Wednesday Morning Notes - Sept 20

- It rained here in NY a bit on Tuesday, so I don't know what the fate of Wednesday's grass races at Belmont are going to be. I suppose that the 2nd, a maiden mile for two-year olds, is a prime candidate to go on the main track. However if it doesn't, note that Pletcher has an entry of first-timers, and he won with four of these on the grass upstate.

One half of the entry is Top Cross (Gone West). This colt has trained steadily going back to July, and he's out of a grand distaff turf family. He's out of a three-quarter brother to the European sprint champ Mozart. And his third dam is the great turf filly (and equally grand broodmare) Glowing Tribute, the dam of graded turf winners Hero's Honor and Wild Applause, as well as the Derby winner Sea Hero.

- Two and a half weeks until the Jockey Club Gold Cup, but Bernardini has already been installed as the 13-8 favorite for the Breeders Cup Classic by one prominent UK bookie. As Walter would say, good grief! The paltry odds being offered around prompted Gary West to ask the other day, Is "Bernardini" Italian for "Secretariat?"

He wasn't questioning the horse's talent; but rather his point was that the low odds mean that bettors don't view the Classic as contentious. There's no doubt that there are going to be some very good older horses from here and abroad in the race, and at scale weights, I'm not sure if Bernardini is going to be much less than 13-8 come post time.

That partly depends of course on how he does in the Gold Cup, but he's going to be facing a lot better than Invasor on BC day. It's always an intriguing matchup - if I recall from memory anyway - when the top three-year old takes on a talented older horse, and Invasor has won three Grade 1 races here. But I for one question the true quality of what he's beaten, especially with Flower Alley having gone off form. He earned a 113 Beyer all out to beat Sun King, while Bernardini got ratings of 114 and 116 in the Jim Dandy and Travers while barely breaking a sweat.

Of course, Invasor's only loss was in the UAE Derby, where he lost to Discreet Cat by six lengths. That was in March, in a three-year old race in which Invasor was eligible due to being bred in the southern hemisphere. So Discreet Cat has already beaten a quality older horse, and though he got nine pounds, it seemed only fair at that stage of the year. Who will face that one in the Jerome, we can only guess. I suppose someone will jump in for a shot at second place money. I liked Walter's idea that should the race be a walkover, it could be a workout for the Gold Cup six days later. But the Sheikh seems determined to keep he and Bernardini apart, to the rest of the racing world's chagrin. C'mon Sheikh, man, throw us a bone here, you've already thrown us your oil money!

Hevesi An Unlikely Ally

- "New York Racing Association is the poster child for mismanagement and corruption," said Alan Hevesi, the state's Democratic Comptroller in June 2005. "NYRA takes the cake....This is the worst agency of all." Hevesi has been one of NYRA's most severe critics going back several years. And though he made it clear at the time of the above statements that he was talking about past management, and that the new team was working to clean up the mess, Hevesi was always quick to score political points by taking the opportunity to kick the easy and convenient target that NYRA had made itself. So one wouldn't think that he would now become the first prominent politician in the state to come to NYRA's defense in their current standoff with the state.

But the delay by the Lottery Division in approving NYRA's contract with MGM and allowing construction of the Aqueduct casino to commence is so outrageous, and such an obvious and egregious abuse of political power, that Hevesi blasted the agency in a letter obtained by Bloodhorse.com in an excellent bit of reporting.

"It is not in the best interests of the state's taxpayers or the future of Thoroughbred racing in New York, or the state's finances, to create the appearance that the state is deliberately forcing the current franchisee to fail."
.....
"Is there really an interest in forcing NYRA into bankruptcy? Is it in the interest of New York state to have this critically important asset (and industry) undervalued? Is it actually someone's intention to change the dynamic of what is purported to be an open and fair competitive process to select the next franchisee?"

Hevesi also made it clear that the political maneuvering is having an effect that goes far beyond horse racing, pointing out that the state budget includes revenue based on an October 2007 opening of the racino. "Delay in establishing this facility creates a substantial risk to the state's financial plan, potentially exacerbating the out-year gaps to be faced by a new executive, which my office already estimates could exceed $13 billion."

The only other public figure I've seen criticize the delay is oversight board member Joseph Torani. I wonder where other Democrats are on the issue, considering the highly partisan atmosphere accompanying the party's expected takeover of the governor's mansion in January. And then there's the New York horsemen, who have aligned themselves with Empire Racing, NYRA's chief competitor for the franchise. Last month, they declined an appeal by NYRA to help them pressure the state to give approval. But is it really in their interest for NYRA to go into bankruptcy? Or to see further delays in the money that will fatten purses once the machines go online? Can they be sure that racing would continue uninterrupted should NYRA fail? Is Empire really prepared to smoothly take over the racing operation at the end of this year, or sooner? And if the horseman are so opposed to NYRA, do they really want to see a bankruptcy court decide the issue of who owns the land that the tracks sit on, a decision that could halt the entire process in its tracks?

What's Next, a Glowing Horse?

- The Head Chef likes Tarkus Trakus. She felt that it helped her understand how the race is actually run. She was able to see the little Purple Chicklet representing Becrux seeming to sway back and forth through the stretch as Patrick Valenzuela looked for some racing room before he burst through to take the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile.

Trakus reminds me of when the NHL was on FOX in the 90's. They implanted a chip in the pucks that produced a blue glow around it when seen on TV. Nowadays, you can bet that the glow would be red. When the puck was shot at 70 MPH or more, there would be a red streak tracking its path.

According to Wikipedia, there was a "divided response" to the so-called FoxTrax.

Newcomers enjoyed the feature, since they could follow the game more easily. In fact, a Fox Sports survey found that 7 out of 10 respondents liked the new puck.

However, there was a strong backlash among hockey purists. They argued that the video graphics were a distraction and turned hockey into a video game. Others said that it really shouldn't be hard to see a black puck on white ice. The glow puck was ranked as the No. 6 "worst idea" overall in the book "Glow Pucks & 10-Cent Beer: The 101 Worst Ideas in Sports History" by author Greg Wyshynski. (Taylor Trade 2006)

The concept was later parodied in a Molson Canadian beer advertisement where an American marketer is attempting to sell the idea to a boardroom full of Canadian executives. As he is forcibly ejected from the room, a blue comet trail follows him (i.e. "they passed").

As a racing purist, part of me reacts with as much disdain to the gimmickry with which I did to the glowing puck; and the idea of a live sport turning into a video game came to mind in both cases.

But as opposed to the hockey fiasco, Trakus definitely serves a purpose, even if I think it's just a little silly and more than a little distracting. Surely I can see how useful it would be for simulcasting. It's pretty often that I'm watching a race on a distant screen wondering just how far back in the pack my selections are. It's also useful in seeing exactly what path a horse is in down the backstretch and going into the turn.

And besides, what can be a better way to introduce horse racing to video slots players than with a video game? No need to televise the actual race at all! Post the highest-paying exotic combinations on the board, and people can just bet on numbers and watch colored chicklets.

As far as the real Becrux goes, a little red-boarding reveals a horse that showed definite improvement at age four, and continued to progress throughout the year, most recently a close second in the Grade 2 Play the King. But he's not nominated for the Breeder Cup, and owner Barry Irwin said he's not going.

"I put up [supplemental] money to run the Breeders' Cup twice, and once we got our money back and once we got an incredibly bad ride from Pat Day....This is just before he retired. Why he couldn't have retired before that, I don't know.

"I'm never supplementing another horse to the Breeders' Cup because . . . when you go out and do that, you feel like an idiot. I do, anyway." [Toronto Globe and Mail]

Ready's Gal, who won the Grade 2 Canadian for Pletcher, is by More Than Ready, currently number two on the third-year sire list. Win McCool, the winner of the Floral Park on Saturday, is by Giant's Causeway, who is number one. Win McCool was her sire's 13th stakes winner of the year.

- As I said, I took the weekend off from racing. Except that on Saturday, following my own advice regarding trainer John Hertler, I bet on Distant Tycoon, who I guess wasn't long enough at 11-1. He finished last. On Sunday, I went to the see the Jets lose, and didn't pay attention to the races at all. And I figured that all the races were off the grass anyway. Later, I learned that Hertler's Retribution opened up a huge lead and won the Ashley T. Cole by four, at 25-1! I hope somebody out there had him! This horse has some rich turf breeding; he's by Rob N Gin, a graded grass winner, and second in the Atto, and his second dam is a half to the Irish champ Committed, the dam of Hap, and of the dam of English Channel.

In response to David Rex's inquiry, I can tell you via Formulator that Hertler's ROI for the last 30 days, which doesn't include the 40-1 winner he had at Saratoga on July 30, is $13.27, with three longshot winners in 15 starters - and remember he had that 11-1 shot DQ'd! Over the last 90 days here (NY only), his ROI is $7.38 with nine winners fron 51 starters, and a median payoff of $39.40.

Senate All Mixed Up

- Bloodhorse.com is reporting that due to a clerical error, the wrong version of the bill recently passed by the House that would ban horse slaughter has been sent to the Senate. ..A House clerk apparently delivered an amended version of the bill that would have allowed existing slaughter plants to remain open.

In addition, Left at the Gate has learned exclusively that the bill became mixed up with a different measure currently being debated in the Senate. The erroneous bill would allow for terrorism suspects to be shipped to the slaughterhouses, while horses would be sent to secret CIA detention centers where they would be subjected to aggressive interrogation techniques such as being verbally abused by particularly obnoxious degenerates from Aqueduct, and being forced to watch the film "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"

Lost in the Fog Is Lost

- Lost in the Fog has been euthanized, as reported first (as usual) on Bloodhorse.com. (Even the Pedigree Query site had the news of his death before the Racing Bible.)

"We accomplished what we wanted to do," said trainer Greg Gilchrist Sept. 18. "It was all about giving him quality (time). We did everything we could for him. He was happy and content right up to the end. He went quietly and easily."

Gilchrist had just finished grazing Lost in the Fog outside his barn at Golden Gate Fields on the San Francisco Bay Sept. 17, which he did twice daily, and was heading to the paddock to saddle a horse when Lost in the Fog went into distress.

The Champion Sprinter of 2005 (and deservedly so) epitomized much of what is good about the sport. He was a horse of modest beginnings who earned his fanfare on his ability, rather than from prominent connections and fancy bloodlines. His connections shunned the temptation to run him in Triple Crown races at distances far beyond his ability, as well as the lure of big money offers from others who likely would have done exactly that. His campaign was a fair balance of stakes races at the major race meetings, along with opportunities for the fans at his home base in Northern California to see him in action. He won ten races in a row, showing brilliant speed, and the heart to prevail in seven furlong races that were probably an eighth of a mile beyond his optimal distance.

Yet you could feel Lost in the Fog's detractors dancing a jig when he went down to defeat in the Breeders Cup. I'll never understand why some people were so anxious to see him lose, especially considering the integrity and modesty of his human connections. I suppose they were putting their own egos and reputations ahead of what undoubtedly would have been far, far better for the sport. Some even suggested that a horse from the barn of a trainer who was suspended for illicit medication should win the Eclipse award instead. I hope they all feel really stupid now.

Belmont Notes - Sept 16

- Trainer John Hertler is worth a mention for his recent lucrative results at Belmont at Saratoga. He had two winners at Saratoga, both of the bombshell variety - first-timer Baxter paid $88.00 on July 31, and though it took the trainer a full month to return to the winner's circle there, Oden's Tale rewarded $59 to his backers. On closing day, Classic Marilyn ran a game second at 19-1.

At Belmont thus far, Hertler has sent out six runners; two of them crossed the wire first. Landofopportunity returned $87.50 in Thursday's second, and then in the 6th, his Citifest finished first at 11-1, but was DQ'd to second after bearing out and bumping the runner-up in the stretch. The day before, Classic Marilyn once again proved Fundamentally Loathsome to those who left her out of the exactas, again hanging tough for the place, this time at 15-1. On opening day, Deelites Gold rallied for a close third at 18-1.

So I wouldn't dismiss the chances of Distant Tycoon, 15-1 in Saturday's 4th - he finished a very decent 5th despite traffic trouble in his debut in May; nor of Retribution in Sunday's 9th. Though the latter race is likely to be taken off the turf, note that this one was a longshot winner for Hertler on July 8th, scoring on the grass at 18-1.

- Grand Merger, a John Kimmel-trained two-year old filly who romped by 11 in the slop in the 4th at Belmont on Friday, is a full-sister to Stephen Got Even (AP Indy) who graduated in her second start.

- The attendance at Belmont on Friday was under 2,000 for the second rainy day in a row.

The Sixth at Belmont

I know this is kind of like a Dan Illman post, but...

What do you think of the 6th race at Belmont on the Saturday card? That's a tough one.

OK, I'll take that one; it is an interesting race. Of course, the track condition will be a big factor; it will definitely be wet, but could be at the drying out/tiring stage by then. Extreme Supreme is the morning line favorite for John Ward. He returns after about six weeks off after winning by seven at Saratoga. But that race may look better on paper than it really was. I'm wouldn't put too much into the fact that the second and third place finishers came back to win. That's Our Point won in $40K maiden claiming company; and Tall Story lasted against three rivals in an off-the-turf race that was absolutely excruciating to watch - he ran the final three furlongs in :41.1.

On Board Again was very, very good in his return at Saratoga. He was significantly wide throughout the turn for home, but battled on until the end, just missing against a couple of decent horses, particularly the graded stakes placed Simon Pure. That was his first race in eight months; Frankel is 24% second off the 180+ layoff. So I think he'll be a prime factor assuming he handles the track. He's 5-1 morning line, but I think that's a pipe dream.

Nick makes a case for Superfly, who wasn't far behind On Board Again in his first race since April. It makes sense, but I dunno, I just don't care for this horse, nor his brother for that matter. But who am I to argue with a guy who hit a $900 exacta the other day?

A horse that interests me is Border Cat, 6-1 morning line. He's had two decent tries at shorter since coming to America for Richard Dutrow. He's registered quick final eighths both times, and had some trouble in each, five wide in one and bumped offstride at the start in the other. Now he stretches out to the one turn mile, and there's no reason he shouldn't relish this modest stretch out. He's by Storm Cat, out of a Devil's Bag mare who is a half-sister to the dam of Johannesburg; and his second dam is a full sister to Preach, the dam of Pulpit. He also has the highest Tomlinson mud number in the field.

So I think I'll stand against Extreme Supreme for the top spot, and against Oh So Awesome as well. The latter was purchased by Team Valor specifically for the Belmont, and the cutback to a mile smacks of desperation after some disappointing tries. He is dropping in class significantly though, and I suppose has to be used in exotics. I like On Board Again and Border Cat and will have to see the tote before deciding exactly what to do, but an exacta box seems in order and perhaps some triples keying one or both of those two with the others mentioned above.

Thinking of the Big A

- Home on a Friday evening with no near-term prospects of going to the track. It's not that I can't go tomorrow. But the rain that has had the Belmont track sloppy for the past two days has actually intensified, so you can bet that the slow-drying main track will be sloppy all day tomorrow, and the turf off. So I'll take a pass. And I'm going to the Jets game on Sunday. The Head Chef can attest that I sometime get cranky after a track-less weekend.

So the TV is tuned to TVG. What the hell is up with that mug shot of Iggy Puglisi? He looks like he's auditioning for a guest spot on the Sopranos. It's Fairplex, and what's up with this meeting anyway? There's this strange period in which none of the major track in California are open, and they race on that tiny fair track instead.

Racing has been going year-round here at the NYRA tracks for many years; I don't even want to venture a guess how long it's been now. It's only fairly recently that they've at least let up on the schedule around Christmas. They used to race on Christmas Eve with a 10:30 or 11:00 A.M. post time. This year they close on Dec. 18 at least through the 26th and then, who knows? Perhaps there's some significance to the fact that the rest of the calendar on the newly designed NYRA website is left blank. If NYRA doesn't get the remainder of their bailout loan, who knows when racing will resume?

Unfortunately, though I wasn't yet into racing then, I'm old enough to remember when Aqueduct would go dark at Xmas and not return until mid-March. Each day, the New York Post would print a little cartoon guy on the back page who would let us know "23 days until the Big A," and the excitement would build as the days counted down. The opening was a big deal, since back then in the pre-OTB era, only those with illegal bookies were able to wager on races out of town. It's like moving to some state where betting on horse races is against the law!

If not for the delays, which the state is largely responsible for at this point, there could have been some anticipation for the opening of the Big A this year. Even those of us who could care less about slots (if not being outwardly hostile towards them), would admit, I think, that they're excited about the place becoming a hot spot again. The crowds will be back, even if they're playing slots. We hope that they'll be some effort to promote the racing product on the other side. In time, there will certainly be major improvements to the racing portion of the plant, some of which hasn't seen a single renovation in 20 years. Someone who spilled coffee on the carpet in the Man O'War room in 1989 can still see their handiwork on display.

The place will be hopping at night, man, and surely, the state legislature will finally relax the arcane laws that prohibit simulcasting there past 7:30 P.M. Who knows, perhaps nighttime mile-track harness racing, an idea that I used to see floating around, will finally come to Queens. How cool would that be?

Instead, we're facing another bleak winter there, no matter what happens with the franchise between now and then. With most of the grandstand having been closed, the place looks abandoned even when it's open. It would be an eerie backdrop if NYRA is running out of cash and the resumption of racing is in question come December. And does anyone doubt it will play out exactly that way?

NY Franchise Decision Could Be Delayed

- Word comes now that the Sept 29 deadline for New York's Ad Hoc Committee on the Future of Racing to decide on who to recommend as the new franchise holder is likely to be pushed back, and would anyone mind if I say I told ya so? And in any event, the recommendation will be non-binding, and is likely to have little influence once the Spitzer administration takes over in Albany.

Meanwhile, MGM responded in a letter to Carole Stone, the chairperson of the committee overseeing NYRA's operations, who on Tuesday affirmed that the remainder of NYRA's bailout package won't be released until MGM "commits" to the project.

'MGM is ready, willing and able to go forward with its plans to construct and manage the Aqueduct VLT project,' [MGM Exec VP Gary] Jacobs wrote. 'MGM is enthusiastic about the Aqueduct VLT project, is ready to loan the funds required to construct the project and is eager to commence construction and launch VLT operations.' [Saratogian]

Well, of course they're eager. In fact, it's an insult to the intelligence of every racing fan in the state for anyone to even suggest that the approval of the racino is being held up for any other reason than petty bullshit politics.

And just in case lame duck Governor Pataki, who is putting his stamp on the state government with long-term political appointments at an unprecedented rate, is holding up approval in an attempt to make MGM go away, perhaps in an attempt to steer the business to someone who has generously contributed to his campaigns (just speculating here), Jacobs made it clear that the company has "substantial rights and remedies" in its VLT contract with NYRA that will be binding on whoever holds the next franchise to operate racing at Aqueduct. [Bloodhorse]

Math Lesson

- Getting back to Deep Impact's mile and a half workout, and the discrepancy between the reported distance that he reportedly finished up in 21 seconds, Walter was right, it ain't much.

Did you know that you can use Google as a calculator? You can type in any mathmatical formula, hit search, and it spits out the answer. For example, type in 45 x 648 / 21.3759, and you get 1,364.15309. Pretty cool, eh?

Similarly, if you type in 400 meters = ? feet, you get 1,312.33596 feet. And if you enter 1/4 mile = ? feet, you get 1,320 feet. So you're only talking about a difference here of 7.66404 feet. So whichever way you measure it, Deep Impact came home pretty damn fast.

The Cheaper the Bettor?

- Been meaning to post about a column that Jay Cronley wrote on ESPN.com last week. A recurring theme in Cronley's column is that he likes to bet on cheap horses in cheap races, and after recounting the futility in handicapping the Woodward (It was as though the facts and figures led up to a big equals sign, and beyond that, a question mark), he asks: Why bet a tough stakes race instead of a cheap claiming race?

It's as though winning handicappers have to pay a low-rent tax after hitting a 10-1 shot in a $5,000 claiming race. It's [as] though hitting a stakes race makes you sleep better.

Many people think cheap claiming races are run roughshod over unruly surfaces, featuring pot-bellied trainers and old horses.

So? [ESPN.com]

Personally, I get a kick out of hitting cheap races out of town, but unlike Cronley, who says Twenty-to-one shots are easier to find, I always seem to come up with the favorites when I look at those races. I grew up strictly on a NYRA diet, getting accustomed to the racing here before simulcasting came along. I guess it made me spoiled.

But while I wouldn't say that hitting a stakes race makes me sleep better, I think it definitely carries a premium. Strictly from a financial standpoint, Cronley is probably right. Stakes races can be impossible to bet. I'm sure there are a hundred $5,000 claimers every week that are far easier to figure than the Breeders Cup Turf. The Breeders Cup Turf? That race is whack, man! Besides being run at an unnatural distance, you have all those European horses with the sparse running lines. I can't make heads or tails of that race.

But we're racing fans, and the big stakes races are what the sport is all about, and of course I want to have some action on it. I don't have to bet them, and I've passed on many a Breeders Cup race (though never the Derby), and to be sure, I don't think it's a great idea to tap out the bankroll on these races. But if you have some opinions on some very good horses at great prices in contentious stakes races, being right can be well-rewarded. Not only financially, but for the all-important ego boost as well. The bragging is better when the races are bigger.

Nonetheless, always having an open mind, I found a nice $5,000 claimer - for non-winners of two for that matter - going as the 10th at Turfway tonight. So I'm going to tackle this one; I'll let you know what I come up with. If anyone has any ideas, let me know.

Rich Kid in a Candy Store

Question:

For you, is it about developing stallions to stand in America or is it about the challenge of winning American races?

Sheikh Mohammed:

"I think they're together. You have successful stallions. You having a racing operation; you have a breeding operation. The whole thing. Buying the horses, you want them to win when they pass the racing post, then they become stallions. It's the whole thing."

For a guy that's spent enough money in the last few days to finance the war in Iraq for about five hours, this interview on Bloodhorse.com seems to reveal a really, really rich guy who doesn't seem to know a whole lot more about horse racing than you or me. In fact, there are those who believe he knows a lot more about camel jockeys.

Magna and the Meadows

- Here's a story out of the Beaver County Times that could conceivably have large implications for Magna. The completion of the company's sale of their Meadows harness track in Pennsylvania is still pending the issuance of a license for slots, and you may recall the ominous footnote to their last financial report in which they questioned their own viablility as an ongoing concern should it not be completed. They've already had to accept a reduction in the sale price due to the high tax rates.

Now comes the report that the Meadows' casino plan received the third degree from the state's Gaming Control Board during this week's license hearings; the board and the track apparently have grossly different projections on the revenue the slots facility could garner.

The gaming board's staff analysis shows $100 million a year in revenues at a temporary facility, while company estimations [sic] based on independent market reviews were $215 million.

Bill Paulos, co-owner of Cannery Casino Resort, the new buyer of the Meadows, said the project could not stay afloat off such gaming staff projections, considering what would amount to a 60 percent tax bite from state and local governments.

"If they're right, you should not put a casino at the Meadows," Paulos said. "It doesn't pencil. We wouldn't do it."

The board also expressed concern over the owners' financing plan, which would have to produce, in addition to the costs of building a permanent facility, the $200 million to complete the purchase from Magna. ..Gaming board members said state statute requires that slots licenses be awarded only to projects that are "likely" to be successful and wondered if the Meadows fits that bill. And they disputed a study paid for by the track that predicted that 35 percent of the region's 2.1 million adults would visit the Meadows to play slots.

35%!? Jeez, I would hope not! In any event, I imagine this is all causing a little more heartburn for Frank Stronach.

- And while the licensing process continues in Pennsylvania, surrounding states continue to beef up their own gambling in response. Existing racinos in Delaware are undergoing expansions. A state law enacted earlier this year allows casinos to add 1,500 machines in 500-machine increments. Dover Downs has already added 200 more machines, and plans are in the works for 74,000 additional square feet of space, and 550 to 650 new machines.

Harrington Park has commenced construction of a $35 million project that will almost double the size of the casino at the state fairgrounds. [Newszap.com]

The Northeast is fast becoming one giant slots parlor, and there has to be a limit to this somewhere, doesn't there? It's not going to be a pretty picture for racing if and when it all comes crashing down.

Hello Goodbye

- YO, does anyone know what's become of Mike E.'s hero?

Wednesday Night Notes - Sept 13

- I swear, I was really going to post last night that I did not like West Virginia in today's feature at Belmont. But to go out of my way to pick against a Pletcher horse did not seem like a wise use of my time. And besides, I didn't really have a solid alternative to offer.

Naughty New Yorker ($13.40) made as much as sense as anyone if you wanted to oppose the favorite, who went off at 1-2 in the General Douglas MacArthur Stakes. This four-year old son of Quiet American was way overmatched in the Woodward, but was back to the friendlier confines of NY-bred company today (thanks to the race being delayed from Friday). And his trainer Pat Kelly has been doing very well of late, and is one to watch at a price. He won five races at Saratoga, and other than Naughty New Yorker, who won another state-bred stake there at 2-1, he had two winners at 13-1, one at 15-1, and another at 7-1. Kelly's Egyptian King ($24.60) was the horse who completed the $705 Pick Four with the three favorites who won the Grade 1's at Belmont on Saturday.

- Churchill Downs unveiled its logo for next year's Kentucky Derby.



According to the Thoroughbred Times, the logo features the futuristic profile of a horse racing against the wind past a stylized depiction of the Twin Spires.

Really?





Well, at least there's no mention of Yum! Brands.

- Barclay Tagg is now hedging on the Turf or the Mile for Showing Up. "I don't think he'd be any slouch at a mile....I could make a good case for it. He's got a good turn of foot.'' [Daly Racing Form]

I'm still marveling over the 10.95 final eighth that Cacique put in on Saturday. Now comes news of a mile and a half workout for the Arc de Triomph by the Japanese star Deep Impact in which he covered the final quarter-mile....in an unofficial 21 seconds flat under regular rider Yutaka Take. [Daily Racing Form] [EDIT: According to the UK's Sporting Life, it was the last 400 meters that he covered in 21 seconds (thanks Walter); and the last half mile was 50 seconds]




Are you guys getting this?

Send in the Gaming Board!

- You think that the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is taking its responsibility to issue casino licenses to the tracks there seriously?

Philadelphia Park is 80 percent owned by London-based financier Watche A. Manoukian, who bankrolled [Philly Park's parent company's CEO Robert Green] and partners when they bought the struggling track in 1990 and made it profitable.

A 1999 Inquirer series showed how Manoukian used the track as a tax shelter through a series of offshore holding companies. But Manoukian and 32 others identified as key personnel came through more than 3,300 hours of investigation over nine months by the Gaming Control Board.

Green said board investigators tracked down his ex-wife, whom he hasn't been married to in 25 years, in a remote part of Ireland. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

Maybe we should sic these guys on bin Laden.

Here We Go Again

- As the memory of Saratoga starts to fade, so will NYRA's cash flow. Charles Hayward told the state's oversight panel that NYRA will run out of cash at the end of the year, in a scenario similar to that of last year. NYRA was prepared to go to bankruptcy court before being bailed out by the state, who may have been leery of the court ruling on the crucial land ownership issue. However, if the Ad Hoc committee recommends later this month that Empire or Excelsior be awarded the franchise, NYRA may already be in court over the issue by the time the money runs out.

The oversight board won't release the remaining $19 million of the bailout loan until MGM "commits to the project." Hayward insists that the process is being held up by the state Lottery. "MGM would love to get started." [Bloodhorse]

And why would they possibly NOT be committed to the project? Why would anyone possibly think that MGM isn't champing at the bit to open a casino in New York City, where they will have, at least for the time being, no competition at all?? So I'm not buying the state's explanation for holding up the money at all. And consider also that MGM earned the job without a competitive bidding process, and I'm still not totally clear as to how NYRA ended up getting away with that. But in any event, you KNOW that the terms must be quite favorable to MGM.

And those terms are something that Empire's Jeff Perlee is quite interested to see, considering that they will be bound to the deal should they win the franchise.

Perlee said that all prospective bidders and the public should be allowed to see the NYRA-MGM management contract and how it compares to other VLT deals in the racing industry. The deal specifies how much the VLT operator will get from net gaming revenues.

"There remains a lot of questions," he said. "No one can make that determination until details of the contract are known. Anyone and everyone has got to see that contract.

"If we're asked to be bound by something, we'd at least like to take a look at it. Maybe this isn't such a good deal for the state." [Thoroughbred Times]

Perlee has a valid point here. But perhaps he should have been asking these questions before the franchise bids were submitted instead of spending time wooing potential poison pills like Churchill and Magna.

R&R for Highland Cat

- Thanks to reader Bank Check for persisting in getting me to update you on my powerhouse stable. Haven't had John Ferguson hanging around Billy Turner's barn, that's for sure. As the summer zipped by, I neglected to post any updates and I apologize for that, but it's partially because there was nothing really to report.

Christening is fine, thanks. She's recovering from the surgery for the condylar fracture that she suffered when she stumbled coming out of the gate in her last race, a second place finish at Delaware. No decision is expected on her racing future until the end of this year.

Highland Cat was left behind at Belmont with what we thought were sore hocks and a bad back. He was then sent down to a farm in Virginia for some rest and treatment. But a recent update we received from the farm was what seems to be very encouraging news:

[The vet] looked at Highland Cat and he felt that his sacroiliac is badly strained, he started him on Estroven today and wants him to have one shot a week of this for four weeks and he can start jogging in just a few days and he thinks the polytrack will really help b/c there will be reduced pull on his hind end instead of what the sand would do. he felt it was purely a conformation issue and that he should recover well and move right back to soundness behind. He said his point for that was all that was bothering him, hocks were fine and that he was so sore on palpation that the estroven would be the best treatment and we should see improvement in a couple of days.

I am pysched about Highland cat's prognosis, b/c [the vet] thought we could really help him and it wouldn't take that much! Our track is really awesome....it has made all the other crap we have been through worthwhile!

So there you go, sounds like the cutie will be back on the track at some point. (Though perhaps Nick can enlighten us on exactly what this means...)

And here's introducing a third horse in another Castle Village partnership in which I have a very small share; a two-year old NY-bred filly named Just Zip It. She's here at Turner's barn, and though she's had no timed workouts as of yet, all signs are fine thus far. We're hoping she'll debut sometime by the end of the year.

She's by City Zip, the half-brother to Ghostzapper who is off to a fine start at stud; he's currently fifth on the second-year sire list. She's out of a mare by Gate Dancer, a real favorite of mine, and a name we don't see too much in pedigrees these days - he passed away in 1998. She has a half-brother, Buster's Rodeo, who won in state-bred maiden special company last year. We paid $25,000 for this one. Hopefully, I'll have some better luck with her than with the others.

Here's a couple of pictures - she seems to be quite the spitting image of her sire.

Keeneland Sale Wraps Up

- Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum has announced that he has purchased the remaining 4,686 yearlings that were scheduled to be sold at the Keeneland September sale, as well as auctioneer Ryan Mahan and several of his spotters. "This sale features the most athletic yearlings in the world, and the Sheikh decided that he should have all of them," said bloodstock agent John Ferguson, adding "There's gotta be a Grade 1 winner in there somewhere."

The Sheikh also announced that he has purchased Todd Pletcher, NYRA, TVG, TV Guide, the Daily Racing Form, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Bush twins, who he plans to breed to the spotters, as well as Preakness winner Bernardini. When reminded that he already owns the latter, the Sheikh said that he was just making sure.

Sore Loser

- As the bidding passed the $9 million mark [on the $11.7 million colt purchased by Sheik Maktoum], Coolmore Stud owner John Magnier turned from his perch behind the staging area and stalked off. [AP]

Poor guy.