Monday Musings

We've been down at my mom's house down in Longboat Key; in Florida, but a long ways from Gulfstream (though not from Tampa Bay Downs, where we haven't been either). Gulfstream is open a month earlier this year. Don't know why exactly, but I don't think it was to get a one month head start on the coming purse increases at the Big A. Just a smattering of NY trainers appearing in the entries for the first two days, and just one jockey (Castellano) that I noticed. (Is Alex Solis considered a NY jockey these days?) The Toddster is there, but not with NY-bssed horses and, besides, he's everywhere. (Had a winner on Saturday with an overbet first-timer; look for that trend to continue, as betting against them eventually proved to be a potentially profitable angle at Saratoga this past summer.) John Kimmel has some horses, but he hasn't one a race in two months so maybe he just wants a change in scenery. McLaughlin nnd Shug had winners on Sunday; Frank Alexander, Mott, and Jimmy Jerkens had horses tool

I imagine we'll see more as the winter moves along, but it sure will be interesting to see to what extent with the bigger prizes that will be offered in Queens; especially with the rank and file horses as opposed to the ones with larger ambitions. Purses these days aren't bad at Gulfstream, which of course has slots - though no backyard, nor none of its former charm (he says without having been there since the destruction of the old building). For example, a maiden special route there on Sunday went for $51,500. One of those at the Big A however will be offering $65,000 come January 1. Happy New Year.

Pletcher's winner on Saturday did so by ten lengths and set a new track record for the 5 1/2 furlong distance. Discreet Dancer (Discreet Cat) is a half-brother to the graded-stakes winner Travelin Man. He earned a Beyer figure of.....100??

- Back to NY and off-topic if you don't mind, talk in Albany of a deal to address the worsening budget deficit by changing the state income tax rates in a way which would raise taxes on the wealthiest taxpayers. This plan would allow the so-called millionaires surcharge tax to expire at the end of the year, and thus keep the governor's promise to do so. Yet it would raise the basic tax rate on the wealthiest earners, while providing some relief for those at the lower spectrum. Some Republican senators have expressed support for the plan - and, in fact, had previously seemed open to the possibility of extending the surcharge, though specifically on true million-dollar earners (it currently starts at $250,000).

Even in Washington, at least one Republican Senator - albeit the moderate Susan Collins (Maine) - has actually now said she would support higher taxes on the wealthiest taxpayers (she was the lone GOP vote in favor of a Democratic proposal to do so last week). And here's another one reconsidering, saying he senses a "change of mood" in his party.

You might have thought that the Occupy Wall Street movement was unfocused, unable to articulate any specific proposals or agendas beyond its beating drums and vague cries of unfairness. But if you think that it hasn't had a very real and profound effect on the political debate in this country, guess again. The debate has shifted, suddenly and momentously, to the Tea Party's 'too much government' mantra,' to one of 'income inequality.' And tha is, at least in my view, an argument with far more resonance and relevancy, both as to the current economic situation, and to the principles of freedom and fairness on which this country was built.

It has also handed the bumbling national Democratic party, which, despite controlling two-thirds of the federal government, had completely lost control of the debate, the strong upper hand. And it has left the House Republicans who rode to office on the Tea Party coattails, gyrating uncomfortably and rather pathetically to explain why they would now oppose an effective increase in the payroll tax for working Americans and make it seem as if it's not simply to simply oppose the president who they loathe. Of course, whether the Democrats will be able to ride this wave through next year's presidential election remains to be seen.