Stonewalled and Contest Saturday

Tweet Another farm has been sued by Fifth Third Bank after defaulting on over $14M in bank loans. The Midway, Kentucky based breeding operation Stonewall Stallions was taken by surprise by the filing in Fayette County Circuit Court. A spokesman for the farm said they were negotiating with the bank to turn over several bloodstock to the bank. The majority farm owner and her son have personally guaranteed the loans, also. So much for communication when dealing with banks these days. I see the same type of thing in my business, any technical default of a loan makes it fully susceptible to be called by the bank. According to the DRF, "the farm stands the 2005 champion turf male Leroidesanimaux, A. P. Warrior, Doneraile Court, Strong Contender, Unforgettable Max, and Value Plus in Kentucky. At its Florida division, Stonewall Farm Ocala, it also stands British Blue, Da Stoops, Frisco Star, It's No Joke, and Spellbinder; the Ocala farm recently pensioned Marquetry."

If you like free handicapping contests, plenty abound today. The Monmouth Park Survival at the Shore starts back up today. I made a pretty good run at this contest last year, was within strking distance of the Top 10 with 2 weeks left and had a lot of fun doing it. They provide free BRIS PP's for the daily contest races and I developed an understanding of the track biases and jockey colony. Equibase and TrackMaster have a contest running today on eight races at Arlington Park, which looks to have a couple nice turf races today. Finally, the Knight Sky Racing Blog offers two free contests this weekend for Jersey Shore bragging rights. The Decathlon Stakes (Saturday) and Spend a Buck (Sunday) are his featured weekend races.

Enjoy the weekend and party on, Wayne.

DeTogafication

Tweet We're in full Toga Detox here in the Space Station. What a meet it was. I had my some of my most memorable trips this summer, since making the four hour plus jaunt up the Thruway from headquarters for the first time five years ago. The 3:59 eluded me for another year, but on the bright side, I was on the right side of the wagering ledger for a change. Good times. Well, now we should get down to some official business. The winner of the 2009 Toga Party is none other than fellow TBA'er Robert from They're in the Gate. The contest finished in a four-way tie decided by the tiebreaker of most jockey earnings as follows:

Win: They're in the Gate 3 pts (Dominguez)
Place: Triple Dead Heat 3 pts (Leparoux)
Show: Green But Game 3 pts (Garcia)
Completing the superfecta was Dollar Bill (Prado)

Amazingly, all four selected a different jockey for the tie-breaker as Robert's selection of Ramon ended up carrying the day. Dana from GbG hit the board for the second straight year with the show. Keith from TDH made a late close, scoring with the Woodward exacta, and almost dead heated Robert at the wire. Unfortunately for our friend from the North, Leparoux fell $367K short of Dominguez in jockey bucks. The book "Graveyard of Champions" by Bill Heller has been sent special delivery to the winner from Saratoga County. Congrats and thanks to everyone who participated, I hope you all had fun with it this year. Any suggestions for next year will be welcomed, filed and taken under consideration.

So another Spa meet concludes, but there is still a lot of quality racing left in the fourth quarter with the Belmont fall meet, Keeneland's boutique October meet, and the "world" championships at the Oak Tree meet to cap it off. I'll be making a special guest appearance and my first ever trip to Santa Anita for the BC. Any suggestions on what area to stay would be much appreciated...

I finished the Monmouth contest in 88th place after going out in the 72nd day, via "go big or go home." I waited until the last two weeks to play longshots and I went for it versus trying to make it all the way through the contest. I got as low at 18th, but needed to make up too much ground in the long run. It was a fun contest and very savvy for the folks that run Monmouth, as now I know the horses, jocks and trainers running at a track I never really followed. Kudos to the marketing guys at MTH. I'll be giving it another go again next year.

I'm taking a few weeks off from the ponies to recharge the batteries and detox from the Spa, but unfortunately I'll still be posting fairly regularly, so you're stuck with me. Big college football weekend with my beloved hometown Orangemen travel to State Penn to take on the Space Gal's alma mater. Good thing she's headed to Vegas as we'll have the Space Kid dressed in his best orange attire for the big game on Saturday, and some brainwashing while she's away. Locally, the Pitt Panthers will be in town to take on the 1-0 UB Bulls and the Kid may take in his first ever live pigskin game, grandfather in tow.

My favorite line of the summer came from the Saratoga Resident after spending the opening two days of the meet with him: "Thanks for the vodka. Thanks for the golf balls. And thanks for leaving." Indeed.

Transparent Tuesday

Tweet It's one of those shotgun days when I'm all over the park....

- Wondering whatever happened to Morganna the Kissing Bandit? Couldn't you see her invade the winner's circle and lay one on the Toddster for some cheap press?

- Return trip #3 to the Springs is set for Friday morning. We'll have the Space Gal on board so a record setting performance is highly unlikely. I pulled a 4:02 two weeks ago when a last minute detour around track traffic down West Ave. spelled doom for a sub 4 hour trip. I'm convinced you need the perfect storm to get 'er done.

- The Saratoga Resident made a surprise visit to see his godson the Space Kid (not really as he had business in the B-Lo), and spent the night in the Space Station (sorry about the bunk beds). He has been a long time critic of my wanting the stewards to explain rulings and disqualifications. Saturday, I received an email after the final race wherein the 31-1 longshot A Word to the Wise was taken down to 4th by said stewards, thus wrecking his potential big tri (31-1 over 5-1 over 2-1). The email I received immediately following was as such: "Changed my mind: Stewards should explain their rulings." I knew he'd eventually see it my way.

- The Toga Party contest is heating up. The jockey race has been a see-saw tilt between Dominguez (Colin's Ghost, SaratogaSpa and I) and Garcia (4 contestants), with A-Garcia with the lead by 2 going into week #5. Linda Rice (nobody picked her) leads Pletcher (5 contestants) by two wins in the trainer race. Four more valuable points are up for grabs on Saturday via the Travers winner, Travers attendance, Travers trifecta and King's Bishop winner. Last weekend's point grabbers were BV and the SpaceBro accurately prognosticating Careless Jewel's win in the Alabama. Congrats.

- I had one of those handicapping moments on Sunday. One that you read about in the handicapping books. Except that I didn't cash a life-changing ticket. But I feel pretty good about seeing it. Problem is, it appears that I wasn't the only one. Silver City Dreams (10-1 ML) was running in a 5 1/2 furlong $44K MdnSpWt in the finale at SAR. Her running line in her lone start was as follows:

PP: 1; ST: 7; 1C: 7 (31 lengths); 2c: 7 (23 lengths); Str: 7 (15 lengths); Fin: 4 (8 1/4 lengths)

The comment line read: Broke in air; willingly. I was thinking, man this filly made up 23 lengths in her 5 1/2f debut, she could be totally dismissed. Unfortunately there were a bunch of scratches and she sunk down to 9-2. With Tzeonn Chang (who?) aboard she "finished well to best the others" coming across the wire just behind the winner, Shot Gun Gal. Put that one in the watch list folks for next go-round.

- With two weeks to go in the Monmouth Survival at the Shore contest I sit in 30th place of the 149 remaining contestants (4,288 entries). I am devoid of any life preservers, but it's go big or go home time. I sit $120 out of 3rd place and $178 out of the top spot. My strategy is to make one safe play and two bomb plays a day until I drown. At this point, finishing out of the top three means nothing and I'm happy that I've survived this long.

- Obviously NY Stables (see Mother Russia post) had another winner yesterday as I was alerted by an excited email in my inbox from one of the owners. The Hook and Ladder filly Hook Me Up (another Linda Rice win) beat nine colts in the 6th race (off the turf) at Saratoga. Look for ONY's Canadian Ballet in the entries this weekend.

- Bona Venture Stables is hoping It's the Big Cat rebounds in his second race, hopefully on the turf in a route on Sunday. Watch the entries for that one.

- How ridiculously good is the field for the King's Bishop on Saturday?

- The Bills are 30-1 in Vegas to win the Super Bowl. I think I'll stick with racing.

- Hope to see you at the Spa on Friday!

Toga Opener: Pyromania

Tweet It's only fitting that the Saratoga Resident's 2007 Derby pick (lock) Pyro is showing up for opening day to take on eight others in the James Marvin Stakes (Race 3). I have to say that's got me pretty juiced and a racing revival is in my veins. Other notable starters for next Wednesday after perusing the entries are Ninth Client (Race 4), Bklyn Backstretch fave Saratoga Russell (Race 8) and another Toga Rez-ism That's How I Roll (Race 9 - G3 Schuylerville Stakes).

We're primed for an early morning romp down the thruway (construction between exits 39 and 40 as well as Timmy Ho's coffee could doom any efforts at a 3:59) on Wednesday morning, a little blogger meetup at Siro's post race, downtown Wednesday evening - Grey Gelding for dinner at the bar, rounded out by an early morning tee time at Ballston Spa CC and top of the stretch track day Thursday has it looking like a nice trip (sweet run-on sentence, eh?). The races carded all look like pretty full fields and a tremendous day of racing (let's hope the weather cooperates) is on tap.

Remember to email me (or leave in the comments) your Toga Party II contest picks, I've been receiving them from as far away as Germany, so don't be left out! Jim Dandy selections are due Friday night by midnight.

If you read my post on Bona Venture Stables, looks like there is some good news regarding It's the Big Cat (named after NBA great and Bona grad Bob Lanier) who is pointing towards a turf sprint at the Spa early in the meet. Keep an eye out for this one.

I've survived another day at Monmouth's Survival at the Shore with a place in the first race today and started the day in 21st place ($796.50, 40/129, 31%)...holy moly. Trying to hang on and crack the front page.....

Flashbacks

Tweet I'm out of it lately when it comes to racing. I've had only one focus with respect to racing but I'll get to that later in the post. I've been under the weather still...summer colds sure do suck. I can't seem to get my bearings and have been treading water over the past two weeks with respect to life in general. Maybe it's just a summer lull, but nothing has really got me juiced about racing and everyone seems to be whining about everything from suspensions to slots. I guess I'm just not that into you anymore, racing. Yet, I can't quit you. Give me that spark, that little something...

I have been having flashbacks though, probably due to the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing which eerily followed the death of the man who announced it to us live, the iconic Walter Cronkite. As a boy growing up, you remember things, like being in 3rd grade and the AV guy (Captain Video) rolls in the big black & whites so we could watch the lunar landing in class. Captain Kangaroo seems to be popping up in my flashbacks too. Maybe due to the resemblance to Cronkite. Scary huh?

But it's less than 10 days to opening day at Saratoga and I'm going to make a full out attempt at the 3:59 (look for some updated road rules next week) as G-Money and I will be descending on the Saratoga Resident's residence (say that 5x fast) for Wednesday and Thursday's racing and a revenge golf match with the Puma. I am working on a Saratoga contest (similar to last year) with some new quirks and items - this year I won't make you pick the Travers winner in July!

Ok, so here's my racing obsession. I've stopped gambling until opening day, taking a break and just focusing on handicapping contests until then. It's paid off so far as I sit in 26th place in the Survival at the Shore at Monmouth with one life preserver in tact. The contest started with over 4,300 entrants and we're down to 312. Survive through July 29th and another life preserver can be had. I'm still a bit away from the top 3 spots, but the top 10 is in sniffing distance. I'm going to keep up my current strategy and just try to outlast the others without trying to go big, that can wait until mid to late August. Approximately 60 players fell off on Saturday when it was a tough day for chalk, wherein I still had a 2nd and a 3rd, so my capping has been pretty solid. Fingers crossed.

Holiday Blather

Tweet Some say he was the worst Derby favorite in recent memory in 2006. The former Illinois Derby winner is entered in tomorrow's Wadsworth Memorial Handicap down the thruway in Canandaigua at Finger Lakes Race Track. Sweetnorthernsaint, becomes the second Derby entrant in the last three years to run at the track located in wine country in western New York, was made the 5-2 morning line favorite in tomorrow's $65K race. Funny Cide ran his career finale there on the 4th of July in 2007. It's still a track that I haven't been to yet, literally less than 75 miles away, but it's in the works for later this summer.

Another local bit of good news (for those who haven't obtained their passports or enhanced licenses and are devoid of an ADW account) for western New Yorkers is that the WROTB will start handling bets on Fort Erie, just in time for the prestigious Prince of Wales Stakes set for next weekend. I was in the Ridge Lea location yesterday to enter a weekly free contest on the Belmont card (picked 3 of 8 winners, 2 seconds killed me, didn't qualify) that they move around the different branches around the metro Buffalo area. Lockport Transit location's contest next Wednesday is on the radar where I'll be accompanied by my handicapping pal G squared.

Speaking of contests, still hanging in the Monmouth Survival at the Shore, currently sitting in 140th with $501.60, with 495 active players remaining. I wasn't aware of the grant of an additional life preserver, until reading it at Red Rock or Bust, so that was a bonus as I was flying naked. The contest is a brilliant marketing tool, as I have downloaded the PP's daily, I am starting to know the jockey colony and I make a daily play on a track that I normally wouldn't play in favor of the NYRA tracks.

Off to see the much ballyhooed movie, The Hangover....

Easy as 1-2-3

Tweet a buh-buh buh buh-buh.

You start feeling old when those you followed as a child die at such an early age. I like to remember him more as the cartoon character I watched as a young boy and the megastar we danced to while clubbin' during our high school and early college days, rather than the freak show he became. It's ironic, he pretty much started and finished his life as a cartoon character. I sure loved his music though. Back to the matter at hand....racing.

I only wish the horse racing game was easy as 1-2-3. I'm in a bit of a slump since the Belmont and trying to avoid falling into bad habits and staying with my handicap. We all go through it, just wish it would end soon...haha. Ironically as I type this I sit alive through 3 legs of the guaranteed $100K Pick 4 at Churchill tonight (fingers crossed) and am alive in the Monmouth Survival at the Shore contest with my life preserver and sitting in 123rd place (go figure).

La Chica Rica returns tomorrow night at Charles Town after a bit of a layoff. She was entered into two turf races hoping they would go off the turf but to no avail. She will go 4 1/2 furlongs in Race 7 for Western New York's Bella Cavello Stables in a $36K allowance. The main competition looks to be Coronado's Strike and Hesogoodwithmoney. Interestingly, Chica's normal rider Deshawn Parker is aboard CS for the race. Not sure what to make of that. The real hunch play on the race is Bettin on MJ for obvious reasons!

Speaking of Charles Town, I watched Big Drama's huge win last Saturday night in the Red Legend Stakes and if you read this blog, you'll know I've been a big fan of Drama's since his Jackpot win in January at Delta Downs. He had a horrible trip, but still finished strong in the Preakness, but it looks like he could be a force in shorter races. I think the King's Bishop would be a great spot for him to point to next (and would love to see him on Travers Day). Should he go that route, then the BC Dirt Mile or Sprint would make sense to complete his campaign.

OK...time to watch that final leg...go An Heir of Magic. [Update: Heir got hooked in a speed duel and faded in stretch...the slump continues...ugh]

Saturday Shorts

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Big weekend in these parts and we'll even get to watch the big race come Sunday on TVG based on a new deal inked this week with Woodbine Entertainment Group. The Buffalo News' Happy Handicapper Bob Summers penned a column this morning on Friday's walking ring parade of seven of Sunday's thirteen entries in the Queen's Plate. He was most impressed with Roger Attfield's Rapid Release and the morning line favorite, the filly, Milwaukee Appeal. CanGamble likes the "other filly" Tasty Temptation and his long shot play is Keino West, who Triple Dead Heat touted as his longshot in Friday's post. Check out today's horse by horse capsule. My pick: Mr. Foricus Two U with Mike Smith flying in from California to pull the upset. Unfortunately I won't be headed up the QEW tomorrow as my nephew from Syracuse (4 goals in his varsity debut as a frosh) is in a tourney here in Buffalo this weekend as well as my first father's day with the Space Kid.

A little tired this morning after staying up to watch the Downs After Dark, which seems to come off very well as over 28,000 attended the inaugural races under the lights at the iconic track. I have to say watching and lightly wagering on twinspires TV, the sights (especially in HD) were quite spectacular. Kudos for CDI for trying something new and to get the young crowd involved. Of course, that morphed into switching over to the night racing at HollyPark and ended up being a late night.

Survival at the Shore status: Yours truly - $346.90 (life preserver in tact, 376th place) and Space Gal - $288.40 (raftless, 926th place). Had to throw Space Gal a line after a non-chalky Friday where I imagine more than a few lost their preservers - see Red Rock or Bust (funniest blog title ever).

The Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance, of which I am a proud member, is rolling out a new-fangled website (with a new addy), check it out and let us know what you think. The TBA is a collection of bloggers that are fans, horsemen, former journalists, handicappers extraordinairre, trainers and from all parts of the world. A group that started as six bloggers, has grown nearly tenfold over the past three years. Our efforts financially support Old Friends, a retirement home for race horses, a truly wonderful charitable organization. Our writers have been featured at the Rail, the Blood-horse blog stable, and belmontstakes.com by NYRA, to name a few. We've also served on panels before the NTRA and the Racing Symposium at the University of Arizona. We're alive and kicking in our hopes to effect positive thinking and positive change on the sport we love. Be sure to stop by and see us and our sponsors (all featured in the standings in the left margin).

Field Trip

Tweet After a few more days of racing detox, we're taking a little field trip today up to the Fort. I hear we have an eclectic group heading to the Turfside Lounge on the 3rd floor for a little lunch and to get our racing-jones on. The 1:45pm post time at Fort Erie makes it perfect to get in a half day of work and over the bridge for lunch with eight races on the card today. We're going to ignore the high takeout and the inconvenience of betting Canadian dollars and still find some way to having some fun, with a forecast in the low 80's and no humidity. Full report tomorrow.

Our filly, Higher Authority, debuted yesterday in a tough spot at Delaware Park, finishing last by a nose. All in all, a good learning experience and Frank at That's Amore keeps us more than informed on her progress, which is great. As a first foray into a racing partnership, I've enjoyed the reports getting her ready to race and look forward to meeting her this summer as she progresses along and moves forward in her career.

Since I didn't jinx myself last weekend when I mentioned my Survival at the Shore status, I'll uneasily state that both Space Gal and I have our life preservers and are both very much alive after 16 days of competition. I'm in 376th ($308.50) and she's in 963rd ($254.00), as we join 1,493 of the original 4,226 entrants. We've both picked 15 winners (almost 1/day, leader has 25). Fingers crossed.

Happily Ever Always, PETA and Organic Peas

Tweet I'm going to sneak a quick post in while the Space Kid sleeps. I learned today that he doesn't like organic peas, based on the fact they ended up all over the front of me.

Did anyone see the 8th at Monmouth yesterday? I was interested as it was the last Survival at the Shore race of the day and I needed to hit the board to not risk my life preserver. Did I just say that? Anyways, I was on the favorite, Ever Always who was taking all the money and moving between 1-5 and 1-9 (she ended up at 0.05!!). She crushed this 3YO and up allowance field for non-winners of two (this was her third race) by 15 1/4 lengths (Rachel-like) as the only 3yo filly in the field. I tell you to watch the replay on this race, she was simply awesome. One to put in the watch list, for sure.

On Sunday, upon completing the first leg of my trip home from NYC, I arrived in Altoona at the in-laws who happened to have ESPN on their miniature kitchen TV and I recognized Michael Blowen from Old Friends on screen. I was fortunate to meet him during our Lexington trip in April the same day a Paragallo horse was being rescued. So, my in-laws and I continued to watch the Outside The Lines segment on horse slaughter and Michael and a representative from PETA were going back and forth as to the best way to save Charismatic and War Emblem, both currently over in Japan. The PETA rep was so focused on the negative, while I thought Michael was very well spoken and handled the issue with compassion and thoughtfulness. The clip is here if you missed the seven minute plus segment shown for the first time on Sunday.

I was reading Dan Illman's formblog last night and ran across Alydar's past performances. Pretty impressive, indeed. I remember as a teenager the triple crown duels with Affirmed. It's amazing that the highest odds he ever went off at were 2.10....amazing. Not to mention he raced 26 times...

Ok, back to the washing machine...gonna try and Shout it out...and maybe sneak in a race or two from the Shore.

Holiday Nuggets

Tweet I spent Sunday afternoon at Fort Erie Race Track under beautiful skies and awesome spring weather in Western New York/Southern Ontario. I walked away from a great day at the track (a day at the track is better than any day at the office), albeit a few dollars lighter, but enjoyed the sunshine and the bridge traffic wasn't all too bad (better than the 30-60 minute delays projected on the boards above the highway). I did learn by the end of the day to notice whatever ride apprentice jock Melanie Pinto was on. She was fantastic all day riding mid-to high priced horses. I will be watching her progress closely as the meet progresses. I played mostly Pick 3's all day and ended up with two bad beats that pretty much closed down the day. My 5-1 in the second lost a photo to a 5-2, and when my back ends held up it made it all the worse. The second bad beat was actually quite humorous as a man in the paddock asked me what I thought about a certain race and I told him I liked the longest shot (17-1) in the field going with first time lasix and good route pedigree. I told him I also liked Pinto's horse (at 6-1) who had been tearing them up all day. So don't I reverse those two in my trifecta play and the longshot takes second and Pinto's third, with an easy single on top....ugh. Anyways, there was a decent crowd on hand and it was comfortable moving around and enjoying the outdoors.

Gotta love the all Central New York lax final today in Foxborough, let's go Orrrr-ange! Hopefully it's a good day all around for SU...rooting for Carmelo and the Nuggets will take down Kobe and the Lake Show.

Here's hoping for a speedy recovery for Rene Douglas, looks like it might be 10 days or so to see if his situation will improve from his horrific fall on Saturday. The horse that fell on top of him was euthanized on Sunday. I watched some late afternoon action from Hollywood on TVG when I got home. I really enjoyed their all-access afternoon, wherein jockeys, trainers and even the starter were miked for sound and Simon Bray was roving around interviewing connections. This is something I'd definitely love to see more of. Every jock interviewed mentioned Douglas and that he was in their prayers. Impressive win by Monterrey Jazz in the Laz Barrera breaking a track record in the process.

I'm definitely going to take some handicapping lessons from the Turk, I've enjoyed reading his approach to the game. I, too often, end up straying from my handicapping and make bad wagers. I feel I can handicap decently, I just don't structure the wagers correctly most times. Starting today, we're retooling.

Just missed the Helio-Danica exacta (she finished third) at the Brickyard. Now there's some real "horsepower." (that was the Saratoga Resident's line, I just stole it).

I think the Met Mile field today is fantastic. I'm leaning towards My Pal Charlie (I think he'll like the distance) and old fav Smooth Air. Regardless, it should be a super race to watch.

The Space Gal and I survived the first two days of the Monmouth Survival at the Shore. Space Gal (bankroll $27.80) had a win (Kiawah Cat) and a show (My Magic Moment) and I had two placings (Abuela and La Rocca) to jump my bankroll to $61.00. 954 players were eliminated after the first two days, almost a quarter of the field, and 3,272 have "survived."

Enjoy the rest of your holiday, I hope you're having great weather like we are enjoying in our little corner of the world.