Me:
JJ is probably playing a little poker to see if he can get NYRA to sweeten the pot
The Internet:
Mine That Bird had this to say:
And if you’re looking for something else to read about, try Randy Moss’s new blog at DRF!
Posted by dana on Aug 24 2009
Filed Under: Bud Morton, Geldings, 2009, Twitter, Mine That Bird, Rachel Alexandra, Internet, Sportsmanship, NYRA, Wooo!, 3yo, :), Randy Moss, Racing
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Notional w/Joe Bravo up comes back with an upset in the Salvatore Mile at Monmouth (Sarah K. Andrew)
Today was the kind of day that reminds me why I fell in love with racing almost 2 years ago. Swifty and I planned on heading out to Belmont today come rain or shine, and while we didn’t get much shine we also didn’t get any rain. A few friends were planning to meet up at Monmouth for the United Nations and Salvatore Mile, but I really just wanted to have a nice quiet day at my beloved Belmont.
Swifty was hanging out with his 12 year old nephew Ted this weekend, or as I like to call him, the Future Handicappers of America. He joined us last year for Swifty’s birthday outing and proved to be a bit precocious picking Dance Away Capote in the Duda Stakes.
Since it had been raining for two days, all but one of the turf races were on the dirt and there were a bunch of scratches. I only lightly handicapped so I wasn’t planning on playing very heavily to begin with. We got there not too long before the 3rd. My pick, Akin, had scratched so I took a pass. In the 4th I put Paris Winds over Them There Eyes for a couple bucks to no avail. In fact, I didn’t cash a ticket all day (again) but it started to get interesting in the 5th race.
I usually don’t like to play maiden races. I don’t have an affinity for using breeding in handicapping, although it’s on my list to work on, so I just throw a couple of bucks on a long shot here and there. The 5th was a Maiden Special Weight and no different for me… except no one was at long odds. In the paddock #9, Discreet Treasure was really acting up. There was no audio to speak of in the grandstand so we couldn’t hear what Jason Blewitt or Jan Rushton were saying, but Discreet Treasure was pretty worked up.
It was a 7F turf race that moved to the dirt. Quickly looking over the entrants I noticed that Discreet Treasure, a first time starter, was only showing one work on turf, and not even the last one! As they came out for the parade he looked great, perhaps too great. Did he leave his race in the paddock? Number 10, Counterspy, looked good too so I boxed them.
I’ll just let you watch the race for yourself… he’s the grey. A very big thanks to Party Manners for posting it!!
As it turns out, he’s a half to Discreet Cat, not that I knew that until I got home and watched Throughbred Action. And as great as it is on the replay it was even more thrilling in person. I can’t wait to see more of him!
The next race was also fantastic. It was a state bred allowance for non-winners of two. You may remember the name Overextended from the very beginning Derby Trail. He ran primarily on the west coast in all the big preps as a 2yo and even placed to Colonel John in the Real Quiet. I didn’t incorporate him into my losing trifecta key with Dr. W on top of the 4 long shots but his race was great nonetheless.
Just like Discreet Treasure he sat way off the pace, and talk about procrastinating, he still wasn’t in the race at the 1/16th pole! Then out of nowhere he closed like freight train… all I can say is welcome to New York! Previously trained by Doug O’Neill and now trained by Mark Henig, I’m sure we’ll be seeing him round these parts more often!
I liked the undefeated By The Light in the Prioress although I knew Indian Blessing would be tough at the distance on a muddy track. I was hoping it would have been Indian Blessing pressing Secret Gypsy with By The Light sitting off the pace but Indian Blessing has finally shown she can rate.
It was great to see Indian Blessing back and I thought By The Light was impressive given this was her first graded race! I had the 2 of them in a tri-box with Secret Gypsy but Indian Way spoiled that on the wire.
We busted out there right after the race and I got home in time to see the United Nations. I would have liked to have seen the Salvatore Mile, especially given that Notional pulled an upset! This really made my day… I loved him in the Risen Star was bummed when he had to drop off the Derby Trail with an injury. His 4 yo campaign has had an Evening Attire-like start, so to see him come back with a nice win that puts him in the BC was yet another excellent moment in a very satisfying race day. You can see it here, if it shows up on YouTube I’ll post it here as well.
I love that Mary Hartmann, Mary Hartmann and Precious Passion won the United Nations! I don’t know too much about her, except that I loved her sunglasses and Randy Moss (or someone) said that she started off as a hot walker some 20 years ago. But seriously, it’s always great to see one of the many non-high profile, hard working trainers win a big race and when it’s a woman it’s even more special. It goes without saying that there’s that extra level of “it ain’t easy” for women who work in a business that’s male dominated such a sports, or in my case, technology. So, good for her!
And to top it all off, Zenyatta stayed undefeated holding off an impressively closing Tough Tiz’s Sis in the Vanity Handicap. 6 for 6… is she looking more interesting for the Classic to you yet?
Posted by dana on Jul 05 2008
Filed Under: TBA, Monmouth Park, Wrap Up, Discreet Cat, Dance Away Capote, :), Randy Moss, Doug O'Neill, Zenyatta, Tough Tiz's Sis, Indian Blessing, 4yo, 2008, Sarah K. Andrew, Sprint, Inspirational, Maiden, Race Replay, Breeders' Cup, Breeding, Belmont, Come Back, Turf, Trifecta, BC Classic, YouTube, Notional, Evening Attire, Racing
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I never want to be one of those loud mouth people who complains without making suggestions. In part I thank art school for that. In “crit” classes (critiques - you show your work and discuss it with your fellow students) you’re never allowed to say that you either like or don’t like something without discussing why (at least if your professor is on the ball).
The hardest part of any situation that produces hurt, anger and/or frustration is not being able to unequivocally say “it happened because of X”, “it’s X’s fault”.
When the fault is obvious you have a clear cut place to channel that anger, hurt and/or frustration… or at the very least, a starting to point to understand why it even happened!
What happened in the Derby is a very sad symptom of a lot of complex and interwoven issues. As the media coverage escalates and the “activists” call for our heads, I think it’s our duty to make suggestions about how to proceed. It’s hard, for me at least, to defend our sport (that I love) by saying that we have installed some synthetic tracks. Why? We need to do more, a LOT more.
So here are my ideas. They’re meant to start a discussion that includes gathering more ideas and suggestions, refining these and tying to figure out how to make them actionable. None of these are original ideas and certainly have been discussed elsewhere, but this is meant to compile them into one big list.
Keep 2 things in mind 1) these are ideas, not decrees and 2) that I created this list throughout the day (i.e., haven’t been laboring over it), so consider it a draft or a “brain dump” (one of my most hated corporate expressions, right up there with “bio break”… ). Also, the order is random.
Enough with the caveats, here’s the list…
Collect data on all break downs to determine:
- age, sex, equipment, connections, breeder, race type (general information)
- lineage (any developing patterns in breeding)
- surface type & condition (was the track sealed?, synth, dirt, grass, etc - do tracks keep maintenance records?)
- necropsy (condition that could have been foreseen with a certain exam?)
- New: information should be a publicly accessible database, not just for breeders but for everyone (dana - added 05/06)
- New: convene panel of equine vets to determine parameters for acceptable proportions of height, weight and leg circumference (Aelinie - added 05/08)
Also, let’s find out what other countries are collecting and learning.
Ban whipping
- “most horses will give you everything they have without the whip” - Jerry Baily
- “I think we should do away with whips completely” - Randy Moss
- “…usually the horses that want to run don’t have to be whipped” - Jim Squires
- “Our sport looks to newcomers like a bunch of people beating horses with sticks” - comment at GbG
Ban drugging, period
- Race days meds
- Ban steroids (test before sales)
Create serious consequences
Not only for trainers but for owners and vets - when everyone is on the on the line there is more pressure to adhere. Consequences should also exist across jurisdictions.
Stop over sealing tracks
Create national standards for track maintenance and fine when track conditions are found to be unsafe with bigger fines when horses are injured because of it.
Breeding
- Reduce number of mares covered to a reasonable annual amount - New: 75 - (Cyd - added 05/08)
- Compile data from at least the past 5 years on all recorded breakdowns to find sire patterns (use the first bullet point under “collect data”)
- New: penalties for rushing off to stud - (Superfecta - added 05/06)
- New: stop breeding unraced horses - (Superfecta - added 05/06)
- New: Jockey Club could refuse to register the offspring of stallions who couldn’t at least make a minimal number of starts (Jen R - added 05/08)
Racing Ages
- Do away with 2yo racing and race them longer
- Create race conditions that do not allow horses with sires under 5
- New: Only race 2yo at the end of the year and only on turf - (Katie - added 05/06)
- New: 2yo under saddle sales end - (Katie - added 05/06)
- New: cutting back the distance of 2yo races - (Jen R - added -5/08)
Derby
- Limit the field to 14-16 horses
- Change the graded earnings structure to favor more appropriate horses
BC
- Don’t let Derby aged horses run in the Classic / “Distaff” (as an incentive to keep them running longer)
Educate “consumers”
- Why do people routinely buy horses out of unsound sires?
- Why are unsound horses rushed off the track to breeding career?
- Minimize “demand” through education
- New: make data from breakdowns (mentioned above) publicly accessible so people can do their own research (dana - added 05/06)
Bone Scans
- New: Some sort of sanctioned bone-scanning process before every horse’s next race? Kind of like a sobriety test—you don’t pass the exam, you’re scratched - (Ernie - added 05/05)
Progress
- New: What I would like to see most of all, however, is some progress - (Nick - added 05/06)
- New: Some of these things can be done more quickly than others, like banning racing - set some time lines and communicate about them regularly - (dana - added 05/06)
- New: top to bottom of audit of the whole industry (Jeremy - added 05/07)
- New: National ruling body created should also include a broad cross section of interested parties (Joan - added 05/08)
And lifetime bans for crap like this.
I think the NTRA (Hi Alex!) should create a task force charged with taking a serious look at how to make racing more safe that addresses issues across the board create a national ruling body with the authority to make and enforces changes. Not just synthetic surfaces but looking at all of the above, and possibly more, to see how each thing contributes and what can be done to address it. It’s daunting, but it would be a start. [New]
That’s what I think, what do you think? And I don’t want to hear “you’ll never be able to” or “no one would ever”…
Posted by dana on May 05 2008
Filed Under: Randy Moss, 2008, Industry, Greed, Drugs, Breeding, Research, Racing
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Under the whip (geni80)
I don’t watch too much of the coverage of races on network or cable when they’re on. I DVR them for posterity and watch the race part, but I want to see odds, the paddock and the parade, not patter.
I had ESPN’s coverage of the Lexington on with volume down as I was deciding how to make my play. When I turned on the volume the patter was about Samba Rooster. Apparently he’s a bit of handful and HATES the whip. They were discussing that the strategy with Samba Rooster was that Garrett Gomez wouldn’t even carry a whip. Samba Rooster does best when you make him feel like he’s pulling against you… and clearly it worked as went off at 17-1 and placed paying $17.
Jerry Baily, a hall of fame jockey, added “most horses will give you everything they have without hitting them”.
Then, Randy Moss chimes in with…
I think this this is the wave of the future, I think we should do away with whips completely
Hear, f-ing hear!!! Naturally Tessitore cut in jokingly that it was “very European of him” and then they cut to the bugler. But how fantastic of him to say it! I can’t STAND over whipping and to hear someone of Randy Moss’ stature suggest that not only should there be less whipping, but NO whipping was well, fantastic.
I’ve blogged about this before (still at the old site) but it bears repeating. In England they have very clear specifications about the use of the whip. Superstar jock Frankie Dettori was banned for 14 days for his whip use on Ramonti during Royal Ascot. Can you imagine if one our superstar jocks was banned for whip use during the Breeders’ Cup?
Of course that would require there to be some kind of standard and then someone to actually enforce it… let’s hope we see the day when issues such as over whipping and drugging are taken seriously, because until then it’s really hard to convince people that the sport of kings is not “troubled… and filled with dirty little half-kept secrets” or worse, “old-fashioned animal abuse made into a business“, no matter how hard we try.
Before cutting to the bugler, Moss got in “by the way, this shows the horse is very intelligent…”.
Posted by dana on Apr 20 2008
Filed Under: Randy Moss, 2008, The Whip, TBA, Hennegan Brothers, TV, Inspirational, You Tell 'em!, Racing
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Not sure how many of you read either Dan Illman’s or Steve Crist’s blog at DRF, but they’re both pretty great. Not only do each of them have their own distinct blogging style, they both have active comments and and conversations.
Today’s Formblog (Illman) has a particularly great discussion about synthetic track, breakdowns, drugs and the breeding industy. Here are some snippets:
A commentor writes:
It’s hard to buy into the idea that polytrack is saving horses when you review the recent Arlington meet, for example which saw several breakdowns. Also, there were many other horses vanned off after their races at Arlington and Del Mar, who may not factor into the fatality statistics. Polytrack is not the answer. The obvious answer, as we’ve discussed on this blog ad nauseam, is getting tough on the drug problem in the sport… not just on illegal substances, but the levels of approved legal ones. When a horse is loaded up on pain killers (like Cobra venom!!), there is nothing stopping that horse from going all out because they can’t feel the stress being placed on their joints.
…
executives to form a coalition aimed at eliminating drugs on a nationwide scale. Heck, it’s been done in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Why not here?The answer is simple. The breeding industry won’t allow it to happen, and the racetracks won’t allow it to happen. A national no-tolerance policy would drastically reduce, at least in the short term, the number of racers in the United States. Valuable stallions that pass on bleeding or other unsoundness issues would be rendered worthless. Less racers means less breeding prospects (mares, stallions). Less breeding prospects means less money from public auction. Less racers means smaller fields. Smaller fields means less handle. And, that isn’t acceptable from an industry standpoint.
[he continues on for several more paragraphs with some more good points]
And that’s just part of the conversation… it’s worth it read the entire thing in context.
Over at Equinometrics, a blog you should be reading if your not, in his BC wrap up post Marshall makes this great point:
Hooray for the connections of Hard Spun who took a risk by entering him in the Classic despite the fact that he did not appear to be a 10 furlong horse and seemed to be a cut below the other top 3yos. His $1,000,000 earned for second place was as much as the entire purse for the Dirt Mile.
I know I thought they were idiots for not entering my beloved Hard Spun in the Dirt Mile. Guess who was wrong about that: me! (and a few other folks) Only 3 of my 10 voters thought he should be in the Classic. Hats off to you 3! Wienie note: I have to rig that Poll Archive page up a little better… it’s on my to do list.
And last but not least… are you sick of reading about the BC? What kind of champion are you, weakening in the final furlong… if you can hang on til the wire go read Randy Moss’ BC blog post. His on air charm is 100% transferable to his blog and he’s always got a good insight or two.
Posted by dana on Nov 05 2007
Filed Under: Greed, Dan Ilman, Randy Moss, You Tell 'em!, Injury, Hard Spun, 2007, Breeding
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