Friends and Family in High Places (and Planes)

- Thanks to reader Marc, who sent an email with some more info on Excelsior's William H. Johnston Jr., or Billy, as he apparently likes to be called. Balmoral Park's media guide informs us:

Billy Johnston has been involved in Chicago racing for more than 35 years. A 1957 graduate from the University of Miami, Billy served in the United StatesCoast Guard until 1961. Johnston has kept those Florida ties by serving as vice president of the Orange Park Kennel Club, Inc., the Jacksonville Kennel Club, Inc. and the St. John’s Kennel Club, Inc.

These three greyhound tracks are all owned by Jacksonville Greyhound Racing, Inc.,; the fact that Johnston is not listed on their corporate contact page indicates that his actual involvement is likely limited. But nonetheless, there you go; hopefully that sets the record straight.

Better yet is the list of Balmoral's officers and directors:

JOHN A. JOHNSTON .....PRESIDENT*

WILLIAM H. JOHNSTON, JR.....CEO EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR*

WILLIAM H. JOHNSTON III .....VICE PRESIDENT*

CHRISTINA STEINBRENNER .....VICE PRESIDENT*

LESTER McKEEVER.....SECRETARY*

JENNIFER SWINDAL .....ASSISTANT SECRETARY*

PHIL LANGLEY.....TREASURER & RACING DIRECTOR*

JESSICA STEINBRENNER.....ASSISTANT TREASURER*

*Indicates also a Director

OTHER DIRECTORS

JOAN Z. STEINBRENNER .. LEONARD KLEINMAN

THOMAS BARRY .. STEPHEN W. SWINDAL

A lot of Steinbrenners and Swindals there, and that should give you an idea of what the corporate directory at Excelsior may look like should they get the nod. Interesting to see Leonard Kleinman on the list; he was dismissed as the COO of the Yankees in 1992 in a complex dispute involving George Steinbrenner's reinstatement to active ownership after he was suspended by baseball commissioner Fay Vincent in 1990 over payments to a gambler.

- The NY Times checks in today with a front page story on the connections between NY's Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, and Empire investor Jared E. Abbruzzese, a story about which we posted previously. The article emphasizes Abbruzzese's role in Empire, and the Senator's crucial role in ultimately deciding on the franchise, and notes that the two quickly bonded over their shared affection for thoroughbred horses.

The state’s lobbying commission is investigating Mr. Bruno’s use of Mr. Abbruzzese’s Mitsubishi MU-300 business jet, trying to determine whether Mr. Abbruzzese violated state laws by allowing Mr. Bruno free or discounted use of the plane even as Mr. Abbruzzese’s group was lobbying on the racing franchise.

In addition to the plane rides and the state handout to Evident Technologies, the article reports that shortly after a trip to Washington on Abbruzzese's private plane, Bruno bought stock as part of an IPO in a Texas securities firm in which Abbruzzese was "intimately involved." A spokesperson for Bruno dismisses the issue because the Senator ultimately lost $19,000 on the deal. For more than three months, however, his shares were worth as much as $10,000 more than he paid for them.

Some ethics experts contend that the value of an investment is irrelevant to whether there is a potential conflict.

“The motivation is the issue, not the result,” said Richard D. Emery, a Manhattan lawyer who served on the State Government Integrity Commission in the 1980s and is part of a panel advising Mr. Spitzer on government reforms.

The story reports that the two men met often during the time that Bruno was a shareholder in Abbruzzese's company, including a meeting in the spring of 2005 that included Tim Smith, at the time the head of Friends of New York, and now another investor in Empire. According to testimony by Smith:

Mr. Abbruzzese invited him to chat with Mr. Bruno about the state racing franchise “during an informal visit by the senator to Mr. Abbruzzese’s home” in the spring of 2005. [Smith] later referred to the meeting in a memorandum to the group’s board, saying it had been arranged by Mr. Bruno’s “close friend” Mr. Abbruzzese.

Got A Notional

- The Hollywood Futurity, the Grade 1 for the boys at Hollywood on Saturday, has a rather intriguing field. Principle Secret (Sea of Secrets) and Stormello (Stormy Atlantic) battled it out in the Norfolk; despite the fact that the latter won, Principle Secret was the one who had a lot of support going into the Juvenile. The theory was that he would revert to the rating tactics he'd used in winning the Best Pal. But he was dead on the board for the Juvenile, and sure enough, he battled for the lead again, and against Stormello, who himself was abandoning rating tactics he used to win the Norfolk.

It's hard to evaluate each coming off that race. It's quite possible that the grueling Norfolk caused them both to bounce in the Juvenile. It's also possible that they'll hook up on the front end again. Sometimes you see horses that may have rated in sprints, but once they stretch out, their natural speed takes over and they end up on the lead consistently. Principle Secret may be one of those horses, and besides, there's no one else who has shown much early speed with the exception of Stormello, who gets the better of the draw. I'm not really feeling enthusiastic about either.

The other two who look like main contenders are both stetching out from seven furlongs and trying two turns for the first time. Belgravia (Mr. Greeley) is two-for-two for Biancone, both on synthetic tracks. Out of a mare by Stalwart, he hails from the distaff family of Afleet Alex, whose third dam is the same as the second dam of Belgravia. In the Hollywood Prevue, and as he did in his debut at Keeneland, this $2 million two-year old purchse unleashed an impressive wide rally after sitting midpack. He looked home free at the eighth pole in the Prevue, but Dilemma, who I'd probably really like if he was in this race, was absolutely flying from way back, and it was a miracle, only the luck of the bob that Belgravia earned the win. Biancone/Leparoux are having a slow meeting out there, and the ten post doesn't help. Add in the stretch out, and he seems like a poor investment at his 5-2 morning line.

Notional (In Excess) had a great debut, putting in a big move on the turn and sustaining it late for a 2 1/2 length win and a field high 105 Beyer. He was beaten by Belgravia in the Prevue, fading to third, but draws well here and had an extremely sharp six furlong workout for this race. His dam, by French Deputy, is a half to the dam of the Argentine champ, and G1 Santa Maria winner Lovellon.

Amongst the others, the most interesting to me seems like Silent Soul; he's shown some nice improvement in his last two, and though the last was on grass, that may mean he'll like the Cushion Track.

So what do we have here? Belgravia looks scary on paper, but has a bad post, stretches out, and figures to be overbet. Stormello and Principle Secret are uninspiring coming off the Juvenile and may battle early again. Notional was highly impressive in his first race, was beaten by Belgravia last time, but looks worth a shot if he is indeed the 4th betting choice, as on the morning line.

- Just Zip It will not run on Sunday. Trainer Bill Turner wants to give her more time, as she'll be stepping up to maiden specials and trying two turns. There's a mile and 70 yard race in the book for January 4. Highland Cat is expected back at Belmont next week.

Fog Rolls In

- Did you see those last three races at Aqueduct today? Or rather, did you not see them? I've seen fog before, but there's usually a point at which they emerge from the fog. But today, as they approached the wire, especially in the 8th and 9th, they looked like those creepy shadowy things that came and took the bad guy away at the end of Ghost. Durkin couldn't even call the winner in the 9th. "Here they come aaaaaaaaaaaannnneeeeeeeeiiiiiii-I'm not gonna tell you, I can't say, I just couldn't tell ya."

You can't even see Half Ours win the 8th on the replay; the fog was so thick that the camera missed them going by. "I think the 7 horse won, but I just don't know." The margin was a neck over City Attraction in 1:10.4, with my selection far back. Is he still worth $6.1 million? I think that's a big bet on this horse; he almost has to win a Grade 1 in order to justify that, and that's no sure thing. Nonetheless, I guess it was an impressive effort; the chart says the he "dug in gamely and held on."

Of course if there was Trakus at Aqueduct, we would have known exactly where the horses were. I suppose it will be a sign of progress when the fog race is a thing of the past, and we're standing and screaming at little colored chiclets on TV. Would the track announcer then do a call of the race based on watching the action on Trakus?

Bow Wow Wow

- Many thanks to reader Late Scratch for writing in with some kind words and questions about Exclesior's profit or non-profit status. Excelsior is basically saying that they will be both - non-profit on the racing side, and for-profit on the slots side. That's really all I know; since the details of the proposals have still not been released, we don't know exactly what they have in mind. But it has to be at least half fair for NYRA to call them for-profit.

Late Scratch also points out:

And, oh by the way, if you look into the Johnston family's previous holdings you may find some involvement with Florida (gulp!) puppy racing.

The commenter is referring to William and John Johnston, the father/son owners of Balmoral and Maywood Park respectively, and both involved with Excelsior. William's father, William H Johnston, Sr., operated Sportman's Park, and apparently was quite the flamboyant character. His name comes up quite frequently in this transcript of a 1950 Senate hearing on organized crime.

The elder Johnston also owned four dog tracks in Florida. And upon searching for William H Johnston, Jr., I read (gasp!) on the US Trotting Association site that he is officer-director of four dog racing plants in Florida.

My extensive Googling, at which I'm pretty proficient if I do say so myself, turned up nothing else about Jr. being an officer of any dog tracks, and I would almost believe that the USTA biographer got the two men confused. But it doesn't really matter. Calling Excelsior a dog track operator was a mischaracterization in any event, and I've harped on it because it really typifies for me the way Empire has twisted the facts throughout the process.

Two separate Empire spokespeople - one of them Jeff Perlee - used the phrase in what was obviously a planned campaign to create a negative perception of the winning bidder. Even if Johnston does have ties to dog tracks, then if anything it just highlights Empire's hypocrisy given that its partner Delaware North does operate dog tracks. We've mention Wheeling Park in West Virginia. An anonymous reader asks (and yes, it's all true):

Don't they own Southland Park in Arkansas, Phoenix Greyhound Park in Arizona, Daytona Beach Kennel Club in Florida and used to race dogs at Arizona's Apache Greyhound Park?

Come to think of it, didn't Magna operate Multnomah Greyhound Park in Oregon until they closed it?

NYRA Strikes Back

We all knew that the NYRA shoe, in the form of their land claim, would drop on the franchise process at some point. But the shoe turns out to be a heavy boot coming down as hard as a thoroughbred's foot on the tracks that they may or may not own. NYRA's lawsuit filed on Wednesday is an all-out attack on the state's blatant and outrageous stalling on the Aqueduct racino project, and, by virtue of its land claim, on the entire franchising process.

NYRA accuses all parties of engaging "in a deliberate pattern and practice intended to ultimately destroy NYRA and to seize all of its assets."

NYRA contends that the state has "unlawfully and discriminatorily refused to grant final approval" to construct a casino at Aqueduct that would consist of 4,500 video lottery terminals, or slot machines. Those machines are projected to bring in $657 million annually, $45 million of which would go to NYRA. Without that revenue - and without $19 million in previously agreed-upon loans from the state - NYRA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Nov. 2.

NYRA contends that it was treated differently from seven other racetracks in the state that were also granted approval to run casinos, and thus was denied equal protection under the law. [Daily Racing Form]

The suit contends that the state has "used that refusal as a pretext to deny NYRA access to critically needed funding." [Bloodhorse] NYRA's lawyers will no doubt contrast the rejection of the racino with the rush to get the one at Yonkers up and running despite the fact it had not conducted live racing in 17 months and was assessed heavy fines for dumping human waste into the Bronx River.

A spokespeson for Gov Pataki, who was named in the suit along with several other state officials including Carole Stone, the chairperson of the state's oversight board, issued the usual "this suit has no merit" statement, calling it "just the latest sad chapter for an organization that is mired in scandal and out of options and that continues to blame others for the problems they have created." As usual, the governor ignores the fact that NYRA has a completely new management team whose integrity was praised by the federal monitor assigned to oversee the organization while an indictment was pending. Blaming the present NYRA for the scandals of past management would be like blaming the sitting governor of NY for the insanity of the Rockefeller-era drug laws. And while it will be the courts, not the governor, who will decide on the legal merits of the case, the common sense observation is that the state's stonewalling of the project has been all too obvious and that they will have much explaining to do.

NYRA is pressing the land claim by applying to the bankruptcy court for a $50 million loan for which the land would be put up as collateral. "Condition for the loan itself is in fact that the court makes a determination that we own the land," said Brian Rosen, NYRA's bankruptcy attorney. The bankruptcy court will make that ruling on Jan 9. A ruling in favor of NYRA will ensure its solvency through the end of 2007 when its franchise expires, but would not necessarily mean that the association would own the land after that time. A ruling against NYRA? Word is that they have enough money to operate the tracks through mid-January.

NYRA presented the deeds to the land as evidence of their ownership.

"NYRA purchased the racetracks from third parties . . . more than fifty years ago for approximately $20 million, pursuant to an express legislative enactment empowering NYRA to acquire racing facilities, including real estate," the suit says. [DRF]

But the state will argue that legislation passed in 1983 that extended NYRA's franchise at the time stipulated that the state owned the land and that the association would cease to exist once its franchise expires. NYRA's argument that the statute "violates some fundamental constitutional rights" that prohibit the state from seizing land is one that the courts have not looked kindly upon of late.

- The special session of the NY legislature ended after one day, and with none of the major issues agreed upon. Any hope by Excelsior that their bid would be quickly approved proved to be a pipe dream.

- Tom Precious, writing on Bloodhorse.com, reports that Capital Play Ltd, the mysterious bidder from Australia which was disqualified for technical reasons, is making an appeal to get back into the game. The firm, sources said, is telling officials it will provide $1.8 billion to the state, including $50 million a year, for the franchise--about $1 billion more than the next-highest bidder. Well, if Empire can change their bid, then why can't other parties join in the fun?

- NYRA also claims that there's a provision of state law that requires the tracks to be run by a non-profit association, and that Excelsior, though their bid states that the racing would be conducted on a non-profit basis, is a for-profit racing and gaming consortium. At least they didn't call them a dog track operator.

All Yours

- Half Ours (Unbridled's Song) makes his first start, at the Big A on Thursday, since being purchased for $6.1 million, an astounding sum for a horse whose shot at three-year old Classic glory has long passed. He went two-for-two as a juvenile in the spring of 2005 for Pletcher, who remains as trainer.

Half Ours earned a Beyer of 81 in taking the Juvenile at Churchill in his last start, defeating two eventual stakes winners, Spotsgone (Prairie Mile) and Dance Daily (G2 Santa Ynez).

We know that Pletcher excels with layoff horses - even looong layoffs like this one. So while he's an automatic bet-against on principle at 3-5, why bother with Pletcher invovled? Besides, his workouts are spectacular. However, I'll throw out one idea. Touchdown Kid flashed a big form reversal when he won his last at 25-1 for Bill Mott. But he'd shown some promise in the past - his Beyer of 96 equaled his career high achieved in his very first race - so perhaps he's just back on his game.

He was three wide all around the turn, and came home in 12.2 while racing a bit erratically in the stretch. The 5th and 7th place finishers came back to win their next races (in an open allowance and a state-bred one respectively), and third place finisher Mister Supremo missed by a neck in allowance company has next time out. Second place finisher Barbados is a sharp Pletcher trainee. Touchdown Kid gets nearly six weeks off since his last, and his best races have been off similar layoffs.

Gone But Not Forgotten

- Wayne Gertmenian may be gone, but the Jockeys' Guild is still feeling the effects of his reign of corruption. Not only is the organization still digging its way back financially, helped in part by a reported $500,000 loan by its national manager Dwight Manley, but some still doubt the integrity of the present leadership. That's no doubt at least partly due to the fact that, as reported by Bill Christine, back on the beat for the LA Times, the present board...still includes holdovers from the Gertmenian years, including Eclipse Award-winning John Velazquez, who was reelected chairman.

Two California jockeys, Joey Castro and Paul Atkinson, peppered Manley with questions at the meeting in Las Vegas, which was attended by about 80 jockeys. Manley says that membership is at 1,353, an increase of about 200 since he took over.

"I expected a hell of a turnout, and we've got this," said Castro, looking around a half-empty room. "You [the board of directors] let this happen. Why did you sign Gertmenian's contract?"
.....
Gertmenian "fooled a big university," Manley told Castro. "He was a real con man, and it's not fair to blame us" for the guild's problems.

Dr. G has done more than just fool a big university which, by the way, continues to employ him and post his resume as fact. Here's a guy who was disgraced at a Congressional hearing, where he was exposed as a liar and a thief. Rep. Ed Whitfield told the Associated Press last November that "we're still looking at" possibly pursuing perjury or other charges against Gertmenian. Subsequently, it was discovered that wrote checks to himself and his cohorts as he was being voted out of office.

Yet not only is there no legal action against him underway that I know of, he's suing the Guild!! That's like Donald Rumsfeld suing prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan that were tortured. How this guy gets away with this I can't imagine. I've joked in the past about him being from outer space, but perhaps there's something to that. Has anyone checked out his hands?

Manley is trying to prevent a movement by jockeys in individual states to form local guilds of their own from becoming a trend. Delaware jockeys already have their own insurance for their local organization, and at Philadelphia Park, where on-track insurance is still capped at $100,000, jockey Tony Black is trying to enroll 30 Philadelphia Park jockeys in a trade union that includes blacksmiths.

Now, there's a move to organize riders in California, where jockeys have it relatively good. The state covers worker's compensation costs, and health insurance premiums are kept low by a $1 million subsidy from uncashed tickets. However, some members are upset at a proposed increase in health insurance rates. Manley explains that "the Guild does not have the resources to overcompensate or subsidize on insurance like it had in the past."

But he also issued a stark warning.

During the annual assembly, he said the organization is developing programs in the area of sports marketing that could open new revenue streams.

"Just because jockeys want to switch or get something that sounds good to start with doesn't mean it's going to stay that way," he said, "(but) if you're out, you're out. You're not going to leave (the Guild) and come back a month later. There's a loyalty reward now." [Bloodhorse]

Excelsior Swings for the Fences

- Just wanted to backtrack a bit to the Excelsior TV ad that I hastily embedded in my last post before running off to work. This has to be a nerve wracking week for Empire Racing, who will no doubt be sweating out the special session of the NY legislature that commences today. Civil confinement for sex offenders and pay raises for legislators are expected to be the main topics; and there's little question that the Governor will get the former without ceding on the latter. However, as the Troy Record reports:

..As of Monday evening both issues remain up in the air as does anything else that might be addressed at the special session called by Gov. George Pataki, and nobody is sure what will happen until the last minute.

We have seen some speculation that the racing franchise could come up, and recall that Pataki remarked that he doesn't "see any reason why I would not at this point," referring to his perhaps approving Excelsior's bid. So why not take a shot with some airtime on local TV?

Excelsior's ad is direct and to the point - their bid received bipartisan approval and they have successful businessmen (cue the Yankee clips) and experienced horsemen, particularly the featured Jerry Bailey, ready to run the show.

More importantly, it's extremely well-timed, as opposed to all the histrionics by Empire the last two weeks during a time when legislators were out-of-town and the Governor was in Iraq. Who did they think was listening?

As pointed out in the Albany Times Union blog that posted the video, the narrator is none other than John Sterling, the longtime radio play-by-play voice of the Yankees. I know that some people like him, but if you're like me, you're hoping that Sterling doesn't have any aspirations to be a track announcer. That would be reason in itself to back Empire.　Otherwise we could be hearing "The Green Monkey wins! THAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Green Monkey WINS!"

Or....maybe not.

- Del Mar goes with Polytrack, at a cost of $8 million.

- Slots revenue is supposed to boost purses, thus attracting full fields. But apparently, the money can be an incentive to retire one's horse to stud too. Blair Burgess, the trainer of the Hambletonian and Trotting Triple Crown winner Glidemaster, was hedging on the decision to retire the colt, but he's decided to stick with those plans, citing in part, the lucrative opportunities in [Pennsylvania], made possible through slot revenue. [US Trotting Association]

Notes - Dec 13

- Barbaro has been at the New Bolton Center for seven months now, so you'd think his Christmas list would include an IPOD or some books; something to while away the time. But instead, all he'll be getting is a new shoe.

He's also picked up some more support for Eclipse honors, as Dean Arnold, writing on the NTRA site, opines: I think Barbaro should be both the Eclipse Award-winning 3-year-old and Horse of the Year, and I don't think I need to find fault in the other top runners to make my case. There's an unconfirmed report that a group of FOB's (Friends of Barbaro; apologies to Superfecta), are erecting a shrine to Arnold just south of NTRA headquarters.

Unfortunately, Arnold presents the same tired argument that the colt's courage and nobility during his recovery somehow qualify him for an award that's supposed to be based on performance on the track. It really is amazing the way he's still amongst us after being virtually written off when he developed the dreaded laminitis; it's certain that Ray Paulick was having someone on his staff work on the horse's obituary at the time. So I go along with Andy Beyer's suggestion to bestow the award upon his owners and/or trainer. And some kind of special achievement award for Dr. Richardson is in order as well. But not an Eclipse for Barbaro.

- Speaking of Superfecta, she discusses the win in Hong Kong by Collier Hill, and did that flatter Go Deputy, or what? There were some who actually disparaged the horse because he lost to the eight-year old at Woodbine, but now that line becomes most flattering. Forget the 7th place finish by Go Deputy in the Turf just two weeks later; this horse progressed to be right there with the best of the U.S. turf division as the year went on, and could be a major factor at the age of seven next year.

- The Mardi Gras Racetrack and Gaming Center, the fancy new name for Hollywood, Florida's old dog track, failed the first inspection of its racino, and it will have to try, try again, as did nearby Gulfstream, which also failed its first time around before passing muster.

Tests ranged from counterfeit currency detection (fake bills were passed), preventing handbag theft (an inspector swiped a purse), to having a valid compulsive-gambling prevention program in place (it is being fine-tuned).. [Miami Herald]

- Bill Finley on ESPN.com takes a look at the most expensive yearlings of 2005, and notes that though they cost a combined $42.5 million, they've earned a total of $172 on track.

The worst of the worst has been Jalil. He sold for $9.7 million last year, ran once, in England, finished a distant sixth and didn't earn a cent. At least he made it to the races. Of the top 10, only two have so much as started. The other starter is Sahara Heat, who cost $3.4 million, but did make the $172 when finishing eighth in his lone start, a maiden race at Aqueduct. Just $3,399,828 to go before Sheik Mohammed breaks even on this one. [ESPN.com]

Jalil is the son of Storm Cat out of Tranquility Lake; he's a full brother to Bill Mott's After Market, and his second dam is a half to the Belmont winner Cavaet. When the Sheikh (who else?) bought the colt, his agent John Ferguson said: "From the first moment he laid eyes on this horse....he felt it was very, very important that this horse race for his brothers." Very, very important indeed.

- And Excelsior Racing has a TV ad running in Albany to greet the legislators returning for this week's special session:



(Hat tip to Albany Law School's Racing and Gaming Today.)

Ya Mon

- Fernando Jara has been having hassles with his soon-to-be ex-agent Randy Romero, and he's 0-for-30 at Aqueduct since they switched over to the inner track. But, representing his native country of Panama in the Caribbean Horse Racing Series, or Serie del Caribe, at El Commandante in Puerto Rico, he won the $300,000 Clásico del Caribe (the Caribbean Derby) at El Comandante in Puerto Rico aboard Ay Papa (Proud Truth).

The $100,000 Copa Confraternidad was won by Miracle Man, representing the island nation of Jamaica. It was the first time that a Jamaican-bred had won this race, or any race of import outside the country for that matter, and the win reportedly set off wild celebrations. It sounds as if there were high times, indeed.

Caymanas Park exploded with excitement, the likes of which has never been seen, when MIRACLE MAN, the reigning 'Horse of the Year', surged into the lead entering the straight and proceeded to edge away from rivals leaving the furlong pole.

When the big chestnut crossed the finishing line to record his 11th consecutive win and his 10th this year, the excitement among punters who watched the race live via simulcast was so intense that words alone cannot describe it. [Jamaica Gleaner]

Apparently, no Jamaican Classic winner had even left the country to race since 1991 before Miracle Man set off last year (he didn't get to race due to a medication positive). And this column in the Jamaica Gleaner discusses the decline of the breed in the country, where the sport remains popular, and comes up with the usual suspect.

There can be no question the talent level in horse population was of a much higher quality in the 1960s, '70s and '80s when British bloodstock still had a very strong influence in the breeding sheds.

The virtual disappearance of European bloodlines, especially coming from the British Isles, has led to a deterioration of the talent and durability of the local equine population.

The explanation of course is that American bloodlines, because of the legal use of medication, talented horses with bleeding and lameness problems can race successfully and then be allowed onto the stud farms to breed these defects into their progenies.

The Europeans, in the face of much criticism from across the Atlantic, continues its two and half century stand against the use of raceday medication.

- Johannesburg Star is a two-year old son of Johannesburg who romped by nine at the Big A on Saturday, earning a Beyer of 102. That's the third highest fig by a juvenile this year His trainer, Joseph Parker, has a career-high three wins this year, and he told the Form: "You know what the dream of every horse trainer is, to just have that one [big] horse.....This is my dream right now. The possibilities are great." He's looking down the road to the Derby, of course, despite the fact that it was the horse's fifth start and came against a crummy field. The Form reports that the mailbox on his cell phone was full; let's hope for his sake that amongst the callers isn't a certain Sheikh trying to reach the colt's owners.

Ouija Board Misses Finale

- As you may know by now, Ouija Board did not make it to the post for what was to be her final race, the Hong Kong Vase on Sunday. She was found to be lame, and was diagnosed with "same front splint that she injured two years ago in the Prince of Wales's Stakes at York." [Daily Racing Form] I'll allow Richard Edmondson, writing eloquently for the UK's Guardian, sum it all up:

Ouija Board's career had so carefully threaded its way down a romantic channel that it appeared inevitable that it would culminate in an eighth Group One victory and station as the record prize money earner in British racing history. But a recurrence on Saturday of the splint injury which bedevilled her four-year-old career saw this fairytale narrative in ashes.

It was always going to end in tears, but we did not expect them to be of this variety. Lord Derby cried himself, yet he had already prepared himself for life without Ouija Board the racehorse. He is already looking forward to Ouija Board the racemare, and she will soon be producing progeny of her own, beginning with a union with Kingmambo in Kentucky.

It is the good Lord's intention to sell any colts she produces and retain the fillies, first for racing and then for the paddocks. If Ouija Board's life can return to the dreamland it inhabited for so long, it will be that she becomes a foundation mare of great influence. But that is for the future.

- A Kingmambo - Ouija Board foal would be inbred 4x5 to Northern Dancer. Ouija Board descends from an already-stellar distaff family that includes the Arlington Million winner Teleprompter, and additional Grade 1 winners Roseate Tern, Ibn Bey, Red Bloom, and Red Fort.

Eight-year old Collier Hill, a compelling story himself, took the Vase in Ouija Board's absence, following up on his win in the Canadian International. Scorpion finished 7th. You can watch the race here, courtesy of The Race is Not Always to the Swift.

- Good news for those of us who don't have HRTV - TVG has snagged the exclusive rights to races from Monmouth and the Meadowlands. Of course, better yet would be news that the two network would stop squabbling and carry everything.

Excelsior Bid Gathers Steam

- Amid reports that the New York State Legislature and outgoing Gov Pataki might actually approve their bid during this week's special session, Excelsior Racing's Steve Swindal told Bloodhorse.com that "We're going full steam ahead."

Swindal said industry executives have already been approaching the group about getting involved in the management team, and he has increased his focus on what the group will do with the franchise once, as he believes, it goes to Excelsior. "We realize now it looks like it's for real, and we've got to gear up,'' he said.

Swindal dismissed the withering criticism coming from Empire, and fired back at his rival's mixture of limited partners. "Anytime you have a conglomerate of people who own five to six percent of something, you tend to spend more time on something you own 100 percent of'' rather than the minority interest venture.

Actually, in the case of Empire investor Magna Entertainment, the fact that they would spend less time on New York racing may be considered a good thing.

Empire, in their latest desperate salvo, wrote a letter last week to the Ad Hoc Committee accusing Excelsior of not disclosing the presence of lobbyists on its team, claiming that the Request for Proposals required this.

Failure to disclose bidding team members or to report any lobbying to the lobbying commission would be "a ground for disqualification," said Jeff Perlee, chief executive of Empire.. [Albany Times Union]

However, a spokesperson for the Ad Hoc Committee told the paper that they have "no reason to believe anything improper has occurred," and an Excelsior representative said:

"For Empire to challenge us on integrity is a huge mistake on Empire's part....Noting that there is no actual legislation "on the table," no one could be lobbying. "If Empire is going to challenge us on this, we're going to win again."

For Empire's sake, there had better be something to their accusations. Thus far, their misleading and false propaganda has been apparent only to an intimate audience, or so it seems to this member of it. If these charges prove to be totally unfounded, then perhaps more people will pay attention and not take everything they say as fact.

In any event, all eyes will be on Albany to see if the legislature and lame duck Governor do in fact tackle the issue. When asked if he would approve legislation awarding the franchise to Excelsior, he said "We would take a look ... I don't see any reason why I would not at this point."

- NYRA returns to bankruptcy court on Friday. Jerry Bossert reports in the NY Daily News that the crucial ruling on whether they or the state own the land that the tracks sit on isn't expected for at least several more weeks.

- Interesting to read Steve Swindal's response to the question of admission prices at Saratoga. While Empire has committed to keeping the prices as they are for "at least" five years, Swindal would only go as far as to respond that the prices would be "as cheap and affordable as possible to the average fan." Hopefully, he's talking about racing fans and not Yankee fans.

- Please feel free to email me with comments or questions.

Notes - Dec 11

- No winners for Gary Contessa with his six runners at Aqueduct on Sunday; three of those were favorites which were all 6-5. Two of those were coming off big figure wins, which is something to keep an eye on. When a barn gets this hot, its horses are sure to get overbet, and they almost become an automatic bet against, unless it's overlooked on the tote.

Lawrence the Roman romped in the Damon Runyan stakes for two-year old state-breds; that gives him three wins in as many starts, by a combined 25 lengths, stretching from six furlongs, to a one-turn mile, to Sunday's mile and a sixteenth. I imagine we'll see him try open company at some point soon; and yes, here's the mention of his possibly being a Derby contender.

Lawrence the Roman is by Point Given, and he's the seventh career stakes winner for the sire. All of those have come this year. Early in the year, it appeared as if the sire could be headed for a breakthrough with Baffert's pair of Point Determined and Point of Impact, but the former has consistently disappointed, while what the hell happened to Point of Impact? In any event, the improved performance by his progeny this year has not been enough to prevent Point Given's stud fee being cut from $50,000 to $30,000 for 2007.

- Score one for the morning line oddsmaker at Hollywood Park. He/she made Boboman (Kingmambo) the 4-1 third choice in the Grade 1 Hollywood Turf Cup on Saturday off a couple of allowance wins. The bettors dismissed him at 9-1, perhaps because he was trying graded stakes for the first time, and with Beyers far below that of the other contenders. They went for TH Approval, but the 3-2 choice had little to offer (and was vanned off) as Boboman rolled home under Garrett Gomez. Winning trainer Richard Mandella noted that "he's come from grade school to Harvard." [LA Times]

TBA Convenes at the Big A

- Great day at the Big A on Saturday. Not at the windows unfortunately. But there was a winter meeting of the TBA of sorts, and I got to hang with Patrick (Pulling Hair and Betting Horses), Alan H. (The Bug Boys), Tote Board Brad (Brad Buys A Yearling), and Jessica (Railbird). Brad was in from San Francisco, and you gotta love a guy who comes to New York City for three days, and makes his way to Aqueduct each one. I hadn't met Brad nor Alan before, and it was great to meet them and to have the chance to exchange ideas and blogging tales with the whole group - and at my favorite city track as well!

I mean, it's hard to beat the Big A these days, despite what you may think. An extra dollar gets you up onto the third floor clubhouse, where you'll find, in addition to the "plush" Equestris restaurant and betting area, the Manhattan Terrace, where there are tables, TV's, and self-service betting machines galore. Plus, there's easy access to the mostly shuttered third-floor grandstand, where maybe 100 people - maybe - take advantage of what is the best vantage point in the house - right on the finish line and plenty of seats without bird poop on them. People are funny - it just takes an extra buck to keep them crowded into the two floors below.

Brad sent us a picture of the whole group, but I don't want to steal his thunder, so I'll just let you know when he gets around to posting it.

As far as the racing goes, there was little to report other than Gary Contessa's continued hot streak - two more winners, giving him a Pletcher-esque 16 winners out of 50 runnere (32%). No one else has more than four. He had a hot first-timer in the third, a state-bred juvenile race. Gansevoort, 3-1 morning line, was the 8-5 choice. One might believe he was overbet due to the fact that he's a Contessa horse, but he showed a steady string of works, and some nice pedigree too. His sire, Precise End, was, according to the Form, 14 for 63 with juvenile first-timers coming into the race. Plus, his dam, Lavish Numbers (Polish Numbers), is a half-sister to the Grade 1 winner Behaving Badly. Gansevoort didn't want to go into the gate, but he was six lengths clear at the wire in an otherwise professional debut.

Cotessa's second winner was the oddly named Building New Era, and it's a little funny that Cotessa, a backer of Excelsior Racing, would have a horse with that name - 'era-ny' is the URL address of rival Empire Racing.

I tried to beat Magna Graduate in the Queens County Handicap, but he couldn't have won easier. I'm figuring that Pletcher is due for a run of bad karma, but I suppose it will have to wait.

With the racing here deteriorating, my attention starts to drift down to Florida, where it seems as if some of the big NY barns are already starting their winter season with still around a month to go until Gulfstream. I couldn't help but notice the third at Calder, a juvenile fillies maiden special. Bill Mott and Nick Zito had well-bred first-timers going. Mott had Eight Days Apart, a Forest Wildcat half-sister to the graded winner Posse. Zito had The Luckiest, a Thunder Gulch filly, and she was a universal good thing; 3-1 favorite in the morning line, off at 4-5.

And the money was right on in this case, as The Luckiest rallied for a professional win. This filly is a half sister to the graded winner Hook and Ladder; and she's from the distaff family of Bernardini. Fairway Fable, the third dam of The Luckiest, is the 4th dam of Bernardini.

Then, Zito took the sixth, a maiden special for juvenile colts, with Moneymoneymoney, appropriately named in this case, as this 6-1 morining line shot went off as the 2-1 public choice. He was 6-1 in his debut at Keeneland, where he showed good speed and faded to a distant 7th on the Polytrack. But here, he went to the lead and never looked back. Moneymoneymoney is a son of Awesome Again, and a half-brother to the two-time Grade 1 winner Elloluv.

Slam Dunk

- You can read the actual court decision upholding Pletcher's suspension here (pdf document) (hat tip to Racing and Gaming Today at the Albany Law School site). It's a pretty interesting read.

I suppose that many such appeals have used strategy similar to what Pletcher's lawyers tried. The trainer stands accused of having "administered mepiviaine to a horse within seven days of a race." His lawyers pointed out that the word "administer," as defined in the Board's own regulations, is to "cause the introduction of a substance into the body of a horse," and that the Board "arbitrarily interprets that term to include not only deliberate introduction, but also introduction by unintentional or reckless acts, or, indeed, by no act at all."

This was termed as an "undue burden" on the trainers, but the Court turned the whole argument aside like Pletcher's Circular Quay was by Street Sense. Though the Court asserts that the regulation deliberately places "strict responsiblity" on the trainer to keep the horse drug-free, the Court notes that this presumption is not iron clad. "..The trainer can rebut it with substantial evidence proving that he or she is, in fact, not responsible for the drug's presence.."

But to the theory presented by Pletcher's star witness that the horse was "inadvertantly exposed" to the drug, the Court succinctly replied that "speculation will not rebut the presumption." That seems like the equivalent of a judicial slam dunk, in your face.

- Reader Jim mentions the absurdity of the fact that trainer suspensions are little more than a vacation, as the stables' operations run business as usual under the nominal care of an assistant trainer; as in the case of Scott Blasi sitting in for Steve Asumussen. It's really incredible to look at Blasi's stats. It's been around five months now since he took over, and in that time, he's started 875 runners! That really gives you an idea of the vast scope of the Asmussen operation. I wonder how many horses out of the 875 Blasi actually attended to on race day?

Notes - Dec 7

- Tote Board Brad is in town, and he said he had a good day at the Big A. Something about the Don Rickles Stakes. Don Rickles? How did that hockey puck get a race named after him? Being a reader of LATG, Brad knew how hot Gary Contessa is these days. Or maybe he just noticed that Contessa had already won twice on the day and had ten wins coming in.

In any event, Brad had Silver Prospector in the Don Rickles, at 6-1. Alan Seewald tried to sneak this one by for a 50K tag at Monmouth, the first time he was ever for sale, but the long arm of Gary Contessa snapped him up. He moved him up to 75K and got a second, and now he has a minor stakes winner.

The daily weekday attendance at the Big A has now regularly dropped below the 2,000 mark - 1,923 on Wednesday and, despite Brad being in town to boost the figure, just 1,914 on Thursday. Instead of talking about Saratoga, which would prosper even if George W. Bush was running it, let's hear the prospective franchise holders tell us what they're going to do about this.

Oh, yeah. Slot machines. I forgot.

Yonkers is back in action with their racino, and while business may be booming at the slot machines, that doesn't necessarily carry over to the racing side. Handle last Saturday was just $403,000, compared to $3.4 million at the Meadowlands.

- Just Zip It will not run on Sunday. Bill Turner wants to give her a bit more time between races.

- The Appellate Division of the NY State Supreme Court has upheld a 45 day drug suspension for all-world trainer Todd Pletcher and do you think this will effect the voting for the Eclipse?

Insulting

- Jerry Bossert of the NY Daily News also wants to know why Empire Racing is revamping their bid in public long after the deadline has passed.

The decision by the committee is not binding. It still has to be agreed to by the Legislature and Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer, but it should be clear that Empire's new bid shouldn't be allowed. A deadline is a deadline.

Should NYRA, which finished last, also get a chance to redo its bid?

Gee, I'm glad there's someone in the mainstream press who's paying attention and finding this all very annoying! A spokesperson for Empire responded to Howard Wolfson's "do-over" statement from yesterday by saying:

"This race is just beginning and Mr. Wolfson's misleading characterization of the process is an insult to the Legislature and Executive who will be making this important decision."

The only entity being insulting here is Empire; they are making a mockery of the entire process, which was laid out carefully and specifically. Just because it didn't go their way, they are re-writing the rules to suit themselves. They are the ones insulting the committee members who labored over the details of the three proposals and came to a reasoned decision. And they are insulting the intelligence of the public with their misleading and false statements. Perhaps they should hire Don Rickles to be their next spokesperson.

Empire's Desperation Is Evident

- We've read a lot about the ties between Excelsior principal Richard Fields and Gov-elect Eliot Spitzer. Fields provided Spitzer with rides on his airplane that came under scrutiny during the campaign, and there's been speculation that the reform-minded Spitzer could consider the appearance of impropriety in his awarding the franchise to Excelsior.

But it seems as if rival Empire Racing has a magnanimous plane owner of its own - Jared Abbruzzese, described by the Albany Times-Union as an investor in, and a driving force behind Empire.

Abbruzzese is...under investigation by the state lobbying commission for providing his aircraft to [Senate Majority Leader Joseph] Bruno for several trips, including a fund-raiser and tour of horse farms in Kentucky last year that Barr set up for Bruno.
.....
In e-mails collected by the state lobbying commission in its investigation into Abbruzzese, Tim Smith, president of Friends of New York Racing, said Abbruzzese was Bruno's "close friend."

As you may know, though Bruno is not the governor, few key decisions in the state are made without his ascent. Some feel that Empire's recent proposals aimed at Saratoga, part of Bruno's district, are intended largely to help sway him to their side. Bruno has expressed his preference for a for-profit outfit to run the tracks, and Excelsior's proposal envisions a non-profit setup on the racing side.

But unlike Spitzer, Senator Bruno apparently isn't too concerned about the appearance of a conflict of interest. He has been linked to a $500,000 handout of taxpayer money, in the form of a grant, to a company called Evident Technologies Inc. Initial funding for Evident came from an investment firm run by Jared Abbruzzese, according to a news report posted on the company's Web site. [NY Post]

What makes the grant highly unusual is that Evident is a for-profit company. According to the information, released under a court order mandating disclosure of so-called "pork-barrel" spending, the small but growing nanotechnology company was one of just two for-profit businesses among thousands of member item recipients reviewed by the Times Union. Reporter James Odato adds that for-profit companies almost never receive these member items, as such earmarks are called.

Not surprisingly, Abbruzzese is also a campaign contributor to Bruno, having donated some $42,500 to the Senator since 2000.

(Abbruzzese resigned as a director of Empire in October. Jeff Perlee....said Abbruzzese left to eliminate a distraction and because a consultant recommended the board become more independent by not having investors on its board.)

Meanwhile, Empire continues its media blitz, though its press conference yesterday received less coverage as it all starts to become a whiny drone. Tom Precious, reporting for Bloodhorse.com, writes that the group, acting like a high school student unhappy with a grade and attempting to re-write his paper after the fact, is adding proposals that were not in its bid to the state committee that picked Excelsior, and has offered to put up more money. Excelsior spokesperson Howard Wolfson reacted with predictable and understandable scorn.

"Instead of accepting this decision, Empire is now attempting to undermine the Committee's work by asking for a "do-over" in the hopes that it can make its bid as strong as Excelsior's..

"Unfortunately for Empire, once the race is over, it can not be re-run, and Excelsior was the clear winner at the finish line. Our package is the best one for fans, horsemen, and taxpayers, and no amount of rhetoric after the fact from Empire will change that." [Bloodhorse]

And I presume that if Empire is allowed to change their bid at this point, Excelsior is too.

Notes - Dec 7

- Ouija Board is reported to be thriving in Hong Kong, where she's preparing for what is supposed to be her final start, in the Hong Kong Vase. It sounds as if she's enjoying the local cuisine too.

"She's thriving out here," raved Robin Trevor-Jones, traveling head lad for trainer Ed Dunlop. "If anything, she's doing a little too well in this climate. She's putting on weight and is around 472 kilos, which is about six more than her racing weight in Japan and at Churchill Downs for the Breeders' Cup. But that's not a problem. She's as fit as a fiddle." [BRIS]

Scorpion, a respectable fifth in the BC Turf in only his second start of the year, is also preparing for the mile and a half race. An assistant to trainer Aiden O'Brien said: "He's in grand form and has settled in well. His trainer will be in town later in the week to finalise his preparations." [Virtual Form Guide]

The Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint is set for this Sunday, but there's a problem with expected favorite Takeover Target; an "irregularity" was found in a blood sample. Also on Sunday is the Hong Kong Cup, with Pride and Alexander Goldrun scheduled to go.

- Reader Jim writes in with some good suggestions for the next NY franchise holder, and I've been remiss in not mentioning those recent improvements to Churchill's website. I'd been critical of the lack of accessibility of their replays, and now they have them available on the main page, with, as Jim mentions, no need to mess with video software (as long as you can handle Flash).

- Shaken by the much-publicized rash of fatal breakdowns this year - 21 in all - Arlington Park will announce on Thursday that they are installing an artificial surface, though which one remains to be seen; this according to the Chicago Tribune.

Arlington officials are known to have visited Keeneland, which markets Polytrack. Arlington officials also have conferred with Michael Dickinson, a Maryland trainer and inventor of a surface called Tapeta.

Chart Alternatives

- I see that BRIS is now offering their results charts in two different formats. There are the "traditional" charts, which show the margins between horses, or the so-called "alternative" charts, which show the cumulative beaten lengths. I've actually always considered the "traditional" charts to be somewhat alternative. The beaten lengths lines are what we see in the Form. Still, it's been so long seeing the charts the way they've been, it may take some getting used to, but I think I like this alternative already. If you can deal with PDFs, you can compare the old with the new.

Ever Shifting (Tale of the Cat), the $5.2 million Darley three-year old, ran 9th as the 2.20 to 1 favorite, and looking at the two chart formats, only the "alternative" one gives you the true sense of how bad it was. We've always had to add up all the margins to tell for sure, but now the '16 3/4' is out there for everyone to see.

The winner, Mass Charles (Allan's Prospect) was a mere $9,500 yearling in 2004. He graduated in his tenth try; his 11-1 odds were the highest since his debut. That's two winners in two days for trainer Charlton Baker. He's a high percentage guy up at Finger Lakes, and though he hasn't done too much when during his winter visits here the last few years, who knows, perhaps he will this year.

The effort by Barcola in the feature looks the same on both charts - first by 16 1/2 lengths. For Gary Contessa, it's his tenth winner of the meeting, and it was as easy as it looked; according to the chart, he widened while under wraps in the stretch, a handy winner.

- At Hollywood, on-track handle is up 9%, and an astounding 22% on the live racing, no doubt at least partly due to the increase in field size with turf racing back and Cushion Track all, well, cushion-y. So how can attendance be down? Track president Jack Liebau even has questioned the accuracy of the numbers.

"We can't figure it out....Admission revenues are up over last year." [Daily Racing Form]

Er yeah, I would think that higher admission revenues might just be a fairly good indication that the attendance can't possibly be lower....isn't it?

The faster times on the Cushion Track have been attributed to the cooler weather, and though the Form reports that most trainers are still pleased with the surface, at least one is raising some concerns. John Sadler says he has been surprised by a few instances of bruised feet.

"I'm seeing feet, and I'm seeing little things....I still think the track is good, but they've had some issues with maintenance."