The long sandy stretch at Belmont (~ RAYMOND)

In honor of the continued Triple Crown traffic surge, I thought I would direct you to some actual content (as I take my customary Monday night Law & Order rerun pass on posting).

Filed under “kick ‘em while their down” or “you’re probably glad someone else said it”, a compilation of interesting points and “I told you so”s, an excellent witty retort, a scatological international point of view and a pithy poke.

Filed under “who couldn’t look at photos for hours”, a rather big gallery of the day, GbG regulars Raymond, Charles, Jason, Bud and Sarah.

And closer to home, the most commented on post yet and did anyone get my Tale of ETAKI joke? I know, not so funny… I mean it wasn’t even really a joke.

And in other classy news, let the finger pointing begin!

Posted by dana on Jun 09 2008    
Filed Under: 2008, Internet, Industry, Raymond Haddad, Tale of Ekati, Sportsmanship, Sarah K. Andrew, Triple Crown, Belmont Stakes, International Racing, Charles Pravata, Racing

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Starters out of the gate for the Belmont Stakes (budmeister 26.2)

Everyone comes back ok!

And as usual, you can count on Barclay Tagg for a good quote, he said of Tale of Ekati who came away with a gash:

He was fine until he got stepped on. He has a gash. I don’t know how bad it is. I know he is walking sore on it. Anytime a 1,000-pound horse steps on your heel at 40 miles an hour, it’s not pretty. I don’t know how long the gash will take to heal. Each gash and each horse is different. It should heal in about a month, but you never know.

Posted by dana on Jun 08 2008    
Filed Under: 2008, Tale of Ekati, Belmont Stakes, Barclay Tagg, Belmont, Racing

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Big Brown is a no show for his date with destiny (Sarah K. Andrew)

What a day, nothing like last year… well, maybe a little something, but I’ll get to that.

Never in my life did I drink so little liquid on such a hot day. The well reported on bathroom situation started not too long after I arrived so thankfully I hadn’t totally tanked up on water yet.

One of the many bright spots was that my pals the Hennegan Brothers generously comped me a ticket to Garden Terrace for my work with them on their site for The First Saturday in May (buy the DVD!). The benefits of their generosity were that 1) it was great to meet and hang with their friends 2) I think it was the only area with air conditioning and 3) for the most part the bathrooms were working and the lines were NOTHING like downstairs.

That’s not to say that bathroom weren’t disgusting, they were, in more ways that one. At one point the toilets were so backed up that I was hard pressed to recall a more outhouse like experience in such a fancy context. Teresa has a great account of the day and my comment sums up my bathroom experience in the Garden Terrace (so I won’t repeat it here).

Another bright spot was getting to meet a lot of the TBA-ers in person! I hang with a couple of them regularly as we all live in the city and I had met Superfecta once before at last year’s BC but it was great to put faces to blogs and have at least an all too brief chance to chat with everyone. We should definitely plan some low-key non-event race days to hang out.

I had another abysmal day at the windows cashing no tickets. In fact the one race I called exactly was the only one I didn’t place any wagers on! I correctly called the Acorn as Zaftig, Indian Blessing and Game Face but since they all had really low odds I took a pass (although it kept me alive in the Pick 4 for one more race!). As Swifty and I recounted our respective days at the window I said “At least I called the order of the Acorn” and he replied “How many horses were in that field?” (note: he picked Game Face). I’ll take what I can get! In fact, seeing Zaftig power home was the most exciting part of the day for me.

As for the Big Brown one, the good news is that he’s ok AND he’ll stay in training. I’ve read plenty of interesting thoughts, conjectures and opinions this morning. There’s a lot of lively commenting going on over at The Rail that I found interesting and (so far) without unnecessary bashing. I found this comment in particular to be insightful on the potential combination of the post position, heat and steroid regiment cycle.

Other thoughts have surfaced around the ride itself. Was Desormeaux being lazy or taking the appropriate precautions? OR, deciding to ease him as opposed to have him come in 7th or so on his own?

I’ll take my fellow TBA-er’s word for it that Kent D has a history as more than one of them that I trust have expressed the opinion (and I’ll keep an eye out for myself in the meantime so I can form my own opinion). I go back and forth between feeling relieved that he probably did the right thing and that it was totally unsportsmanlike to throw in the towel if your horse throws a clunker.

We can never know and I can’t really fault him for being cautious, however the beginning of his ride reminded me of Gomez’s awful ride on Hard Spun in last year’s Belmont. Hard Spun was rank and Gomez fought him and kept him hard held through the race, not that I think Hard Spun would have won, but he certainly could have done a little better. (Note, watching last year’s Belmont made me feel a little better!).

As for the other entrants, I was as flabbergasted as anyone else about Da’Tara. I wouldn’t have been as surprised by Anak Nakal and I was really happy to see him and Ready’s Echo hit the board! They all looked tired as they lumbered down the stretch, the heat couldn’t have helped but Da’Tara really put them away!

As Swifty and discussed how we felt the race would unfold, we imagined Da’Tara would go right to the lead, BB would sit chilly not too far behind with Tale of ETAKI not too far behind. We thought about midway through the backstretch BB would come on and it would be over a la Secretariat, but not nearly as dramatic (please note, I AM not in any way comparing BB to Secretariat, just using the timing of how his run would unfold!).

As they neared the end of the backstretch Swifty said “they’re not doing what we thought” a couple of times as it was becoming clear that something was amiss. It was hard to tell what was going on coming into the stretch but the first time Swifty said that BB was being pulled up I thought he was joking, but then said it again. It was an incredibly nerve wracking several moments until we could see that he didn’t seem to be injured. As he cantered through the stretch there were several a-holes booing him. I yelled at the one closest to me to shut the F-up (and he did). People never cease to amaze me.

As Swifty and were making our last minute wager determinations, I was planning a super wheeling BB on top over Tale of ETAKI, Denis of Cork, Macho Again, Guadalcanal and I was going back and forth between Anak Nakal and Icabad Crane. Swifty decided to split the ticket with me and he settled on Icabad Crane.

You’ll notice the winning horse was nowhere in our mix, we both TOTALLY disregarded him. In fact, it seemed odd and a bit reckless to me that Zito entered him. As Teresa has pointed out about Zito, he likes to honor the history of the races by actually entering horses in them (now there’s a concept!), which is great and I totally applaud. But I inappropriately wrote Da’Tara off as a “there’s a classic race in New York and I’m entering it”. Well, let’s just say I’ve learned that lesson the hard way! Additionally, I think this a great time in my handicapping career to make the effort to learn more about breeding!

Fellow TBA-er and night owl semi-frequent poster Nellie has a great wrap-up with a lot of good points to ponder, most notably that what might be this year’s weak or at the very least inconsistent crop could turn out to be next year’s strong handicap division… let’s hope so! She also notes something that cheered me up too, that Mushka is back on the work tab!

On a final note, if I gave you my card yesterday (and you’re still reading) say hello, leave a comment! And please, PLEASE don’t judge my beloved Belmont on it’s backed up toilets and garbage mountains, come back when it’s a regular old Saturday… it’s one of the best places to spend an afternoon I can think of, and you won’t have to pee in the bushes, unless of course you want to!

Posted by dana on Jun 08 2008    
Filed Under: TBA, Mushka, Wrap Up, Nick Zito, Drugs, Sarah K. Andrew, Sportsmanship, Superfecta, Tale of Ekati, Anak Nakal, Big Brown, Indian Blessing, 2008, First Saturday in May, Hennegan Brothers, Belmont, Triple Crown, Fans, Gambling, That's Why They Call it Gambling, Handicapping, Belmont Stakes, 3yo, Pick 4, NYRA, Kent Desormeaux, Tom Durkin, Racing

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Post Time for the Belmont (~ RAYMOND)

Quickly, here are my picks for the card… I posted my win selections over at the TBA homepage along with the other TBA picks. I put a straight pick 6 ticket on those selections as well. No doubt Swifty and I will be playing some pick 4s and 6s together.

I’m going with Thor’s Echo returning to form and Benny the Bull regressing a bit. I also like Suave Jazz and a little bit of Council Member!

I think Bayou’s Lassie will have the pace her way and takes them wire to wire, or Lady of Venice and/or Bit of Whimsy come on. I love Criminologist but don’t think it’s enough distance for her.

Now that Dance Gal Dance is out, I think Indian Blessing will probably go wire to wire, but I still like Zaftig and Game Face.

What a field! I love both Shakis and Stream of Gold in here. Out of Control is a logical choice too, particularly since he stumbled in the stretch last out. Proudinsky looks dangerous as well as he does well off a freshening as does Better Talk Now winning on his return from an abysmal effort aboard last year. I think the pace is not going to be to Dancing Forever’s liking and I loved Pays to Dream’s last out but the turf was really soft as was the pace. I’ll probably play a little Stalingrad and Strike a Deal across the board too.

Obviously I’m bummed about Casino Drive but I am looking forward to seeing what looks to be a Triple Crown. I’ll be wheeling BB over several in supers, most likely most if not all of Tale of Ekati, Denis of Cork, Macho Again, Anak Nakal, Guadalcanal and Icabad Crane.

Good luck to everyone, enjoy your day and let’s get everyone home safe!!

Posted by dana on Jun 07 2008    
Filed Under: Indian Blessing, Benny the Bull, TBA, Raymond Haddad, Casino Drive, Anak Nakal, Denis of Cork, Tale of Ekati, Criminologist, 3yo, Thor's Echo, Belmont, Retirement Watch, Triple Crown, Handicapping, Turf, Belmont Stakes, Racing

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Tale of Ekati winning the Wood as my phone flies over the balcony at Aqueduct (Sarah K. Andrew)

Let’s start by examining my proclivity for procrastination. The upsides are clear, I tend to do things I normally wouldn’t like wash dishes, dust bust numerous hairballs from the Home Zoo and post plenty of “interesting content“.

This pathological behavior does, however, have a downside… one of them being that I didn’t end up with enough time to publish a post about why Tale of Ekati was my pick of the day yesterday before I had to run out to catch the A train to the Big A. But we’ll get to that (yes, I’m now going to meta-procrastinate).

Here’s a post I’ve been meaning to write for awhile, “Facebook, it’s not just for the rotten kids”. Of the many social networking sites, Facebook is the only one that “has delivered” for me for anything other than time wasting (don’t get me wrong, it’s great for that!) and proving that you’re a bigger hipster than everyone else.

I met the Hennegan Brothers on Facebook, taken part in many great discussions with people inside the industry, and now hung out with a fun bunch of Fans of Thoroughbred Racing in New York.

Group creator, the fabulous Ernie Munick (giving the thumbs up next Pablo Fragoso), organized the day billed as “Day of Degeneracy” to get people in the group to come out to the track and actually hang out (instead of just post on the group’s wall).

He also arranged for us to have our picture taken in the winner’s circle! I always wondered how to go about getting “Happy Birthday Adam “Swifty” Wiener” in the NYRA program, and now I know… you just call and give them $300! Get a group of 10 folks together and can’t afford not to do it.

Here we are, in all our glory (I’m on the far right… ironic, no?):

Note the title of the picture “Thoroughbred Racing in New York “Facebook”. It also said this in the program! This is what I meant by pioneering an analog/digital mashup… this is no doubt the first time a NYRA program has the word Facebook in it… I love it when worlds collide!

Several of the TBA folks were included in this group, Jessica at Railbird, Teresa at Brooklyn Backstretch and Alan at Left at Gate (who’s not pictured… he was very busy live blogging the whole day).

John stopped by for a few moments in between meeting, greeting and kissing babies to get folks to the premiere in 2 weeks. And of course, Swifty was there (behind Ernie in the Classy & Classic sunglasses)… we wouldn’t miss a chance to be in the winner’s circle, or perhaps more appropriately, the Wiener’s Circle (Swifty = Adam Wiener).

Did I mention it was nice out? Notice us there, no coats. We ended up sitting outside all day in a box right in front of the finish line. We were on the third floor and there was a little balcony right in front of us that was gated. The gate was rail height (about 3 feet?) so at one point Jessica started to climb over it to get a better view of the paddock below. A helpful NYRA employee came over and unlocked it for us, no doubt guessing that it would just be easier than telling us to stop climbing over it all day.

The races were great and the place was packed. When I go to a track, I like to play the card… maybe not every race, but I find it distracting to have to pop over to the TV to watch a race elsewhere and then have my final decision making time eaten into. Surprise, I also procrastinate when it comes to wagering! With this in mind I decided to take pass on playing the bazillion great stakes races not at Aqueduct.

Prior to the Wood I was doing ok, compared to how I’ve been doing on the year I was doing great, but by normal standards I was doing just OK. I had the exacta in the 6th which brought me back to within $4 of being even. I didn’t do anything interesting in the 7th or 8th, although Jessica & Swifty had Temporary Saint in the Excelsior, but the Wood was different story.

I’m always refining my handicapping style, looking for more efficient or productive ways to analyze the data. Some things I’ve started to do recently have really been helpful. I take several passes at all of the horses, in one of those passes I note the predominant running style and type of pace the horse needs to perform well. While looking at this aspect of the Wood, I noted that Tale of Ekati needed a faster pace than he got in Louisiana Derby to do his best.

In another pass I examine the workouts. Is there any pattern, how did they work prior to their last races, have they been training for endurance, speed, etc. My note on Maryfield prior to the BC was “if she fires a bullet work before the race, seriously consider her”… and she did.

Combine Tale of Ekati’s comment line with his recent two works. “Brushed break, no factor” and two handled 4F gate works at 47.2 and 47.4 geared towards increasing his speed out of the gate. I then went to watch the replay of the Louisiana Derby… bingo. He broke very tentatively, got headed and then checked out of the race. Combine all of this with impending speed duel on the front end ensuring a brisk pace and it looked really promising for Take of Ekati.

I also thought the race would set up well for Court Vision, Bill Mott didn’t put Inner Light in to help Take of Ekati! This was one of those rare times when a flash of handicapping insight occurs with my ability to wager correctly. Here’s what I did:

Tale of Ekati to Win
Exacta box of Tale of Ekati & Court Vision
Trifecta box of Tale of Ekati, Court Vision & War Pass
Anak Nakal across the board (I thought he would improve under this pace scenario, and he did, but not enough).

Fast forward to the race… Tale of Ekati broke like a dream (he’s a good student and Barclay Tagg is a good teacher!) and Inner Light was pushing War Pass into fast fractions. Things were all going according to plan. As they came into the stretch War Pass still had a decent lead but Tale of Ekati starts to come on, and come on strong.

As they come to the wire it looks like Tale of Ekati is going to get up in time… we’re all on the balcony jumping up and down, screaming like nuts when I notice something fly out of my inside jacket pocket.

Just as Tale of Ekati is making my day, my attention is turned to the box seats below to see my phone land right behind some unsuspecting guy and what appeared to be his father! It took me a few seconds to realize that Tale of Ekati did indeed win AND that I hit the tri!

I’m also happy to report that not only does my phone still work, it didn’t even have a scratch… and perhaps the best part is it didn’t injure anyone!

As if this all wasn’t great enough, I also managed to get over my fear of betting horses to win. I liked Curlin to win the Classic, Swifty and I spent almost 2 hours the night before discussing the favorites in the classic to compare and contrast each of them. Curlin it was, and at 9/2 did I bet him to win? No. This time, just like Tale of Ekati, I learned from last mistake and corrected it under favorable conditions.

It was a perfect day on many levels… and I was lucky enough to share it with some great folks! Of course it was nice to have a bunch of witnesses to a rare flash of handicapping insight, but the best part by far was that, contrary to what seems to be going on, racing felt very much alive.

Posted by dana on Apr 06 2008    
Filed Under: Wrap Up, TBA, Maryfield, War Pass, Sarah K. Andrew, Aqueduct, Court Vision, Tale of Ekati, Running Style, 2008, Internet, Trifecta, Exacta, Handicapping, Derby Trail, Curlin, Fans, Barclay Tagg, NYRA, Workouts, First Saturday in May, Hennegan Brothers, Come Back, Racing

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