Insert obligatory sentiment about being bummed yet relieved that Zenyatta was scratched. Follow-up with note about looking forward to seeing her debut.

Now that that’s out of the way… I didn’t handicap the Aegan Turf Sprint so let’s start with Zenyatta-less Louisville Handicap.

One Caroline will probably win, but it’s worth noting that her smallest winning margin aside from her maiden win was with Swift Temper right behind her pressing the pace. So far the track has been speed favoring so it also wouldn’t be a surprise to see Swift Temper steal it but I’m gonna take a shot with Miss Isella. Unlike Swift Temper who has run 5 times at Churchill and only showed once, Miss Isella has won 3 and placed once for the same amount of races. She’s also won 2nd off and with the switch from synthetics to dirt. I think she’ll sit off the pace on the outside (the money spot so far) and with any luck she can get it done. Unbridled Belle is always a wild card for me, I like her a little bit here as she does well off a break but she doesn’t seem to like the slop. No doubt she’ll be short a price as well. I might even box Miss Isella and Swift Temper depending on how the look in the parade. I will definitely use One Caroline in Pick 3s but am looking elsewhere in the race.

Update: Miss Isella scores and pays $19.40, the day is off to a great start!

In the Edgewood Laragh looks to be very short price. I’ll single her in Pick a 3 & Pick 4 but am looking at Magical Affair and Abbott Hall for value.

Update: Laragh won impressively with a quick closing Magical Affair getting up for second, I’ve still got one Pick 4 ticket alive but am out of the Pick 3.

Dr. Pleasure looks like he could wire the field in the Alysheba. Macho Again and Mambo in Seattle will probably take most of the money and perhaps Macho Again can make it 2 back to back on a sloppy track, but I’ll be looking to the better priced Bullsbay, and long shot Shift in Power, who both love Churchill and the distance. I don’t think Cool Coal Man will press the pace too much so both Bullsbay and Shift in Power might get the moderate that suits them. Off course, Macho Again might ruin my long shot fun, but so be it!

Update: Bullsbay gets by an impressive looking Cool Coal Man, I didn’t play the race right but have 2 live Pick 3 tickets.

I’m not going too wild with long shots in the American Turf as I think Stormalory and Julien Leparoux will get the job done. I also like Battle of Hastings but I do think Bruce N Autumn is interesting as he’ll be back on the turf at Churchill, the site of his only win which was exactly at the distance. I might throw him into a tri with the other 2 for fun but am unlikely to use him in a Pick 4.

Update: Sadly, Stormalory broke down after taking a bad step during the break and had to by euthanized. Condolences to his connections, Orthodox pulled a major upset over Battle of Hastings. If there’s any upside to be had in these situations, it was nice to see Jon Court of Animal Planet’s Jockeys show get some vindication and nice pay day on Orthodox.

And for the Oaks, it’s hard to see Rachel Alexandra losing, but if she does I definitely don’t want to miss out on the fun! It’s not like she’s undefeated and anyone can have an off day. Obviously I’ll single her in a Pick 4 but I think Justwhistledixie, Gabby’s Golden Gal and Flying Spur all look very interesting. I’ll have one crazy Pick 4 ticket including those 3 and wait to see how the look in the parade before I decide how to play it.

Update: Feast your eyes on the incredible greatness of Rachel Alexandra, the 2009 Triple Crown winner… oh, wait. Dammit!

Good luck, and let’s get everyone home safe!

Posted by dana on May 01 2009    
Filed Under: 2009, Impressive, Jon Court, Rachel Alexandra, Pick 3, Zenyatta, Picks, 3yo, That's Why They Call it Gambling, Pick 4, Churchill Downs, Kentucky Oaks, Racing

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I’m a little perturbed with all the spin about Stardom Bound being “barely best” beating an “unheralded” field and that her connections should face the “sobering reality”.

I couldn’t sum it up any better than Alan at LATG when he says:

Expecting to read the praises of the gritty win by Stardom Bound in the SA Oaks, I was surprised, and rather disappointed, to instead see it being framed in disappointment.

As Frankel put it, “She only ran 10 lengths farther than anybody else in the race”. Call me crazy, but I think having to overcome a wide, hideous, bumpy trip and still gutting it out to win is a plus, not a minus. But when one gets away on an easy lead with no challenge and wins by several lengths, well that’s impressive.

She’s staying put in my top 10 list for the PDI Index, I liked what I saw. (update: I removed her from my list after they announced she was off the trail. If she were still on the trail she would have remained at #2). Would I rather she had an effortless 6 length win? Sure, but what would she get out of that? The Oaks was probably the kind of race she needed if she wants to step up in to open company, and I hope she does!

But what do you think? Do you agree with Iavarone’s oversimplified (whoops, sorry!) assessment that she could “barely beat the girls” or do think she’s shown she can still get the job done even under adverse circumstances?

As for the last poll, it should come as no surprise that Chantal Sutherland was your favorite jock on Jockeys, Win or Die Trying. But, just like Stardom Bound in the Oaks, it wasn’t a runaway and she had to gut it out for the win! In the beginning it was a battle between Talamo & Gryder, but it didn’t take long for Sutherland & Smith to take over and battle for the lead. All the while Kayla Stra was in the mix and for several days she was on top!

There were a whopping 191 votes, that’s almost double the last most voted on poll (your biggest issue with the Breeders’ Cup) and I didn’t even promote this one! The final tally was 45 for Sutherland, 43 for Smith, 42 for Stra, 27 for Talamo, 26 for Gryder and 8 for Court.

As always, thanks for voting, even if you did you show up from a Google search for “pictures of Chantal Sutherland”!

Posted by dana on Mar 08 2009    
Filed Under: Kayla Stra, Jockeys TV Show, Iavarone, Aaron Gryder, Joe Talamo, I Want Revenge, Jon Court, Mike Smith, Stardom Bound, Chantal Sutherland, Derby Trail, Grrrr, Bobby Frankel, Poll, 2009, Impressive, Racing

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Kayla Stra with her mount prior to a race (yausser)

Hello Googlers! It’s come to my attention (by way of Google) that you might interested in learning more about Chantal Sutherland and Kayla Stra. While you won’t find any sexy, naked or bikini pictures here, I do have some good news!

Both lovely and talented jocks were in the money this weekend and Stra even brought home a 8-1 shot in the 5th on Sunday! What does that mean? It means at least a few of the horses they were riding finished 1st, 2nd or 3rd, also known as win, place and show or “in the money”.

When the jock is riding the winning horse, they share a percentage of the winnings, known as the purse. In show “Jockeys, Win or Die Trying” they make it seem as though the Jockeys take the whole purse, not the case. The jockeys, along with the trainers, take a percentage of the winnings. Of course, jockeys then have to pay their agents a percentage. And in some cases the purse is split up among the finishers.

Thanks to commenter Bob Lee for providing this reference from Chris McCarron’s North American Racing Academy (jockey school!):

Jockeys are paid on a per mount (race) basis. The fees are between $30 per mount and $100 per mount depending on the purse structure at each particular track. Those are the fees jockeys receive if they do not finish first, second or third. The jockey of the winning horse receives an amount equal to 10% of the winning owner’ s share of the total purse. (The winning owner in most states receives 60% of the total purse.) The second place jockey receives 5% of the owner’ s share of the second place purse money. (The second place owner receives 20% of the total purse in most states.) The third place jockey receives 5% of the owner’ s share of the third place purse money. (The third place owner receives 15% of the total purse in most states.) The most successful jockeys can earn over a million dollars a year. The least successful will make less the $20,000 per year. The record for purse earnings in one year by a jockey is $23,354,960.00* set by Jerry Bailey in 2003. *These are the earnings of the horses, not the jockey. As a rule of thumb, a jockey’ s real earnings are approximately 7% of the horses’ earnings.

For example, in the the aforementioned 5th on Sunday, Ju Ju Baby ($18.40) won a $16,300 maiden claimer in which $9,000 went to the winner, $3,000 went to the 2nd place finisher, $1,800 to the third, $900 to the fourth and $400 to 5th-8th (there were 8 horses running in this race). Figure 10% for Stra of Ju Ju Baby’s winnings and some percentage of that for her agent (15-25% maybe?). Worst case scenario she made $675 and best she made $765.

On Saturday Stra also placed (came in second) with long shot Goodlookindude in the 10th, a maiden claimer with a purse of $17,000. She got 5% of $3,000 less the agent’s fee for somewhere between $112.50 to $127.50. While obviously not fabulous money, ya gotta start somewhere and she’s starting to 1) build relationships and 2) get a rep for bringing home long shots . . . both are good.

Sutherland hit the board for 3rd with long shot Victory Pete ($17.40) in the Strub, a Grade II with a $250,000 purse. The winner took home $150,000, second took $50,000, third took $30,000, fourth took $15,000 and fifth took $5,000. So Sutherland’s take was $1,500 less her agent’s fee for somewhere in the range of $1,125 to $1,275.

If you want to keep an eye on how Sutherland, Stra, Mike Smith, Joe Talamo, Jon Court or Aaron Gryder are doing, you can always go to the Daily Racing Form to see the results. Scroll down to Santa Anita and click on a date (or if you don’t see Santa Anita, look for Hollywood Park or Fairplex… these are the southern Cali racing circuit tracks). Here are the results for this past Saturday and Sunday. If you want to find out when they’re racing, check out the entries!

In other Lady Jock news, I noticed over the weekend that there’s another new racing film called The Boys Club about hall of fame jockey Julie Krone. There’s not a ton of detail about the production but it says that it will be filming on location in 2009… does this mean we’ll the cast and crew at Belmont and Saratoga? I hope so!

There’s also Jock, the Movie in production, or perhaps even post-production, about the first generation of women jockeys. And let’s not forget Female on the Horse, a site that features hundreds of interviews with female jockeys.

But if you just wanted to look at pictures of Sutherland and Stra, you can do that too!

Posted by dana on Feb 09 2009    
Filed Under: Kayla Stra, Aaron Gryder, Joe Talamo, Jon Court, Jockeys TV Show, Mike Smith, Fans, Chantal Sutherland, 2009, Racing

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