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Corruption in Ireland; How Serious is the Irish Horse Racing Regulator?

Del Mar (California) Track to Stay Synthetic; Santa Anita Switching Back to Dirt

The news that the Santa Anita racetrack in Arcadia is going to remove its synthetic racing surface at the end of its current meeting in April and probably (we say “probably”) replace it with a dirt track goes against all safety studies.

I thought that since 2006 , all major tracks in Califorina (mandated by the Ca. Horse Racing Board) had to install manufactured tracks. This, for horse safety.

Seems like synthetic tracks do not do well in wet weather and can cost a track some dates.

Too bad.  I say.

I’m for horse safety.

Santa Anita lost 11 racing days due to bad track conditions on rainy days in 2007 and had to cancel more racing during California’s recent downpours.

Given that economic threat to a sport already in precarious straits, the racing board understandably is willing to allow the return to dirt tracks.

On the other hand, tracks like the Del Mar club are not going back to dirt.

Studies by the state’s equine medical director and the Equibase Company show how beneficial the synthetic track has been to horse safety at Del Mar and statewide.

Fatalities at Del mar declined from 2.47 per 1,000 starts on dirt from 2004-2006 to 1.67 per 1,000 on the Polytrack from 2007-2009.

The average for all the major tracks – Del Mar, Santa Anita, Hollywood Park,  Golden Gate Fields and Bay Meadows – fell from 3.09 to 1.68 per 1,000 over the same periods.

Del Mar also has reported fewer injuries on the synthetic surface.

Let’s hear it for Del Mar… which while it needs to run a business, is also cognizant of equine safety.

I’m all for horse racing. I love it.

But safe horse racing.

Rachel Alexandra Takes Eclipse Award, Horse of the Year

Yeah.

Awesome.

But I’m still a bit disappointed.

Rachel Alexandra won Horse of the Year, defeating rival horse Zenyatta (I LOVE Zenyatta) for the Eclipse Award.

The vote was 130 to 99.

I was really looking forward to this award. I thought (and I would have voted for) Zenyatta would win.

Neither horse lost last year.

They never raced against each other. What a shame. So voters just had to decide on their own, who was better.

The voters might have ultimately leaned toward Rachel Alexandra because she raced more (eight, to five for Zenyatta) and defeating males three times, as opposed to once for Zenyatta.

Rachel Alexandra beat top colts in the Preakness and the Haskell and defeated older horses in the Woodward. She was the first filly since 1924 to win the Preakness.

Zenyatta did everything she could to wrest the title from Rachel Alexandra, who once appeared to have an insurmountable lead in the Horse of the Year race.

Zenyatta of course, won a thrilling Breeder’s Cup Classic (and $5 million) at Santa Anita. It was the first win for a female horse in that race.

The Horse of the Year announcement came a day after it was reported that Zenyatta would be racing this year as a six year old.  That has led to speculation that Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta would finally meet.

Rachel Alexandra was a unanimous selection as the champion 3-year-old. Zenyatta received all but one of the votes cast for older filly or mare champion.

They are both beautiful horses. Long may they live, and race.

Georgia to Legalize Horse Race Betting? It Could Happen

I’m all for legalized betting, no matter where it is.

Reason? Our economy is so f**ked up that any kind of revenue we can get to prevent tax hikes I am for.

Besides, I am going to gamble (legally) no  matter what.

In Georgia, where I went to school, they are now considered legalizing horse race betting.

It’s a long time coming, if you ask me.

Now that the 2010 state legislature is in session…and with revenues $2 billion (that’s with a “B”) down from a few years ago, there is serious thought about how to raise additional monies.

Four race tracks could make up the difference if they generate as much in taxes as Indiana did after it began legalized horse-race betting in 2007, according to Arthur Anderson, a lobbyist with the Georgia-South Carolina Horse Racing Committee, based in Augusta.

Anderson is trying to tie the taxes from race track to education funding.

“Educators think it’s wonderful,” said Lisa Amey, a real estate agent in Newnan. She represents a group of investors who have raised $20 million for the construction of a track and training facility south of Atlanta to be called Georgia Downs.

So, we’ll see what happens. Legislation…if it happens at all, will probably be introduced by Rep. Harry Geisinger, R-Roswell, who led the November hearing.

Other lobbyists are pushing wider legalization that would allow construction of a casino in Underground Atlanta, the site of the recent  horse-racing strategy session.

Whether Georgia voters will go for all this is open to question. But I believe that it should be put to a vote.

Let me know how you feel about this.

Best opinions get a free copy of my book (see lottery book to the right of this posting).

Too Early to Talk Triple Crown 2010? I Don’t Think So…

Look, for horse racing fanatics like me, it’s never too early to talk triple crown.

But the fact is, the early nomination deadline for the 2010 races is Jan. 16.

Representatives from the three tracks will be at racing venues across the country signing up potential runners for the classic races, prior to the closing of the nomination period.

Covering prospective nominees in South Florida will be Don Richardson, Churchill Downs Inc. senior vice president; Ben Huffman, director of racing, racing secretary at Churchill Downs; Coley Blind, Pimlico stakes coordinator; P.J. Campo, vice president, director of racing and racing secretary for New York Racing Association. Gene Williams, representing Churchill Downs, will accept nominations in Southern California, while Jason Boulet, director of racing, racing secretary at Fair Grounds, will take nominations at his home track. Sandy Montgomery of Churchill Downs will sign up horses at Oaklawn Park, and Allison DeLuca, director of racing at Tampa Bay Downs, will handle nominations at that Florida track.

Payment of fees can be paid by check or credit card.

A late-nomination period, with a fee $6,000 per horse, closes March 27.

The Triple Crown, which hasn’t been claimed since Affirmed’s sweep of the three races in 1978, begins May 1 with the Kentucky Derby 136 at Churchill Downs, moves on to Pimlico on May 15 for the 135th Preakness, and closes with the 142nd Belmont Stakes June 5 at Belmont Park.

Can’t wait for this year’s races. Can’t wait to see which horses will excite crowds and give us all hope that we might live to see a triple crown winner, at last, this year.

Time To Retire Lava Man? Owners Ponder the Possibility After Sunday’s Poor Finish at the San Gabriel Handicap

While those of us in the East huddle up in the cold biting weather, the California west coast circuit rolls on.

What I found most interesting about recent races was the performance, or should I say weakening performance, of Lava Man.

Lava Man came in last in  Sunday’s $150,000 San Gabriel Handicap at Santa Anita. This, after an 18-month break.

His owners, obviously disappointed in the result, might now decide to retire the 8-year-old gelding.

Oddly enough, Lava Man led to the final turn, but faded through the stretch to finish 6 1/4 lengths behind race winner Proudinsky, the defending champion.

Asked about Lava Man’s future, the horse’s  trainer said, “I don’t know. He’ll go back to the track in three or four days if we decide to go on with it.”

O’Neill reserved making a decision on Lava Man’s future until he confers this week with Wood and co-owners Steve, Dave and Tracy Kenly. The options include a 9-year-old campaign in 2010 or retirement.

Ridden by Tyler Baze,  Lava Man set fractions of 24.06 and 48.14 seconds, leading by as much as 1 1/2 lengths.

Lava Man returned to the unsaddling area with blood visible on both his hind legs. It was unclear how the apparent cut occurred. Speculation is that Lava Man struck the side of the starting gate.

2010 Kentucky Derby Tickets To Go On Sale Jan. 6

Here’s a post-Christmas gift your horse racing-loving spouse is sure to love.

Tickets to the 2010 Kentucky Derby. Of course, you’ll have to wait until Jan. 6 to buy them.

But  finally, they will go on sale, three weeks after a computer screw up.

Churchill Downs is at last selling ticket packages to the Derby and Kentucky Oaks.

A total of 3,000 seats for both days will go on sale. You can buy them at tickets.churchilldowns.com.

The online sales by Churchill, the first in Derby history, were scheduled to begin Dec. 16, but a “potential data error,” as track officials described it, caused the delay.

Track president Kevin Flanery said in a media release that the potential data error “has been erased … we truly appreciate our patrons’ patience as we worked through this process.”

The 136th Derby is set for May 1, the day after the 136th Oaks.

Hollywood Park Stable Notes; Leading Up To Dec. 19’s $750,000 CashCall Futurity

From our correspondent in California:

Some interesting news for gamblers about the Dec. 19 CashCall Futurity at Hollywood Park.

Hope this stable note helps.

Make Music for Me, a maiden who finished a closing second to Lookin at Lucky in both the Best Pal Stakes and Del Mar Futurity, will start in the $750,000 CashCall Futurity Saturday, trainer Alexis Barba said last week.

Make Music for Me, a son of Bernstein, is winless in five starts and comes off a  sixth-place finish as the 2-to-5 favorite in a maiden race at the Futurity distance of 1 1/16 miles here Nov. 22.

“I hope he gets a better trip this time,” said Barba. “He got behind a wall of horses and couldn’t get out.”

Make Music for Me showed great promise in the two Del Mar races and finished fourth in the Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland before hitting the sour note here.

Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, who won the 2003 race on Lion Heart, has the call in the Grade I test. Make Music for Me has earned $118,700 for owners Ellen and Peter Johnson.

A field of seven is probable for the Futurity, headed by Lookin at Lucky.

The Eclipse Award contender, an unlucky second in his last outing in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, heads a trio of candidates from the stable of Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, who won the race for a fourth time last year with Pioneerof the Nile.

Other probable starters include Breeders’ Futurity winner and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile third-place finisher Noble’s Promise (Robby Albarado), Hollywood Prevue Stakes runner-up Get My Fix (Joseph Talamo) and Prevue third-place finisher Seattle Ruler (Martin Garcia).

Synthetic Tracks Causing Increased Rider Injuries, Jockeys Say

Whole Lotta Love Given Zenyatta as She “Officially” Retires

Californians (well, anyone who loves horse racing, really) love Zenyatta, who was offically retired recently at Hollywood Park, between the seventh and eighth races on a program featuring the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby.

The five year old mare was clearly the most popular living thing in the crowd, and that includes Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. To be fair, his speech drew more boos than cheers anyway.

Zenyatta and trainer John Shirreffs were praised for her 14-race campaign highlighted by an historic win in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Nov. 7.

“I can’t say enough about her trainer,” one celebrity said. “We’re humbled by the event and our association with this great racehorse.”

A replay of the Breeders’ Cup Classic was shown.

A few moments later, Zenyatta herself, ridden by regular exercise rider Steve Willard, jogged down the stretch past most of the crowd and back toward the winner’s circle where Smith climbed aboard once more to end the ceremony.

Zenyatta will remain at Shirreffs’s barn at Hollywood Park in coming weeks.

Her final days at the barn have become especially poignant.

“She always lifted the barn into a good mood,” said  Shirreffs’s assistant Michelle Jensen. “We were part of her family and she was part of our family.”

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Recent Articles

• Corruption in Ireland; How Serious is the Irish Horse Racing Regulator?
• Del Mar (California) Track to Stay Synthetic; Santa Anita Switching Back to Dirt
• Rachel Alexandra Takes Eclipse Award, Horse of the Year
• Georgia to Legalize Horse Race Betting? It Could Happen
• Too Early to Talk Triple Crown 2010? I Don’t Think So…
• Time To Retire Lava Man? Owners Ponder the Possibility After Sunday’s Poor Finish at the San Gabriel Handicap
• 2010 Kentucky Derby Tickets To Go On Sale Jan. 6
• Hollywood Park Stable Notes; Leading Up To Dec. 19’s $750,000 CashCall Futurity
• Synthetic Tracks Causing Increased Rider Injuries, Jockeys Say
• Whole Lotta Love Given Zenyatta as She “Officially” Retires

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