Odds and Ends

- Clicked on to the Daily Politics blog today, and whaddya know, two banner ads from the SL Green/Hard Rock group. Here's their website. Seriously, would they really build that giant guitar? Could run afoul of FAA regulations, someone might bring a small plane down on the main track chute...watch out for Ussery's Alley. I love the artist's conception of the crowd. Well-dressed, young, racially diverse; a couple of them appear to be ghosts. Oh yeah, just your typical slots parlor crowd.

- Beethoven is coming to the Breeders Cup. No, not the Oxley-Ward three-year old who won the G2 Ky Jockey Club, and then disappeared after a couple of disappointing, though not disastrous, stakes efforts this spring.

Trainer John Ward said Wednesday, March 25, that Beethoven had sustained a slight injury to his left front leg and will “be on sidelines for short period.” [Bloodhorse.com]

Haven't seen nor heard of him since. I checked Stallion Register, and he's not listed there. Yet.

This Beethoven is a two-year old, from the first crop of the two-time Group 1 winner Oratorio, who upset the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes for Aidan O'Brien last weekend. He will switch to the Pro-Ride and run in the Juvenile. Beethoven is out of a Sadlers Wells mare, and this is the distaff family of last year's Classic runner-up Henrythenavigator (they have the same third dam, and Henrythenavigator is also out of a Sadlers Wells mare.)

- Kentucky's Wagering Integrity Committee will recommend that pools close when the clock strikes zero, as in 0 MTP. The tracks are opposed, and who can blame them given the wagering declines they are already dealing with. And besides, as Chris Scherf of the TRA pointed out, the odds are going to change after betting is closed in any event. "You may get the bad news before the race starts, but you're still going to get bad news." [DRF] So people are still going to grumble; that's the nature of gamblers, whether it's a late move on the tote board or on an NFL game.

If the Wagering Integrity Committee wants to improve wagering integrity, how about worrying about important things, like the integrity of the races themselves? To me, this is yet another case of the industry worrying too much about perception. I mean, c'mon, this is gambling, and it's just a game, for me anyway. A horse gets punched late and wins by five. In my mind, if you can't just smile knowingly and move on to the next race, perhaps you should find some other way to spend your time and money.