Purses Pretty at Presque Isle

- Thanks to the reader who sent this link about Presque Isle Downs, and wow! Talk about a boutique meeting. 25 nights, with a staggering average of $500,000 per night. The folks in Maryland must feel like that's twisting the knife. The purse structure is due mostly to $13 million in slots money that is required by law to be distributed. The racino has been operating, non-stop around the clock (the thought of which makes me a bit queasy) since March 1.

The purses as stated in the condition book will not reflect the additional prize money. Instead, in a new math that is only possible in the netherworld of having more money than you know what to do with, a total of 175% of the advertised purse will actually be paid out.

Thus, the lowest purse--$14,000 for $10,000 maiden claimers and $5,000 claimers that haven’t won in six months--is actually worth $24,500. A $40,000 maiden special weight event is worth $70,000. The highest overnight purse--$50,000 for an open allowance race--will be $87,500 under the supplement plan.

(For a $40,000 maiden race, the winner would get $30,000 and the second-place horse $18,000, for example.) [Bloodhorse]

Er, is there a turf course at Presque Isle Downs? How many other people will be curious to know about the racing there?

Presque Isle has received about 45 stall applications thus far, but that could change when the condition book is officially released. “I think you’ll find they’ll be coming in from all over the country.."

I think so! There's apparently no grass course, but there is a one mile track that will be the first to use Michael Dickinson's Tapeta surface. So it should be an interesting meet from several perspectives. With the meeting running from Sept.1-29, I'd guess that some horses are going to be making a detour on the way from Saratoga back downstate.

- J Paul Reddam is suing Kenneth Ramsey.

The case, which also names trainer Dale Romans as a defendant in an alleged conspiracy, focuses on the $600,000 sale by Ramsey to Reddam of then 3-year-old colt Big Picture on July 10, 2005.

The lawsuit claims Big Picture was lame and in considerable pain when he arrived at trainer Doug O'Neill's Southern California barn the day after the sale, a condition resulting from alleged undisclosed chronic shin problems.
.....
O'Neill said it was obvious Big Picture was in distress from the moment he arrived. "Within minutes, I called Paul and told him, 'Uh-oh, we've got a big problem.' [Bloodhorse]

There are accusations that the horse was doped up to mask his symptoms; it's a pretty nasty affair. Referring to Ramsey and Romans, Reddam told Bloodhorse: ""Their attitude seems to be that if you didn't do your diligence, that's your problem." Which is probably what the customer service representatives at Cash Call tell customers who call when they realize they're paying an annual rate of 99.25%!