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Saturday, October 27, 2007

Breeders' Cup Live Blog

- Doing my thing over there. Check back here for items too profane, irreverent, or critical for me to at that site.

- Obviously off to a miserable start with Indian Blessing having won, but a 27 second quarter to the mile mark and nobody was gaining. Are you kidding me?

- Hanging out with Davidowitz again; he had the first two winners. Well, anyone could have had those two, right? The Head Chef seems very happy sitting in the media section. The security here is very lax as far as access like that. In fact, if you really tried, you could have walked right into this track through the credentials gap without a ticket or credentials at all. Seriously. Though those guys with machine guns are a little intimidating.

Thanks for the comments, keep em coming. We're looking for the mud caulks listing; the guy giving out the media advisories was clueless. I'll let you know if I find it.

- Hey everyone. I suck, don't I? I'm also sitting with Jeremy Plonk, of ESPN.com, and Matt Gardner, who won that Horseplayer Magazine blog contest, and is doing his thang here, much like myself. Hope you're all doing better than me!! OK, back to the BC blog, thanks for dropping by as always.

25 Comments:

SantaBarbarian said...

congrats on the big "gig!"

What's with the "naming" rights of the races? It, to me anyway, seems to really cheapen the day and the races.

Come on...Breeder's Cup Classic...Powered by Dodge?

Tacky.

Valerie Grash said...

Hi Alan!

I'm green with envy :)

Could you give up a heads-up on who is wearing mud caulks today? I can't find that info anywhere online. Much appreciated!

Brett said...

The Schrump-man was on ESPN with Hank and Kenny discussing the juvenile. Pretty funny segment Hank and Todd got into each other and it was hilarious.

Ruben Bailey said...

mud caulks. mud caulks. mud caulks!!

Brett: Hank is borderline embarrasing.

We need more Kenny Mayne

Valerie Grash said...

War Pass just won and he had mud caulks :) We need to know! :)

Anonymous said...

Alan, great job in real time posting on the BC site! Stay positive on your "In the Mud" picks this aft by remembering that Art Rooney won his big stake in life in 1936 on back-to-back muddy tracks at Empire City and The Spa!
/S/ Green Mtn Punter

Brett said...

ruben: Hank seems drunk every telecast. Maybe he is. I'm thinking when Hank retires ESPN hires Matt Carothers.

Michael said...

While Hank's not my favorite, I like that they gave him "$1000 budget" to make bets with... It's nice to see someone talk about Tri's and Super's on ESPN.

Anonymous said...

Is it sloppy- lots of water on the surface- or is it getting truly muddy, sticky and holding? With front runners ruling the roost it sounds like it is more slop than mud as speed tends to hold up inslop.It's when it gets to sink in and become a deep muddy bog that you get a holding, tiring track,and closers stand a better chance to pass tiring front runners. /S/ Green Mtn Punter

Valerie Grash said...

They did mention, when talking with Larry Jones, that Hard Spun is wearing mud caulks today :)

Ruben Bailey said...

BTW, Hank just lost his "full-time" job: (as of the end of the year)

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/sfl-flspgoldberg20nboct20,0,6284812.story

Ruben Bailey said...

well, looks like my link got cut off.....had to chop it of, so it will take you two cut and paste's..

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/sfl-flspgoldberg20
nboct20,0,6284812.story

And btw, I don't hate HG, I just think his time has come and gone. Good run. Thanks for making it interesting for a while, now let's just move on to the next generation.

I love how Schrupp just ignored HG while he just kept spewing and jibber-jabbing over Mayne....

I need's me a winner kids!

Anonymous said...

Perhaps the $25 win on Lahudood is an omen for longer prices t o kick in? Equidaily.com's BC longshot approach in which
you bet all 20-1 or better runners in all BC races shows a profit most BC's, and an off track would certainly bode well
for that approach today, or so it would seem? /S/ Green Mtn Punter

Anonymous said...

It's not as if they didn't expect an off track today! So where is the horseshoe information????!!!! They shoulda had it front and center on every message board in the joint, on the closed circuit for OTB's, the works, as well as on line! C'mon, Monmouth, ya gotta perform when in the spotlight!
/S/ Green Mtn Punter

Ruben Bailey said...

Ok..so, supposedly, the live web feed on breederscup.com has the caulks info.

You have to "register" but you can use a bogus email address as they don't ask for email confirmation.

I haven't seen them yet, but I just got on...

Alan H. said...

The NYRA Internet betting platform is down. I called and they confirmed that they are taking all bets over the phone. Just when you think NYRA is going in the right direction, this happens on the biggest day.

Brett said...

Alan, I am 0-5... that is 0-13 in the last 13 Breeders Cup races. I seem to be doing as bad as you.

Jen R said...

OK, why couldn't AmericaTAB have failed me before the Juvenile Fillies, where I embarrassed myself, instead of before the Distaff, which would have been my one win of the day?

SantaBarbarian said...

I didn't have the time to concentrate on the Form this week.

Things were a little "up in smoke" here in LoCal.

I'm just watching for fun. And, for any losses...just blame it on the "conditions!"

;-)

Brett said...

Unbelievable win by Curlin.

But in other news one of the craziest horses I have seen in my brief history of watching horses died on the track during the classic. RIP George Washington.

SantaBarbarian said...

So sad to hear about George Washington.

Anonymous said...

This Breeders' Cup may have been the final death knell to winning over fans and bringing them back.

First, the weather was just awful. Secondly, reports of the NYRA site being down for wagering. Nice.

Now for the really good stuff. Pick your chemist and you will have a winner. Biancone wins with NowNowNow. It was the portly Frenchman, not the other Frenchman that really trained this horse. The one who decided to move his horses for the better of the sport and the Breeders' Cup.

Other winning trainers were Dutorw. Babe Dickie no doubt scored big at the windows with Kip Deville, owned by IEAH. They, of course, the owners of the horse that the mob helped to tinker with and score at Aqueduct a few, short years ago.

Pletcher finally got a win. Pletcher who served 2 months or so last year, wasn't it?

Frankel won. Stronach owned. Maybe Frank can use the winner's share to help pay off the Magna debt. By the way, Frankel was back in California because of the fires. That last part is incorrect. Bobby Dearest is back because his dog is sick.

Asmussen wins with Curlin! Extra, extra, read all about it! Well, not in any of the major newspapers because they don't cover the sport any more because of the corruption. Asmussen spent 6 months on the pine for chemistry last year. Maybe Biancone, the portly Frenchman, will use his time share for his 6 months. Well, then again, maybe not. Maybe he'll head to Hong Kong. No, he was already banned there.

Where was Will Farish? Both of them!?! The former Ambassador was counting his Smart Strike millions. No, not the ones from his ties to Bush and Cheney, but the stallion's soon to be top stud fee. Or maybe he was out tending to Grasshopper.

And how are the Cunningham's doing? No, not Howard, Miriam, Richie and Joannie. We mean Shirley and the other one. Yeah, they are in the Kentucky clink. Maybe they are gulping Phen-Phen in order to lose some weight and squeeze through the bars when the guards aren't looking.

Satish Sanan? Jesse Jackson? No, not that one! But the wine dude! Sales Integrity Task Force!!! Hooray! No integrity there and not much on the track either. Sanan was ravaged out of millions from Lukas and others. Jackson? Yep, him, too, but from different ones who stuffed their critters before auctions with more 'roids than Barry 24.

Would our Forefathers be proud of these acts in the land of liberty? Probably not, and they would have not scratched THE FOREFATHERS yesterday.

And for THE FOREFATHER? George Washington? Well, he should have never run. Headed to the stud box last year with intent on padding the coffers of Very Coolmore, but he came up disinterested. Now, he lies in a barn.

Sorry, racing has lost a lot of its luster. Once again we see a horse go down on its supposed Super Bowl equivalent day, and the masters of corruption continue with their gimmicks.

Hey, at least we got to see Hard Spun, the hardest trying horse in the land. And hopefully he is one that has raced drug free and is cared for by a very nice guy.

And we didn't hear Baffert whine about the off track or have him blame the right coast for his horses underperforming. Did he bring his Poppy Seed bagels like he did in Louisiana with Wimbledon a few years back?

Next year? Gary Contessa wins HALF the Breeders' Cup races with broken down NY breds.

Anonymous said...

Alan,

I encourage you to delete that anonymous comment -- I'm not one for the thought police, but that is quite possibly one of the most negative, I hate the world comments I have ever read... did an angry teen write that? Jeeze.

Anonymous said...

Curlin's human connections may be less than desirable but can't we forget them for a moment and simply honor the horse? In this age of "they don't make'em like they used to" Curlin is a real throwback. He's shown grit and determination even in his defeats. His accomplishments this year, given his inexperience, have been remarkable. His commanding win today reminded me of the great performances I was accustomed to seeing back in the 70's.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, the races were excellent and the Classic was a match for the ages between a group of true champion horses. But somebody here wants to, what?? DELETE the negative comments soebody makes? What on earth for? Because somebody is not gushing with warm-fuzzies about the state of horse racing these days? Sentiments like 'Mike's' make me think that some people are taking the same drugs they give the horses. Egads, man, the utter disregard for the horses, the jockeys and stable employees and - last but not least - the Average Joe/two-dollar bettor couldn't be more glaring than it has been this week here in New Jersey. I could make a laundry list, at the top of which would be $50. general admission tickets and $32. parking for the "priviledge" of standing in pouring rain (on a beautiful, sunny Sunday morning as I write this). Why would you think only an angry teenager or a betting-window sore loser would have negative opinions?