The boys aren’t the only thing worth paying attention to in May (Team Queen)

Dear 3yo Fillies,

I know it’s tough to get any attention this time year. Your big dance, The Oaks, isn’t anchored to any cohesive racing series and there’s no well promoted grueling prep season… what’s a girl to do? Suck it, pretty much. And seriously, just how much can one obsess over ONE race with a bunch of boys? Jeez.

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that you’re all beautiful, fierce, tough and awesome… and I’m looking forward to your big day. While it may seem like I’m busy checking out the guys in the hallway, it’s because that’s what’s “normal” and “expected”. I’m ashamed to admit it, but I even started a spreadsheet!

Seriously though, I really love you with all my heart no matter how much I talk about those stupid boys… don’t forget that, ok?

Rachel Alexandra:
You’ve got it all… class, style, speed and grace. The only thing that could make you more hot is if you had to battle it out for a win. Maybe then your silly jock will have to pay attention and give you a real ride!

Justwhistledixie:
Perhaps if any 3yo filly can give Miss Rachel Alexandra a reason to work, it’s this stunner. She went wide for the first half of the Bonnie Miss and spotted the front running speedster enough distance to make it seem like she might actually run away with it. But Dixie poured it on, coming wide (again) to put the field away, again. She’s won 5 in a row with 4 of them stakes. Call me crazy but I think I could really fall for this one.

Flying Spur:
Flying Spur’s mom has got it going on! With a mom like Lakeway one has to take notice of this young lady. In 1994 Lakeway won the Las Virgenes, SA Oaks, Hollywood Oaks and Mother Goose, placed in the Oaks and Alabama and STILL holds the record for the Las Virgenes and Mother Goose! (Rachel holds that record now) Of course times were different way back then. Back in the pasture I bet Mother Lakeway used to say “we had to race a LOT more than you’ll ever have to, AND we had to put on our own bridles… AND walk ourselves to cool down!”. “Whatever Mom, can’t you see I’m on the phone? Yeah, is this Rachel Alexdadra? I think I saw your jockey talking to Nan. Hello?”.

Gabby’s Golden Gal:
13 lengths? Nice! I mean I know it’s Sunland Park and all but 13 lengths is what you’d expect a top notch contender to win by under those circumstances. You’re trainer isn’t exactly a slouch either. I also hear you’ve looked impressive in the morning. Being prepared is totally hot!

Tweeter:
With a name like Tweeter I’m already crushing. Did she just move here? I think I’ve only seen her once, and she totally won. I like a mystery, especially a mystery with an awesome name!

Be Fair:
To be fair, I’d have to say that I don’t know enough about you to decide if I think you’re a stone fox or just a another pretty face.

Nan:
Sometimes parents want to make you in to something you’re just not, and that’s not your fault! I’m not sure if dirt is really your thing, but hey, I’ve been wrong before. I’ve just been around the block enough to know that I’d rather wait and see before saying yes to a girl like you.

Stardom Bound:
Can it really be considered a break up when your parents take you out of school to go on a fancy vacation? No one can ever replace you, my dreamy beloved, but I’m still here and the dance is still happening. I hope you won’t hold that against me when you get back!

ZOMG, I can’t believe it. ZENYATTA is going to be there!!! No offense girls but older = hotter (you’ll see soon enough). Keep your eyes on her if you wanna learn a thing to two, she’s the most wicked coolest EVER. Yay!

Posted by dana on Apr 26 2009    
Filed Under: Stardom Bound, Rachel Alexandra, Derby/Oaks Dating, Zenyatta, Kentucky Oaks, Derby Trail, 3yo, Racing

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Churchill in the morning (Katford)

Have I mentioned recently how much I love Steve Davidowitz? He was the first handicapper I ever read and his commentary, found at DRF+ or Trackmaster, never disappoints. In his monthly installment at Trackmaster he breaks down the facts about the contenders and generally points out that there’s still plenty to keep an eye on before any meaningful Derby rankings happen. I have to agree with this. While I continue to be super flattered to be included in the PDI, my “rankings” are really more like a watch list than anything else. If I can even pick just one horse this year, it won’t be until very close to May 2nd, if not ON May 2nd.

And speaking of reasons why one shouldn’t make any decisions just yet, DRF’s clocker-in-chief Mike Welsch is on the ground at Churchill and filing daily somewhat lo-fi “Blair Witch”-esque (lol… good one Kevin!) video reports on the morning works. While I’d like to see a variety of interpretations, I’ll take what I can get. Kennedy has a nice wish list of what he’d like to see out of the contenders that you might want to keep in mind as you check-in with the Blair Witch reports.

In a rare diversion away from the Derby for a moment, Welsch mentions Rachel Alexandra’s gallop as if a space ship landed and out walked the perfect embodiment of horse prepping for a big a race. Ok, maybe I’m a little bitter because my dreamy beloved is not the 3yo filly of the moment (I actually think giving her some time off is the right thing to do!) or perhaps it’s that a filly has to be a super freak to get any media play at this time of the year.

Hello, how are the other fillies prepping? There are other fillies in the race, aren’t there? I gave Churchill’s official tweeter a little razzing today (although I think it’s just a RSS feed) about this daily report that mentions all the fillies that galloped but only gives details on Rachel Alexandra, it’s a paltry trickle of information compared to what’s out there for the boys. How about a little detail about ALL of the fillies, not just the favorite? Grrrrr.

In other news GbG was recently honored by Case the Race as #9 of of the top 10 independent blogs for the Derby! This is somewhat shocking news because I’ve barely mentioned the Derby, although they did make that caveat… however, I don’t equate frequency with rigor, just frequency. If anyone did manage to make it all the way down to #9 in search of some Derby content, I can recommend the following:

Railbird, for kick ass historical data. LATG for continued and appropriate snarking at the Times (I totally agree), That’s Amore, who’s managed to finally catch a bit of the Derby fever and the already mentioned Kennedy who continually adds rigor to frequency when it comes to the Derby! All of this and more should help you make sense of what do with those Kentucky Derby odds… have fun!

Posted by dana on Apr 22 2009    
Filed Under: 2009, Hype, Stardom Bound, Twitter, Rachel Alexandra, Kentucky Oaks, Churchill Downs, Derby Trail, Kentucky Derby, 3yo, Steve Davidowitz, Racing

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Channing Hill at Santa Anita (yausser)

Since I was smart enough to DVR the Florida Derby this week I have now have added a screen capture of the DRF Formulator ad showing two women with the text overlay “for every skill level”, you know, in case you didn’t believe me or thought I might be exaggerating (who, me?).

I’m finding it a touch odd that folks have waited until now to make the many & valid points being raised re: the new British automatic berth. All of these issues were apparent when it was announced, right? As a friend pointed out, “no one complained last week when it knocked Beethoven off the list”. Indeed.

Reminder, the first HANA Pool Party is tomorrow, WRD R6. Check out the HANA blog for free PPs and more. I’ll be playing a $1 exacta box of 1,2,3,6,10,11 with a couple of bucks of on 2 & 6 to win.

After this weekend Quality Road has moved on to my “like like” list, and how! Over at PDI I rated him #2 behind Freisan Fire but in all reality I can’t make a strong case of why one should be over the other so I’m just leaving Freisan Fire in #1 for now. I’m not really buying the LA Derby as non-legit path to winning the Derby. Sure the numbers are daunting but that didn’t stop Street Sense from proving the numbers wrong about Juvenile winners.

Guess I really oughta come up with a new poll now that it’s official that IEAH bought 50% of I Want Revenge. Way to go, those who voted for “Buy Another Derby Prospect”, perhaps you should apply to work at IEAH!

And speaking of that poll, as much as I’d love to see Stardom Bound in the Derby, the more I see the depth in the 3yo filly division the more I want them all to run in the Oaks against each other. Rachel Alexandra vs. Stardom Bound could be the rivalry of the year. And when War Echo comes back later in the year, look out! Check out this eyewitness account of Stardom Bound working at Keeneland.

It should also be noted that several fillies ran with colts this weekend on dirt and they didn’t break down! Please people, let’s move on from fear-based assumption that fillies and colts don’t mix. Just ask Indian Blessing, who picked a very nice check for solid effort against her male colleagues!

Posted by dana on Mar 30 2009    
Filed Under: Stardom Bound, 2009, Indian Blessing, Iavarone, Quality Road, I Want Revenge, Rachel Alexandra, Kentucky Oaks, Channing Hill, Kentucky Derby, Derby Trail, You Can Help, 3yo, Santa Anita, Exacta, Racing

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(fauxrealphotos)

Dan Liebman’s post today on Bravo brings up (and over looks) some interesting points. He correctly points out that ESPN “decides for us what is sport and what is not, and what we will be able to watch”, although admittedly this is a construct of media in general.

He puts the icing on the cake by saying:

Apparently, it is more important to find out who is the world’s strongest man than who is the world’s best Thoroughbred.

However, the real missed opportunity in this discussion is main stream marketing or lack of it.

Lower interest in racing can be attributed to several things, among them more choices today for viewers and the fact many core fans are watching on HRTV or TVG, or at a simulcast or off-track betting facility. While HRTV and TVG serve racing’s core, they do little to help cultivate new racing fans. It’s doubtful other, smaller cable networks will either.

I don’t think it matters what channel racing is on as long as it’s marketed, after all, people can’t get interested in what they don’t know about. Look at the success of Jockeys on Animal Planet of all places. Remember how concerned we were with their crazy breakdown-a-palooza promotion? It didn’t matter, the show was success… and it couldn’t have been a success if they had just hoped people would find it. Sound like a familiar approach?

In regards to Bravo, Patrick at Handride argues that positioning racing as cultural phenomenon will be racing’s undoing as far as growth goes. An interesting comment thread ensues that explores the oft debated sport vs. gambling angle. Additionally, the tweet-o-sphere disagreed with him on the cultural phenomenon part. I don’t think it matters one way or another with no mainstream marketing.

Prior to Liebman’s post today, Jason Moran pointed out the World Wide Sports angle here at GbG over the weekend. He makes some great points and in fact he has shared other interesting thoughts about sports coverage here at GbG in the past. The Wide World of Sports idea is particularly interesting because, as several commenters at Bloodhorse point out, racing telecasts that go on for hours are pretty boring. The other side of that coin is what Moran has pointed out before, that NBC knew how to tell stories and fill the seemingly long space between races with interesting, well told stories.

I’m no sports maven, in fact I can emphatically say that I don’t give a shit about sports, but look at the NBA & TNT. Is TNT a sports channel? No, it’s the home of Drama. That’s actually a pretty brilliant hook for any kind of sport or game if you ask me. And guess what, they market it!

I think the bottom line is that, regardless of whether it’s locally or nationally, if we’re really concerned about growth then racing ought to start marketing itself to more than the existing fan base.

Posted by dana on Mar 17 2009    
Filed Under: Becoming a Fan, Industry, 2009, Jockeys TV Show, Twitter, Kentucky Oaks, Internet, Marketing, TV, Dan Liebman, Mainstream Media, Racing

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Stardom Bound and Mike Smith in the parade prior to the SA Oaks (Charles Pravata)

During the conversation last week regarding Stardom Bound, I asked “I wonder if Patena turns out to be a stinker if they’ll get reinvested in SB in the Derby?”…. Val wonders the same thing.

Moments after the LA Derby I asked the tweet-o-sphere:

Who thinks IEAH will start making noise about SB on the Derby trail now that Patena doesn’t look like a contender? I do.

The results were mixed…

I thought they should have kept up the SB noise in the first place. That last race impressed, rather than disappointed, me.

either that or they’ll buy their way in with some other horse.

I don’t

Regardless of whether you think Stardom Bound should be on the Kentucky Derby trail or not (I do), what do you think IEAH will do? Will they lay low and then announce that Stardom Bound is back on the Derby Trail if she performs well in the Ashland? Will they give Patena another shot given the slop or will they just buy another Derby hopeful (Win Willy?? Musket Man?)?

Apologies to the 8 of you who voted in my Bravo poll, it wasn’t the most well crafted poll… if the person who thinks there’s not a single good about the Oaks being on Bravo concedes that any coverage is better than no coverage then I suppose there really isn’t much use in asking!

Posted by dana on Mar 15 2009    
Filed Under: Stardom Bound, Richard Dutrow, Iavarone, Twitter, 2009, Kentucky Oaks, Derby Trail, Bobby Frankel, Kentucky Derby, Charles Pravata, Racing

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