(Sarah K. Andrew)

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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(AvrilLynn)

And it’s not the NTRA’s fault!

On the long flight back from the NTRA Marketing Summit in the fall, I caught an episode of Law & Order that I hadn’t seen (Jet Blue, darling). This is a rarity. The episode centered around a racially motived killing of a black man. The DA’s office didn’t have enough evidence to the make a solid case against the suspect so they were holding off on an arrest until they could make a proper case. The media was roasting them for not making an arrest and to make matters worse, the family of the victim assumed the worst and was going to every media outlet to rant about how the DA’s office didn’t care about them because they were black.

Meanwhile, back at the DA’s office, they were working overtime to try to get enough evidence to make a solid case… sure, they could have arrested the suspect right away but they didn’t want to risk going to trial without proper evidence and a solid case. They wanted to nail the suspect as much as anyone else. In short, they were doing the right thing. Only the media didn’t know it and the family of the victim didn’t believe it, so they forced the DA’s hand to make an arrest before they had all the evidence and guess what happened. It didn’t hold up in court.

Oh, the irony that the DA’s good intentions and hard work were unknown to the public. Admittedly, the DA’s office could have done more to let the people know they were working their tushes off and doing the right thing, but that would take valuable time and effort from them working their tushes off and doing the right thing.

By all accounts “Jockeys, Win or Die Trying” seems to be doing well, I’ve even heard a rumor that there will be a second season. If my traffic growth from searches for all things “Jockeys” is any indication, there’s a lot of potential to generate new fans.

Right after it became clear that the series was not going to only be the breakdown packed jamboree that was the promotion, I started muttering how it would be great to do some promotion for Derby preps during Jockeys.

Last week the Derby prep schedule was announced. Here’s what happened on Twitter 2 seconds after seeing it…

Me: “sure hope they plan to advertise these races during Jockeys, Win or Die Trying”

Others immediately chimed in with:

“I think that would make entirely too much sense to be allowed.”

“No chance anyone gets that bright idea.”

“ESPN has the money to advertise on Animal Planet, right?”

“If not ESPN, then how about the NTRA? Isn’t their mission to promote the game?”

“NTRA pretty much pays to have the shows on ESPN in the first place.”

Tough crowd! This time last year I would have immediately rattled off a post about the missed opportunity assuming that everyone involved was asleep at the wheel. This year I decided I would just send my thoughts directly to Alex Waldrop, subject “You probably already thought of this…”.

As it turns out, indeed they had thought of it AND looked into it. Sure money and available slots for advertising are always issues, and to add insult to injury the preps start airing the week AFTER the series ends. But let’s say there is a second season, and that second season even overlaps with actual racing. Then we certainly could and should plan to do some strategic advertisements on Friday night to “Take Back Saturday“, right? How perfect!

Not so fast, according to Waldrop:

The issue is one of network limitation. Animal Planet will not tolerate an ad that sends the viewer to another network. While exclusivity is a dirty work in the horse racing TV world, it is alive and well in the major network world.

How do you like them apples… something stupid not in racing!

Who knows when the alleged second season would be. Perhaps if there’s overlap with the Derby or the Breeders Cup there could be general, not driving viewers to another network, promotion sending viewers to KentuckyDerby.com or BreedersCup.com where they could find out when and where they could watch.

Waldrop assures me that they will be exploring all of their options. And I believe him, even though I’m sure there plenty of you out there won’t. And I can’t say that I blame you, sometimes it seems like no one is paying attention to the obvious stuff.

In one of his replies, after answering a question he wrote “Running into an NTRA Board meeting for final approval of the Alliance Code of Standards”. After meeting Waldrop et al and seeing them in action, I now assume that they’re doing the right thing… even if they’re too busy doing the right thing to always let us know everything that’s going on.

Posted by dana on Mar 04 2009    
Filed Under: Industry, 2009, Jockeys TV Show, Twitter, Internet, Mainstream Media, Derby Trail, Marketing, TV, NTRA, Racing

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Winter racing at Aqueduct (Walter Kobbe)

Those of you on Facebook have no doubt already seen this fine little meme floating around and perhaps even done it yourself. You do a Google search with your name and needs, e.g., “dana needs” and then write down the first 10 results.

As of yesterday mine were… dana needs:
1. some breathing room
2. three imaginary girls
3. help
4. a self-embedding of a U-Box
5. some advice about her old girlfriend
6. a lot of comforting
7. a dose of transarency, accountablitilty (sic)
8. emergency prayers
9. to slay the beast
10. to eat some breakfast

So why not ask Google what racing needs? It did a pretty good job on my list. I’d say 1, 3, possibly 4 (if I knew what that was), 6, 7, 9 and 10 are definitely true. Not sure I’d limit 2 to only three and I’m happy to report that at this time 5 is not valid, but if it were then I think 8 would also be in order.

According to Google, horse racing needs:
1. an authority figure
2. Big Brown vs. Curlin
3. a revolution
4. a permanent fix
5. to get jockeys into position
6. more than a slogan
7. to change
8. to look at it’s future
9. U
10. to change it’s approach

Go Google! All but 2 & 5 seem right on to me. Forget committees and reports and studies… that takes time and money, Google can identify and prioritize issues in 0.24 seconds! But why stop with just racing in general, I’m sure Google can be of more assistance.

NTRA needs:
1. to show it supports it’s stars
2. to address this
3. to do everything in its power to prevent the closure of any more racetracks
4. the AQHAs money for lobbying efforts
5. to elaborate and defines what is
6. needs to talk
7. to go unless they become an all encompassing regulatory body that enforces across the US
8. to get a load of this too
9. to embrace the obvious
10. to be more democratic, more open

Breeders’ Cup needs:
1. to change conditions if it is to compete with international rivals
2. Some Fine-Tuning
3. to put a plan in place, like NASCAR did
4. to find a new announcer
5. Another Race
6. to name a race in honor of Wayne Lukas
7. to focus less on hustling a quick buck at the expense of the fans
8. to plan well in advance
9. to get the color-coded saddle towels
10. a star

NYRA needs:
1. to stop the temper tantrum and realize that they screwed up
2. to rethink its focus
3. a bailout
4. to review how it provides passes and boxes to public officers
5. your help to continue moving forward
6. dramatic reform
7. to do is create a Belmont week that features live racing and family-friendly festivities through the Belmont Stakes
8. a response blog
9. your help
10. new – not just new, but better – direction

And there you have it. Racing, 99% more efficient thanks to Google! Too bad Google doesn’t have a “how to implement” algorithm.

Posted by dana on Feb 25 2009    
Filed Under: Industry, Big Brown, Walter Kobbe, 2009, Internet, NYRA, Curlin, Breeders' Cup, NTRA, Racing

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Stardom Bound & Mike Smith waltz home in the Las Virgenes (Charles Pravata)

Or are things looking up? “Jockeys, Win or Die Trying”, much to the relief of this viewer, turned out to be more substantive than the breakdown packed promotion. This year’s 3yo crop is looking deeper and more consistent than last years and, at least for the moment, there doesn’t seem to be much of anything to bitch about (I know, give it time).

Not that I’m a traffic whore (total lie) but Chantal Sutherland and Zenyatta have been the two most frequent searches to make their way to GbG post-”Jockeys”. Sutherland was already my biggest traffic driver from search results but I’m happy to see that the show not only gave Zenyatta decent coverage, but that it’s resulting in people wanting to know more. The racing camera work is downright stunning and does a lot to promote the game… it’s already exciting enough from the grandstand, but seeing like that should certainly peak some interest.

I do have a few small gripes. I thought they did a touch too much cutting back and forth during the Lady’s Secret stretch drive. The drama of the stretch drive could have stood more on it’s own with just a few cut away shots. I also didn’t like the music at all. For example, I would have preferred the Daft Punk original version of the theme song as opposed to that faux hip hop business (which is Stronger by Kanye West for all you googlers, but check out Daft Punk’s Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger too).

I’m still waiting to hear from one of my non-racing friends to find out what she thought. My mom had this to say in an email “I went past and saw someone get hurt, so I didn’t linger long.” Swifty had the same gripe about the music and, in addition to the theme song, specifically mentioned the music while Sutherland was crying (which I don’t remember). But he and I both agreed that overall the show seems likely to get people interested in racing, which is great! Maybe they’ll shoot the second season at Saratoga?

I’m not sure when Derby preps start to air but I hope media buyers for ESPN, NBC, etc. think to place some ads during the show. Seems like the perfect opportunity to generate some new fans. Perhaps the NTRA has already of thought of this and is on the case, I hope so!

Ask and you shall be given, it was a good day of racing indeed! I only handicapped the Risen Star and managed to hit the exacta. I boxed Friesan Fire, Flying Pegasus and Indygo Mountain. I wasn’t entirely sure how the pace scenario was going to play out as there was no clear speed but I thought it might have ended up a little faster.

Friesan Fire and Flying Pegasus are both on my list but I’m interested to see what Indygo Mountain will do in a faster pace scenario. He definitely improved from the Lecomte and got caught in a bit a traffic just when he had some run so I’m not discounting him just yet. Uno Mas also improved from the Lecomte and had I watched the replay a little more closely I might have caught that he was closing at the end and was probably likely to improve. And, needless to say, Giant Oak’s trip was pretty rough, again! I’ll be keeping an eye on both of them as well.

War Echo looked great in the Silverbulletday. I threw a little money away in that race combining her with Just Jenda and Southern Yankee based on the parade. War Echo was the visual stand out in the parade and I can’t wait to see her again.

On the west coast I don’t really need to wax poetic about Stardom Bound too much. Although, does this mean I’ll end up liking Iavarone and Babe this year? I thought Pioneerof the Nile’s stretch drive was pretty eye popping and can’t believe that I’m interested in California horses this year. I guess anything is possible!

Crist has a good post about the “brave new world” of synthetic racing particularly as it pertains to Beyer Speed Figures. I don’t really use BSFs because they don’t take pace into account, and as Crist points out, Stardom Bound’s low BSF doesn’t tell the whole tale. I noticed last week the top two finishers of the Holy Bull had the lowest BSFs of the field, both at 76.

One similarity to last year’s crop is that, with the exception of the Spectacular Bid, the pace has been pretty moderate in almost every race. Is Notonthesamepage the only front running speed horse in the group or am I forgetting someone? I’d love to see what Indygo Mountain, and Flying Pegasus for that matter, would do in that kind of pace scenario!

And finally, Sarah and Charles were both in action yesterday at Aqueduct and Santa Anita respectively. Apparently Charles was in a couple of shots of the second episode of Jockeys, I think Sarah’s on to something with the drinking game idea. Cheers!

Posted by dana on Feb 08 2009    
Filed Under: Giant Oak, Notonthesamepage, War Echo, Friesan Fire, 2009, Stardom Bound, Flying Pegasus, Just Jenda, Jockeys TV Show, Risen Star, Iavarone, Richard Dutrow, Mike Smith, Zenyatta, Fairgrounds, TV, NTRA, Marketing, Kentucky Derby, Derby Trail, Chantal Sutherland, 3yo, Exacta, Mainstream Media, Wrap Up, Sarah K. Andrew, Charles Pravata, Santa Anita, Racing

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Last week (it’s been busy around GbG manor!), I finally got my first response EVER from NYRA! Neema Ghazi, Marketing Director, messaged me directly at Facebook to answer the question posed last week or so.

Here was the question:

Question. I read the following in DRF today:

“The stewards fined jockey Norberto Arroyo Jr. $500 for striking his mount, Hanna Can Fly, twice in the face with his whip in Wednesday’s ninth race. Hanna Can Fly was on the lead early in the race, then backed up through the field to finish 10th.

The incident wasn’t that much different than the one for which Jeremy Rose received a six-month suspension last summer at Delaware Park. That suspension was reduced to three months.”

http://drf.com/news/article/99742.html

Can you please explain this ruling? I watched the race replay at Twinspires and could not see the incident. If it is similar to Jeremy Rose’s incident, in which he was suspended for 3 months (reduced from 6), can you also explain why Arroyo was only fined and not given any suspension?

Unfortunately the sense of satisfaction of having received an actual reply from NYRA was somewhat dashed by the fact that NYRA cannot publicly comment on Steward’s rulings. I then asked if players can view the NY Steward’s rulings but he didn’t believe that the rulings are published publicly. After a twirl around the New York State Racing and Wagering Board site, I’d have to agree.

He mentioned Hong Kong as an interesting model of transparency but noted that the level of transparency was demanded by the horseplayers. Could it be that simple? If we demanded that level of transparency we could get it here in New York? I’ve never demanded Steward’s rulings, although I’ve asked for them to be available online by way of SAFC. California has their Steward’s rulings available online… wanna see the minutes for the week of the Breeders’ Cup? No problem.

Between the rad difference in punishment across jurisdictions of Rose and Arroyo for seemingly similar incidences to the difference of no public record of Steward’s rulings in one jurisdiction vs. weekly minutes available for download in another, it should be interesting to see how the new Safety & Integrity Alliance deals with consensus building. I’m gonna try to do a longer post on the issue (and hope I didn’t just jinx it!).

Back to NYRA for a minute, Ghazi also assured me that he and his staff have been answering questions over the Facebook page, but answering them privately. Fair enough, but speaking of transparency… For now I’m just happy to have had an actual (ok, virtual) conversation with someone from NYRA. And please, please let these rumors be true (but I have to concur that Jan/Feb would be better)!

Posted by dana on Nov 18 2008    
Filed Under: Industry, The Whip, Stewards, 2008, Internet, Jocks, NTRA, NYRA, Racing

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