Sunday Morning Notes - Nov 12

- A website has posted what appears to be a legit link to a story which reports that the Meadowlands and Monmouth are considering Michael Dickinson's Tapeta surface for their tracks. And apparently, synthetic surfaces are not just for thoroughbreds.

[Dickinson] displayed the surface's versatility by first training two Thoroughbreds over the track. Two hours later, after the surface had been rolled, [harness trainer Jim] Takter trained Standardbred horses over the same material. [Thoroughbred Times]

- I mentioned last week that the Mile winner Miesque's Approval is a half-brother to the stakes-winning Revved Up, and the latter, at the age of eight, a year older than his more prominent sibling, won the state-bred Bonnie Heath Turf Cup at Calder on Saturday. Perhaps someone from the Elias Sports Bureau can tell us when was the last time that seven and eight-year old siblings won stakes races in the same month. Revved Up also took the Grade 3 Sycamore last month at Keeneland, turning back Rush Bay, who ran quite creditably in the Turf.

- Tuesday is the day that the dreams of Pennsylvania horsemen start to become reality. The racino at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs is set to open that day at 10 A.M.

Gamblers are expected to pump more than $1 billion into the temporary facility’s 1,083 slot machines during its first year of operation. The casino’s projected take will be about $91 million – less than 10 percent – with the rest of the money paid out to winning slots players.

The tally will get even bigger when a permanent casino with 2,000 or more machines opens in 2008. [Times Leader]

But in this case, one man's dream is a Marylander's nightmare.

"Six years ago, we had 48 mares that people sent here to be bred to Maryland [thoroughbred] stallions," said Cynthia McGinnes, owner of Thornmar Chestertown on the Eastern Shore. "This year we had one. Do I need to say more?" [Baltimore Sun]

Maryland is losing one of its biggest slots proponents in defeated Republican Governor Michael Ehrlich. Gov-elect Martin O'Malley is said to favor a limited slots program to try and save the industry. On Friday, O'Malley said he hoped to have legislation passed in the first or second legislative session.

- Louisville's Courier-Journal placed a photo of the stricken Pine Island on the front page of their special Breeders Cup wrap-up section, and the paper's public editor Pam Platt reports that some readers objected, with one suggesting that "everybody who had any part of the decision to run that photo should be fired" Photo editor David Harrison responded:

"To fairly report any event, we cannot ignore unpleasant images. . . . Though disturbing, they are an important part to our reporting of (the Breeders' Cup). Racing is a beautiful sport. But like many things of beauty, there is a dangerous side. Some may not want to view these images and others may not want to acknowledge the potential for injury in a sport they love. My view is that editors must allow images to be seen and ignorance is only temporarily comfortable."