Ry Bread and Sleaze

- In the 6th at the Big A on Wednesday, Ry Bread (8-1) ran quite well two back when adding blinkers and dropping to this restricted 15K claiming level, leading to the sixteenth pole after surviving an early challenge to his speed. It was a tough effort which perhaps explains why he tired coming back three weeks later. Led early that race too, but succumbed to the runaway Jacobson claim I've Got The Fever, and faded badly after that. Claimed out of that race by Galluscio, the four-year old son of Wildcat Heir got a little freshening and returns off a couple of sharp works for a 22% 1st time claim barn. Jockey Junior Alvarado stays in the saddle for the new connections, for which he's winning at a 24% clip. Seems good value at that morning line. War Colony (3-1) raced OK vs. better. Papa's Nice Cat (5-2) always gives a good effort and fits here on class, but been over two years since he's visited the winner's circle.

- Here's a report from the City & State website:

A source notes that tucked deep into an obscure campaign finance report for Senate Minority Leader John Sampson is a $5,000 expense for a top white shoe law firm, which is representing Sampson in the ongoing Aqueduct Entertainment Group probe.

The Manhattan law firm Thompson, Wigdor & Gilly received the payment in July 2011. It was the first time that an individual member of the Democratic conference has used campaign cash to retain the firm’s services, amidst a federal investigation into the AEG deal, campaign finance records show.

And for those of us wondering if that whole nasty scandal was just going to disappear, and if Sampson was just going to walk scot-free, there you go. Still boggles my mind that Sampson has carried on as the Senate Minority Leader as if nothing happened - and that the Democratic caucus have allowed him to. But apparently, at least according to this report, the feds are probing indeed. Last week, the NY Post reported that Carl Andrews, the AEG lobbyist who, according to the Inspector General's report on the affair, was given by Sampson an internal Senate memorandum with details of rival bids shortly before AEG changed its own, has failed in his bid to walk away from the investigation.

The [NY] Court of Appeals upheld lower-court rulings that Andrews — who has deep ties to the state Senate Democratic leadership — must comply with a subpoena.

Andrews, a former Brooklyn senator, spent two years in court in a failed effort to quash the subpoena.....Andrews declined to comment yesterday. [NY Post]

But I guess he'll be commenting soon, presumably to investigators or, perhaps, a grand jury. Gee, wonder why he was so desperate not to?

- The Rangers won again, in Boston, and now lead the second place Bruins by nine points in the Eastern Conference of the NHL. I'm speechless.