Sea The Stars makes it look easy in the Irish Championship Stakes at Leopardstown. My only question is if the race call is a DIY by the person who made the video? (No)
Next stop on the Saturday party train, Saratoga!
Posted by dana on Sep 05 2009
Filed Under: :), 2009, Rachel Alexandra, YouTube, International Racing, Saratoga, Race Replay, Racing
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Before we gear up for an excellent weekend of racing it’s worth noting a few interesting smack downs, some smackier than others.
Alex Waldrop turned in the most web savvy move seen by racing executive to date with his timely reply to Joe Drape’s recent NY Times article “Derby Nears, but Safety Rules Don’t“. It seems as though the message that Web 2.0 isn’t just a collection of platforms but an overall approach has been has been signed, sealed and delivered!
Waldrop quickly and directly speaks to the points raised in Drape’s article (with extra points for the title “Five Facts You Won’t Read in the New York Times”), which is what all that crazy enabling technology is meant to do… you know, enable timely, appropriate responses. But the most savvy move might have been the 1-2 punch of promotion & call to action, asking people to directly communicate with Drape while providing his email and twitter stream. That’s a move anyone could be proud of, well done sir!
Regardless of where you come down on this family feud, it’s execution was noteworthy. Sure, Drape is taking a stand to make a point and good for him… he has a forum and some good points. However, this sentiment:
Gosden, Mafaaz’s trainer, insists that a healthy 3-year-old should not need medication to race. He should know; he worked in California in the early 1980s when he trained two Eclipse champions. In October he brought Raven’s Pass to Santa Anita and upset the United States’ two-time Horse of the Year, Curlin, in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
conveniently leaves out that Raven’s Pass ran on Lasix & Bute in Classic, which might not have made his point so air tight. Also interesting to note that it looks like Waldrop’s letter to the editor hasn’t been published (or I just can’t find it, which is entirely possible given that I couldn’t find Davidowitz’s without someone giving me the link).
Speaking of Steve Davidowitz, our next match-up features the stunning akido moves of Davidowitz in reply to racing’s “biggest fan”, William C. Rhoden. While Rhoden’s current article, Horse Racing Begins Reform, but Legal Drugs Are Still an Issue, is somewhat toned down compared previous articles, it still not without it’s moments.
Racing enthusiasts seem to feel that the general public, rather than being horrified, should view these breakdowns the way boxing fans and pro football fans look at catastrophic injuries: as unfortunate but inevitable consequences of difficult sports.
While I would have liked to have seen Davidowitz (or anyone) call out Rhoden’s inference that racing enthusiasts are not sufficiently horrified by breakdowns as an inappropriate siren song for the ill informed Stepford-esque racing haters, Davidowitz chooses instead to deftly point out that “enthusiasts” and the dwindling racing press are not only horrified but have also been saying the same things as Rhoden for quite some time.
But I hate drugs in racing. I hate them in racing as much as I despise them in baseball, Olympic track and field, world-class cycling and in the locker rooms of our high school and college athletes. At their core, drugs in athletic forums pose dangers to athletes, and they corrupt the idea of a level playing field for fans who root for their favorites or have the legal license to wager on a fair and square outcome.
I am not the only member of the so-called racing press who feels this way and has expressed it in hundreds of forums. But we are a dying breed, with minimal influence, thanks to newspapers’ general abdication of the journalistic imperative to cover this megabillion-dollar sport/game in favor of using wire service summaries and public-relations releases written by racing officials who remain blind to the No. 1 cause of breakdowns and to the collateral loss of public confidence that has eroded the sport’s standing in America.
I applaud you for putting a clear focus on the issue in The New York Times in a nonsensationalistic manner. Your column ably sent a message to racing officials to examine how the sport is failing to see the need to go beyond its improved safety practices.
Any rational human has to know that nothing less than an end to legalized drugs for racing purposes will save the sport for the future. Analgesic drugs like phenylbutazone (bute) and powerful diuretics like furosemide (Lasix) may be beneficial as part of a curative medical regimen. But they do not belong in the competitive arena.
Turning the tables and applauding him while simultaneously pointing out that his assertion is inaccurate without coming right out and saying it deserves another big “well done sir”!
And speaking of alleged drug-free racing, check out Pat Cummings’ Dubai Race Night, great coverage of preparations afoot in the desert.
Posted by dana on Mar 25 2009
Filed Under: Dubai World Cup, Drugs, Industry, Safety, 2009, Steve Davidowitz, NTRA, Curlin, Derby Trail, International Racing, Media, Racing
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(raymond)
So what just happened over the weekend? I’m not entirely sure but there’s definitely a lot to think about.
Regular GbG commenters Jason and John offer some points I hadn’t yet considered.
Jason says:
Bottom line, this BC was a disaster. Let’s see how many East Coast horses show up next year. I’m guessing between 3-5 and they will all be turf horses.
Fair point, I wouldn’t send my dirt horse next year without a real prep over the surface but I wasn’t convinced that made it a disaster as much as a monkey wrench in the wheels of determining a champion.
In my mind Curlin is still a dirt champion. He was beat on a new surface by some very talented turf horses that he probably would have beaten on conventional dirt. Good for Jackson & company for not shying away from the challenge. While I would have loooooved to have seen Curlin win, Jackson has done what fans have been asking owners to do… run your horse regularly and challenge them.
And building on some of Jason’s points, John aptly puts it this way:
Finally, the artificial surfaces have thrown the American game into an identity crisis. Our horses, finally being weaned, I assume, from their drug regimens, were teetering on the stage of world class to begin with; now, however, we’re split on what an American race horse is. The division of synthetic runners and dirt runners further muddies any conclusions we might want to make about who is the best of the best.
We have effectively divided the union via surface civil war.
But is change really so bad? Jessica plays synthetics devil’s advocate:
Let me play devil’s advocate here … what would be so bad about dirt racing disappearing, leaving synthetic and turf surfaces only?
And regular commenter, o_crunk shares this thought:
BC may be on to something longterm on synths, certainly leaves TC events with a musty old smell. Things change, maybe this *is* better?
I’m not against synthetics as much as I am in favor of doing everything possible to create and maintain safe dirt surfaces. I’m also not against the challenge of trying to figure out how handicap the synthetics. But, it’s gonna to be a long strange period of having “dirt” horses and “synthetic” horses while all of these issues get ironed out. If we do move away from dirt, is there really any reason to race on anything other turf? Did synthetics seem different enough from turf to warrant maintaining two types of surfaces? I don’t know and perhaps only time will tell.
Since the TC, the last bastion of conventional dirt, is a bigger driver of the breeding industry than the BC, it should be interesting to see how this past weekend will start to affect the status quo re: breeding. Jason raised the same question:
I wonder how this is going to affect the Breeding Industry. The next time (after 2009) Santa Anita is announced as the site of the Breeder’s Cup, who is going to pay big money for the traditional big dirt sire yearling’s?
Val at Foolish Pleasure takes up this issue and more with her stellar post entitled Death Knell of Dirt Racing. As always, she’s a must read.
Crist has done a great job providing detail on the 2 day handle that the BC proclaims to be a success. Friday’s breakdown can be found here and Saturday’s here. Other’s have also addressed the blantant spin. Crist promises to do more analysis in the coming days but a quick apples to apples look at the Classic notes the numbers at $37,748,057 for 2006 at Churchill, $30,988,618 for 2007 at Monmouth and $24,282,451 for 2008 at Santa Anita.
Frank of That’s Amore Stables sums up some of what I’ve been thinking, that Fillies & Mares and Invaders were real stars of the show (and notably, no invaders won on Friday… although Heart Shaped almost did!). Princess Haya goes one better by showing who wears the horse picking pants in the family at Darley!
As others have noted, having the Fillies & Mares on Friday deprived a whole lot of potential new fans (and many existing ones!) of a true showcase of greatness. Kevin of Colin’s Ghost sums it up:
Missed opportunity with Zenyatta especially with her possibly returning next year. How many “new fans” watching on a Friday evening?
And in closing, in case it wasn’t already clear that changes are a foot, look no further than this… something we all can agree on!
Posted by dana on Oct 26 2008
Filed Under: 2008, Raymond Haddad, Zenyatta, Santa Anita, Turf, Curlin, Breeders' Cup, International Racing, Racing
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Zarkava at Longchamp last October (kanzebu)
Zarkava made short work of the impressive Arc field today, which prompted Raceday360 to declare the this the “Year of the Chick“.
TRNY member and pal Carol also noted that the “Z” girls really have it this year. Indeed, now if they would just run our “Z” girl in the Classic.
Gloat note: I had the exacta in the Arc… those payouts were nice! Ah, money in the pools.
Now in English thanks to E’s head’s up! It includes the parade as well, the race starts at around 3:40.
Posted by dana on Oct 05 2008
Filed Under: Sportsmanship, Exacta, 2008, Zenyatta, Impressive, YouTube, Turf, Breeders' Cup, Race Replay, International Racing, Inspirational, Racing
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...I think Curlin ran well but his solid second wasn’t the unwavering “full speed ahead” signal we all had hoped for.
If anyone can learn quickly, it’s Curlin. I’m always blown away when I think about how much he learned between the Derby and the Preakness. The Derby was the first time he wasn’t on the pace and the first time he couldn’t easily put away a field. But he came right back in the Preakness and owned sitting off the pace and suddenly showed off his new found skill of looking an opponent in the eye and going after him.
I’m hoping he’ll be the same overachieving student after the Man o’War:
So, what would you do? Run him again on the turf in the states? Should they change the target to the BC Turf? Should he just stick to dirt OR stick to the plan for the Arc? I’m not sure how I feel about it, I’m leaning towards another turf try here in the states and then ship him for a prep race if works out well.
In the last poll, 16 of you (me included) thought Zenyatta should train for the Classic, 15 of you thought she could be interesting and 12 of you gave the whole idea a big thumbs down. Her performance in the Vanity no doubt helped in the No department but I still think at the very least she’s an interesting prospect for the Classic, particularly given the absence of Heatseeker and Curlin.
Thanks to all who participated in the last poll and I’ll so some much needed catch up posting tomorrow!
Posted by dana on Jul 12 2008
Filed Under: 2008, BC Classic, Poll, 4yo, Zenyatta, YouTube, Turf, Fans, Curlin, Race Replay, International Racing, Racing
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