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Requiem for a Pea Patch
I first visited Ellis Park in August 2002, and it instantly became one of my favorite racing venues. I offer the following, written in advance of the 2005 meet, as my obituary to a truly great place to watch the races: A salute to the Pea Patch....
Posted by Ed, Jul 3, 2008 10:00 AM
Rush to Synthetics
I doubt it'll surprise any regular readers that I'm pro-synthetics: Both Cushion Track and Polytrack have so far proved safer for horses than dirt at every track they've been installed, and I like the handicapping wrinkles synths introduce. But commenter JS makes a great point here that tracks are rushing to implement the surfaces without adequate review, especially since it's become apparent that synthetics aren't flawlessly fair and maintenance free. Hollywood's Cushion Track came in for criticism this spring for changing consistency and causing soreness in horses as the wax coating wore away (DRF+) and Polytrack has demonstrated several problems...
Posted by JC, Aug 5, 2007 09:45 PM
Scheinman at Pimlico
A video treat, via Baloo of the Bug Boys:...
Posted by JC, Jul 31, 2007 01:00 PM
Cushion Track Praise
Southern California trainers are praising Santa Anita's decision to install Cushion Track in time for the Oak Tree meet: "It will add some consistency that the two Los Angeles tracks have the same surface," trainer John Sadler said. "Guys can train where they want to train. I think it's a positive step." ... "I think most people are happy with the decision," said Ed Halpern, executive director of the California Thoroughbred Trainers. "It's better for the handicappers. Hopefully, with the surface, we'll see an increase in the horse population over time." (DRF) It will be nice to have a somewhat...
Posted by JC, May 25, 2007 09:00 AM
Weekend Notes
- A speedy Songster dazzled in his first start off a nine month layoff, wiring the Bold Ruler Handicap at Belmont in 1:08.8 (DRF) and earning a new Beyer high of 109 for the effort. - Also at Belmont: Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin's hot streak continued with second-time starter Daheer in the fourth, who paid $27.00 to win and was one of two longshots that jockey Alan Garcia brought home on Saturday. The other was career maiden Gold Pageantry, out of Howard Tesher's barn, in the second, who finally found a field he couldn't lose against and paid $35.60 to...
Posted by JC, May 13, 2007 07:30 AM
Aqueduct, Saturday
All that's great and terrible about racing was fully on display Saturday. The great, of course, was Horse of the Year Invasor overcoming a troubled trip to win the Donn Handicap by two lengths. The terrible was the ugly accident in Aqueduct's fifth that left two horses dead and one jockey injured. Every breakdown is shocking, but Cadillac Cruiser's was especially disturbing. A 5-year-old gelding with a record of 6-3-0 in 15 starts, Cadillac Cruiser was running for a $7500 tag just three weeks after finishing fifth as the favorite in a $25,000 starter handicap. He'd won at the same...
Posted by JC, Feb 4, 2007 03:00 PM
Small Change, Big Difference
There's something different about Santa Anita's saddlecloths this year: The numbers are strikingly sharp and legible. Slightly larger than those on most saddlecloths and in a typeface that's crisp and heavy, the numbers are now much easier to pick out while watching races, even when the field's running down the backstretch....
Posted by JC, Jan 4, 2007 08:00 AM
Weeks Have Passed
Since I last posted, but I have a great excuse: A new job, at a certain racing publication, for which I and the racing companion must relocate to New York in a few days. So, things have been busy around here, although time was found this weekend for a visit to a muddy, messy Suffolk Downs on Saturday: And a quick trip to Saratoga, where I watched horses work in the fog Monday morning: Regular posting will resume, eventually. In the meantime, I highly recommend my fellow TBA bloggers and an exciting new venture from Alan of Left at the...
Posted by JC, Jul 24, 2006 07:00 PM
Paying for Housing
I lived in one of the backstretch dorms at Saratoga last summer, sharing a 9 x 11 room with two other women. We kept our cramped room tidy -- there wasn't enough space for anyone to get messy -- but the common areas of the dorm quickly fell into filth. Muddy puddles stagnated in the moldy shower room. Trash overflowed the too small buckets placed in the bathrooms, and the toilets clogged so often that people threw their used tissue into stall corners rather than risk flushing (until the cleaning crew started leaving a plastic bag in the corner, which...
Posted by JC, Jun 11, 2006 08:30 PM
Quiet, and Kind of Creepy
In other words, a typical weekday at the track: I went out to Bay Meadows recently -- my first visit to a track in years, I admit -- and things were so sedate I thought I'd lost my hearing. Most bets are placed at electronic touch screens now, so there were no wishful last words or giddy collection scenes at the windows, no general clamor or charge. It was more like some horse-theme mall, with gift shops and ATMs. What I took to be Bay Meadows habitues were seated at long tables near a vacant bar in isolated cones of...
Posted by JC, May 31, 2006 03:45 PM
The Rock Turns 100
Rockingham Park opened for its 100th season on Saturday in front of a crowd of 4,185. Driver Mike MacDonald started off the year with a bang, winning five races, including the day's feature with Whosurboy, who set a track record of 1:49 in the one mile Invitational Pace. The New Hampshire track, which opened in 1906 with a 21-day thoroughbred meet, will run a 60-day harness meet this year. Related: "Happy 100th, Rockingham Park. May you enjoy as many more birthdays as time and the economy allows, and may racing fans come to the track this summer to take...
Posted by JC, May 27, 2006 10:30 PM
Attendance Is So Passé
"We're moving toward becoming a handle-driven track rather than an attendance-driven one," said outgoing Gulfstream president Scott Savin, contrasting the current mindset with the pre-construction period when free weekend concerts drew crowds of nearly 30,000. "We think you're better off taking good care of 12,000 people rather than struggling to deal with 25,000."...
Posted by JC, May 16, 2006 02:30 PM
Keeneland Approves Polytrack
As expected, the Keeneland board of directors unanimously approved the installation of Polytrack in a meeting on Wednesday. Track president Nick Nicholson conceded there were some risks to switching from a dirt to a synthetic surface, particularly when it comes to horsemen using the Blue Grass and Lexington Stakes as Derby preps, but also suggested the benefits of Polytrack outweighed such concerns: "I don't know how horsemen are going to react to the Derby," he said. "But I do know that horses are going to be safer and healthier and have fewer problems, and I know fewer riders are going...
Posted by JC, Apr 20, 2006 08:55 PM
More Gulfstream Numbers
Ray Paulick compares Gulfstream purses with those of Calder and Tampa Bay and finds Gulfstream lagging: The median purse per race -- the middle number that factors out top-heavy prize money from the Sunshine Millions and other stakes -- has fallen from $30,000 in 1999 to $17,500 in 2006. Thus, from 1999 to 2006, average daily purses are down 7.7%, average purse per race is down 2.2%, and median purse per race is down 41.7%. Factors that account for varying rates of decline from 1999 to 2006 are fewer races per day and heavier concentration of money into the stakes...
Posted by JC, Apr 12, 2006 01:45 PM
Gulfstream Numbers
Official Gulfstream attendance and handle numbers won't be released until the meet ends on April 23, but track president Scott Savin told the Daily Racing Form both figures are looking good: "Believe me, we are all very pleased with the way things have transpired so far," Savin said. "Ontrack business is up substantially over last year, and through Sunday our attendance is up 365,000 compared to the same period [72 days] in 2005." Attendance is up 365,000 people? That's impressive. And implausible. For Gulfstream attendance to be up that much, the track would have to be attracting an average of...
Posted by JC, Apr 8, 2006 10:00 AM
The Collmus Interview
Patrick interviews Suffolk Downs-Aqueduct-Monmouth announcer Larry Collmus on Pulling Hair and Betting Horses. Among Collmus' favorite lines from calls past: "My best lines were off the cuff. My favorite would be when Cigar made his move in the 1996 MassCap, I said 'There goes the Legend.' I don't think anyone had called him that before. I liked it. He certainly was a legend." --- Noticed this tossed-off phrase in a Jay Cronley ESPN column today: "Women can't call races?" Which made me wonder -- is there now, or has there ever been, a woman calling races at any thoroughbred track?...
Posted by JC, Mar 29, 2006 09:15 AM
A Day at the Races
Santa Anita was the first track I ever visited. It was in the early 1980s, I was about eight years old, and my family was on vacation at my grandmother's house in Los Angeles. Grandma Chapel was an ardent horseplayer and track regular fond of saying that she didn't care how much she lost on the ponies because watching them gave her so much pleasure. One day, probably to give my parents a little break, she took me and my younger sister to the racetrack with her. My memory of the afternoon is hazy but happy -- I remember...
Posted by JC, Feb 28, 2006 10:00 PM
Santa Anita Barn Notes
Trainer Bob Baffert's Point of Impact was one of the many promising colts horseplayers have been eagerly looking forward to debuting this winter as a possible Kentucky Derby contender. On Wednesday, he appeared in an allowance at Santa Anita and seemed to ruin whatever Derby chances he had by acting rank, blowing the first turn and running to the outside rail. Point of Impact still managed to finish fourth, but it was hardly the performance of a colt you'd want to have a lot of money on come May 6. Jockey Victor Espinoza, though, has an excuse: "He's inexperienced and...
Posted by JC, Jan 27, 2006 08:55 AM
Oaklawn Opens Friday
Oaklawn Park opens Friday, and "this year might be the track's best yet," with record purses, more wagering options, a "souped-up" three-year-old series, and full barns to draw on for races. Trainer John Servis is at Oaklawn and planning on bringing back two of his best horses from layoffs during the meet. Out for much of 2005 with a severe foot injury sustained in the 2004 Remsen, Rockport Harbor could make his long anticipated return to racing in the Essex Handicap on February 11. The gash in Rockport's hoof is completely healed, said Servis, who described the four-year-old colt as...
Posted by JC, Jan 19, 2006 09:55 AM
Gulfstream Opens
Gulfstream opened on Wednesday to mixed reviews. Horsemen raved about the new facility (still under construction), while patrons lamented the absence of the grandstand and the minimum $10 seat price. "This is beautiful, and it's going to get a lot more beautiful," said trainer Bobbie Barbara. "The site and the physical plant are gorgeous. No doubt there are things to be done, but I am extremely impressed." Less impressed was the patron who told the Blood-Horse that the new Gulfstream "is structured for a casino, not a racetrack." Or this one, who paid for a couple of seats: "I can't...
Posted by JC, Jan 5, 2006 10:40 AM
Churchill Ends "Super" Meet
The Churchill Downs fall meet ended this past weekend with "impressive gains" in attendance (up 5%) and handle (up 11%). "The supersized fields and talented jockey colony made for top-notch racing," writes Jennie Rees. "A year ago, with the jockey walkout/ejection, some of us were relieved when the season ended. Not this time. A confluence of circumstances made this an outstanding meet." Same of those same circumstances, such as the weather-related damage at Fair Grounds and Ellis Park, are helping fill Oaklawn Park's stables. The track, which opened for training on November 22, has received a record number of stall...
Posted by JC, Nov 30, 2005 11:25 AM
Opening Day
It's opening day at Del Mar (Union-Tribune), and Saratoga is just a week away. NYRA officials must be fretting a little about attendance and buzz now that two crowd pleasers either won't or may not put in a Spa appearance. Saratoga favorite Funny Cide is on the shelf until the fall (New York Times). "We'll give him a little time off and then put him back in training and racing when the weather gets cool, probably around the end of September," said assistant trainer Robin Smullen. Funny Cide came out of his last race, the Suburban, phyisically just fine, indicating...
Posted by JC, Jul 20, 2005 06:00 PM
No Nostalgia ... No Consideration
More reaction to the Hollywood Park sale ... Inglewood city leaders are looking to the future, and they don't necessarily see horseracing there: "As the city evolves, we've got to be prepared to capitalize on every changing situation and we can't get caught up in nostalgia," said Assemblyman Jerome Horton ... "The track's heyday is long since gone," said Inglewood Councilman Curren Price. "We'll miss the horse racing, but we're confident there's bigger things ahead. It's time for new uses, and that land is more valuable as a development project than as a horse racing venue at this time" (KTLA)....
Posted by JC, Jul 8, 2005 09:15 AM
Hollywood Park Sold
The Bay Meadows Land Company bought Hollywood Park for $260 million from Churchill Downs yesterday (Daily Racing Form). Racing will continue for at least three years. What happens after may depend on whether changes are made to California's racing law allowing other forms of gambling at tracks (read: slots). Without such, Hollywood's acreage could be developed for commercial or residential purposes, said Bay Meadows president Terry Francher. "The land is attractive land and we're prepared to go down either path" (LA Times). More: "In Bay Meadows, we selected a buyer who not only recognized the value of Hollywood Park, but...
Posted by JC, Jul 7, 2005 03:00 PM
Hollywood Deal
The Los Angeles Business Journal is reporting that the owners of Bay Meadows put in the leading bid of $275 million to buy Hollywood Park. Stockbridge Capital Partners entered the bidding process late and submitted a bid that was 10% higher than any others; it also agreed to hire Hollywood's current owners, Churchill Downs, to manage the track for another three years, giving Hollywood Park a temporary reprieve from becoming a condo development....
Posted by JC, Jun 21, 2005 06:00 PM
A Day at ACRC
Reader Chris Garrity visited Atlantic City Race Course last week and reports on a day at the once-thriving racetrack, which may close permanently after this year. My day at ACRC was interesting. I found that my memories of the old place weren't quite accurate -- I think it was because I had never been to another racetrack at the time (and I had only been there once). My day was also sad in a way, though, because even though the facility looks pretty down-at-the-heels, the work it needs is all cosmetic -- the structure looks fine, and with a little bit of restoration...
Posted by JC, May 11, 2005 09:17 AM
Portland Meadows' Uncertain Future
"Scott Daruty, Toronto-based Magna's chief US counsel, said Magna, which has already invested millions into the Meadows facilities since purchasing it in 2000, doesn't want to fully subsidize the track. 'We've invested and operated at a loss for a number of years, and we're not going to do that any more,' he said." Government and business leaders have lots of ideas for the track if it closes -- ideas like big box stores and industrial development. Lose a track, gain a Wal-Mart? How horrible. (MSNBC)...
Posted by JC, May 2, 2005 10:25 AM
ACRC For Sale
The Atlantic City Race Course mini-meet opens today amid reports that it will be sold to a camping superstore outfit. (Trentonian) Reader Chris Garrity writes in to say: "It looks like this year almost certainly will be the last. The area around ACRC is the fastest growing in the state of New Jersey; it's close to Atlantic City and less than an hour from Philadelphia. And because of the Atlantic City Expressway, it's a gateway to Jersey Shore towns both north and south. A peculiarity in that part of the world is that there are more bait shops than there...
Posted by JC, Apr 29, 2005 11:30 AM
It's All About the Up-sell
"The roiling sea of humanity that turns the Preakness Stakes infield into one of the biggest beer bashes in the country will be joined by upscale patrons at Pimlico Race Course this year. "Taking a cue from other professional sports that increasingly cater to the wealthy, Magna Entertainment, which operates Pimlico, will offer new corporate packages, sponsorships and ticketing that emphasize luxury and exclusivity for the May 21 race. 'Like a lot of other professional sports, we see an opportunity to up-sell,' said Jim Gagliano, Magna's executive vice president of Maryland racing operations. 'This is the Super Bowl of racing...
Posted by JC, Feb 26, 2005 11:10 AM
Through the Cracks
"Through the cracks, out of sight, out of mind. Not pretty." That's how the Lexington Herald-Leader, in a special report, sums up the working conditions backside workers face in Kentucky, where worker's compensation doesn't cover every exercise rider, groom, and hotwalker, and where injuries severe enough to warrant an ambulance call occur once a week on average....
Posted by JC, Jan 23, 2005 02:45 PM
Glitches Mar Gulfstream Opening
Gulfstream's Monday opening ran into problems from the first race (which wasn't finished) to the last race (which was cancelled). "The Pick 4 turned into a Pick 3, and the Pick 6 was a Pick 5. The jockeys were locked out of their changing room, and officials were trying to unjam the lock on the money room." Rocks on the racing surface pelted riders, and fans waited in long, long lines to place bets. Monday was the first day of racing at the track since the grandstand was torn down at the end of last year's meet. The extensive facilities...
Posted by JC, Jan 4, 2005 09:30 AM
Union Drive Comes to Naught
"Known as the Fox, [Diego] Sotelo assumed the role of labor agitator in an industry historically unwelcoming to unions. At Santa Anita Park, about 15 miles east of Los Angeles, he threatened a strike by the stable hands -- the grooms, hot walkers and exercise riders, known as backstretch workers and hired by the trainers -- just before the racing season resumes the morning after Christmas. "Backstretch workers in California have lived in such squalor that the state, embarrassed by newspaper reports, passed a battery of laws three years ago guaranteeing minimum pay and living standards in an industry to...
Posted by JC, Dec 15, 2004 08:55 AM
Tampa Transformed
Ten years ago, Tampa Bay Downs was a cheap track without a turf course and little to offer horseplayers. Since then, "The transformation has been remarkable. Someone at Tampa Bay Downs figured out they key to success is to give the horseplayer what he or she wants: grass racing, big fields and competitive races that produce sizeable payoffs. More so than perhaps any track in the country, Tampa Bay Downs offers a nice portion of all three." The racing at Tampa isn't the classiest -- the track is one of the few places cheap claiming horses from tracks such as...
Posted by JC, Dec 13, 2004 03:30 PM
When Visiting
Tampa Bay Downs opens two weeks before Christmas and visitors to the track are reminded: Don't bet on 3-5 favorites. Don't fall in love with jockeys. "Finally, do not yell 'Die, you 4! Die like a dog!' at the television screen." (Bradenton Herald)...
Posted by JC, Dec 5, 2004 10:40 AM
It's Perfect
Everyone loves the new TurfTrax training surface at Keeneland: "The consensus is that horses love the surface, with those a bit gimpy literally finding a spring in their step. Trainers rave that the semi-synthetic surface will help keep horses sound." (Courier-Journal)...
Posted by JC, Oct 21, 2004 09:50 PM
Keeneland Woos Women
With a track Diva Day. (Lexington Herald-Leader)...
Posted by JC, Oct 19, 2004 08:20 PM
Blending Change and Tradition
"One might say this is not your father's Keeneland, given all the change swirling around the pastoral Lexington thoroughbred track these days." A padded gate, a new surface, and the introduction of the Mutuel Fun wager head up the list of alterations at the fabled track. (Courier-Journal) More: "Innovation meets nostalgia at fall meet" (Daily Racing Form)...
Posted by JC, Oct 7, 2004 07:05 AM
Dramatic Ending to Fair
"Two jockeys were injured in separate incidents. Two horses were euthanized in different races. And a horse good enough to run in the Preakness last year finished next-to-last in the closing-day stakes yesterday at Timonium. It was a bizarre conclusion to the eight days of thoroughbred racing at the state fair." (Baltimore Sun)...
Posted by JC, Sep 8, 2004 06:40 AM
Rock. Turf Races Draw Crowd
Rockingham's experiment in running three Thoroughbred turf races this afternoon appears to have been successful. "General Manager Ed Callahan estimated the crowd at '20% larger than a normal Sunday.' Others observers thought the crowd was considerably larger. Some vendors ran out of track programs, there were lines at concession stands, and seating areas often empty on earlier racing days were bustling...." (Thoroughbred Times) More: "Rockingham rides again" (The Union Leader)...
Posted by JC, Sep 5, 2004 09:45 PM
No Shortage of Racing This Weekend
There's no shortage of Thoroughbred racing in New England this weekend. The Northampton Three County Fair opens Friday, Rockingham runs three turf races Sunday, and Suffolk Downs offers three stakes races on its Saturday and Monday cards. (Daily Racing Form) Related: "Sharing is part of program" (Boston Globe) and "Now 0-for-98, Zippy Chippy to try again" (Blood-Horse) From Equibase: Northampton's Friday entries and Rockingham's Sunday entries...
Posted by JC, Sep 2, 2004 10:20 PM
Northampton Fair Opens
The Northampton Three County Fair opens this Friday, September 3, with racing scheduled for September 3-6, 10-12, and 17-19. Post time is 1:30. Zippy Chippy, a horse famous for losing 98 races in a row, may run at the fair on opening day: "He's been training hard at Finger Lakes ... Maybe this will be the year," says fair Racing Director Sandy Staniszewski. (The Republican)...
Posted by JC, Aug 29, 2004 07:30 PM
Rock. Turf Plan Remains Contentious
"At issue is what to do about a rival group which also wishes to supply horses for the Rockingham races, the New Hampshire Thoroughbred Breeding and Racing Association, which is not a member of the 70,000-strong HBPA union joined together in 32 states." (Lowell Sun) Related: "HBPA, Rockingham still at odds over races" (Blood-Horse)...
Posted by JC, Aug 17, 2004 09:10 PM
