This poll has actually been up a few days and I’m happy to see people have been voting. You may have noticed the up tick in posts and commentary on the various issues surrounding the Breeders’ Cup so why not vote on it?

Need some refreshers on the issues? There’s Crist’s column on Ladies Day, the TBA point/counter point on Ladies Day (with interesting ongoing comments), John’s excellent recent post “What’s in a Name” and Kennedy’s observations about various inconsistencies, just to name a few.

Is your biggest complaint that there’s two days instead of one? Is Ladies Day not your cup of tea or are you just bothered by the name Ladies Classic (and hey, why didn’t the change the Juvenile and Turf Fillies too? Little Ladies, Little Ladies Turf and Ladies Turf)? Is running the championship on a new surface your biggest complaint or do you just wish they’d use standard saddle cloths to help a horse player out? And for the indecisive and/or equally bothered, there’s always All of the Above.

In our last poll Zenyatta was leading prior to the races but afterwards Curlin started to pull ahead. I thought Zenyatta’s win was more impressive but no doubt some of you were swayed by the record breaking earnings, or was it the repeat of the JCGC?

The voting worked out to be 37 for Curlin, 25 for Zenyatta and 20 for Big Brown. As always, thanks for voting!

Posted by dana on Oct 06 2008    
Filed Under: Big Brown, Zenyatta, Poll, 2008, Curlin, Breeders' Cup, Racing

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Arson Squad in the paddock at Del Mar (stolenbikini)

I remember the formidable Arson Squad of the 2007 Strub. This was not too long after I had become obsessed with racing. I liked Spring at Last, who placed, but it was Arson Squad who made a big impression on me.

After this impressive win he took a break and came back at Del Mar to run in the San Diego Handicap. This race started a string of 7 lackluster synthetic performances.

Owned by JMS, the 5yo is now in training with Babe here in the land of the dirt track and was entered in tonight’s Meadowland Cup Handicap. Babe has an impressive 28% first time with team record and an also excellent 26% sprint/route (his last was 7f).

I didn’t catch too much of a glimpse of him in the parade but GbG fav Anak Nakal looked great. I also liked Pass the Point who’s works have been improving since his impressive performance placing to Curlin (I had the exacta). My only concern about him was the impending front end speed duel with Timber Reserve (who held on for show). Anak Nakal is closer and Arson Squad is a stalker so I wasn’t that concerned about them. In fact, the hot pace was good for both of them.

As it turned out, Pass the Point couldn’t hold on after pretty wicked speed duel and Arson Squad made an emphatic return to dirt. Anak Nakal was no slouch either getting up for place after being pinched back at the start and going wide into the turn + I believe this is his first outing against older horses.

Congrats Arson Squad, can’t wait to see you in the Clark, babe!

Posted by dana on Oct 03 2008    
Filed Under: 2008, Anak Nakal, YouTube, Race Replay, Curlin, Racing

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Don’t get me wrong, I love Curlin… I schlepped my exhausted self out to Belmont specifically to see him on Saturday and he did not disappoint. One of the many things I love about him is that he always shows up, a real pro.

I thought all of the stakes races at Belmont were great. I really liked Cocoa Beach but had her with Lemon Drop Mom instead of the gamely Ginger Punch. I discounted Dynaforce in favor of Communique over Mauralakana. Fab Strike was still impressive fighting back against Black Seventeen (E - I wish you were right!)… and I think Kodiak Kowboy (my choice with Fab Strike & First Defence) might have gotten there at 7F.

Last but not least was the performance that impressed me the most at Belmont, Grand Couturier in the Joe Hirsch… wow! And all this time I thought he was a yielding play against (which is why Shamdinan was my long shot in last year’s BC turf, and not Grand Couturier).

Curlin was the chestnut cherry on the excellent racing day cake. Swifty and I double high-fived as he crossed the line and let out a simultaneous and emphatic “YES!”… along with the rest of the smallish celebratory crowd.

But let’s not overlook the 50 ft woman, as Ernie likes to call her or Stardom Bound… her 2yo protege in the “Little Ladies”* Division who’s sometimes called Zenyatta Jr around the barn. These two put on one hell of a show and should not be overshadowed by Curlin’s transformation into racings 10 Million Dollar Man.

Zenyatta staying perfect while making the impressive Hysterical Lady look like an allowance level entrant trying to jump in class:

Stardom Bound, going 8 wide to show those other Little Ladies a thing or two:

Get your check books out, Stardom Bound will be part of a liquidation sale come November, but she’ll come with a reserve. I don’t suppose Fasig-Tipton accepts esnipe?

*Editor’s note: I’m going to call the Juvenile Fillies the Little Ladies as long the Ladies Classic name stands.

Additional editor’s note: while I know this post is not at all timely, I’m trying to get back in the habit of posting and this was a heck of a lot easier to start off with than trying to do the Marketing Summit and Task Force justice. Not to worry, I haven’t forgotten!

Posted by dana on Sep 29 2008    
Filed Under: Wrap Up, Shamdinan, Auction, 2008, Impressive, Zenyatta, Vosburgh, Fabulous Strike, Curlin, Belmont, Hysterical Lady, Race Replay, YouTube, Racing

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Zenyatta after winning the Clement Hirsch (Charles Pravata)

After bitching yesterday about how boring it is read about Curlin vs. Big Brown for HOY I decided that I wanted to see how many other people would pick Zenyatta over them.

In our last poll, 31 of you said that the NTRA should market to any and all groups of people (a point of view I share), 14 of you said they should market specifically to sports fans, 3 of you said that they should market to known gamblers as well 3 for puzzle solvers. 2 of you said they should go after day trippers and not one single person said they should market to millennials.

As always, thanks for participating!

Posted by dana on Sep 18 2008    
Filed Under: Poll, 4yo, Big Brown, Zenyatta, 2008, Charles Pravata, Fans, Curlin, 3yo, Racing

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Philadelphia Park (~ RAYMOND)

I had the feeling that I might return to blogging tonight as I crabbed to someone in an email that I’m already sick of hearing all the droning about Curlin vs. Big Brown for horse of the year. It’s about as interesting as incessantly following who’s up in the presidential polls.

I’m somewhat surprised (and somewhat not) that no one has seemed to mention Zenyatta in the same breath as HOY (disclaimer, if you have, I may have missed it as I’ve not been keeping up with reading!).

Undefeated? Check. Won on multiple surfaces? Check. Beat an impressive reining champion? Check. Beat the impressive reining champion while making first start on new surface? Check.

Let’s face it, the Filly & Mare Classic division is making a mockery of the boys this year. I loooove Curlin and think Big Brown is pretty great but Zenyatta has been turning in consistently impressive performances all year. And her nemesis Tough Tiz’s Sis demolishing the field in the Ruffian also speaks volumes about her talent.

Speaking of the Breeders’ Cup, Kennedy has an excellent set of observations about inconsistencies with the BC. Just when I thought I had heard it all!

I’ve been too busy to compile the August SAFC reports just yet, which might be a good thing because we got a fab submission today (or possibly sometime in the past few days… I’ve been really out of it!) that has many, many great ideas/issues. One of them, which I want to point out while we’re still on the subject of the BC, is the damn saddle cloths. They’re a serious scourge for those who actually want to be able to tell which horse is which without memorizing hat and silk colors. Please, go to SAFC and complain about this one!

A juicy blind item was revealed over at Moran’s today when he finally got to tell us which NYRA official said ‘Fuck the Horseplayers’. Now I’m sort of wishing I had a done a poll when the original item came out.

GbG horse of interest National Pride won his 3rd race today at Belmont in the third, a $50k OC N2X. He had Coa aboard for the first time and caught a strong On Board Again at the wire. I also thought Goldsville was impressive for the show. He had some traffic trouble in the stretch and had to swing wide but came on nicely as well. As always, looking forward to National Pride’s next start.

And if you’re still reading, I should remind that you the deadline for the SAFC DIY Marketing Presentation Contest has been extended to this Saturday at 7pm EST. So stop farting around reading blogs and get your presentation together! We’ve already gotten a handful of great ones and are expecting a few more… c’mon surprise us with your great ideas or clever harangues! Need some ideas? Start here.

Posted by dana on Sep 17 2008    
Filed Under: Raymond Haddad, 4yo, 2008, Big Brown, Rivalry, Tough Tiz's Sis, Zenyatta, National Pride, Ginger Punch, Breeders' Cup, Curlin, Race Replay, Eibar Coa, 3yo, NYRA, Racing

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