Bridge to Nowhere

- I got a note from reader Mr. Ed, who was at the Big A on Wednesday to celebrate the end of the tax season. As you may know, there were two highly publicized Pick Six carryovers on the day, one at Aqueduct and the other at Keeneland. The reader plunged into both, but at the end of the long day, he was alive only for some consolation payoffs at Keeneland. Nonetheless, he naturally had an interest in the 9th and final race there, as did anyone else with a wagering interest.

Mr. Ed writes that there were announcements throughout the day that there would be no "bridge simulcasting." That's a somewhat outdated term used to describe the late afternoon out-of-town races that span the time between the end of the NYRA card and that evening's harness races. I don't really know why the term would ever be used on track, where the archaic state law still prohibits simulcasting at NYRA tracks after 7:30 PM. There, it's just a bridge to nowhere. In any event, "bridge simulcasts" generally refer to the west coast tracks or those running twilight cards specifically to fill the gap, and never to the final races of a track like Keeneland finishing up its card.

Anyway, the Aqueduct card had concluded just around ten minutes prior, and there's Mr. Ed waiting for the Keeneland race. They're loading into the gate...they're off, and.....the TV's suddenly cut off from the race and switch to a shot of the infield flag! "You should have seen the masses (well maybe not masses) running full speed to the little kiosk where you can control the channels, as one sole customer actually knew how to find TVG and switched it on just in time for the final 1/8th." Indeed, we definitely should have seen that scene!!

Unfortunately, the story doesn't have a happier ending, as the reader lost out on the conso payoff. He also adds that the Pick Six payoffs were never posted by Keeneland (and Crist notes on his blog that they were unavailable on the NYRA website as well). All in all, not a great way for either track to handle a wager which, as the reader notes, was prominently promoted in the front page headline of the Racing Form. In the case of Keeneland, it was likely an unfortunate glitch. But at Aqueduct, it sounds like it was extreme and utter carelessness, and an utter disregard for the on track bettors. They were obviously trying to close the track, but it surely wouldn't have killed anyone to leave the TV's on for another minute and 28 seconds! I mean, c'mon! Mr. Ed wrote that he'll "think long and hard about going back," and this guy has been going there as long as I have! And that's a pretty long time.

"What a way to run an industry," he concludes. Indeed.

- After his disappointing Florida Derby try, Nistle's Crunch successfully returned to the allowance ranks, on the grass, in Keeneland's 6th. He got heavily bet; 4-1 third choice in the morning line, he was the 8-5 chalk. Great ride by Albarado, who saved ground all the way until finding a convenient seam after turning for home. The chart comment says he drew clear under mild handling, but I think that's overstating the amount of effort expended by the jockey. He had a little trouble keeping the horse straight as he drifted in a couple of lanes, but it seemed otherwise an extremely easy win. Nistle's Crunch is by the Storm Cat sire Van Nistelrooy, out of a mare by Island Whirl, who I had in the 1982 Woodward at Belmont; Angel Cordero Jr. riding for Lukas. I think he was something like 6-1, although I could be mixing that up with a number of other races after all that time.

Alwajeeha won the G3 Appalachian for McLaughlin and Shadwell, and I'm pretty sure I had her when she ran second in her last. She took off like a rocket when prompted by Johnny V while four wide on the turn, and just edged ahead in an exciting three horse finish.

- Lemme ask you something.....you really don't like hockey?? Well, I know at least a few of you do. But man, team sports just doesn't get any better than these tight Stanley Cup playoff contests. The Rangers played their best game of the series, but still needed a dramatic late goal to overcome a game Devils squad, their magnificent, if occasionally obnoxious, goaltender, and two referees seemingly bent on seeing the series tied up (think I'm being a homer? Ask Teresa, another objective observer), to take a 3 games to 1 lead in their opening round series. Wow, what a game, and what an gleeful explosion by the tense crowd when Marc Staal blasted the puck by Brodeur for the winner with just 3:17 remaining in regulation time. He's already the 4th rookie to score in the playoffs this year for the Blueshirts, a sign of a promising future no matter what happens this spring. Game 5 is tomorrow night, and Let's Go Rangers!!

- As you may have noticed, the site is presently under construction; thanks for bearing with it. Any comments or suggestions are definitely welcome.