on Belmont Day when Trappe Shot won his allowance race convincingly. I saw a very wry smile come over the trainer's face and a few fist pumps to boot. Yeah, he's a buzz horse now, but I liked what I saw at Gulfstream and he'll be running this weekend at the Shore in the Long Branch Stakes as perhaps a prep for the Travers.

5. Omnisurface star list grows. Franny Freud added a graded dirt win by winning the G1 Prioress and is part of the omnisurface stars list as the filly has won on all three surfaces. Of course, if Big Red Mike can pull off the Canadian Triple Crown, he'll join the winner of all 3 list. Only 5 horses are currently on the graded list. Great site.

6. Babe Ruth style wins. On Friday I commented to TKS that I was taking down his contest this weekend (*pointed to the right field bleachers*). Sure enough I nailed the United Nations with a mythical $50 win bet on Chinchon (IRE) using the Saratoga Resident's "bet on the foreigners on turf" angle. Unfortunately in the HRF contest, I boxed the two foreigners and took it on the chin. Moral of this story: Free contests don't bug me.

7. New Bloggers and Educational Sites. When I started blogging a few years ago, I think there were maybe 25 of us in the TBA. The number is something over 50 now and growing. The enthusiasm that our sport and that people want to write about it is growing and sites ThoroFan and HRF try and assist the newcomers to our game is encouraging. Thumbs up! While I'm at it I'll welcome two of the newer TBA bloggers, Tony Bada Bing from A Leg Up and Fionnuala from Calvados Bloodstock.

8. Tracks Not Afraid to Change. Monmouth took a big gamble, it seems to be working out, but even if it doesn't, they took a shot. NYRA does a nice job with it's social networking and uses popular people to promote the sport. The Cali tracks and Churchill have used night racing as a way to develop new blood and new forms of entertainment for Gen X and Yers.

9. Older horses staying in training. A big theme when I first started blogging was the defection of many "big name" horses after their 3yo season directly to the breeding shed. Take a look at the star power we now have currently racing. It's pretty damn good. It sparks good, healthy debate on how and when these stars will actually race each other, and should climax with some great racing at the Breeders' Cup (if they all stay healthy, God willing).

10. The Winner's Circle. Hey, who doesn't like the winner's circle? Would be even more fun to be in one someday.

What gives you hope or takes you to the racing happy place?

2009 Wishing Well

Tweet I’m not a big resolutions kinda guy, although I write down a couple in my journal every year (along with my weight), so I figured I would jot down a few thoughts to see if I can hit at least 50% on these by next year’s end.

1. NY regulators take a page out of Tampa Bay Downs steward’s rulings and reports to provide the horseplayer and fans more information on inquiries and decisions.

2. A Kentucky horse-related trip in October for my birthday.

3. Spend some quality time at the Lothlorien Therapeutic Riding Center in nearby East Aurora.

4. Buy into a horse partnership.

5. Reevaluate where my investing strengths lie and try not to stray from them (i.e. exactas good; $0.10 superfectas bad).

6. A first time trip to the Big A, during the winter meet.

7. Attend my fourth Belmont Stakes in a row and actually see a triple crown coronation.

8. Fort Erie Race Track is not closed forever. (I was just gettin’ to know ya.)

9. A visit to Woodbine for the Queen’s Plate to meet blog pal, Triple Dead Heat, to continue my quest for a Canadian personal triple crown.

10. A racing commissioner is named and that he/she has some cajones to go with the title.

Honorable Mention: That I don’t have to go through another one of these. Getting old is annoying.

Happy New Year.

When Legends Visit...

Tweet It's Jets week in Buffalo, so it makes it one of those opinionated days.....

- Now that the focus has shifted from the left coast (well, except for Hollywood Park, of course) and Calder, Churchill and Aqueduct are open for bizness, there's still some great racing left. One of my favorite races of the year is the Cigar Mile on Thanksgiving weekend, thanks mostly to a colt named Purge.

- It will be years before enough data is collected related to safety, handicapping and sires of synthetic specialists to provide bonafide conclusions or insight in each of these areas. Of course, when the data comes out, there will be three ways to sunday to spin it. Stay tuned.

- Imagine you live in New York City and they were to close Belmont and Aqueduct, that is what I am feeling right now after falling in love with Fort Erie....here's the latest.

- Looks like the Horse of the Year honors (Curlin v. Zenyatta) is the next great debate in the mainstream and blogosphere. Funny they aren't mentioning that horse that won four G1's including the Derby and the Preakness....what's his name again, oh never mind...

- Speaking of the Big Z, do you think she would have had the headlines that she garnered on Saturday, that she attained through the spotlight of the Filly Friday Feature (datz a lotta F's)? My bet is if she ran on Saturday, which sported double BC winner Midnight Lute, the European domination and the upset of Curlin, her victory would have been buried deep in the hearta. Ya think?

- Some of our TBA'ers were mentioned on LAist yesterday in this blog, as being "some of the most influential bloggers in the sport." Kudos.

- We've redesigned (using "we" very lightly here) the TBA website, check it out, bookmark it and grab the RSS feed (at the top of this blog too!).

- Finally, a living legend visits Ralph Wilson Stadium (f/k/a Rich Stadium) this weekend, my Farve-ian recruiting efforts over the summer were to no avail, and he will be wearing the white and green of the enemy NYJ.....can't remember the last time a living Jets legend visited our environs...was it this guy?

The Last Hurrah?

Tweet I spent my 45th birthday at the Fort today. Yeah, the one in my backyard right across the Peace Bridge. By the way, "45 is the new 35" has been my motto all day long. Our two Canadian TBA bloggers, Jen and CanGamble both featured the Fort in their posts today and they are both terrific reads.

When asked what I wanted to do for my birthday, the answer was a simple one, and a big grin emerged from my face. I had already scouted out that Fort Erie's closing day was smack dab on a certain Tuesday afternoon and the plan was hatched. I was escorted by my pal, G-Money, who had accompanied me to Saratoga for opening day last summer, for a little lunch, a few lagers and some relaxed wagering on the ponies. I had read the two posts above earlier today and the focus that this could be the last day of racing EVER at the Fort started to dawn on me. The 111 year old track is in danger of closing due to recurring losses, with the ownership asking the government for millions in assistance.

Geez, I was just getting to know you! We sat window-side in the upper level Turfside Lounge and enjoyed an awesome lunch, views of all the tracks via simulcast and had two tellers to take our wagers all afternoon long in the warmth of the Lounge. It looked like quite the snowstorm at Philly Park (as the sun shone in Ft. Erie across the bridge from snow city USA). I had never been upstairs in my two previous visits to the Fort this summer and really, really enjoyed the view and the surroundings. The people in the Turfside were hilarious, we had a group of old ladies behind us running a show pool, a couple of old-timers with some horse connections ("get away from the rail you idiot") and some younger fellahs next to us, overall it was just a hoot. I was definitely in my element. To boot, a 2 mile 70 yard marathon named the Tour de Fort, was on the card as the feature race. G and I had never witnessed a race that long and watching it was quite the scene. After the first lap several horses were 35 lengths from the lead and then the calvary charge came in the last two furlongs....great stuff. G-Money was the perfect host and it was just a great way to spend an afternoon in a fun setting.

Handicapping wise, I was in the zone. I'd never had a better day (lucky birthday I guess) at any track before. Hat tip to Keith of Triple Dead Heat, another Canadian blogger, who had tipped me off to trainer Gonzalez whose horse headed up a nice trifecta ticket in the 4th and got things rolling. I cashed a ticket in six of eight races, with the most satisfying being the closing race of the meet where I cashed two nice tickets, walking out with an additional 75 greenbacks. The gent standing next to me at the window was cashing a $1,300 super ticket, and sheepishly admitted to me when the #1 horse scratched, that "the easiest way to change a 1 is to make it a 4 (which happened to go off at 41-1), but don't tell anyone." Not sure who I would tell, but it did generate a belly laugh....sometimes it pays to be lucky. Me, all I could think of was legendary coach John Thompson of Georgetown when his Hoyas finally defeated Syracuse in the last college basketball game held in Manley Field House (before the opening of the Carrier Dome) and his famous line, that "Manley Field House is officially closed!"

I was thinking the same about venerable Fort Erie Race Track, I'm just hoping it's just for the winter and not forever, because that would be a downright shame.

Synth-sational

Tweet "I should think it will be tough getting in the races next year, with the main track, you'll have them all trying to run next year. Then we go to Churchill Downs [in 2010] and it's a different ball game [on dirt]. There is nothing wrong with that. That's healthy. Muhammad Ali fought in the jungle, he fought in Manila, he fought everywhere. The same with horses."

~ John Gosden, Trainer of BC winners Donativum and Raven’s Pass

It’s here to stay race fans and it’ll be run on again at next year’s Cup. You may want to pooh-pooh it, but it’s a fact of life in the world of horse racing. Me, myself and I, we’re going to learn how to handicap it and understand the statistics better regarding breakdowns before pronouncing it safer. It is just another surface and regardless of whom is benefitting from it (horses, manufacturers, West Coast regulars), it’s not going away.

Beth Harris at the Philadelphia Inquirer, says that Breeders Cup weekend was just the shot in the arm that racing needed. In fact, synthetics might just be the thing the sport needs, as a European rivalry seems to be developing. And that’s not such a bad thing. If we could generate the interest domestically that, say, a little ole’ tournament called the Ryder Cup does, who knows, maybe you will hear the chants of U-S-A at a Breeders Cup near you?

I love Gosden’s Ali reference above, that he fought anyone, anywhere, the test of a true champion. What makes a horse any different? PGA golfers play a different course every year for three of the four majors. Isn’t that similar to racing on a different type of surface? Those golf courses have different layouts, yardages, etc. The NASCAR racetracks, another individual sport, do not have the same configuration for every race. In fact, Watkins Glen is a Grand Prix layout, and not your traditional oval race track. Does that make the Chase for the Cup any less?

Look no further than the Great White North. The Canadians actually run their Triple Crown on all three surfaces! The Queens’ Plate on the polytrack at Woodbine, the Prince of Wales on the dirt at Fort Erie and the Breeders Stakes on the EP Taylor Turf course at Woodbine. Let’s try and promote our sport, not trash it at every opportunity. I’ve already stirred the pot with traditionalists via the co-authored post regarding changing the Triple Crown format, so why stop there?

So what’s next? For me a little stopover at Ft. Erie tomorrow for a little birthday afternoon getaway on closing day at the Fort. Let’s just hope it’s not the last day of racing EVER there, now that would be something to get upset about.

Rockin' the Fort

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After the morning rain subsided and the clouds broke, my driveway doppler was telling me to head up to the Fort for the big race. The $500K Prince of Wales, second leg of the triple crown. I arrived just before the 5th race to a packed parking lot and a beautiful sunny 75 degree day in lovely Southern Ontario. No bridge issues to deal with and customs was a breeze, which it should be when traveling solo in a completely empty car! As it was only my second trip to the Fort, the crowd was very big. I laughed when I saw the James Bond Racing Stables horse van with the 007 jockey silks moniker on the side as I thought it may be a good omen for my boy Pewter, but alas he burned out on the final turn after leading the first six furlongs. I found a nice bench in the sun by the paddock, to read the form, suck down a Blue and take in the sights before the big race. I took a couple pictures of Eibar Coa as he boarded his mount in the 6th, the favorite Sheba (#1 horse below), who was here to ride Harlem Rocker. No Todd Pletcher sightings, as I figure he probably stayed on the Atlantic Coast with Unbridled Belle, scheduled to run in a G2 at Delaware Park.

The lines were long for both beer and betting, but I found a nice tucked away vendor and used my twinspires phone account to avoid the windows, so I was able to take in more of the sights. I hit a small exacta in the 7th, just messing around, and was then all set for the big race. I had thrown out Not Bourbon earlier in the day. That was a pretty easy play, as it was his first time on dirt. I can't understand if you point a horse for the Canadian triple crown and you know that the second leg is on dirt, why you wouldn't give him a try on it before the big race. Harlem Rocker, the morning line second choice, appeared to be taking most of the money at the windows and went off as the favorite at 4/5. He looked terrific in the paddock as did Deputyiformer, who I thought would run a better race than he did.

James Bond's Pewter shot off to the early lead and held it for six furlongs. Not Bourbon was around for a little while, but tired in the stretch and had nothing on this beautiful day. At the top of the stretch, the Rocker made his move and a glorious one it was. He held off a late challenge by 21-1 East End Tap (Jen Morrison of the Toronto Star had him third) and triumphed by nearly four lengths to the roar of the Fort Erie crowd. Pletcher's star showed he is a fast dirt horse and we should see more of him this summer, either in Saratoga at the Travers (where Pletcher will have a full barn) or maybe at the Haskell at Monmouth. Here's hoping he tries the Travers and some of the American classic competition, he seemed to do well with plenty of rest and coming back in three weeks or so for the Haskell may be asking too much. I think everyone at the track saw a pretty good horse win, and should see more good things from him in the future.

Ohhh Canada...

Tweet Hard to believe I've lived in Western New York for over 23 years, but today was my first foray over the bridge to beautiful Fort Erie Racetrack. After the Space Gal decided to go see "Sex and the City" for the tenth time, it was the easy choice between doing a little yard work, writing a proposal for work (tomorrow's another day), or going downtown to watch the Gus Macker 3-on-3 (close second), so it was onward to the True North.

Don't let the fact that it was Queen's Plate Day at Woodbine escape you, as that also factored into the equation of checking out the race while in Canada. I had planned several weeks ago to drive up to Toronto, but once Harlem Rocker decided last weekend to skip the race, I did too. After a successful border crossing (no jokes here, serious business crossing the border these days...more on that later), the track is literally two minutes from downtown Buffalo. After buying a Canadian Form (Woodbine, Ft. Erie, Belmont, Hollywood and Arlington...sweet), I meandered over to the paddock before the opener to check out the surroundings. Here's a couple of photos of the paddock area which is nicely shaded and has a number of picnic benches to handicap or smoke a cigar (check, check).

They even had Bob the Bugler (Canada's version of Sam the Bugler) playing right there in the paddock. Film guy in the background was filming the daily handicapping show by James Hoser, Ft. Erie track handicapper. So off I went to attempt my American handicapping skills on $5K Ontario-bred claimers and mile and 70 yarders. I was sure to count all of the horses in the paddock before the race, as I heard sometimes they disappear off the tote board!! A spent some time in the paddock to watch the horses more closely than I usually do, say at Saratoga or Belmont, and spotted a horse acting up that I really liked on paper. I threw him out and replaced him with Athenais (5-1), and immediately and hit my first exactor of the day with Athenais (7 horse) over the favorite Piece of the Pie (1 horse) for a nice $25 winner. Here's a shot of the finish and the winner getting ready to pose for the winner's photo:

I decided to sit out the 4th, a $10K maiden claimer and smoke a Fuentes on one of the aforementioned picnic benches and take in the sights. I had some Canadian change in my pocket and just glanced at the form lazily. Since it was a sprint, I noticed a Storm cat filly Princess Roarcat, that was creeping up in the odds, so I decided to throw the Canadian change ($3) that was in my pocket at him for fun. Doesn't he win and pay $10.60!! I'm starting to like this place. (Note to self: dangerous situation, racetrack 20 minutes from work and home). I hit my second exactor of the day in the 6th (another $5K claimer for f&m) with Lastchancehitter (#4) over Strathmore (#1) for a nice pickup. I got a great shot of her closing on Strathmore at the wire. Funny these were the only two wire photos I took all day, both winners!

Here's a photo of the other 75 people who were at the track with me.

So, all in all, it was a really fun day at a really nice, clean, pleasant, comfortable race track. I was able to bet in US dollars all day long, and the people working were very friendly. It was an extremely relaxing day and a nice breeze blew through the simulcasting facility as I started to handicap the Plate. I threw my token $2 on D Flutie (what Bills fan wouldn't?) and then really started to watch the tote and see what looked interesting. Some very nice prices on the board and I was extremely surprised at the Plate Trial winner Not Bourbon being around 6-1 with 9 MTP (he went off at 9-2). He appeared to be excellent value, so I keyed him on top of a triactor with Flutie (24-1), Palmers (24-1), Ginger Brew (2-1 fav), Jungle Brew (10-1) and Solitaire (3-1). It was a fantastic race and a fantastic finish as Not Bourbon held off the late closing filly Ginger Brew (Javier Castellano up) by a head for a sweet $33 exactor! A terrific way to wrap up the day. Solitaire finished third 4 1/2 back. Flutie led early but burned out after setting fast early fractions.

The day ended with only a half hour wait at the Peace Bridge, which is totally my bad, as I know better to get behind 1) a van, 2) out of state plates, and 3) said van loaded to the gill with recreation stuff. Did I mention I love the Canadian national anthem too? We stand on guard for thee.....