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Posts about Belmont

Sad Synchronicity

Lawyer Ron working at Belmont (Sarah K. Andrew)

How odd that not one but two posts this week reminded me of Lawyer Ron. First was the sad and unexpected news of Papi Chullo’s death as Papi looked to be in great form going in to the 2007 Whitney. The second was that the Whitney will be a Breeders’ Cup W&YI race, in fact I almost used a photo of Lawyer Ron for that post.

I was lucky enough to be at the 2007 Whitney on my first trip to Saratoga when Lawyer Ron had his coming out party by way of romp and track record. Swifty, Joan and I were stunned by his performance, primarily because we all had completely dismissed him but also because his win was so emphatic.

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It’s amazing how many horses from the 2007 Whitney are no longer with us. First Wanderin’ Boy, next Papi Chullo and now Lawyer Ron…. it wasn’t THAT long ago. Let’s take a moment to be thankful for Dry Martini, shall we? Horses, like celebrities and sports figures, seem to be dying at a quicker than normal pace these days.

Lawyer Ron was no slouch as a 3yo winning the Risen Star, Rebel, Southwest and St. Louis Derby.

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But the switch to Pletcher seemed to help him bring it all together. Sure, he still had trouble settling down on occasion but he won the Whitney, Woodward and Oaklawn and ran a very game second to HOY Curlin in the Jockey Club Gold Cup.

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If you haven’t seen it already, The First Saturday in May featured Lawyer Ron and then trainer Bob Holthus on the Derby trail. Lawyer Ron’s groom Chuck Chambers was one of the more memorable characters in the film. It was clear how much he loved Lawyer Ron and I felt bad for him when Lawyer Ron got transferred to Pletcher.

Apparently the Champion Older Horse of 2007 was making quite an impression as stallion. Clark Shepherd, manager of Stonewall Farm Stallions noted.

His first foals are tremendous. When breeders call in to report their Lawyer Ron foals being born, they all have a story to tell.

Many people loved Lawyer Ron and you see plenty of great shots of him at flickr. Rest in Peace Lawyer Ron and condolences to Stonewall Farm and all of his previous connections.

Update: Steve Haskin’s tribute to Lawyer Ron is not to be missed.

Posted by dana on Jul 11 2009
Filed Under: Farewell, Sarah K. Andrew, YouTube, Wanderin' Boy, Steve Haskin, 2009, Oaklawn, Papi Chullo, Todd Pletcher, Saratoga, Breeding, Belmont, Curlin, Race Replay, Lawyer Ron, Racing

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Finally, Some Apples to Apples

Gio Ponti in the Man o’War (Mickey Frome)

Since today was the perfect July afternoon, I can now complete my apples to apples handle and attendance comparison to Mother Goose day (which is great because I was starting to get a little tired of doing it).

Both Saturday June 27th and Saturday July 11th boasted beautiful weather and a single Grade 1 on the card.

Saturday June 27th, 2009:
Belmont Park Attendance: 13352
On Track Mutuel Pool: $1,357,534
ITW Mutuel Pool: $2,657,212
ISW Mutuel Pool: $8,361,822

Saturday July 11th, 2009:
Belmont Park Attendance: 6735
On Track Mutuel Pool: $1,283,177
ITW Mutuel Pool: $2,821,920
ISW Mutuel Pool: $8,312,667

Mother Goose day had an increase of:
6617 / 49% in attendance
$74,357 / 5% of on track handle
$49,155 / 1% in interstate wagering (ISW)

No doubt some will dismiss the on track handle increase because it’s relatively small compared to the near 50% attendance increase, however it’s still an increase.

Does that mean having and marketing stars will “save racing”? Not by itself, but it certainly helps get people to track, and in my experience (both of my own when I started going to the track and with folks I’ve taken) if they keep coming back they start to wager more as they get more comfortable. And who doesn’t want that to happen?

Posted by dana on Jul 11 2009
Filed Under: 2009, Handle, Becoming a Fan, NYRA, Belmont, Marketing, Racing

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Every Picnic Needs a Dry Martini

Asiatic Boy and his long body (Capitol149)

Because I’m only doing posts about things that have already been posted about today, here’s a recap of yesterday at Belmont!

Swifty’s birthday has usually been celebrated at the track and this year was no different. Teresa had been trying to organize a birthday gathering at NYRA’s new Top of the Stretch picnic areas so I suggested to Swifty (out of total self-interest) that maybe we should get in on that action and have a co-birthday party. The results? It crushed the field.

The area itself was great, apparently it was so muddy that our little pen required some straw to hide the mud. This added a nice barn-like ambiance to the affair. There was a festive air amongst all the Top of the Stretch-ers. On one side was a group of young-ish folks who enthusiastically (and drunkenly) hooted and hollered regardless of the outcome of any race (although a couple of them seemed to cash big in a couple of instances) and what looked to be a children’s birthday party on the other side.

We had a great assortment of well wishers for our co-birthday hosts. Naturally, Papa Backstretch was in attendance, which afforded me the opportunity to try to get a little information out of him. After picking the winner in the second, he gave up that he liked the drop in class with the cut back. He even let me know which horse he liked with at least 5 minutes to post once (he must have forgotten himself for a moment!). No doubt I’ll be trying to get more info out of him in a couple of weeks at Saratoga.

Trying to spy on Papa Backstretch, who worked diligently as the party went on around him

Swifty’s crowd included some folks who had gone to the track with us before and some who hadn’t. Not only did everyone enjoy themselves, many seemed to marvel at just how much fun they had “I can’t believe I spent 5 hours at the track, and it was GREAT!” exclaimed one first time guest, who’s 5ish year old daughter cashed on Trusted Heart (pictured below).

Guests marked their beverages while a new chapter of Future Handicappers of America was started

Several folks cashed on name plays, including our grill master Dan who naturally had Dantastic. His wife, a martial arts enthusiast had a nice $73 score with Offensive Attack. She also boxed him with Hero Figure (”I like fighting”). The Ben in the group did not get as lucky as Dan with Just Ben, but don’t feel too bad for him, he also had Offensive Attack!

Yours truly had a somewhat lousy day at the windows. I was too busy eating hot dogs and chatting with all the fab guests which included Andy Serling (now on Twitter!), Dave Grening, Bill Tivenan & Cassandra Cook who authored the excellent Off to Flying Start (more on that to come!), Jessica & Mr. Railbird and various members of the NYRA press office.

It’s always a pleasure when Mrs. Swifty comes to the track as she’s a very knowledgeable horsewoman who’s great to have around during the parade. Fortunately for my quickly shrinking voucher, Dry Martini jumped out at both of us. I liked only horses that had done well at the distance (Asiatic Boy, Rising Moon and Finallymadeit) and was hoping they would look ready to rock in the parade.

Seeing Asiatic Boy’s odds plummet, I was very interested in Mrs. Swifty’s take… when he galloped by she made a somewhat delighted “oh!” and confirmed that he looked good, in particular she liked his long body (something I would never notice or even know why I should I notice). Ready’s Echo also stood out to both of us but I felt strongly that he couldn’t get the distance… but damn he looked good! I put him in a dime super with Dry Martini, Asiatic Boy and Rising Moon… almost!

No doubt we’ll be doing this whole affair again next year but we had a such blast that we were talking about doing it again in the fall. If you’re a local with a will to picnic, you should definitely book a day at the Top of the Stretch… and take some potential new fans, will you?

Posted by dana on Jul 05 2009
Filed Under: Superfecta, Becoming a Fan, Payouts, 2009, Geldings, NYRA, Gambling, Fans, Belmont, Racing

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Belmont Attendance / Handle Follow-up

Rachel beginning to pull away (Jason Moran)

Robert at They’re in the Gate already posted about this but in my previous post on the matter, Rachel Raises Attendance AND Handle, I stated that I would follow-up with a comparison of this Saturday, so what the heck!

Saturday June 27th, 2009:
Belmont Park Attendance: 13,352
On Track Mutuel Pool: $1,357,534
ITW Mutuel Pool: $2,657,212
ISW Mutuel Pool: $8,361,822

Saturday July 4th, 2009:
Belmont Park Attendance: 7,667
On Track Mutuel Pool: $1,378,296
ITW Mutuel Pool: $2,969,277
ISW Mutuel Pool: $9,564,986

Attendance down: 5,685 / 42%
On Track Handle up: $20,762 / 1.5%
ITW up: $312,065 / 12%
ISW up: $1,203,164 / 14%

Robert already pointed a couple of things, such as last Saturday had not only 1 stakes race vs. 3 on this Saturday’s card, but 3 that were a lot more wide open from a gambling perceptive than the Mother Goose. This Saturday also had an additional race.

One interesting uptick was that the bump in the Intra-State wagering. I’m wondering if this had anything to do with Sweetnorthernsaint at Finger Lakes? While I couldn’t scare up attendance figures, according to the charts from DRF, handle from last Saturday was $596,897 while handle from this Saturday was $623,518, an increase of 4.5%. Probably not a direct cause but perhaps a contributing cause.

Now that I feel somewhat committed to the quest to find a true apples to apples comparison, I’m going to do this (hopefully only) one more time. The next three Saturday’s at Belmont are similar in conditions to Mother Goose day, one featured stakes race on the card and no national holiday. Let’s hope one (if not all) of them has spectacular weather so we can get a fair gauge of the impact of a marquee star.

Posted by dana on Jul 05 2009
Filed Under: Jason Moran, 2009, Rachel Alexandra, Handle, Industry, NYRA, Wagering, Belmont, Marketing, Racing