News and Notes - Oct 30

- As I mentioned in the prior post, Commentator is out of the Sprint. Areyoutalkingtome is in, and his workout today was dissed on The Works rather unanimously.

- NYRA is once again, as they did late last year, apparently succeeding in using the threat of a bankruptcy filing to extract the money they need to survive. Tom Precious, writing in Bloodhorse of a meeting of the Oversight Board scheduled for this afternoon, reports:

Behind the scenes...lawyers for NYRA and the state are involved in heavy negotiations to get a final deal on the VLT project that will then release the $19 million bailout package.

Bill Nader said that: "We're just trying to hang in there." I don't know whether the two weather-related cancellations over the weekend helps or hurts.

- Ouija Board's head groom reports that all is well after the trip overseas.

“It’s the same old story, everything has gone great. She’s exercised in the barn and had a drink and all being well, will go onto the dirt track on Tuesday morning.

“She was on her own in the van at the head of the convoy and is like the queen waiting to regain her crown.” [Ireland Online]

- Wayne Lukas has just one Breeders Cup starter in Pegasus Wind, and his stable is down to 40 horses, his lowest number since the early 1970s. He spoke to the Thoroughbred Times about his loss of clients.

"I had three key clients [Eugene Klein, William T. Young, and Robert Lewis] pass away, and that really hurt us. Their programs diminished quickly. That's one thing. My 11 or 12 assistants that are out there, each of them kind of took a client with them when they left. I look around and each one of them is training for people that I had, with my blessing. I was 100% for that, but I wish I had some of them back now."

- Let's keep an eye on ESPN tonight during Monday Night Football for some of that promotion for the Breeders Cup that we've been promised. The poster Bernardini said on Scoop's blog: watch MNF and you'll see promotion, so we're all anxiously waiting.

I was mistaken the other day when I wrote that the Breeders Cup button on ESPN's main page isnt' up. It is up, along that top row of little tabs, between 'golf' and 'soccer.' I missed it because I was looking for something bigger, like something on the banner, or in the space where they run ads for My ESPN, or E-Ticket. Guess I was expecting too much once again.