In 'kinda sad but not really' news, Benny the Bull has been retired due to a chipped ankle. He won 9 out of 17 and was a sprinting beast in a good way.
To me, it's encouraging that Rick Dutrow was proactive about diagnosing the problem and making the best decision.
Meanwhile, Curlin is primed to run at the "Spa" in the Woodward on dirt this Saturday, August 30th.
I hope he schools the field and chalks up another win.
And I'm genuinely glad that he'll be racing on pure, natural dirt, mainly because of tradition. I really do like the way everything is at Saratoga...seriously.
So, it's not that I even want to specifically replace the dirt surfaces in New York.
Obviously, a state mandate would change the landscape at all NYRA tracks.
I do want to make racing safer. I think improving the surfaces horses race on would increase the safety of those horses and the jockeys who ride them.
As Bill Finley recently pointed out, maybe the difference between dirt and synthetic surfaces isn't as big as the hype would say.
From what I can gather, polytrack seems like it slows down all of the horses at all of the tracks where it has been installed, ala Kentucky and California mostly. That's right, I'm saying the horses all run slower on polytrack.
Yeah. I said it. So what?
Here's a little fact that about horse races: they last from just under one minute to just over two minutes...mostly.
Who cares if Curlin's owner ever took a risk and let him loose on synthetics, like say Santa Anita on Saturday, October 25th? Hypothetically.
My guess is that because he's so good the surface would slow him down a few seconds in a 9 or 10 furlong race, but another way of saying that is that instead of going 40 mph during the race, he'll only be going 37 mph.
Oh.
Yet another beat complaint about the ills of polytrack that I'm not buying.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Big Brown, Polytrack and Gay Marriage
All signs are pointing to Monmouth Park for Big Brown's next race, who was already scheduled to run on the turf on September 13th, regardless of the location.
The deal is not currently official, but Monmouth is whipping a turf race up out of thin air for Big Brown, whose participation would increase the stakes from $200,000 to $500,000.
To me, that means Big Brown is that important whether you think he could take Curlin or not.
Unfortunately, it looks like we're never going to see that because their schedules conflict until the Breeders' Cup on October 25th and Curlin's owner, Jess Jackson, doesn't want him running on synthetics at Santa Anita.
All I have to say is good luck with that philosophy.
Polytrack or any similar synthetic surface is like gay marriage because whether you support it or not, it's gonna be everywhere soon.
So maybe Curlin will avoid it for the rest of his racing career, but I promise you that in the long run, any strategy that aims to avoid the inevitable will probably fail.
Accordingly, whether they like it or not, horses, jockeys, trainers and owners are going to have to learn to adjust to the times or be forced to run at a significantly reduced number of tracks over time.
New York is a haven for polytrack opposers today, but over time that may very well change too.
My goal is to see that transformation ASAP.
The deal is not currently official, but Monmouth is whipping a turf race up out of thin air for Big Brown, whose participation would increase the stakes from $200,000 to $500,000.
To me, that means Big Brown is that important whether you think he could take Curlin or not.
Unfortunately, it looks like we're never going to see that because their schedules conflict until the Breeders' Cup on October 25th and Curlin's owner, Jess Jackson, doesn't want him running on synthetics at Santa Anita.
All I have to say is good luck with that philosophy.
Polytrack or any similar synthetic surface is like gay marriage because whether you support it or not, it's gonna be everywhere soon.
So maybe Curlin will avoid it for the rest of his racing career, but I promise you that in the long run, any strategy that aims to avoid the inevitable will probably fail.
Accordingly, whether they like it or not, horses, jockeys, trainers and owners are going to have to learn to adjust to the times or be forced to run at a significantly reduced number of tracks over time.
New York is a haven for polytrack opposers today, but over time that may very well change too.
My goal is to see that transformation ASAP.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Down and Out in Saratoga Springs
As much as I'd like to blame Saratoga for my recent gambling losses, it's really on me.
It sucks to put in the overall preparation I do, win multiple bets and still walk out of the place with less money than when I started the day. But I'm special.
The night before, I go to the NYRA web site and check the next day's entries. I'd like to think I specialize in sprints on the dirt, so I'm happy to find that August 16th and 17th (last weekend) is full of them. Good start.
For whatever reason, I left home at 11:18 both days and pulled into my $7 parking spot at noon.
Even with the long-sleeved t-shirt giveaway on Sunday, I'm still in my chair reading a program, dipping in to my cooler for the first time at 12:15. Perfect execution so far.
I'm the Michael Phelps of Saratoga racetrack handicapping because I only go for the gold and I eat 10,000 calories a day. Pre-game jitters? No way.
On Saturday I shake up my usual routine and venture into daily double wagering, picking the winner of two consecutive races. With the handicapping help of a real pro like Dave Gonzalez, I hit the daily double; 5-5. I won 120 bucks on a 3 dollar bet. Nothing beats establishing early fiscal momentum. I'm ready to take it to the house.
And even though I doubled my money up to $160 after the third race, I walked out with zip.
I bet too many trifectas and even when I wheeled them, I still lost all of them. No joke, I bet trifectas in at least four different races where I nailed the exacta, but didn't actually bet the exacta.
And I still bet on and nailed exactas in two other races! That means if all I did was bet on exactas all day, I would've done very well.
But, I didn't.
On the brighter side, I hung in on Sunday and only lost about 20 bucks.
Except, that if you were to judge my Sunday on opportunity cost, I lost a little over ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS.
Here's what happened. As I explained, I like to purchase Dave Gonzalez's daily picks at www.surethingselections.com. Trust me, he deserves this plug.
So, I examine the horses for race 2 and I'm all giddy because it's a 7 furlong race on the dirt which is my favorite kind of race in the whole world. It's not easy, but I decide the 1 horse looks best and he's at 3-1 odds.
But the 9 is favored.
The 8 is a 3/4 sibling to some really good horse.
And the 6 looks like the best of the rest.
And we all know that the favorite only wins 25% of the time and even if you correctly bet the favorite to win anything, it usually doesn't pay much. So there's too much risk, not enough reward.
My instinct is that the favorite (#9) will get 2nd place and if anyone can beat him, it's the #1 horse. So there's my exacta. 1-9.
The 8 just looks like a solid show horse. 1-9-8.
The 6 better do his job and get 4th. 1-9-8-6 it is.
1986 is significant to me for the following reasons:
But when I saw the 9 horse running around before the race, he looked good. So, I jumped ship and put the 9 on top of everything.
Specifically, I bet the bank on 9-1-8 and 9-1-8-6. Even though, the 1 looked really good.
The race goes off and the 9 grabbed a commanding lead in the stretch, but the 1 nipped him just before the wire. Awesome.
After a photo finish for 3rd place, the results were 1-9-8-6. HA!
I guess the nail in the coffin is that Dave Gonzalez picked 1-9-8-6, exactly.
It's not that I had the exact picks in my hand that troubles me or that the superfecta paid $479, but I abandoned my instinct when I had every reason to believe in it.
You win Saratoga. No Travers for me this Saturday. No Curlin for me on August 30th either.
I'll see you next August.
It sucks to put in the overall preparation I do, win multiple bets and still walk out of the place with less money than when I started the day. But I'm special.
The night before, I go to the NYRA web site and check the next day's entries. I'd like to think I specialize in sprints on the dirt, so I'm happy to find that August 16th and 17th (last weekend) is full of them. Good start.
For whatever reason, I left home at 11:18 both days and pulled into my $7 parking spot at noon.
Even with the long-sleeved t-shirt giveaway on Sunday, I'm still in my chair reading a program, dipping in to my cooler for the first time at 12:15. Perfect execution so far.
I'm the Michael Phelps of Saratoga racetrack handicapping because I only go for the gold and I eat 10,000 calories a day. Pre-game jitters? No way.
On Saturday I shake up my usual routine and venture into daily double wagering, picking the winner of two consecutive races. With the handicapping help of a real pro like Dave Gonzalez, I hit the daily double; 5-5. I won 120 bucks on a 3 dollar bet. Nothing beats establishing early fiscal momentum. I'm ready to take it to the house.
And even though I doubled my money up to $160 after the third race, I walked out with zip.
I bet too many trifectas and even when I wheeled them, I still lost all of them. No joke, I bet trifectas in at least four different races where I nailed the exacta, but didn't actually bet the exacta.
And I still bet on and nailed exactas in two other races! That means if all I did was bet on exactas all day, I would've done very well.
But, I didn't.
On the brighter side, I hung in on Sunday and only lost about 20 bucks.
Except, that if you were to judge my Sunday on opportunity cost, I lost a little over ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS.
Here's what happened. As I explained, I like to purchase Dave Gonzalez's daily picks at www.surethingselections.com. Trust me, he deserves this plug.
So, I examine the horses for race 2 and I'm all giddy because it's a 7 furlong race on the dirt which is my favorite kind of race in the whole world. It's not easy, but I decide the 1 horse looks best and he's at 3-1 odds.
But the 9 is favored.
The 8 is a 3/4 sibling to some really good horse.
And the 6 looks like the best of the rest.
And we all know that the favorite only wins 25% of the time and even if you correctly bet the favorite to win anything, it usually doesn't pay much. So there's too much risk, not enough reward.
My instinct is that the favorite (#9) will get 2nd place and if anyone can beat him, it's the #1 horse. So there's my exacta. 1-9.
The 8 just looks like a solid show horse. 1-9-8.
The 6 better do his job and get 4th. 1-9-8-6 it is.
1986 is significant to me for the following reasons:
- It was in the 80s. And the reason the 80s were awesome is because you could get away with anything compared to today and everyone seemed to have more money back then.
- The Mets won the World Series.
- The Giants won the Super Bowl.
But when I saw the 9 horse running around before the race, he looked good. So, I jumped ship and put the 9 on top of everything.
Specifically, I bet the bank on 9-1-8 and 9-1-8-6. Even though, the 1 looked really good.
The race goes off and the 9 grabbed a commanding lead in the stretch, but the 1 nipped him just before the wire. Awesome.
After a photo finish for 3rd place, the results were 1-9-8-6. HA!
I guess the nail in the coffin is that Dave Gonzalez picked 1-9-8-6, exactly.
It's not that I had the exact picks in my hand that troubles me or that the superfecta paid $479, but I abandoned my instinct when I had every reason to believe in it.
You win Saratoga. No Travers for me this Saturday. No Curlin for me on August 30th either.
I'll see you next August.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Kentucky Bans Steroids and Saratoga Update
Kentucky is banning steroids. In fact, the bluegrass state is going to lay down the law and is set to enforce the strictest ban on steroids that horse racing has seen.
Bam! Score another one for the good guys. Sometimes I think maybe mankind is evolving.
Come on New York! Where have you been for all this? Kentucky, California and New York are arguably the three biggest horse racing states, by almost every measure.
Kentucky and Cali installed polytrack and banned steroids. Not New York though. Neither one.
Why not? Would it be too trendy if we focused on the safety of the lifeblood of the sport?
But let's talk Toga. I'll bet NYRA is relieved that they've got Curlin lined up for the Woodward on August 30th.
Especially with the almost daily showers that the Capital Region has been getting since late July and a 2-race card dating back a couple weeks to a thunderstorm that apparently washed away part of the main track.
On a personal note, I walked right by Nick Zito at Saratoga last Friday. He was just standing there, messing with his cell phone, readily accessible.
I really wanted to ask him why he is opposed to synthetic racing surfaces, but I wimped out.
But, the more sweeping moves California and Kentucky make to clean up horses and horse racing, the more NYRA is going to be forced to react.
And this news is just the kind of fuel that adds to the trail NYSPI is trying to blaze.
Please feel free to participate in the NYSPI poll and share any comments.
Bam! Score another one for the good guys. Sometimes I think maybe mankind is evolving.
Come on New York! Where have you been for all this? Kentucky, California and New York are arguably the three biggest horse racing states, by almost every measure.
Kentucky and Cali installed polytrack and banned steroids. Not New York though. Neither one.
Why not? Would it be too trendy if we focused on the safety of the lifeblood of the sport?
But let's talk Toga. I'll bet NYRA is relieved that they've got Curlin lined up for the Woodward on August 30th.
Especially with the almost daily showers that the Capital Region has been getting since late July and a 2-race card dating back a couple weeks to a thunderstorm that apparently washed away part of the main track.
On a personal note, I walked right by Nick Zito at Saratoga last Friday. He was just standing there, messing with his cell phone, readily accessible.
I really wanted to ask him why he is opposed to synthetic racing surfaces, but I wimped out.
But, the more sweeping moves California and Kentucky make to clean up horses and horse racing, the more NYRA is going to be forced to react.
And this news is just the kind of fuel that adds to the trail NYSPI is trying to blaze.
Please feel free to participate in the NYSPI poll and share any comments.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Polytrack in New York's Future
I'm on the polytrack attack.
I've read and heard a slew of objections against using polytrack or synthetic racing surfaces at tracks across America.
If you ask me, they don't hold any weight.
Some trainers don't like polytrack because it's not natural. God didn't make it.
God didn't make rubber either. It's not natural. Rubber is made up of synthetics. But nobody minds the rubber that forms the tires on their cars.
Rubber saves lives...in many ways.
And what do you know, rubber is used in polytrack.
A slightly better argument against polytrack is that it may cause soft tissue damage to horses who run on it. This is potentially serious.
Except, are there any studies proving that natural dirt surfaces are good for soft tissue in horses? Please, feel free to share if you have a spare copy of that report that doesn't exist.
The clearest statistical trend about polytrack in relation to natural racing surfaces is that over equal periods of time, polytrack yields significantly less catastrophic injuries than natural surfaces.
I won't quantify this for several reasons, but if you don't believe me, try this thing called Google. Just search for "polytrack" and "catastrophic" at the same time.
Why isn't proof of this enough for New York's tracks to mandate the installation of synthetic surfaces? Why isn't horse safety a top priority?
I know something that many people would think is more important than the safety of stupid, smelly horses and that is the safety of jockeys. Jockeys are people too! It's true and you know it.
The most plausible argument I've read about is that polytrack doesn't seal up in wet conditions with the same quality as natural surfaces. That is probably more true than not.
Research never sleeps, so I'm confident the best of artifical racing surfaces are on the horizon.
I'm resolute that the use of polytrack and similar artificial surfaces in horse racing have so many more pros than cons, that I believe we're supposed to act on it.
I've read and heard a slew of objections against using polytrack or synthetic racing surfaces at tracks across America.
If you ask me, they don't hold any weight.
Some trainers don't like polytrack because it's not natural. God didn't make it.
God didn't make rubber either. It's not natural. Rubber is made up of synthetics. But nobody minds the rubber that forms the tires on their cars.
Rubber saves lives...in many ways.
And what do you know, rubber is used in polytrack.
A slightly better argument against polytrack is that it may cause soft tissue damage to horses who run on it. This is potentially serious.
Except, are there any studies proving that natural dirt surfaces are good for soft tissue in horses? Please, feel free to share if you have a spare copy of that report that doesn't exist.
The clearest statistical trend about polytrack in relation to natural racing surfaces is that over equal periods of time, polytrack yields significantly less catastrophic injuries than natural surfaces.
I won't quantify this for several reasons, but if you don't believe me, try this thing called Google. Just search for "polytrack" and "catastrophic" at the same time.
Why isn't proof of this enough for New York's tracks to mandate the installation of synthetic surfaces? Why isn't horse safety a top priority?
I know something that many people would think is more important than the safety of stupid, smelly horses and that is the safety of jockeys. Jockeys are people too! It's true and you know it.
The most plausible argument I've read about is that polytrack doesn't seal up in wet conditions with the same quality as natural surfaces. That is probably more true than not.
Research never sleeps, so I'm confident the best of artifical racing surfaces are on the horizon.
I'm resolute that the use of polytrack and similar artificial surfaces in horse racing have so many more pros than cons, that I believe we're supposed to act on it.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Exciting Times in Horse Racing
If you haven't been paying attention, a lot is going on in the horse racing world.
The New York Task Force on retired horses will meet again on August 17th in Saratoga Springs to discuss safety in horse racing, including the prospect of installing synthetic racing surfaces.
Who knows if any changes will be made, but at least a dialogue has been started. Although, it would seem a waste to have created this task force and hold these meetings if no changes were made at all.
Whether the opponents of polytrack say it or not, many of them seem more concerned with how artificial racing surfaces will affect their financial interests than how they can mitigate risks to thoroughbreds and jockeys.
In other news, trainer Carl Nafzger and jockey Edgar Prado were inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame today. Prado is an exceptional jockey on dirt and turf and the one who did everything in his power to pull up Barbaro in the Preakness Stakes in 2006. I wonder how he feels about synthetic racing surfaces.
Big Brown returned for the first time since the Belmont Stakes yesterday, winning the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park. Unfortunately, despite the win, sports writers across the country are basically calling it a weak effort against a weak field of competition.
With the way Big Brown ran yesterday, I'm skeptical about how he will fare in the Breeders' Cup against much stiffer competition. He doesn't seem to have the same explosiveness he showed a few months ago, but maybe he's just getting back into the groove.
Meanwhile, 2007 Horse of the Year, Curlin, has continued training, but no one knows for which surface he'll be running on. He recently finished 2nd in his first graded turf race and an announcement is expected tomorrow as to which race he'll be pointing to.
And after California banned the use of steroids in horses, this year's Breeders' Cup races should be 'roid free for what I'm guessing is the first time in forever.
Like I said, exciting times in horse racing.
The New York Task Force on retired horses will meet again on August 17th in Saratoga Springs to discuss safety in horse racing, including the prospect of installing synthetic racing surfaces.
Who knows if any changes will be made, but at least a dialogue has been started. Although, it would seem a waste to have created this task force and hold these meetings if no changes were made at all.
Whether the opponents of polytrack say it or not, many of them seem more concerned with how artificial racing surfaces will affect their financial interests than how they can mitigate risks to thoroughbreds and jockeys.
In other news, trainer Carl Nafzger and jockey Edgar Prado were inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame today. Prado is an exceptional jockey on dirt and turf and the one who did everything in his power to pull up Barbaro in the Preakness Stakes in 2006. I wonder how he feels about synthetic racing surfaces.
Big Brown returned for the first time since the Belmont Stakes yesterday, winning the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park. Unfortunately, despite the win, sports writers across the country are basically calling it a weak effort against a weak field of competition.
With the way Big Brown ran yesterday, I'm skeptical about how he will fare in the Breeders' Cup against much stiffer competition. He doesn't seem to have the same explosiveness he showed a few months ago, but maybe he's just getting back into the groove.
Meanwhile, 2007 Horse of the Year, Curlin, has continued training, but no one knows for which surface he'll be running on. He recently finished 2nd in his first graded turf race and an announcement is expected tomorrow as to which race he'll be pointing to.
And after California banned the use of steroids in horses, this year's Breeders' Cup races should be 'roid free for what I'm guessing is the first time in forever.
Like I said, exciting times in horse racing.
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