Saratoga Mayor is Keehn on Franchise Decision

- The New York State Senate will reconvene on Monday, but as of now, there are no announced plans for the Assembly to do so. In any event, don't expect to see anything happen regarding the racing franchise anytime soon, with issues considered to be more paramount still to be dealt with. Of course, very little will get done as long as Spitzer and Bruno are feuding so viciously. Perhaps with that, as well as the criticism of his demeanor and the resulting sympathy for Bruno in mind, Spitzer toned down his act - just a little - on Tuesday. “I’m encouraged that we will get there in a bipartisan spirit and in a bipartisan way.”

Bruno's spokesperson told the Times: “We are going to deal with priorities of this state, which is the upstate economy, which is needed capital investments, the senior rebates.” But the Senator's priorities are not the same as Spitzer's. It's the issue of campaign finance reform, which Bruno naturally opposes, which is really at the heart of the animosity, and, in my view, the driving force behind the brouhaha regarding Bruno's use of state transportation on trips that included fundraising.

Even yesterday, when Bruno accompanied NYC Mayor Bloomberg to Washington, I presume at taxpayers' expense, to lobby for the mayor's proposed regressive tax in the form of congestion pricing, one can question his motives. Yes, any revenue the city receives from the fees, and the federal aid it will receive only if the plan is approved by Monday, will at least indirectly relieve some strain on the state government; and that is in Bruno's and the taxpayers' interest. But with the Republicans fighting to hold on to their tenuous majority in the Senate, did Bruno really travel solely to fight for an issue that doesn't directly concern his upstate constituency? Or could it have been to score points with Bloomberg, a generous campaign contributor who recently announced his switch from the GOP to the independent line.

Mr. Bloomberg’s support for Republican candidates is critical; the mayor has been the biggest individual donor to Senate Republicans, according to state campaign finance records, giving $575,000 since October. He also gave the New York State Republican Committee $175,000 in the same period. (During that time, by contrast, he did not donate to any Democrats in the Legislature.)
.....
Asked about Mr. Bloomberg’s support for state Republicans.., Stu Loeser, a Bloomberg spokesman, said, “Mayor Bloomberg has always said he’ll support those who support New York City. Time after time over the last six years, the State Senate has been extraordinarily helpful to us.” [NYT]

Saratoga mayor Valerie Keehn has written a letter to Spitzer, begging him to make up his mind already about the franchise! (The letter is linked to as a Word document from the Albany Times Union's Capitol Confidential blog.)

All of the candidates have strengths and weaknesses that provide a rational basis for choosing one over another; but, in the final analysis, the time for evaluation is coming to an end and the time to make a decision is at hand.

She repeats some familiar pleas, such as those to guarantee Saratoga's exclusive dates, and to not install VLT's at the historic track. But she takes a stand on the idea of splitting the franchise (no), and on the closing of Aqueduct:

I strongly support the position of my colleagues on the Ad Hoc Committee, Assembly Racing and Wagering Committee Chairman Gary Pretlow and Assembly Member Audrey Pheffer, who oppose the idea of selling the Aqueduct property for commercial real estate development. Assembly Member Pheffer’s district includes the Aqueduct racetrack, and, knowing the central role that a racetrack can play in a local economy, I am especially supportive of her opposition to discontinuing thoroughbred racing at Aqueduct. More importantly, I am convinced that selling Aqueduct would irreparably damage New York’s ability to conduct world class thoroughbred racing in an annual cycle that begins at Aqueduct, proceeds to Belmont, comes to a summer crescendo in Saratoga, and then returns again to Belmont and Aqueduct.

Thank you, Ms. Mayor.

Notes - July 11

- Bill Mott starts Gullible Gal in the second at Belmont on Wednesday; it's a maiden filly dash for juvenile state-breds. Out of the $6,000 first-year sire Hook and Ladder, she sold as a yearling for $310,000. Gullible Gal is a half-sister to two stakes winners: Ready to Please, Pletcher's More than Ready filly who won the Grade 2 Fantasy; and Chief Officer. The latter, a NY-bred stakes winner, whistled by ten lengths in her debut for Mott here a year ago. She's by Officer, who was a hot debut sire at the time.

And Hook and Ladder is off to a nice start himself, with three winners from his first five runners. A son of Dixieland Band, he stands at Becky Thomas' Sequel Stallions in New York, along with Freud, as well as Read the Footnotes and Ten Most Wanted.

- King of the Roxy returns to the races on Saturday in the Barbaro Stakes....the Delaware Park version, formerly the Leonard Richard. The ultimate goal is the seven furlong King's Bishop, so why a two turn route as a prep instead of having run in the Tom Fool? Barry Irwin, now running Team Valor all by his lonesome, told Haskin in Bloodhorse: “I asked Todd (Pletcher) which race he preferred and he said he wanted to go for the money as opposed to the one-turn.” The Barbaro has a $300,000 purse as opposed to the $200,000 for the Belmont race. That means that Pletcher stands to earn an extra $6000 at DelPark; and given that I imagine that the Toddster doesn't have much of an emotional stake in how much the horse earns, Irwin's explanation doesn't hold water. I'm sure we'll hear him blame the trainer if the move doesn't work out.

- Silent Name bled badly in the Triple Bend, thus accounting for his last place finish. The son of Sunday Silence is slated to join Frank Stronach's Adena breeding operation upon his retirement, and he already has a page reserved in the Stallion Register. 2007 Fee: Future Stallion.

- Gemstar, the parent company of TVG, was reported by the AP the other day to be exploring the possibility of putting itself up for sale. Perhaps Rupert Murdoch, who controls the company, is seeking to raise a little cash for his prospective purchase of Dow Jones.

But the Financial Times reports today that the TVG unit is a strong possibility for being sold off on its own.

TVG recently hit the zenith of its business, seeing more revenue than it has ever generated during its fiscal first quarter ended March 31.

Four analysts say they expect to see some of TVG’s revenues begin to fall significantly over time due to a legal spat with rivals. The first look by analysts at whether revenues are falling will come July 27 when Gemstar releases its fiscal second quarters results. [FT.com]

And it should come as no surprise that Churchill Downs is mentioned as a possible buyer. The article notes that TVG's suit against Twinspires does not specifically mention Churchill, leaving open the option that it might see value in combining with Churchill Downs, analysts observed. Considering Churchill's recent spending spree in which they picked up three ATW's, plus their investment in HRTV, I'd imagine that the anti-trust division of the Justice Department would be paying attention to any such proposed sale.

Stronach Has Big Plans...For Cars

- There was a profile of Frank Stronach in the business section of Tuesday's Times that you can read here, I believe with no registration required. As we've noted many times, Stronach is an interesting and complex guy. We saw his efforts to help house people left homeless by Katrina, which at one time included a plan to build an entire community. I'm not sure if that plan was followed through on. He once ran (unsuccessfully) for Parliament, and offered a different take on democracy.

In 1993, Mr. Stronach, who once ran unsuccessfully for Parliament, suggested that Canada should be governed by juries of citizens selected by computers to serve one-year terms and vote in secret on legislation. Magna helped finance the promotion of the concept with some of the 2 percent of its pretax profit that is reserved for charity, social causes, education and politics.“
....
He’s sort of a genius and a bit of buffoon wrapped together,” said Wayne Lilley, author of “Magna Cum Laude,” a biography of Mr. Stronach published last fall [NY Times]

The genius part helped him build his small auto parts shop into the empire that is Magna International. But we've seen the buffoon part at Gulfstream; and in fact, I suppose that many may feel the same way about the entire Magna Entertainment venture, which lost $87 million last year.

Stronach has huge plans for Magna, the car company. Magna currently manufacturers whole vehicles in Austria for companies including BMW, and the Saab division of GM. (And I've been thinking of leasing a Saab, hmmm...) This picture is of a "concept car" that Magna showed last year. What the concept is I'm not sure, though that could be a Horse Wizard machine on the dashboard.**

Stronach is apparently enjoying making cars so much that he tried to buy Chrysler. He has also proposed a controversial plan, subject to shareholder approval, to venture into the Russian automobile market, which he sees as a huge untapped source. He would sell 20 million shares and partial control of the company to Oleg Deripaska, a wealthy Russian businessman who has an interest in Russian automobile maker GAZ Group. Mr. Stronach predicted that entering the Russian market might double or triple Magna’s revenue, which was $24 billion last year. He would also enrich himself; he'd put up no money, but collect an $8 million annual dividend as opposed to its current yield of around $700,000.

Mr. Deripaska caught the attention of New York's rather thorough Inspector General Kristine Hamann. Late breaking news earned him a footnote in her Report to the Governor on the Integrity of Those Seeking to Operate the Racetracks at Aqueduct, Belmont Park and Saratoga even though he's merely a prospective partner to a partner in Empire, and despite the fact that any deal is far from being done. The fastidious Ms. Hamann did not approve.

United States law enforcement officials suspect Mr. Deripaska of having ties to Russian organized crime. Deripaska's visa to travel to the United States was canceled last year because of Washington's legal concerns. The sale would give Deripaska significant control of Magna, giving him the right to nominate six of Magna's fourteen Board members, the same number as are nominated by the Stronach family that currently controls Magna.

Thus, not surprisingly, approval by Magna shareholders is not assured.

“Whatever it is, the only sure thing is that Mr. Stronach and management are getting a slick deal here,” wrote Derek DeCloet, a business columnist for The Globe and Mail who urged shareholders to use their votes to “deliver a message: Give us a better deal, Mr. Stronach, or we’ll kill this one.” [NYT]

** Cheap shot for the easy laugh...I actually like the Horse Wizard concept.

- The website for the International Herald Tribune, kinda like the international version of the Times, ran this picture below with the story instead of the car.
The caption reads: Horse racing is an expensive sideline for Frank Stronach, head of Magna International. But actually, Magna Entertainment is spun off from Magna, and I imagine that Frank probably is doing just fine with his Adena breeding and racing operation. A look at a list of his stallions shows that he has three in six figure territory - El Prado ($125,000), Awesome Again ($150,000), and Ghostzapper ($150,000).

$150,000 - live foal - for Ghostzapper? Is anyone going for that? 111 mare owners did in 2006. That's a pretty nice piece of change.

- Giacomo also stands at Adena, for $12,500 (foal stands and nurses). That may seem a bit low for a Derby winner, even one with a record of three wins in 16 starts. But he has nary a drop of fashionable blood; not Northern Dancer, Mr. Prospector, or even Seattle Slew; so it will be interesting to see how he fares in popularity and success.

Big Opportunity for Highland Cat

- Highland Cat was originally entered in the first race at Colonial Downs today. It's a one mile race, on the turf of course, for 14-16K claimers that have never won three races lifetime. That's over his conditions, as he's only won once, but it was the best race available up to that point. But instead, trainer Ann Merryman has found a spot for him on Friday in a starters allowance FOR THREE YEAR OLDS AND UPWARD WHICH HAVE STARTED FOR A CLAIMING PRICE OF $40,000 OR LESS AND WHICH HAVE NEVER WON TWO RACES. Given that he's currently solidly at the 16-14K level, that could conceivably be an even more difficult race.

But not only has the race come up soft, much more so than the race today in which he was originally supposed to go, the $27,000 purse dwarfs the $15,000 prize in the race today. So this was an absolutely inspired placement! And to show you just how very soft the race came up, Highland Cat is listed as the 6-5 favorite!! That's worth repeating - Highland Cat is listed as the 6-5 favorite!! Personally, I think those odds may be a little low, as Jonathan Sheppard has a class dropper in The Price of Love who looks like a dangerous threat. But we have to be very excited to be running against such a weak field for such a generous purse! There's only eight horses in the race, and he gets an extra sixteenth of a mile as compared to the race today. He'll start from the five post, and Nick Santagata will be instructed to try and keep him clear, as he and Ms. Merryman feel that he was uncomfortable racing inside of horses in his first Colonial try.

- Rave reviews for the $1.2 million worth of improvements made by NYRA for the Saratoga meeting this year. A shiny new copper roof for the clubhouse - "we got $21,000 for the scrap from the old roof" - a new clubhouse floor, new aluminum awnings over the backyard TV monitors, and five reconstructed barns on the Oklahoma training track side. Plus, some 60,000 new plantings around the grounds.

Also, Charles Hayward spoke of the possible future of Polytrack in New York for the first time.

NYRA would first install polytrack at Belmont's training track and then Aqueduct, followed by Saratoga three to five years from now.

"Once we get the franchise nailed down then we can start doing some long-term planning," he said. [Saratogian]

That of course is looking ahead, because despite the reports out of Albany, NYRA is certainly not guaranteed to retain the franchise past this year. Nonetheless, Hayward is pumped for the meet. "People are going to go wild....This place looks great. It looks better than it has in 10 years. We want to make sure the physical plant remains in tip-top shape."

And holy moley, the meeting starts two weeks from tomorrow!! Wow! It seems like just recently that I signed off on my Saratoga blog last September. I can't wait to see the track.....but wait I will.

Last year was a perfect storm of events - getting fired, severance pay, extra money in the bank - that led to our renting a house and spending the entire six weeks there. This year, I don't expect to be there until Sunday, August 19. I wonder if the plants will still be around by then. It was a great time up there last year, and it's something that I certainly hope to do again in the near future. But it's not something that I necessarily aspire to do each and every year. I like being in the city during the summer - with many people out of town, it's easier to get around and into events; and it's far more intimate, almost like a community feel amongst those who hang around and brave the muggy weather. And of course, there's all the great free outdoor music too, which we've already begun to take advantage of.

Whatsmore, six weeks in Saratoga just goes by too damn fast! Six hours at the track can breeze by like a six furlong race, and six weeks of that makes the time whoosh by like - snap, it's over!

Am I just rationalizing because it's just not practical for us to do it again this year? Maybe. But I'm very excited about our plans. We've rented a house for Travers week, and are planning a big LATG BBQ on Travers night for any of you who will be up there. And, best of all -----

WE'RE GOING TO DEL MAR!!!!!!! We've rented a condo right on the ocean in Solana Beach which is within walking distance of the racetrack! So even though we're bringing the younger girls, yours truly will be free to stroll over to the races at any time. And stroll I will. We'll be there from July 28 through August 4, and we're very excited. Please drop me a note if you'll be there and would like to say hello. And of course, I'll have the laptop, and LATG will broadcast live from the west coast.

- Universal Pictures has obtained the film rights to an article entitled "Gone Like the Wind," which appeared in Vanity Fair in August. It's about the attempts to save Barbaro, and you can read it here. The film will be directed by Peter Berg, who has appeared as an actor in a bunch of movies and TV shows/films, and directed the films Very Bad Things and Friday Night Lights.

Hunch Bets for July 10

Quite an Angel - 3rd at The Pha
No Sign of Bono - 1st at Yavapai
Bully Buster - 7th at Assiniboia
Utter Pleasure - 3rd at Delaware
No I Can't - 5th at Finger Lakes

Winner Forges His Own Path

- English Derby winner Authorized ran second in the Coral Eclipse Stakes on Saturday in one of the oddest races I've seen in quite some time. Watch (below) as Notnowcato, under the guidance of jockey Ryan Moore, steers all the way out to the far rail, along the stands side on the right-handed course. As Authorized and George Washington battled their way through and around horses from the back of the pack, Notnowcato and Moore, who walked the course earlier in the day and determined the stands side to be faster, were all by their lonesome on the outside. Greg Wood of the Guardian UK blasted the other riders for not being as diligent:

At Group One level, the most useful thing that a jockey can do is to avoid silly mistakes and make sure that a horse runs to its best form. No rider is capable of turning a handicapper into a champion. All they can do is to ensure that their mount gets from A to B as swiftly and efficiently as possible.

On this basis, it was not Moore's brilliance that won the day so much as the failure of his seven opponents to do their job. Firemen deserve praise and admiration when they rescue people from burning buildings, yet at the same time, it is only what they are paid to do. [Guardian UK]

Authorized overcame a slow pace that resulted when two Aidan O'Brian runners who initially rushed up to challenge Chempery, entered to insure a fast pace for Authorized, suddenly backed off and slowed down the rest of the pack, rendering the rabbit ineffective. The favorite's trainer Peter Chapple-Hyam said: "They were all out to get him beat and they succeeded." [Telegraph.co.uk] Still, Authorized fought through the field and "won" the main body of the race, just holding off George Washington. It shouldn't do anything to hurt Authorized's confidence. "The horse thinks he's won," Frankie Dettori said.



The King George is scheduled to be Authorized's next start, but it comes up a week from Saturday, and RTE Sport reports that he's not definite.

- Aldeberan has four winners from his first five starters. We've mentioned how he achieved his success on the racetrack at age five, but I guess it's worth pointing out that he won a seven furlong grass race in his only start at two. We mentioned Ascot Hall, his first winner, in this post. He's since had winners at Mountaineer, Prairie Meadows and Delaware. Halcyon, the winner at the latter and then 4th in the Astoria at Belmont, is out of a stakes winning Broad Brush mare, and is from the direct female family of the Haskell/Travers/Super Derby winner Wise Times.

- Another stakes winner for Patrick Biancone, who took the Cash Call with Lady of Valor Venice [thanks Kevin...I need to straighten up and get off that cobra venom] on Friday night, and then was fined $1500 for failing to declare that she would run on Lasix. However, the Form had the L in their pp's, so there didn't seem to be any harm to the public in this case. On Sunday in the Locust Grove, the rabbit tactic worked for Biancone, as 60-1 shot Countess Scala pressed Quite a Bride as Mauralakana stalked a couple of lengths behind and then rallied for the Grade 3 win.

- Lexington winner Distorted Reality (Distorted Humor) is the third foal of the broodmare Christy Love (Unbridled) to win a grass stakes. Atticus Kristy (Atticus) won the G3 Shakertown, and Fiery Dancer (Atticus) won the Pago Hop at Fair Grounds.

News and Notes - July 9

- The Times ran an editorial on the franchise situation on Sunday, and, as Jessica pointed out over at Railbird, its placement in an obscure section of the paper means it will have little impact with its misplaced innuendo and alarmist conclusion; namely that the Inspector General's report reminds us that the industry requires vigilant oversight and iron control. That's the same simplistic conclusion that Governor Spitzer drew from the report. To show you just how ignorant the editorial was, it makes no mention of Richard Fields when listing those in Excelsior who are connected to the Governor.

One thing it got right however is that Empire Racing Associates comes out the worst of the companies examined in the report. One might think that they would just go away now that they can no longer claim the support of the horsemen, and since the I.G.'s report exposes the degree to which they are beholden to Churchill and Magna, and raises serious questions about the intent of the supposedly non-partisan Friends of New York that preceded Empire. But I'm sure that won't be the case as long as there's slots money on the table.

Empire's chairman Jeffrey Tucker is in the news today, but for a different reason. His Stonebridge Farm became the first facility in the state to have Polytrack.

One place which could use the synthetic surface is Calder. The track has made a concerted, and successful effort to promote and stage big events, but it seems as if their big days are always marred by rain. This past Saturday's Summit of Speed was the latest victim, with much of it conducted on a sloppy, sealed mess, including three stakes originally scheduled for the turf, yuck. The track was thankfully harrowed out and declared 'good' for the last three races, the most notable on the card. Still, Greg Gilchrist said of Smokey Stover's disappointing third: "I don't think the horse really handled the racetrack well." [SF Gate.com] Both he and Fabulous Strike fell far short of the local horse Mach Ride. This four-year old son of Pentelicus is now two-for-two with blinkers on.

- Curlin and Tiz Wonderful worked six furlongs in company, in 1:12 4/5. Steve Asmussen said:

"Scott (assistant trainer Scott Blasi) said it was time for Tiz Wonderful to step out of the kiddie pool. He stayed on (with Curlin) and galloped out good. Of course he had to work harder, but that’s where he’s at." [Bloodhorse]

Curlin is prepping for the Haskell, Tiz Wonderful for the Jim Dandy.

Hard Spun is also back on the track; he worked five furlongs in 1:00 1/5 at Delaware. Mario Pino will be back in the saddle for his next start, wherever that might be.

"I had a discussion with Mr. Porter and he said it's OK with him to have Mario back on the horse," [trainer Larry] Jones said. "So, I have given Mr. Pino certain dates to keep open. I feel good about this decision. It keeps everything on our team. Mario is part of our team and it's good to have him back." [Delaware Online]

Though the Haskell remains a possibility, Jones may take a cue from Teuflesberg, second in the Carry Back at Calder on Saturday.

"Teuflesberg went in a 7/8th-mile stake and wins it [the Woody Stephens at Belmont]," Jones said. "Stormello is another horse that was in that race. I think Hard Spun could do that as well. That's why we can look at the [seven-furlong] King's Bishop [on Aug. 25] at Saratoga."

Long Walks and Tough Beats

- I took the Long Island Railroad to Belmont from Manhattan on Friday, and the Head Chef took the car and met me there. The train makes its way s-l-o-w-l-y over the single track that juts off to the track. There was no more than a handful of people on the train, making one wonder why and how the railroad maintains the service. Walking on the platform on the way to the track, one sees another sign of the track's decay; once a busy train station, the old ticket windows were long ago boarded up and the only thing presently being collected at this station are the bird droppings.

As I walked toward the track, I saw that there were 11 minutes until the third race. The Head Chef called and said she was waiting in the owners parking lot, and that I should come meet her and help with bringing the chairs in. The owners lot is clear on the other side of the building from the train station. I've been told on more than one occasion that Belmont is longer than the Empire State Building is tall. If that's indeed the case, then I can tell you that it would take a bit less than 11 minutes (including a brief stop to bet the race) to walk up the side of the tallest building in New York (though likely only about 11 seconds before being obliterated by the NYC police anti-terrorism department). I ended up having to watch myself lose the third on the replay.

My longest walk ever associated with Belmont was a disgusted sojourn home in 1976. Frank Martin had a nice colt named Turn and Count, who I had bet in what I recall as being his second start, at Saratoga, at odds of 1-2. Yes, there was a time when I bet horses like that. He lost, and I remember being particularly upset with myself, and with the horse. That may have been the last 1-2 shot I ever bet. Then, that fall, I was at Belmont and he was entered again; but I was done with him. I don't remember if I actually bet against him or passed the race, but when he won at something like 9-2, I was so infuriated that I couldn't stand to be there another minute. My buddies didn't want to leave. So I set off on foot. Looking it up on Mapquest now, it was a walk of eight miles, during which I'm sure I was swearing that I'd never go back. (Turn and Count became a multiple graded stakes winner for Martin, and enjoyed a brief career at stud before passing away in 1980.)

But I was back on Sunday. I had a bunch of close calls, as usually seems to be the case. I got beat by the absolute scantest of noses in the second with Star Dixie, who became the favorite by default when Shug's Impressionism, even money at the time, was scratched at the gate; that killed my Pick Threes. But then I was eligible for a very healthy Pick Three payoff in the Race 3-5 series. After eliminating the two favorites in the third and spreading most of the rest of the field, I came up with 22-1 Street Bird. But then I fell 3/4's short in the middle leg when Fiddlers Warrior couldn't catch 6-1 Spiritual Call; if you want to see an example of a horse that just doesn't want to win, watch the stretch run of that one.

When my key selection English Colony ($10.60) won the 5th, I was at least consoled by scoring a nice $51 exacta payoff with runnerup Quietly Mine. The winner was 12-1 morning line, but was never seen above 4-1 for trainer Angel Penna, an outfit that is not at all shy about backing their horses at the window. The Pick Three returned $2880, and I could only contemplate what it would have returned if my selection had won the 4th instead. I'm sure it woulda coulda shoulda still have been a healthy four figure payoff even though he was the slight favorite at 2-1.

In the 6th, Admiral Bird disappointed once again after getting slammed down to 5-2 favoritism late in the game, and then checking in with a never-a-threat 4th. I went back to Penna in this race however, and his Al Basha fell just a neck short to Thunderestimate after a wide rally from far back, thus depriving me of the triple - my late rallies seemed to fall short all day long. The last time I bet Al Basha, he dumped his jockey on Derby Day after opening a commanding lead in deep stretch. So I'm not enjoying much luck at all with this very sharp and talented three year old son of the Storm Cat sire Aljabr.

After that race, which was one of the most talented and competitive allowance fields of New York-breds one could ever hope to see, the card degenerated into a parade of odds-on favorites, with stakes wins by Pletcher in the Lexington with 2-5 Distorted Reality, who had to really work hard to get by Buddy's Humor, and by Frankel in the Grade 2 First Flight with 3-5 Ginger Punch. So after a couple of losing bets at Churchill, I took my small profit and made my way home. By car.

The Mighty M Not Very Mighty

- Last week was a whirlwind between my trip upstate and the midweek holiday; I can't believe it's been almost a week already since I drove back last Monday. It was a trip which I wanted to mention. Whereas we took major highways from Vermont to Oneonta, mostly the picturesque Route 88, driving back to New York is more complicated, though in a happy way. The directions I printed out from Map Quest was a maze of two-lane country roads, and there are few things I enjoy more than following complex directions, consulting road maps and weaving my way through scenic back roads on a gorgeous day. Unlike handicapping, it's a puzzle that I can figure successfully 100% of the time. (The Head Chef may disagree with that figure.)

It was an insanely beautiful drive. The goal was to get to Route 17, which would then take me back to the city in a virtual straight line. The northern end of that highway is beautiful as well, but it starts to go downhill once the billboards, illegal in Vermont, start up once you get to Liberty.

Route 17 was once referred to as the Quickway, a characterization that those who used to try to make their way from the once-thriving Catskills resorts back to the city on Sunday nights would dispute. Years ago, I traveled on that road many times, mostly on trips to and from Monticello. So I well knew that I would be passing right by Monticello Raceway....The Mighty M, now officially known as Monticello Gaming and Raceway. I thought about stopping by just to pay a visit to a track which I haven't been to in a good 15-20 years, and checking out the racino.

It was always a special thrill to turn into the parking lot years ago and see the neon harness horse pacing away on the side of the building. Monticello, or Monti as it was affectionately known, was a little like Saratoga to the downstate harness racing. Yes, the season ran for months, and concurrently with the meets at Roosevelt and Yonkers. But the air was clear, the green hills rose in the background, and you could see many of your favorite downstate drivers there, including Herve Filion and Benny "the Whip" Webster, on Sunday afternoons. 2:30 post time, it was the only racing in the state on Sunday. And the weekend nights buzzed with excitement, crowded with people vacationing at now-closed resorts such as the Concord and Grossinger's.

As I approached Monticello, I realized that there was actually a chance that there was live racing there on Monday afternoons. So I made the turnoff, swung around on Route 17B, and entered the still familiar parking lot. The old neon harness horse is covered up by a sign. But indeed, there was live racing underway - what a delightful and unexpected treat! I experienced a wave of euphoria.

But it didn't last all that long. It was all an all-too-familiar experience after having visited Yonkers and Saratoga Harness. You go through a familiar-looking entrance, but once inside, you're greeted by the sterile, numbing world of slots. It was virtually indistinguishable from the other racinos, except that they play bad music over the din of the machines. I actually had to endure Eric Clapton's hideous rendition of Layla from the repulsive MTV Unplugged series. But there is actually a small area on the slots floor with a couple of betting machines and the live and simulcast racing on TV's.

Up on the racing floor, like at the other tracks, it was as if it was frozen in time. Not a thing had changed up on the second floor, not the the mutuel windows, the refreshment stand, nor the big overhead signs with the letters that designated seating sections that used to be full, but on this day accommodated perhaps 50 diehards. Maybe.

Worst of all, it was clear that the racing was not at all thriving from slots money. The purses had never gotten that big there to start with; the fact that horsemen were so happy showed just how low the racing had fallen. Whatsmore, looking at the past performances, it was clear that purses were on the way down; there clearly had been two purse cuts in the last couple of months as slots revenues have stalled. It all added up to create a pretty dreary feeling. Not much sign of a revival of the sport here. A couple of small bets later, I was more than ready to resume my trip home. No, I didn't have any winners. But I did take some photos.

The grandstand apron apparently has an alternate use.










Track owner Empire Resorts wishes to partner with the St Regis tribe to build a full-fledged casino on the site. Racing would then presumably not be legally required to remain in place.

Surf Cat Comes Up Short

- Surf Cat fell just short in his first race in nearly 14 months; his desperate late rally failed to catch Bilo in the Grade 1 Triple Bend. This seems to have been a very oddly bet race. For one thing, the winner was 30-1 in the morning line, but went off at only 9-1 (and he was 11-1 as they went past the quarter pole). Looking at his form, I don't think anyone would have been shocked if he went off at his morning line price. Bilo had a long layoff of his own; this was his third race after being gone for 18 months. And though his last was a nice allowance win, it didn't point him out as a Grade 1 winner. At least to me; I guess somebody got it. But I don't, do you?

Silent Name was also bet much lower than I would have expected; at 9-5, he was a close second choice to 8-5 Surf Cat. Perhaps the bettors thought that he would replicate his stakes winning form on the Poly at Keeneland on the Cushion Track. Or perhaps, as a Japan-bred, he got some support from the contingent in town with the Japanese horses who ran in the Cash Call and American Oaks. Silent Name finished dead last.

Surf Cat briefly had to check around the turn, but he saved all the ground, and had dead aim at the winner. The final furlong was run in 13.10 seconds. So Bruce Headley's horse had little excuse, other than the layoff. Which isn't always as big of an excuse these days as it used to be. Still, Alex Solis was pleased. "To run this kind of race after so long is a great tribute to Bruce. Even though he lost I think it's a big win." [Bloodhorse]

And how about Panty Raid giving Pletcher his second straight American Oaks win, and doing it in her first-ever try on the grass? (Though she did have two fine efforts on Polytrack, which has been a pretty reliable indicator of turf ability.) When the subject of whipping came up here recently, an anonymous reader wrote: The one jockey in new york who uses the whip properly, i.e. as little as possible, every time is Edgar Prado. watch him. If you watch him in this race, you'll see that despite facing a host of pursuers after entering the stretch with the lead in this $750,000 Grade 1 race, Prado mostly hand rode Panty Raid, going to a left-handed whip once in upper stretch, then again twice...maybe three times when Valbenny looked as if she might go by. Panty Raid promptly responded and was drawing away from the runner-up under a hand ride at the wire.

Panty Raid is by Include out of a Private Account mare, and she's the second Grade 1 winner for this sophomore sire, with Cash Included being the other.

Nice day for the Toddster, who also ran one-two with English Channel and Honey Ryder in the UN Stakes at Monmouth. The all-Todd exacta returned $9.40.

Saturday Morning Notes - July 7

- That was a nice turn of speed by Lady of Venice in taking the $1 million Cash Call Mile at Hollywood. Trainer Patrick Biancone was not present, and I believe this was his first win since the cobra venom story broke. The Beyer figures didn't tell the story with this filly, whose numbers had been on a decline, and were several points less than those of First Word, sent off as the 4-5 favorite. This four-year old daughter of Loup Solitaire, is now unbeaten in three starts this year. 'G. Stevens,' as he's come to be called on the TVG set, compared her to Gorella; and though Julien Leparoux waved off any physical similarities, the comparison certainly fits in terms of running style and consistency.

Regarding Biancone, whose troubles were not mentioned during the TVG coverage, instead awkwardly hanging over the proceedings in silence, when I suggested that his horses be barred from the entry box while the investigation goes one, the flip side of that was that the process be carried out in an expeditious manner so that the trainer wouldn't be too unfairly penalized before his guilt or innocence is determined. That apparently is not going to be the case. I mean, what's going on, he either had the substance, or he didn't. Matt Hegarty points out in his long piece on cobra venom in the Form that the substance can be easily identified in the crystallized form. It's clear that this matter is going to drag on, and the loser, as usual, is the betting public and the game. Each time one of Biancone's horses steps onto the track, it does so under a cloud which doesn't figure to clear up too soon.

- The betting public is a winner at Ellis Park, where, as reader davidrex points out, the takeout has been reduced to 4% on the Pick Four. That combined with a 50 cent minimum bet, makes it the best deal in town, and a bold move by the new owner Ron Geary. John Pricci, writing on MSNBC.com, urges us to participate:

Parenthetically, if the Ellis Park signal is unavailable, demand it from your neighborhood simulcastor. If you can’t support an idea aimed to help you win, what will remain is staring mindlessly into a VLT because everyone should reap what they sew.
....
This makes the effective takeout rate on the Ellis Park Pick Four one percent per race. Now, if your handicapping is skilled enough to safely eliminate one 30-1 shot per race (on balance, a 30-1 has about a three percent chance to win), you have an expected positive return of two percent per race or eight percent for entire sequence. Think of it as free money.
.....
Now how does that stack up against the 50 percent withheld by your state’s lottery? [MSNBC.com]

- It seemed like a lot of Pick Six bettors at Belmont on Friday were alive going into the 8th....and that many of them were eliminated when 3-4 favorite City Attraction couldn't hold off 7-1 Memphis Mon. I saw a couple of programs and Forms fly through the air afterwards. The fans were not happy. The ten bettors who survived collected $78,774 from the $1 million+ pool on a series which started with an even money shot, included a 2-1 shot and in which Memphis Mon was the highest priced winner. And that's with the standard 25% takeout.

The Prioress is today; always seems a little odd to see this Grade 1 at six furlongs for three-year old fillies at this time of the year. Dream Rush, according to Dave Litfin in the Form, is a "triple fig, with three straight figures superior to anything the others have recorded." She most recently earned a 100 when she couldn't hold off Cotton Blossom in the one mile Acorn after leading throughout. The cutback to six furlongs will presumably help, though it seems that she's improved since stretching out.

A longshot in the race that caught my eye is Graeme Six, trained by Tom Amoss, making a rare appearance at Belmont. Throw out her sloppy track race, and she's 5-2-3-0, with all three of those losses coming by the narrowest of margins. Most recently, she finished within a nose of Burmilla, an undefeated Storm Cat filly racing for Darley. She was eight lengths in front of the others. She's been moving up in class and speed slowly but steadily, obviously faces a huge jump here, but looks live to me for a share.

It's a big sprint day of course between the Prioress, the Summit of Speed at Calder, and the return of Surf Cat in the Triple Bend at Hollywood. Right now, with the encouragement of the Head Chef, I'm sprinting off to Fire Island for the day to lie on the beach and wish I was at the track. Good luck and have a great day!

Belmont Babies for Saturday

- Wow, Phantom Income was a phantom to the rest of the field, drawing away with absolute ease from Crosswalk, the 3-4 favorite who was working hard futilely as the winner drew away to win by ten! That's two extremely impressive winners for Richard Violette and Klaravich Stables with horses plucked out of the Ocala juvenile sale in March (Fed Watcher being the other).

And guess what, they have another one in the second on Saturday in Globalization. This son of the $30,000 sire Touch Gold (10% with debut runners) went for $250,000 at the sale after working in 10.2, and then in 10.1. Here's a colt with some interesting breeding. He's inbred 4x4 to the great racemare and broodmare Busanda, through Buckpasser and a winless half-sister named Navsup; and is also inbred to Northern Dancer 4x4x4. Globalization is out of a Polish Navy mare, and is a half-brother to Minister Margaret, a champion in Puerto Rico who, according to Pedigree Query, won 33 out of 64 lifetime races.

Tale of Ekati, the 5-2 morning line favorite, goes for Barclay Tagg, who won last week with According to Plan ($19.00), his only prior first time two-year old at this meeting. He's by the excellent first-out sire Tale of the Cat, out of a Sunday Silence half-sister to the champion Sky Beauty. That one's dam, the champion sprinter Gold Beauty, is the third dam of Tale of Ekati, so this is the talented family of Dayjur, Pleasant Home, and Pine Island.

Bill Mott, who as we mentioned yesterday has a very good record with this sort at this track, has Lumen, a son of Johannesburg who also comes out of that Ocala sale. He sold for $200,000 after working 10.1 and 21.1, man! Johannesburg is 11% with first-time starters, and Lumen is out of Phone Trick mare; his second dam is the Grade 1 winner Adored.

Pletcher has Flying Dismount, a son of the first-year sire Proud Citizen, standing for $12,500 at Airdrie. Proud Citizen has three winners from 14 starters thus far. What I find interesting about this stallion's pedigree is that his 4th dam is Arctic Dancer, a full sister to Northern Dancer. So I'm interested to see how matings that involve adding the great stallion himself do. This one is out of a stakes winning mare by Regal Classic, so her third sire is Northern Dancer; so he's inbred 4x4 to ND and his sis.

Anakim is a son of Giant's Causeway (10%) making his debut for John Kimmel, just two for 31 with first-time juveniles over the last two years.

Globalization seems the obvious choice, but the bettors may catch on after letting Phantom Income go off at 9-2! Pletcher's colt is 5-1 morning line, has the usual long string of steady, though in this case moderate, works over the Saratoga training track, and is by a stallion enjoying some early success. You can sometimes catch a price with the Toddster with these first-timers when Johnny V is out of town. Alan Garcia rides, and I'm sure he'd like to impress. I'd take a shot if he's really 5-1 or close to it, and box him with Globalization.

Pick Six Sux [UPDATE]

- There's a Pick Six carryover of over $300,000 at Belmont later today, but the card sucks, plain and simple. NYRA's website indicates that all four grass races have been taken off. [UPDATE - Races 1 and 6 remain on the grass, labeled 'yielding.'] That makes the 4th race perhaps the most indecipherable mess in the history of Belmont Park. I wouldn't bet that race with Scooter Libby's defense fund money. The card is so bad that I'm almost tempted to not run out of work early to make it there for the twilight card. But I probably will anyway. The weather seems nice thus far, and there's always simulcasting!

Briefly, in the dirt races, Stud Muffin looks like the stud of the fifth [ran yesterday] ; in the 7th, Not On My Turf won for fun by five in this same class in his last race - he gets a free ride by opting for the optional claiming price. Maybe I'm missing something, but he looks like a cinch here. Ditto for City Attraction, the even money morning line fave in the 8th.

- Reader Case sent along an article by Dick Jerardi, regarding Philadelphia Park using some its slots money to perhaps try and lure Rags to Riches there for the Cotillion on September 22. The track has the money to make it happen, and a possible $1 million purse is mentioned .

To bridge the gap between the Travers (or the Aug. 18 Alabama Stakes against fillies, also at Saratoga) and the Cup, Rags to Riches would need a race in September. The Cotillion would fit nicely 5 weeks prior to the Cup. If Pletcher were looking for an easy spot for a lot of money, the Grade II Cotillion would be it. In 2004, Pletcher brought his terrific filly Ashado to the Pha to win the Cotillion. A month later, she won the BC Distaff. [Philly Daily News]

The Pha??

"I'm still holding some money in my pocket," said Sal Sinatra, Philly Park's Director of Racing.
.....
"My goal is to get [the Cotillion] to a Grade I, whatever I need to do to do it," Sinatra said. "That race did go to a vote last year by the graded stakes committee. We're close."

- New York's Inspector General Kristine Hamann, who conducted the just-released integrity reviews on the franchise bidders, will review Joe Bruno's accusations that Governor Spitzer used the State Police to conduct surveillance on him with respect to his combined state business/fundraising trips to NYC. In addition, the chairman of the state GOP is calling for a special prosecutor.

Lawyers in Mr. Bruno’s office said they believed that the Spitzer administration’s orders to keep logs of Mr. Bruno’s travel might have been an act of official misconduct, a misdemeanor that is an impeachable offense. They also said they thought the administration might have violated the Civil Service Law related to using public employees for political activity and the Public Officers Law relating to securing unwarranted privileges. [NY Times]

Whatsmore, Bruno says he will ask the state and Albany Country district attorneys to investigate the matter as well. Do you think this is getting a bit out of hand?

"There has never been anything like this," said Eric Lane, a Hofstra University law professor and former counsel to a former top Democratic state senator.

"This is beyond politics. This is war," added Douglas Muzzio, a Baruch College political science professor. [NY Daily News]

Spitzer's office of course denies the charges, claiming that the State Police generally keep itineraries when state transportation is utilized; and that the itineraries of the trips in question, which had not been saved, were reconstructed in response to a Freedom of Information request by Bruno's perceived journalistic nemesis, the Albany Times Union.

Babies at Belmont

- The second at Belmont on Friday is a two-year old maiden race with just five entries, all of whom are fillies making their debut. They are racing for a whopping $52,000, as purses have been hiked for the last three weeks of the meeting. Good move by NYRA to try and head off the short fields that are usually pervasive over the last couple of weeks of this meeting as the focus turns to Saratoga. In general, be wary of horses racing here now, as they may really be prepping for a larger objective upstate.

Back to the second; Pletcher has the 7-5 morning line favorite in Crosswater. This is an Overbrook homebred by the mighty Storm Cat, 17% with first-time starters. Crosswater is out of a Forty Niner mare, and is a half-sister to stakes placed El Nino. The dam is a half to the juvenile champ Boston Harbor; and the second dam, by Vice Regent, is a half to the great champion sprinter Groovy. You know the drill with the Toddster and first-timers; and his percentage of 29% with debut juveniles at Belmont over the last two years betters his overall average of 24%. So don't be surprised if he's bet down to his 7-5 morning line.

But keep an eye on Phantom Income. Here's one of those juvenile sales horses who far exceeded his sire's stud fee after a quick breeze. This daughter of the Florida sire Montbrook ($15,000), sold for $200,000 after flying a furlong in 10.1, a tick off the show's best. She's trained by Richard Violette, hardly a big first-time guy like Pletcher. But last week, Violette sent out Fed Watcher to win his debut at 5-1, earning a sparkling Beyer of 98 after getting his five furlongs in 56.10. Fed Watcher came out of the same sale as Phantom Income, selling for just $60,000 after working a quarter in 21.2.

Montbrook is a 12% debut sire, and Phantom Income is out of Catch the Ghost, a half-sister to the champion Ghostzapper. So she also certainly has a license to be fast, and could be some value as the 3-1 third choice in the morning line.

Namaste's Wish (5-2) is a $600,000 yearling purchase making her debut for Bill Mott. The trainer is only 13% with first-time two year olds over the last two years; but at Belmont, that average goes up to 26%, 10 for 38. Namaste's Wish, by Pulpit, is a full-brother to the Grade 1 winner (Cigar Mile) Purge, standing at Vinery for $20,000.

Shining Sea debuts for Mark Hennig, two for 44 with first-time two-year olds. This filly, by Stormy Atlantic, is out of a half-sister to the multiple Grade 1 winner Keeper Hill.

Thursday Night Notes

- Any Given Saturday gets a big Beyer - a 110 - for his win in the Dwyer; and as Steve Crist points out in the Form, that number is right there with Street Sense's Derby (110), Curlin's Preakness (111), and Rags to Riches's Belmont (107). True, he had a nice trip, but with his pedigree, one would think he should be even better when he gets back to two turns.

Idiot Proof got a 113 for his win, achieved in track record time (1:07.47) in the Jersey Shore. He burst away from the field after stalking and setting a torrid pace, and did so while taking a zig-zagging route home. In his wake were the two 3-2 shots, Principle Secret, who beat Idiot Proof in the San Pedro at Santa Anita, and Spin Master. This was a 23 point Beyer improvement for this horse, in his sixth career start. If he's taken a liking to the Monmouth surface, he's chosen a good year to do so. Idiot Proof is a son of the California sire Benchmark, out of a Bertrando mare. Not much else I see fit to write about his pedigree, but his breeder/owner Marty Wygod, who certainly knows more than me, must have seen something.

Monmouth does not make their videos available to Cal Racing; you can get them through the Monmouth site for free via RaceReplays.com. I went there to watch Idiot Proof, and the video and sound quality for that site is still awful, after I hadn't used it for many months. Is it just me....an incompatible browser or computer....or are there videos virtually unwatchable? (You can see the race for real on the NTRA site.)

Speaking of bad video, I was watching Ken Rudolph and Todd Schrmmmppfff on TVG before - they were doing their TVG Sprint update show, concentrating on this Saturday's Calder Summit of Speed, and the Triple Bend at Hollywood. They were showing some replays of the various contenders, and I noticed that the quality of the video was really lousy for some of the races. Then I saw that those particular races were the ones from Santa Anita and Churchill Downs. While the TrackNet Two granted permission to TVG to show their races, it looked like they made them take the races off of You Tube!

Spitzer Neutral on Franchise, Goes to Whip on Bruno

- Saratoga mayor Valerie Keehn told a City Council meeting on Tuesday that she was told by Governor Spitzer's counsel Richard Rifkin that the plan to split the franchise into racing and gaming parts is not set in stone.

"His statement to me was that there is a lot of information coming out of the press that is not actually accurate with regard to what the governor would like to see happen...The reality is that he’s not leaning one way or the other. He’s trying to get the proposals out there that might be potentially feasible on how the racetracks would be run." [Glens Falls Post Star]

The New York Post reported exclusively today that the allegations regarding the improper use of state helicopters and police escorts by Senator Bruno was the result of an unprecedented State Police surveillance program ordered by Governor Steamroller.

A senior state official familiar with the surveillance program told The Post that he believed the governor and his aides had sought to "set up" Bruno by having the State Police keep track of his travels.

"Why else would they do it if not to set up Bruno - by getting on him something they thought was incriminating - when they weren't doing it to anyone else?" said the official.

Bruno himself said "it appears" Spitzer and his staff used the State Police to try to obtain negative information on him in an effort to "set up an officeholder" with whom the governor disagrees.
.....
A Bruno aide contended Spitzer's actions "are reminiscent of Richard Nixon with his 'enemies list.' " [NY Post]

- Philadelphia Park, buffeted by a drastic decrease in attendance and handle since herding its customers onto the 4th floor, is raising its purses drastically; its second increase of the year.

Purses will jump from $175,000 a day to $210,000, the highest level in track history. Philly Park opened in 1974 as Keystone Race Track.

“With this increase, we tried to address some of our key races,” Philly Park director of racing Sal Sinatra said. “For instance, the maiden special weights have gone from $28,000 to $34,000, and the first-level allowance races will jump from $30,000 to $37,000.” [Bloodhorse]

After an outcry from horsemen, fans, and politicians alike, the track withdrew its application to make the present temporary slots facility permanent, and it will now presumably proceed to build the standalone building it had promised.

- And Frankie Dettori has been suspended for overuse of the whip on the winning Ramonti during the Queen Anne Stakes. The two week suspension will expire in time for him to ride Authorized in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes on July 28. Dettori struck Ramonti 25 times inside the final 2½ furlongs at Royal Ascot. [BBC Sport] Ramonti said that he had no hard feelings, and that it was "all in a day's work."

Math Lesson

- Nick Zito needs to brush up on his math skills a bit. Speaking of Commentator's loss in the Tom Fool, he told the NY Daily News:

"If you look at 10,000 races, you'll never see that again....A '21' second quarter? Have you ever heard of that? At least go :44. I've never seen that as long as I've been coming to the track."

Nick still hasn't seen that. The official fractions were 22.07 and 43.99, meaning that the second quarter was run in 21.92, which we can round up to 22. And I'd say that 43.99 is close enough to 44.

Still, it was fast, but the fact is that High Finance was just a head behind at the quarter pole, and only a head plus a half length back at the half. So the son of Talk is Money ran a huge race, and was clearly better than Commentator on this day, and on this track which he appears to love. He's the first graded stakes winner for the stallion, a son of Deputy Minister who stands for $5000 in New York.

Any Given Saturday is ready to rejoin the top three-year olds off his win in the Dwyer; at least according to Pletcher. His next objective is the Jim Dandy or Haskell.

Notes - July 5

- Stewards in Kentucky refused to comment on Wednesday's report in the Daily Racing Form that cobra venom was found in the barn of Patrick Biancone when it was searched on June 22. They would only acknowledge that a post-race test of one of his horses yielded a positive; but that a second sample has not yet been tested at a different lab for verification. According to the Form, the sample tested positive for a derivative of caffeine and for a derivative of an inhalant. Marty McGee writes in the Form that until Biancone is brought before the KHRA for a hearing, Biancone is free to run horses in Kentucky and elsewhere.

At the time of the search, he had about 75 horses spread among three barns at Keeneland. With racing at Churchill set to end Sunday, he soon will shift his main base of operations to Saratoga while also maintaining a string at Keeneland.

Of course, any track has the right to ban people from their private property, as several tracks have done over the last few months to the jockeys implicated by the TRPB in a vague race-fixing scheme that we still have few details about. And again, without making any assumptions about Biancone's innocence or guilt, I don't understand how it's in the betting public's interest that his horses should be allowed to be entered to race at this point. I just don't get it.

- A comment by NYTHA president Richard Violette had caught my attention the other day. He was talking about the purse increases for Saratoga and the last three weeks of the Belmont meeting.

“It is good to see that the lines of communication between NYTHA and NYRA are open and the immediate results are purse increases which will benefit every segment of the thoroughbred racing community. ” [Glens Falls PostStar]

The reason I found that notable is that the NYTHA hadn't had anything nice to say about NYRA ever since it hooked up with Empire. That was just not part of Empire's playbook. So in retrospect, that quote was an indication that the group was already on its way out from the group.

- I have to say that I sympathize with Joe Bruno when he said he was "outraged that the governor’s staff members moved so swiftly to refer the matter to investigators," with that matter being the taxpayer-financed trips to New York City reported by the Albany Times-Union. That was in the Sunday edition, and to wake up on Monday and already be reading statements by the governor's staff in the Times is pretty outrageous. It takes something pretty momentous to get a response from the government on a Sunday, and it seems as if the governor's staff is in a 24/7 attack mode that is bordering on childish.

The Associated Press on Tuesday produced several people, including a spokesperson for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who attested to meeting with Bruno on official state business during those trips, and accounting for all three.

The night of May 24, Bruno attended a fundraiser for himself, after being dropped off by state police at City Hall where he met with..Bloomberg. "It was about the city's legislative agenda in Albany," said Stu Loeser, a spokesman for Bloomberg, a Bruno ally and campaign contributor. "The meeting happened." [AP]

And it's exactly that sequence of events, a mix of personal fundraising and state business, that would appear to make the trips legal.

An opinion issued in 1995 by the state Ethics Commission appears to also approve the use of state aircraft for travel that includes "political functions" as long as there was some legitimate state purpose, as Bruno maintains.

Bruno is now accusing the Times Union of attempted extortion, claiming that an ad salesperson pressured him to buy ad space in return for more favorable coverage.

The newspaper’s publisher, Mark E. Aldam, said in a statement that the senator’s staff had mischaracterized the call. Mr. Aldam said the salesman had merely offered Mr. Bruno the chance to respond to a campaign advertisement taken out on the newspaper’s Web site by the state Democratic Party, attacking Mr. Bruno and Senate Republicans. [NY Times]

But Bruno's office counters that there was never any mention of the Democrats' ads, and that the pitch was only "in the context of his newspaper’s negative coverage of the senator.” Bruno has canceled his subscription to the newspaper.

Notes - July 4

- I was watching some of the early races on TVG on Saturday, and saw four 2-5 shots go down in flames in just two races! Well, kinda. The first at Monmouth and the third at Belmont were baby maiden races, and in each of them, a coupled entry of first-time starters were bet down to that prohibitive price. I've mentioned this before, about how you'll sometimes see an entry of first-timers from a hot trainer get drastically overbet. Two for the price of one may work at a department store, but at times the concept gets overdone at the mutuels, and bargains abound elsewhere.

Kelly Breen sent out the entry at Monmouth. Poised by Design (Montbrook) and Venus Rosewater (Grand Slam) were both moderate sales-priced fillies with some nice works; how do you even know which one they're betting? Perhaps Poised by Design, a half-sister to stakes winners Play Bingo and Quick'N'Smart, the latter the dam of the current stakes winner Smart Enough. Or maybe the other one, since she ran second with her stablemate checking in 6th. Winner Bold Smart ($19.20) is trained by Timothy Hills, who eight minutes later would take the first at Belmont with Another Month ($21.20). Wow, how about that for a daily double?

Todd Pletcher had the 2-5 entry in the third at Belmont, a six furlong affair on the grass for fillies. Moroccan Affair is a daughter of Storm Cat, out of a Mt Livermore mare who is a half-sister to graded winners Bernstein and Caress; and Caress is the dam of Sky Mesa. Return to Paradise is by El Prado, out of a Seeking the Gold mare. She's a half to several winners including the current stakes campaigner Capac. The best the Toddster could do was third, behind first-timer Dicey DJ (Milwaukee Brew). Winning trainer Linda Rice hadn't won at Belmont in a month, but she's always dangerous with these turf sprinters.

Any Given Saturday showed the talent that I had hoped he would on a certain given Saturday now long past. Nobiz Like Shobiz once again seemed distracted during the stretch run, and you can't blame this one on the crowd noise, with 8,415 on hand at the cavernous track on a cool and drizzly day. He just seems like a big goofy guy who'd rather be tossing around a football than trying to run down rivals on the racetrack.

And I guess High Finance likes Belmont! Throw out his Belmont Stakes, and he's three for three with a combined winning margin of nearly 16 lengths. He seems a likely candidate for that new BC mile race, and that will be a BIG day for West Point Thoroughbreds.

Happy 4th!

- The Dwyer is one of those races that has enough interesting story lines that it's not necessary to bet on it to be interested in the outcome. I guess that's my way of saying that it's too hard. Nobiz Like Shobiz and Any Given Saturday make their first starts since the Derby.

Things sure have changed for Nobiz Like Shobiz. Barclay Tagg's son of Albert the Great was considered by some to be the most talented of the three year old crop. It was thought that it was only a matter of him maturing before he went to the head of the class. If that's so, that would be pretty scary, considering how good Curlin and Street Sense seem to be. Tagg said that the horse didn't handle the Churchill surface, and jockey Cornelio Velasquez was unusually assertive about his mount's chances. "He's a different horse now, he's [much] better now, he's more relaxed now....I think Wednesday is going to be an easy race." [Daily Racing Form] Pretty strong words. But y'know, you look at his running lines and see that, besides the Derby, he's never finished more than 3/4 of a length behind the winner in six tries, four of them wins.

Any Given Saturday, who beat Nobiz by four lengths in the Derby, goes off the layoff for Pletcher. It may be worth noting that this will be his first one turn race since his 5 1/2 furlong (winning) debut. But man, he's been working up a storm, and he also exudes class on paper if you throw out the Derby. (The Wood was just a prep, you may recall.)

Sightseeing is listed as the 7-2 third choice. While I don't think he'll be bet lower than either of the above two, I wouldn't be at all surprised if he's very close to second choice here. He has an excellent pattern of improving Beyers going, and has a good record in these one turn routes, including his Peter Pan win. Shug adds blinkers, and his horses are pretty sharp these days; he has a record of 14-4-4-3 over the last three weeks at Belmont and Monmouth. Frankel starts First Defence, who popped a 100 Beyer in his last, beating entry level allowance horses on Memorial Day. I guess he only comes out for the holidays. That was a pretty sluggish field though; I'd be quite surprised if he made a big impact here, and I guess we'll see him next on Labor Day.

The Tom Fool is another star-studded stakes, and if his return to the races was any indication, Commentator should be able to win his first graded stakes since the 2005 Whitney. He was in hand in his return in what was essentially a public workout against overmatched state-bred foes. High Finance looks like the main threat to me. Though he was able to gallop away from a mediocre allowance field in earning a huge Beyer in his last, he has two excellent races over this track aside from his Belmont Stakes fiasco last year.

Between my travel and my catching-up day yesterday, I unfortunately wasn't really able to get much into this holiday card. The Head Chef and I will be seeing some music late this afternoon (weather permitting) - The New Pornographers, playing down in Battery Park. The tickets were free, but you still had to go online to make a reservation, and then go during designated times to pick them up. I can't say I'm really a big fan - they're a bit too much on the wimpy pop tip for my taste; but they're red hot right now with a highly anticipated new album due out next month. So I figured I'd get the tickets anyway, because then I could at least feel cool for having them, and I could make someone happy by giving them away to go to Belmont. The Head Chef was like, who cares, until she started reading all the articles about the show and how hot the tickets are. Now, we're going, and I wasn't able to dissuade her at all, even though her ears pricked up just a bit at the mention of Nobiz Like Shobiz and Any Given Saturday, the latter which she recognized as my latest Derby loser. She's just a slave to trends I guess. (I hope she doesn't read this).

Well, there always the early double on TV. Have a fantastic holiday, and be safe.

Empire Exposed by IG Report

- I didn't really expect much from the Inspector General's The Report to the Governor on the Integrity of Those Seeking to Operate the Racetracks At Aqueduct, Belmont Park and Saratoga. (Big PDF document, but a pretty quick load). I certainly didn't expect such a long name! And as expected, it contains a lot of detail which may or may not be relevant to the situation at hand. It rehashes NYRA's indictment and all of the lawsuits and judgments involving the various bidders, their partners and officers. It mentions Gary Contessa's drug suspensions (not updated for the latest), a rebate shop partner of Woodbine investigated for child pornography, and a NYRA board member sued by shareholders of Barnes and Noble for backdating stock options. It is critical of all four bidders, and adds up to a big mess. So Spitzer put on his Corruption Buster helmet and issued a statement which said:

The IG's report released today illustrates why racing is one of the most heavily regulated industries in the nation. History has shown that the large amounts of cash at stake in racing pose risks for illegal activities including money laundering at rebate shops, tax schemes and race fixing.

Oh, but thank goodness we have the all-knowing Governor of Goodness to save us from this evil industry! "Indeed, this is why I required an integrity review in the first place," he reminds us.

But the report also contained detailed investigations of matters that I frankly doubted it would. There are in-depth reports on the political conflicts of interest regarding all the bidders (save Capital Play); even the ones involving Richard Fields and the Governor himself. And no, Jared Abbruzzese and Empire did not get off the hook because he's severed his ties from the company. There are four pages devoted to Abbruzzese's connections to Joe Bruno, largely referencing newspaper articles previously linked to here. (The IG could have saved some time had she done her searching here!)

And, most surprisingly to me, the report not only addressed the question of the origins and intentions of Empire Racing, it did so in extensive detail. In fact, the section of the report addressing the connection between Friends of New York and Empire is the only one that Inspector General Kristine Hamann farmed out to a private company to write. Thacher Associates is a New York-based security firm, comprised of experienced, highly qualified fraud detection and risk-management experts armed with state-of-the-art electronic intelligence and information retrieval systems. The conclusion of the report has had immediate consequences, prompting the prompt withdrawal of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (NYTHA) from Empire Racing. Thacher wrote:

For the present, the weight of the evidence supports the conclusion that Empire was not created by New York horsemen for the benefit of New York horse racing. If Empire were to be awarded the franchise, the horsemen would likely lose control to the investors representing out-of-state horse racing interests, namely Canadian-based Magna...and Woodbine, and Kentucky-based Churchill Downs.

Thacher reveals that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), dated August 2006, 'requires Empire to retain the services of OperationsCo, a joint venture owned 50% by DNC, 25% by Churchill, and 25% by Magna, to provide management services with respect to the Racing Franchise.' (DNC is presumably Delaware North, though they're not referenced by those initials elsewhere in the report; they do specialize in hospitality services.)

In addition, Empire agreed to the formation of a second company, referred to as DistributionCo, in which they would be a 50% partner with Magna and Churchill (25% each).

'Churchill and/or Magna will be designated as DistributionCo's exclusive agent for "licensing and distributing the Content Rights to all domestic and international distribution channels."'

Now, this was previously reported in Empire's revised franchise bid, by which time DistributionCo had become the real life TrackNet Media (and we now know more about the seeds of that venture, apparently planted long before it's formation and perhaps for an entirely different purpose than stated).

But while Empire revealed in that document that Churchill and Magna would control the simulcast signal, it did not provide the exact financial arrangement. Thacher does:

Initially, Empire will receive 100% of DistributionCo's earnings until a threshold is reached, and afterwards Empire will be entitled to 50% of the earnings and Churchill and Magna will be entitled to receive 25% each.

At some point, Empire was going to be giving away half of the simulcast revenue to TrackNet Media. There may (or may not) be more giveaways in the various agreements with Empire's investors; but we don't know, because Empire released only the signature pages for the subscription agreements with Magna, Delaware North, and Scientific Games.

Even more damning in my opinion are the findings regarding Empire's predecessor organization Friends of New York Racing (FNYR), and the circumstances under which many investors of the latter, billed as a non-partisan group, went on to bid for the franchise as Empire. The report discusses the stormy Albany Law School conference last August, when Charles Hayward confronted FNYR chief Tim Smith, demanded to know just when Smith had invested in Empire, and accused him of using Friends to pave the way for Empire. In response, Smith wrote a letter claiming that 'around the first three months of 2006, as FNYR was winding down, "the concept of a New York industry-centric bidding group, including the horsemen's association, began to take shape.'

But, according to Thacher, a full two years beforehand, Smith, at the time under consideration to be the new CEO of NYRA, told Neil Getnick, the federal monitor assigned to the association, about plans to 'privatize NYRA by a broad coalition of businesses, including Churchill Downs, Scientific Games and Woodbine..' Smith was dropped from consideration for the job when Getnick told NYRA's Steve Duncker about the conversation.

And in August 2005, still a full year before Smith's explicit denial, according to the report he approached New York Thoroughbred Breeders (NYTB) president Barry Ostrager on behalf of FNYR and told him of plans to take NYRA private and asked for his endorsement. Ostrager turned him down. The report continues:

Over time, Ostrager formed the opinion that Smith's investors were a coalition of "carpet baggers and opportunists." In Ostrager's view, Smith's non-profit group was ostensibly making non-partisan, bidder-neutral recommendations on NYRA's future as a public service. However, Ostrager believed that Smith's non-profit group had a hidden agenda to personally profit from the fruits of their labor. FNYR was not interested in advancing the public interest. Instead, Ostrager felt FNYR's undisclosed objective was to promot its backers' financial self-interest, and everything it did was to further this undisclosed objective.

Smith of course had more luck with the NYTHA. At the March meeting which he addressed (an event that Hayward specifically cited as proof of Smith's and FNYR's duplicity), it is Gary Contessa's recollection that Smith mentioned that an investment of $50,000 would "probably get back $1 million." The board ultimately agreed to endorse Empire in return for a 3% stake; it was later disclosed that two board members, including West Point Thoroughbred president Terry Finley, already had financial stakes.

Empire later exaggerated NYTHA's financial involvement; the questionnaire that Empire completed for the Ad Hoc Committee stated that the organization had invested $123,098. In fact, they had invested nothing, only their endorsement.

Now, they are not invested in any way.

"From the horsemen's perspective, we believed it was necessary to re-establish our independence as an organization so that we can represent our membership in the best interests of itself and racing," [NYTHA President Richard] Violette said.
.....
Asked whether NYTHA's board felt that Empire failed to represent horsemen's interests, Violette said "there wasn't any one issue" that led to the decision. [Daily Racing Form]

As recently as this past April, Empire was still insisting, to the Rifkin committee, that it was formed by New York horsemen for New York horsemen. Now, with that lie having been exposed, the New York horsemen are gone. And it's Tim Smith who is portrayed as the original mastermind behind the plan, with help from Abbruzzese and Robin Palatino, Empire's original Managing Members (the latter was one of four investors to reduce their stakes below the level at which they would have had to submit to the IG report). 'Smith told an acquaintance that he would not take the fall for what had happened,' Thacher reports. And of the former NTRA commissioner, the report concludes rather ominously: 'In time it may become clear what Smith was talking about.'

News, Briefly...

- Still on the road, up in Oneonta for my daughter's college orientation, and will be busy and traveling for most of the day on this big Hollywood Carryover Monday.

With wagering similar to yesterday when an additional $3.4 million was thrown into the pot, the Pick Six pool could threaten the North American mark of $7,303,848 set at Santa Anita on March 3, 2004. [NY Post]

Here's some news items of interest:

- More trouble for Joe Bruno, and Governor Spitzer is wasting no time in taking the opportunity to turn the heat up on his nemesis. The New York Times reports that Spitzer is likely to ask state investigators to look into three trips that the Senate Majority Leader took from Albany to New York City.

“We signed off on the use of the helicopter with the assurance that it was for legislative business,” said Darren Dopp, a spokesman for the governor.

He said it was “extremely likely” that the matter would be referred to either the attorney general, the inspector general or a local district attorney — or a combination of such officials — as early as today. [NY Times]

On Sunday, the Albany Times-Union reported that Bruno has traveled to New York City on personal business at taxpayer expense, utilizing state helicopters, and receiving ground transportation courtesy of the State Police.

Three of Bruno's 145-mile, one-hour helicopter flights to Manhattan in May were on dates that Republicans hosted major fund-raisers, two of which featured Bruno, the effective head of the state GOP.
.....
The Code of Ethics of the State Public Officers Law prohibits a public official from using or attempting to use his official position to gain unwarranted privileges "for himself of others." Violators are subject to fines, removal from office or suspension, or a civil penalty of up to $10,000 and the value of the gift or benefit. [Albany Times Union]

Bruno's office claimed that each of the trips contained an element of state business; the Times states that state law does not spell out how official business and fund-raising might intersect on such trips. Bruno's office also cited security reasons for the police escorts, effectively blaming the press!

"As he has, and continues to receive, death threats and other threats to his safety, based on what people read in the Times Union and other negative reports, he is provided with State Police protection when traveling." [Albany Times Union]

So I guess it's the upstate newspaper's fault for Bruno's being under investigation by the FBI with respect to possible conflicts between his private business and his role as Senate Majority Leader.

One of the trips, on which Bruno hosted a $5,000 per plate reception, included a stop at the Big A the next morning. His spokesperson James McArdle told the Times that the visit to the track related to the state bidding process for the rights to run the Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga racetracks. If so, he must have been conducting some early morning business with trainers and/or their horses - state records show that he was picked up in midtown at 7 A.M. for the trip to the Big A, and was at LaGuardia for his helicopter trip home, paid for by the taxpayers, by 10 A.M.

- Florida Governor Charles Crist, by taking no action, allowed new laws that will benefit Broward County's racinos to go into effect. The facilities will each be permitted to add 500 machines, add ATM machines (though not in the VLT rooms themselves), expand hours, allowing 24 hour operation on weekends, and increases the stakes in the poker rooms.

- Voters in Hancock County in West Virginia approved table games at Mountaineer Race Track and Gaming Resort, giving advocates of the gambling expansion a 2-1 lead in the referendums thus far, with one more to go.

Voters gave the nod to resort officials Saturday with 5,021 votes, or 69.8 percent, for and 3,506 votes, or 30.2 percent, against the measure.
....
“This is a watershed moment and a chance to create new jobs in Hancock County instead of losing them, and we now have a lot of responsibility,” Ted Arneault, president of the resort said late Saturday night. “It’s now on our shoulders.”

"This is good news.....Let’s get rocking and rolling." [The Review]

I need to get rocking and rolling myself, so have a good day, and good luck if you're playing the Pick Six.

Sunday Night Notes - July 1

- It was a Grade 1 double for Unbridled's Song, the sire of Octave and Political Force, winners of the Mother Goose and Suburban on Saturday. Chalk players were undaunted by Octave's record of finishing second, sending her off at 1-2. John Velazquez was undaunted by the long, sweeping turn at Belmont, sending Octave three wide for its entire length. So she was clearly the best in getting her first win since last August, after five consecutive seconds.

Unbridled's Song, up to $200,000 these days, has actually been having a slow year. His only North American stakes winners this year were Half Ours and someone called Unbridled Sydney. So these were his first Grade 1 winners of the year.

- The first two juvenile stakes races of the year at Belmont were run on Sunday, and Pletcher won them both. The Toddster is now 88-29-13-13 on the meeting, for 33%. Glacken's Gal took the Astorita; she's by the sprint champion Smoke Glacken, out of a Silver Deputy mare; and she's a half to the stakes winner City Dweller. Ready's Image dominated the Tremont by eight lengths at 4-5. He's by More Than Ready, who also won the race, when it was a Grade 3.

Pletcher ran second in another stakes on the card, the grassy Tweedside for three-year old fillies, with Christies Treasure. She was unable to hold off the last-to-first Lear's Princess, an extremely impressive filly who is now three-for-three for Kiaran McLaughlin, the last two on the grass. That perfect record includes her debut, on the Poly at Keeneland, in which her jockey Elvis Trujillo misjudged the wire, leading Kent Desormeaux to also believe that the race was over. Lear's Princess earned the nod on the wire while galloping out, in one of the oddest finished you'll ever see (check it out on Cal Racing).

On Sunday, Lear's Princess was well back and completely out of the picture as the horses entered the turn. She circled the field and got up over Pletcher's filly by a half length. This filly is by the Roberto stallion Lear Fan, out of a Carson City half sister to the turf specialist, and million dollar earner My Big Boy.

And at Hollywood, Bright Prediction won the 6th at 85-1, thereby singlehandedly breaking up an otherwise hittable Pick Six; the other winners went off at odds of 10-1, 4-5, 5-1, 6-1, and 2-1. The carryover for Monday's card is $3.275 million, the highest carryover in track history. [DRF]