I see #11, #10, #9, #5, #4 and #2! (EVENT OF THE YEAR PHOTOS)

It’s getting to be that time of the year, the time for year end polls! Thoroughbred Times unveiled theirs today and it’s pretty good. Last week they asked for some feedback and ideas on Twitter and my suggestion became question 14!

But the three answers on the Thoroughbred Times poll aren’t the only fan friendly moves that took place this year. In fact, I would argue it was a great year to be racing fan. Plenty of talent racing? Check. Exciting and down right historical races? Yep. The industry remembering that owners and breeders are not their only customers? Indeed and a welcome trend it is.

In no particular order other than as they came to me, here’s what I came up with so far, let me know in the comments what else I’ve missed. There could even be more! I didn’t include Churchill’s night racing because of the complaints of the ticket price ($10). But, if you think it belongs in the poll let me know.

BC saddle cloth standardization
Some people didn’t like this while others gave it the big “eh”. This is actually my vote for most player friendly move. I know it helped me to be able to tell who was who both in the warm up and the races.

BC ticket prices
It’s always nice not to be gouged! This move received plenty of positive response in the form of “it’s about time” (the horseplayers version of positive feedback?). It seems to have worked since attendance was up 11%!

BC online ticket sales
It seems so simple yet so few do it, moving ticket sales online might have also helped with the attendance increase. Should I be filling out my Saratoga form yet? Where’s that pen?

CD/KEE/FG in HD
Several tracks started broadcasting their simulcast signals in HD this year and Allicansayiswow! Seriously, this game was meant to be broadcast in HD and not to harp on a point (stage whisper) all the other sports are doing it.

YouBet My ROI
If you don’t have a YouBet account you’re missing out on some serious metrics. With a single click you can determine your ROI by track, bet type, surface, race type, breed, distance, trainer and jockey/driver. I seriously hope this feature is rolled into TwinSpires. TwinSpiresTV + My ROI = perfection.

@BH_RaceResults
Oh ye of little Twitter faith are missing a handy Twitter stream provided by Bloodhorse that provides race results from what seems to be every track. Each result also links to a handy race result page on the Bloodhorse site that provides results, payouts, pedigree information and replays where available.

DRF’s Digitized Archive
The beginnings of the DRF’s outstanding digital archive was rolled out by the Keeneland Library this year. Obviously this is an incredible and important source available for all to use, for free… so feel free to donate while you’re whiling away the hours over there!

DRF Ticketmaker
Making tickets for multi-race exotics is a giant pain, but thanks to DRF you can now get a little help! I don’t get that fancy with the multi-race wagers but the few times I did it took freakin’ forever to make the tickets, and that time is better spent making actual handicapping decisions.

Equibase Scratches Today
We have our pals at HANA to thank for the next two entries. Through their hard work and perseverance on behalf of players everywhere, Equibase now provides real time scratches! Another one to file under “it’s about time”.

Bris/Equibase Free Historical Charts
And finally, some free data for the people! Sure one can quibble that Bris requires a credit card AND your social security number to open an account (and to add insult to injury the SS# is for forgotten password verification! feel free to use a fake SS# when registering, just write it down in case you forget your password! FAIL.). But back to the data, say it with me everyone… “it’s about time!”.

Three cheers and keep up the good work to all in the industry who have pushed for and succeeded in getting innovations and change on behalf of fans and players. THANK YOU!

In our last poll about Lava Man being back in training, the majority of you were cautiously optimistic and jazzed about stem cells. This poll started off in a dead heat. Up until about 16 votes in each category it could have gone to any of the answers. He still hasn’t raced so we’ll just continue to be cautiously optimistic and know that at the very least he’s probably more happy training than hanging out in the pasture.

As always, thanks!

Update - Late Entry!

TwinSpires Cancel Bet
I KNEW I was forgetting something! How many times have you wished you could cancel a bet? (and I’m not talking about after the race!) Of course, the first time I used this featured the bet I canceled ended up being the winning exacta, but that doesn’t mean the feature isn’t innovative and fan friendly!

Posted by dana on Nov 17 2009    
Filed Under: Impressive, 2009, Twitter, HANA, Industry, Poll, Fans, Lava Man, :), Internet, Racing

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(Sarah K. Andrew)

I’m no investigative journalist (or any kind journalist for that matter) however I am a Facebook user. And on Facebook I uncovered (just happened to notice) that a Facebook friend (i.e., someone I don’t know otherwise) who works for a horse transportation charter said their phones were ringing off the hook this morning with people wanting to ship their horses to California.

And who can blame them after how well shippers did yesterday. Cowboy Cal and Gitano Hernando shipped in to California while Court Vision, Diamondrella and Negligee all shipped in to Keeneland for the win.

While it doesn’t look like there are any local preps left at Santa Anita, perhaps Cowboy Cal’s win yesterday has emboldened connections to throw caution to wind against B-list euro shippers such as Gitano Hernando.

Speaking of which, who knows what the heck is going to come over from Europe. This little passage in the Thoroughbred Times Goodwood article hints at what’s to come.

If the Goodwood is an indicator of how the Breeders’ Cup Classic will unfold in four weeks, the American contenders could be in trouble after Gitano Hernando, Group 3-placed in England, turned aside some of the strongest Classic contenders. Last year, European-based runners Raven’s Pass and Henrythenavigator finished first and second, respectively, in the Classic, and this year superstar Sea The Stars and Group 1 winners Rip Van Winkle and Mastercraftsman are among the potential European contingent for the Classic.

You can always check in here to find out more about the euros.

Since I doubled my money yesterday, primarily because of the Oak Tree races (and a whole lotta luck… parade handicapping seems to be surface agnostic!), I’m looking forward to seeing who and what turns up in California. It should be interesting… that is if you’re willing to look at it the whole affair as it’s own particular set of circumstances. If not, you’re probably going to be miserable and probably not even bet on the Breeders’ Cup… it’s your choice!

And regardless of what you think about any of this, racing got some big time mainstream sports coverage yesterday…

Can I get some love from the racing tweeps. Two Big Time races were part of college football on ESPN yestrday. That’s huge…

And I thought it was played very well - seeing Lou Holz talk about horse racing “trifectas” was an unexpected gem

Huge? Indeed.

Posted by dana on Oct 11 2009    
Filed Under: Industry, Keeneland, 2009, Twitter, Internet, Court Vision, Breeders' Cup, Santa Anita, Sarah K. Andrew, Mainstream Media, Racing

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One of the points used to prove that Jess Jackson is not a sportsman is that he stated that he wished the Woodward purse was a bit higher.

Is he being a persnickety rich guy or pointing out a genuine inequity in a purse structure that favors breeding your talented 3yos versus campaigning them at 4? He’s probably being a persnickety rich guy (not that I care, see points 1-3), but this also raises an interesting point.

Who among us has not bemoaned the retirement of a talented 3yo colt bound for the shed? Who among us doesn’t want to see our “stars” (because 3yo colts are the only ones marketed to a mainstream audience) race longer?

Let’s face it, there’s no financial incentive for owners to return their talented 3yo to the track and the purse difference between the $1M Travers or $1M Pennsylvania Derby vs the $500k Woodward couldn’t be a better example.

Our friend Frank at That’s Amore Stables elaborated brilliantly last year:

Consider this: on the same weekend that Big Brown contested the $2 million Kentucky Derby, the richest race at Churchill for four year-olds was the $500,000 Turf Classic.

At Pimlico, older males ran in the $250,000 Pimlico Special while Big Brown was cleaning up in the $1 million Preakness.

And in New York, while Big Brown tries to secure the Triple Crown in the $1 million Belmont, older males will tussle on the turf in the $400,000 Manhattan.

In other words, while Big Brown was running for $4 million in purses, your older horse — call him Old Grey — topped out at $1,150,000. Old Grey was running for less than 30 percent of the purses available to Big Brown.

While JJ is probably playing a little poker to see if he can get NYRA to sweeten the pot, he inadvertently highlights systemic measures in place to support the “bred to be a stallion” phenomena. Now there’s something to complain about!

Posted by dana on Aug 23 2009    
Filed Under: 4yo, Industry, Big Brown, 2009, Sportsmanship, 3yo, Breeding, Let Horses Race, Retirement, NYRA, Racing

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I offer this hypnotic video of Rachel’s recent work at Saratoga (thanks Raceday360!).

And when you’re done with that and want to read some in-depth and insightful analysis about what the numbers at the recent Saratoga sale could imply for racing, direct your browser here.

(NYRAvideo)

Posted by dana on Aug 17 2009    
Filed Under: Industry, 2009, Rachel Alexandra, Steve Asmussen, Workouts, Saratoga, NYRA, Racing

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(Sarah K. Andrew)

Much to the delight of this horseplayer, the Breeders’ Cup announced today that it’s finally adopting the standard saddle cloths! Anyone who’s read this blog for any length of time knows that this is an issue I’ve been whining about discussing for quite some time. So a hearty “Thank You” to Breeders’ Cup for listening to fan feedback and taking action!

The Breeders’ Cup made its decision to switch to the standard colored system following discussions with its Fan Advisory Council and with horseplayers across the U.S. and Canada and as part of the long-range planning being undertaken by the organization.

A big thanks also goes out to all who signed the Take Back the Race Petition last year. Because of the petition a few of us were lucky enough to be some of the horseplayers to meet with the Breeders’ Cup face to face to discuss many issues effecting fans.

Point 2 of the Take Back the Race Petition stated:

Create a fan committee representing the diversity of the racing audience to provide ideas and feedback on proposed changes and marketing plans to the Breeders’ Cup

The Fan Advisory Council, which they mention in the press release, is just that. I’m lucky enough to be a member along with Patrick of TBA/Handride, Ernie of TRNY, some HANA members and a wide cross section of fans and players. No doubt there are more changes that we’d all like to see, but the changes have started and there’s a mechanism for feedback and dialog.

It’s nice to have something to be cheerful about, especially in combination with some of the other recent unexpected good news. As Swifty is fond of saying, who deserves it more than us?

Posted by dana on Aug 11 2009    
Filed Under: Industry, 2009, HANA, Take Back the Race, :), Fans, Breeders' Cup, Sarah K. Andrew, Racing

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