Sunday Morning Notes - Nov 20

- Check this out. I’m in Manchester, Vermont with family members young and old. Amidst much turmoil in the hotel room early Saturday evening, I switched on the laptop instantly I'm hooked up via the wireless hi-fi. Super Tote on Bris.com lets me know that the 7th at Hollywood is upcoming in 15 minutes. I’ve got the past performances, and much more, on Formulator, the video via a link to the Capital District OTB channel, and a toll-free number to my phone account. Not only can I bet the race, I can look up trainer records, get the double payoffs with the horse I liked in the subsequent Hollywood Prevue, and even watch the race live. Is this freaking awesome or what?? It won’t be long, if it’s not already possible, before I could excuse myself from the dinner table, go into the bathroom and do all of the above on my cellphone!

OK, so I ran second in the race with You Crack Me Up, second at 5.70 to 1; and I wouldn’t have won anyway, since Old Thunder ran 4th at an underlaid even money in the Prevue. When I wrote that I liked him, I didn’t say that I liked him at 1.10 to 1. Though I guess I didn’t say that I didn’t like him at that price either. Your Tent Or Mine was one of the two entrants sired by Forest Camp (out of She's Got the Look), and this two year-old ran his seven furlongs in 1:21 after a bit of a sluggish start, a full 4/5ths of a second faster than older allowance horses in the 5th, getting his final furlong in 12 2/5. He was the longest shot on the board at 6-1.

At Churchill, Sundrop (Sunday Silence) found the competition in the Grade 3 Cardinal somewhat easier than the BC F&M Turf, after which she finished 14th by 37 lengths and was vanned off the track. Whenever I see a horse with the ‘van’ comment get bet down from the morning line in his/her next race, I consider it worth paying attention to. Rick Mettee, the New York-based assistant to trainer Saeed bin Suroor, said that jockey Frankie Dettori thought the filly took a bad step and eased up as a precaution.

"She did a real good piece of work the other day at Belmont that most people might not have noticed. She worked 59 and change on the dirt, which is really good for a turf filly." [Louisville Courier-Journal]

- Somebody noticed because she was 15-1 in the morning line, but went off at 7-1 and stormed home in 12:11 seconds to hold off the tough Delta Princess. It was her last race.

- An editorial in the Baltimore Sun points out that Magna scored a handy profit of $172 million with its sale of the Meadows harness track, thanks to the slots law that guaranteed a racino there, and wonders exactly what their motive is in Maryland.

Back in Maryland, ask whether Magna would do the same thing here, grab a low-priced slots license from the state as an entitlement to save racing and then quickly flip it - fleeing right away with perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars.

Marylanders should pay close attention to Pennsylvania's rush to slots, beset from the start with questionable, if not corrupt, deals. They also should ask whether Magna wants a slots license or two to save horse racing or to flip them for a quick buck.