Back From The Dead

- Speaking of staycations, business continues to generally boom at the Yonkers Raceway racino. Business has leveled off a bit as the summer wanes....is it a coincidence that gas prices have eased over that time? But look at the numbers from last summer compared to this, and the improvement is quite evident.

As slots revenues rise, so do the purses for the races. The latest purse increase was 21.6%, after a 15% boost in July. This has boosted the fortune of the horsemen, and not only with respect to earnings. Business at the claim box is going through the roof. Seven horses were claimed just this past Saturday.

The highest claim for $50,000 was followed by three claims at $40,000; one at $30,000 and two at $20,000. The total spent at the claim box was $240,000. [LoHud.com]

The track is now considering claiming races with tags as high as $100,000. In a statement, the Standardbred Owners Association of NY said: "None of the present positive action at Yonkers Raceway was conceivable before the VLTs came on board."

This is all pretty amazing when you consider that, not too long ago, the track had been left for dead. Waiting for the End at Yonkers Raceway reads the headline of a virtual obituary published in the NY Times in 2000.

A year after celebrating its centennial, Yonkers Raceway is dying. What was once New York's greatest gambling venue has lost out to TV, casinos, and harness racing's failure to attract a new generation of fans.

''Our time at Yonkers has come to an end,'' Tim Rooney, the racetrack's owner, said in an interview in his office at the track. ''You can't have a 100-acre facility and just use a fraction of the property.'' After losing roughly $5 million for three years running, the track broke even in 1999, but the property is for sale, and the track will likely be gone in a year or two.

The only way to revive the track, said Mr. Rooney, would be to introduce slot machines, which have brought new life to a number of dying harness tracks in other states. Although casino gambling is illegal in New York State, slot machines -- or a near variant known as Video Lottery Terminals -- could become legal at Yonkers if a current effort to introduce casino gambling in the Catskills is successful.

However, that is viewed as a long shot, and is not likely to delay the track's sale, which could happen as early as this summer, said Joe Morningstar, the managing director of Rockwood Realty, the principal marketer of the property.

Meanwhile, the track is slowly being dismantled.

That all changed...except of course at Aqueduct....the following year when, faced with dire financial circumstances after the 9/11 attacks, the legislature approved VLT's at the state's racetracks.

- The MSG Network, which has absolutely nothing to do but show old Rangers and Knicks games during the summer, will televise the Woodward Stakes on Saturday.

- Free grandstand AND clubhouse admission at Saratoga on closing day. So it's a chance for you to wander into the clubhouse and check out where the better half bets. No profanity please. Maybe you'll run into Joe Bruno if you're lucky.

- Nice job by NYRA, creating a Curlin web page, complete with a "blog" by Robby Albarado, a workout tab, and links to past performances, some nice photos, and replays of all of his career races.

- Governor Paterson addressed the Democratic convention on Tuesday.

- Duck!

Tabor Scats With Scat Daddy

- Scat Daddy has been retired due to a minor injury.

"Our vets told us he would need 90 days rest, so we would have run out of time to get him back for the major races this year, and the decision was made to retire him to stud," Pletcher said. [Daily Racing Form]

Reader Hawken, who gets a hat tip for alerting me to this story, asks incredulously: What on earth are they planning to get at stud for this horse!

Well, we recently took a look at Friends Lake, who commands $15,000. While Friends Lake has only the Grade 1 Florida Derby on his resume, Scat Daddy, in addition to winning that race, also won the Grade 1 Champagne, and the G2 Sanford and Fountain of Youth. Scat Daddy, as a son of Johannesburg, is not by an already proven sire of sires, as Friends Lake (by AP Indy) is; and the latter, being free of Northern Dancer and Mr. Prospector whilst Scat Daddy has close-up inbreeding to Mr. P, may be a better fit for more mares. But between the four graded stakes wins, and being by a son of a son of Storm Cat out of a Mr. Prospector daughter of Grade 1 winner Likeable Style, I imagine his stud fee will be at least as much as that of Friends Lake and probably more. It's fine to give Michael Tabor some credit for sportsmanship for running Rags to Riches in the Belmont; but this is a reminder that his racing decisions are generally determined by the bottom line.

- Patrick over at Pulling Hair and Betting Horses has helpfully compiled videos of all five of Invasor's U.S. races, plus his win in the Dubai World Cup earlier this year. I had a little fun clicking the 'play' button on all of them simultaneously and listening to the cacophany of race calls, which includes one in Spanish of one of his wins in Uruguay. If that proves to be overwhelming for you, just read this snoozefest by Haskin in Bloodhorse.

Because his craving for mints had gotten out of hand over the winter, Dianne was asked by assistant trainer Artie Magnuson, with whom we had become friendly, to refrain from giving him any, sticking to carrots only...

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

Oh sorry. New Jersey racetracks are getting ready to go back to Atlantic City with their palms opened wide when negotiations with the casinos on a new subsidy are expected to begin over the summer. In 2004, the casinos agreed to pay $86 million in subsidies to Monmouth, the Meadowlands, and Freehold over four years to compensate them for the fact that they won't let them have slots. That of course was before Pennsylvania, and before Yonkers; and the latter is absolutely killing the Meadowlands, which is racing only four days a week during what is normally their peak season right now.

“The Casino Association of New Jersey is unanimously opposed to VLTs,” said Joseph A. Corbo Jr., the president of the trade group that represents Atlantic City's gaming halls. [Press of Atlantic City]

The casinos claim that the 1976 referendum which permitted casinos in AC barred the institution of any other gambling. Except lotteries, I guess. The state promised a fair and stable tax rate and an operating environment that limited gaming solely to Atlantic City.

That, of course, has not prevented Harrah's from opening a racino at Chester Downs in Pennsylvania, which is far closer to Atlantic City than the Meadowlands, so the hypocrisy of the casinos' stance is clear. The tracks have proposed that Atlantic City interests could operate the VLT parlors and share in the proceeds, but their opposition remains firm thus far.

- Lava Man will carry 124 pounds on Saturday when he tries to win the Hollywood Gold Cup for the third year in a row.

Seven other older horses are considered probable for the Gold Cup, topped by Mervyn LeRoy winner Molengao. Second to Lava Man in the Santa Anita Handicap in March, Molengao will carry 120 pounds.

Among those also expected to enter Wednesday morning are My Creed (117), A.P. Arrow (116), A.P. Xcellent and Wilko (115), Big Booster (113) and Mr. Splash (112). [LA Times]