Parties in the Parks

4th of July hunch bets:

On The Rocks - 2nd at Delaware Park
Wheredhego - 3rd at Presque Isle
Waited Long Enough - 3rd at Finger Lakes
Surprise Inside - 5th at Penn National
Giant Surge - 7th at Finger Lakes
Tastyfromthegitgo - 2nd at Evangeline
One Short - 9th at Woodbine
Building New Era - 5th at Belmont

- The Paulick Report tried to Drudge up some controversy on Dutrow the other day with an innuendo-filled ditty about Unrequited, a Dutrow-trainee who suffered a fatal injury at Monmouth at Sunday, just two days after having raced at Belmont. This trainer has been running horses back on short rest without incident for years, but only now, after the fact and in the current charged atmosphere, do we hear any questioning of the practice. 14 times prior over the last five years had he run a horse back on as little as one days rest; and then there was Golden Man, who ran in stakes on consecutive days in 2005, and is still going, albeit at a far lower level, today (7 starts in 2008).

Based on today's entries at Belmont, Dutrow is unfazed; he's entered two horses who would be running back in a matter of days. Please Impress ran second on Sunday; and The Cuban Hawk was third just this past Wednesday. The latter was making his first start since August. It's been pointed out that Unrequited had recently had a long layoff too; but he at least had made two starts prior to the two races in three days. If The Cuban Hawk is really going to run today (this being written before today's late scratch time), he'd be jumping right into the fire off ten months off. Unless Dutrow is a complete fool, I'd have to think that he's supremely confident about the horse's condition; again, if he really does run.

It's a 3PM post time today, the first time I recall NYRA conducting its twilight racing on a holiday. I seem to remember a past year in which a Friday 4th of July program was switched back to 1 PM. It's a holiday Party in the Park. Here's a reader who thinks it's a bad idea, and he/she has some valid points. Personally, I think it's kind of cool; and there's a couple of decent, as far as these things go these days, Grade 2's on the card to boot.

However, it's not quite as cool as today's free concert down in Battery Park. It's the hottest ticket in town; they were gobbled up online in a reported 13 minutes. So a nice job by yours truly for being quick on the keyboard. The Feelies played for the first time in 17 years at Maxwell's this week. They'll open for Sonic Youth, who, fortunately, have been with us, unaltered, straight through for more than 25 years. They're the only band I know of who wrote a song named after a horse who finished 11th in the Kentucky Derby (or after any horse who's run in the Derby??)

So, here's wishing you a safe and happy 4th of July, and good luck at the windows!