Halfway Post

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I'm a few days delinquent getting the links up for the annual halfway post, where we look at the mid-year highs and lows for thoroughbred racing. What can I say, I got sidetracked with an impromptu visit to the Finger on Tuesday which delayed our half-year linkage. As I mentioned last year, we've moved the actual post to The Buffalo News so you'll have to check out the 2012 edition on the TBN site, hopefully you'll enjoy it. We're all about consistency here in the Space Station, so we don't want to be accused of slipping!

We've kept this post up for the past five years so we'll link back to the historical posts from 2011, 2010, 2009 and our inaugural post in 2008 in case you're interested in looking back at my thoughts at this juncture over the past five years.

Some thoughts about Finger Lakes after my recent visit. It was my third lifetime trip to the Finger (2010 New York Derby won by Ibboyee, 2011 Opening Day and Random Tuesday the 3rd of July) so I don't have a lot of basis to have a glowing review and/or criticize, although I did have a few observations. I was there with a good friend to have a few beers, play a few races and catch up on some common interests. It was the first time in probably three years that I was going to the track to just relax, kick back and gamble. I guess that's when you notice things....

* For two thirsty guys, it was disappointing that the Paddock Room bar was closed. We were forced to go to a concession line, and I always seem to get behind the person who orders four sets of chicken fingers, three nachos and can't make up their mind about the drinks they want. The first two times I was at the track I hung out at that bar, spread out the PP's and had a nice view of a number of televisions. It was kind of a bummer.
* Space favorite Bona Venture Stables sent out Engine Five in the 7th and he fared well, finishing third.
* The morning lines were brutal. Not even close. At least we had an idea of who should be the favorite, but when the 5/2 second choice ends up 1/9, you know something is awry.
* We had to bring the average age down by a ton in the Paddock Room. I guess this can be expected given that it is the main simulcast room. They obviously know there crowd based on this photo.
* As I headed to the men's lavatory, I noticed a pretty cool area with a bunch of isolated televisions within carrels for handicappers. Very nice. If I were solo, it would be for me.
* You have to keep an eye out for horses that have run on the NYRA circuit, they are nine times out of 10 a must-use. Happened a couple times on Tuesday. One such example was in the 7th, where Knockout (a $300K Smart Strike purchase) was sent out as the 5-1 co-third choice (with three other horses). Raced a few times at Belmont and rode a good race last summer at Saratoga. He went off at 1.25-1 and won going away.
* As I was in Syracuse last weekend and halfway there on Tuesday in Farmington, I did notice that at least on this side of the state there was no construction on the NYS Thruway.  Maybe this is the year the 4-hour barrier goes down, it is only 16 days until opening day!
* Overall, I'm still a fan of the Finger, and of course, it was a random Tuesday, I guess my experience could have been enhanced by a few things. I'll be back for sure.

Sorry no pictures, I was off duty.

This weekend's Suburban looks loaded, Stay Thirsty, To Honor and Serve, Mucho Macho Man, Trickmeister, Hymn Book and an interesting Godolphin named Buffum, who was a $1.2 million yearling purchase and is fairly lightly raced. Looking forward to seeing what he can do against tougher company, it should be a fun race to watch. Taking a stand against To Honor and Serve, which means he'll have a career performance. Leaning towards the Macho Man with Stay Thirsty and Trickmeister, based on his worktab and the efforts by those who beat him in the G2 Alysheba last weekend in the Cornhusker at Prairie Meadows.

Going Postal, Volume 2

Tweet In early December of last year I rolled out the first edition of Space Mail, so based on the level of emails I've received over the last quarter we have enough for a quick blog post to answer a few of your questions. There's been a lot of fodder to chew on over the last three months so here goes....

Q: So your first Space Bag talked about Top Chef All-Stars, who did you end up with in your gambling pool and are you still alive? My guess is you went down in flames (no pun intended). ~Nick from Saratoga.
A: Sorry, Nick, we're alive and kicking with bad ass Richard Blais. That nitrogen-toting chef has been lighting up the quickfires and he only needs to outlast Carla to reach paydirt for the Space Gal and I. Know when you have a problem? When you gamble on a reality TV cooking show.

Q: Rachel/Curlin foal or Zenyatta/Bernardini foal, who will be the better racehorse? ~Carl from Altoona.
A: I'm no pedigree consultant so this is purely from a fan perspective. If you look in the top right corner, you'll see Bernardini (winning the Travers) is my profile pic...so you can guess who I'm leaning towards. Zendini, of course.

Q: What do you think of NBC picking up the Belmont? ~Hammerin Hank from Vegas.
A: To be honest, even with the very good Breeders' Cup production by ESPN, I think NBC will do a better job. Plus, they may even show the Manhattan, one of the faux pas that ABC always screwed up and would usually have horseplayers pulling their hair out because the race would be in limbo.

Q: Carmelo as a Knick? ~Lola in Manhattan
A: Good to see Melo in Orange and Blue again.

Q: Have you participated in the players boycott in California? ~Willie the Whale from Windsor
A: Well, indirectly I guess, I've really just focused on the East Coast tracks (Aqueduct, Gulfstream, Fair Grounds) over the past two months. I really haven't followed what's going on out west. Do they have a Derby contender out there? Ahh, I'm just kidding...I like Runflatout to be the west coast surprise horse. But to answer your question truthfully, no I haven't been boycotting, just ignoring.

Q: Who's your Derby horse? ~Flo from Ft. Erie
A: I really liked the way Santiva ran last weekend. I would like to see To Honor and Serve do well. We're probably a couple weeks away from adopting.

Q: Paulick or Equidaily? ~Todd from Alaska
A: Boxers.

Q: TVG or HRTV? ~Matt from Seattle
A: Briefs.

Q: How do you think your RTTR stable will fare this year compared to prior years? ~Skeeter from the South Side
A: I screwed up like I usually do by not doing my homework and reviewing the races and loaded up on horses that will run against each other. I even left Uncle Mo out of my initial stable. I'm just looking to post a respectable score this year and not embarrass myself.

Q: Speaking of Uncle Mo, what do you think of his current tentative racing schedule? ~Vinnie from Tim Hortons
A: Vinnie Vinnie Vinnie. Pletcher knows what he's doing. He's not going to lose his favorite during Derby week like last year. He'll coast in the Timely Writer and finish a disappointing second in the Wood. But he'll be in prime condition on Derby Day, which is what it's all about. That, and the draw, of course. PS I love the Fruit Explosion muffins at Hortons.

Q: I heard about your Futures is a sucker bet article....so are you a sucker? ~Tootsie from Chi Town
A: Yep. $4 on Santiva at 37-1 and $4 on To Honor and Serve at 10-1 (only to show my Derby Dozen No. 1 some love and some good karma going into the weekend).

Q: I heard you went to Aqueduct in January this year instead of Gulfstream, are you nuts?? ~Fred from Watts
A: Umm...yeah pretty much.

Q: Who's your favorite Jersey Shore character? Does Space Gal watch it? ~Jim from Stalkerville
A: I'm mesmerized by Pauly D's hair and yes the Space Gal makes me watch it. They definitely need an episode where they go to Monmouth for the races...tell me that wouldn't be must see TV?

Q: When's the next Space Invasion? ~Martha from Mozambique
A: I'll be taking my talents to Louisville...unless I can steal away for the Wood.

Q: When are you going to end this space mail bag? ~Porky from Warner Bros.
A: I thought you'd never ask. That's all folks.

Keep those cards, letters and emails comin'.

Sunday Slippers

Tweet Today is definitely a prop the feet up on the couch type of Sunday. Thanks to the NFL for not starting until 3pm today! That way we can continue our Tampa experiment.....

- I decided to play Tampa Bay Downs this weekend, for no apparent reason other than the TVG Bonanza contest. Of course, in the "I Never Read the Rules" department, I skimmed them and made all 10 of my $20 WP wagers on Saturday, thinking I had 10 more to make today. I did fairly well winning $498 on $400 wagered, with 4 winners and a second and some decent price horses. I played along as well and hit two moderate Pick 3's. We're playing again today before the football games start up. Lots of low level claimers, but the track seemed to be playing fair and the answers are always somewhere in those past performances.

- The 6th Race at Tampa is extremely interesting today, where three of the five remaining entries in the $24,500 Allowance are stakes horses, including You Go West Girl, Keertana and Romacaca. I'll be siding with Romacaca with Daniel Centeno up. She finished 4th in the Beverly D at Arlington last summer and I think she'll go wire to wire here.

- Other stuff going on...I'm again a willing participant in the Wireplayers.com Derby Dozen and the only person to select To Honor and Serve as his #1 horse over Uncle Mo. I have good vibes about this horse and look forward to his next race. Of course, it's way too early in the game to be selecting Derby horses, but what I like about participating it makes me do my homework on pedigree and statistics about the top contenders. I was a big Bernardini fan, so he has some decent pedigree, his dam Pilfer won 3 of 11 starts. Trainer Bill Mott will be looking to add to his new found Triple Crown trail success after training last year's Belmont Stakes winner Drosselmeyer.

- I wrote a quick recap of the Eclipse Awards earlier in the week for The Buffalo News....which you can find here.

- Buffalo Raceway opened a week ago Friday and the first race winner paid over $100! Not a bad way to start a meeting!

- My Ice Ice Baby post from the 2009 Belmont Stakes has been getting some mongo hits, based on a photo I took of Jeannine Edwards in the paddock...Word to your Mother!

Enjoy Championship Sunday, and put on those slippers!