Railbird

Thursday Notes

2008-07-24T15:00:00Z

- Trainer Steve Asmussen, who won the Schuylerville with 12-1 Jardin, said that favored Ocean Colors tied up in the stretch, which is why she stopped so badly on the final turn. Jockey Shaun Bridgmohan blamed the wet going, reports the Daily Gazette:

"If you have a horse that doesn't really handle it, it's a tough situation," he said. "Obviously, we can't do anything about the rain, it's nobody's fault, but it's not very pleasant.... she's a much better filly than she showed."

So long as she recovers well, Ocean Colors, already more accomplished than most of her dam's babies, will certainly get another chance to redeem the late Winning Color's reputation as a broodmare. Hopefully, she'll get that chance over a fast track.

- Notonthesamepage is scratched from the Sanford Stakes with a fever, leaving ~~six~~ five competitive starters for today's feature (Bullion Cache is among today's 31 33 scratches). Desert Party, making his second start, seems likely to go to post as the favorite with his connections, breeding, and $2.1 million auction price, but there are a few things to like about Dagnabit -- the colt showed some versatility winning the Tremont in his second start, and Essenceofthemoon, third in that race, returned to win an allowance at Delaware with a 71 Beyer speed figure -- and Vineyard Haven, making his first start for trainer Bobby Frankel. He won his debut at Calder last month by drawing away to a 4 1/2 length lead, and Miles and Miles, the place horse in that race, returned to win a maiden special at Calder with a 79 Beyer figure.

- In the grand tradition of web site launches, Raceday 360 is a wee bit behind schedule due to backend issues, soon to be resolved. In the meantime, though, we are on Twitter.

- 12:30 Update: Dagnabit is now scratched from the Sanford, and the rain, after ceasing for a few minutes this morning, has returned.

A Familiar Scene

2008-07-24T03:00:00Z

Rain today, rain tomorrow. Thursday turf races at Saratoga have already been moved to the main track and the first steeplechase of the season canceled, which means post-time will be at 1:35 p.m., with race two opening the card. If I seem fixated on the forecast, it's because I don't relish the slop, unlike Steve Asmussen runners, who won three races this afternoon, including the feature.

Despite my cat-like loathing of rain, I did make it to the track for opening day, arriving in time to wedge myself into a spot on the clubhouse rail from which to watch the first. On my right was a middle-aged fellow, who began imploring one of the runners to "Show me some heart," as the field entered the stretch, then muttered "No," and slouched forward unable to watch the end. On my left was a woman going wild for eventual winner Star Player, dangerously jumping in her strapless sundress and yelling, "C'mon, Star! C'mon, Star!" After the 5-1 shot crossed the wire, she exulted to her companion, "I won! I should have bet $10!" Standing not far behind her, a man claiming to have the $311 trifecta "a couple times," chided another, "I told you to watch out for Chad Brown."

It was all so familiar, inducing a happy moment of deja vu; it could have been any opening day at the Spa. I even briefly forgot the rain ... an unlikely occurrence on Thursday.

90% Chance of Slop

2008-07-23T02:20:00Z

Opening day at Saratoga looks wet, with rain, sometimes heavy, and thunderstorms forecast for Wednesday. I'm hoping dark clouds do no more than lurk menacingly until after the second race, which is a maiden special sprint stocked with babies who could be any kind, including Pious David, half to Blue Grass Stakes winner Monba, and Cognito, half to Fountain of Youth winner Cool Coal Man. First crop sire Speightstown is represented by In Speight of It, whose dam, Honest Deceiver, is a half-sister to stakes winner Yes It's True, both 2-year-old debut winners. In Speight of It is 15-1 on the morning line, but offspring of his rookie sire are proving quite precocious: Speightstown's six runners to the track so far have a combined record of 8-3-1-3.

7/23 Addition: Left at the Gate commenter Discreet Cat checks in with more details on Cognito over there. That the colt ran second in his debut to a next out overnight stakes winner at Canterbury is interesting, although company can be an iffy angle with 2-year-olds early in the season (a lesson I have to learn repeatedly). Also of relevance -- especially to the Schuylerville later in the afternoon -- is that Cognito worked five furlongs over the Oklahoma track on July 14 with stablemate Ocean Colors, morning line favorite for the opening day feature.

Transparency Not Apparent

2008-07-23T00:05:00Z

An ownership depository, available only to registered buyers and agents who provide personal identification and sign a confidentiality agreement, didn't garner a single request for information from any bidders at the Fasig-Tipton July sale:

Van Clief acknowledged that the ownership repository -- whose existence was listed in Fasig-Tipton's conditions of sale as the 20th condition, "Transparency in Ownership," as well as announcement from the auctioneer's stand -- might not have been obvious to buyers.

Sure, a lack of obviousness could have been a problem, or it could have been the hassle involved in gaining access to the information. I don't follow sales assiduously or know enough about that aspect of the industry to comment with any confidence, but it does seem odd that the ownership of every animal entered for sale wouldn't be fully, openly disclosed. Perhaps Kerry at Thoroughbred Brief, who expertly explained the role of equine lenders in sales in a recent post, could illuminate why the opacity someday.

Del Mar Poly Sires, Week One

2008-07-22T19:30:00Z

Del Mar Polytrack winners, with sires and broodmare sires:

View complete spreadsheet here.

Last year's leading Del Mar Polytrack sires are off to a slow start, with the exception of Unusual Heat, who had three winners (out of 22 starters) during the meet's first six days. Event of Year, who went 6-for-15 in 2007, is 0-for-3 after opening week; Tale of the Cat, 5-for-16 in 2007, is 0-for-5; Forestry, 4-for-13 in 2007, is 0-for-3. Sires with multiple winners so far this meet are Tiznow, 3-for-4 (all at distances of 8/8.25 furlongs), including Well Armed, now guaranteed a Breeders' Cup Classic post after winning the San Diego Handicap; and Explicit, 2-for-3. On the broodmare sire side, the late Buckaroo -- by Buckpasser, winner of the Peter Pan, sire of 11 active sons at stud, known as a speed influence -- is 2-for-3. One week's worth of results is hardly a sample size from which to draw strong conclusions, but the results do suggest that with the faster times and fairer track this year, there is a shift back to pedigrees that appreciate a quick surface and pace.

It's Unofficial

2008-07-22T16:05:00Z

... claimer turned stakes star Lava Man is retired, after fading to finish last in the Eddie Read Handicap on Sunday. Retirement plans are pending:

"Ultimately, I'd like him to go to the Kentucky Horse Park," Kenly said. "Doug [O'Neill] would like him to stay as a stable pony."

West Coast Funny Cide! Doesn't seem like a bad way to keep the $5.2 million earner working, especially if the 7-year-old gelding enjoys being at the racetrack ...

Getaway Day

2008-07-20T14:30:00Z

Heading up to Saratoga this morning, but I didn't want to leave without mentioning marvelous Music Note, who kept her win streak rolling with another seemingly effortless victory in the Coaching Club American Oaks on Saturday:

Last of five at the half, she moved into contention on the outside going into the stretch, then drew away to an 11-length win, running her final quarter in a very respectable :24.17 for a final time of 2:01.66. "She looked like she was stronger than her last race," said trainer Saeed bin Suroor, who was in the paddock to saddle her and could be seen beaming in the winner's circle after (NY Daily News). Along with CCAO runner-up Little Belle, Music Note will be pointed to the Alabama on August 16, a race that could also draw Proud Spell and is shaping up as far more interesting than any of the events on the Spa calendar for 3-year-old males. As I commented to Brooklyn Backstretch yesterday (during an action-packed day at Belmont), all the distaff divisions are overflowing with talent this year, but the 3-year-old fillies are an especially bright bunch.

Biased

2008-07-18T18:48:00Z

From Steve Davidowitz's DRF+ column on Saratoga stats:

On dry tracks, pure front-runners won more than 40 percent of all attempts from five to seven furlongs, and stalking types virtually equaled that percentage, leaving deep closers to account for only 16 percent of Saratoga, dry track sprint winners over the same four year sample.

In dry-track dirt routes, closers won at a 24 percent rate.

Interesting ... imagine the outcry if the Saratoga main track were synthetic, not dirt, and the stats skewed the other way, towards horses rallying from off the pace.

Fast and Fair

2008-07-17T22:25:00Z

As Valerie commented earlier, Del Mar racing secretary Tom Robbins underestimated how much watering would affect the Polytrack, with Plan for Fun, winner of the $10K claiming race that kicked off the 2008 meet, going a mile in a track record setting 1:37.82 (or approximately five seconds faster than the same distance would have been run in 2007 over the sun-baked synthetic surface). The third and fifth races also set new track records, for the 6-furlong and 5.5-furlong marks, and according to Steven Crist, the five main track races on the opening day card "went an average of 38 Beyer points faster than the ones on last year's very similar opening-day lineup."

Not only was the track faster, it appeared to play fair as well, with main track winners scoring from far off the pace, mid-pack, or on the lead:

[1ST-P = Position at first call; 1ST-L = Lengths behind at first call/if leader, lengths ahead; 2ND-P = Position at second; 2ND-L = Lengths behind at second/if leader, lengths ahead; FRAC = Final split. View full spreadsheet here.]

"Now they're kicking in down the lane. Before, everybody used to be floundering," said trainer Art Sherman, who won the third race, referring to how races would fall apart in the stretch last summer. "Now you can tell turning for home that horses had momentum and were moving forward, which we didn't have last year" (Blood-Horse).

Call Him Crazy

2008-07-17T20:45:00Z

... because Jeremy Plonk likes handicapping synthetic surfaces such as Del Mar:

I like that endurance is demanded, pedigrees weed out some of the weaklings, and that four-furlong, morning-glory speedballs suddenly look like the afternoon chumps they should be.

Call me crazy too, I'm also a fan of the synthetic era.

Just the Start

2008-07-16T16:55:00Z

Steve Zorn explains New York ownership basics:

Now we're at just about $43,000 for the year, before the horse has set foot on the track in the afternoon. How do we pay it? From the purses? Don't we wish.

LAT Turf Writers Out

2008-07-16T13:05:00Z

Tell Zell's list of Los Angeles Times journalists cut loose by the paper's most recent round of buyouts and layoffs on Monday includes veteran turf writers Bob Mieszerski and Larry Stewart, and it looks as though the Times didn't bother to have another sports writer in place to pick up the Del Mar beat -- there's nary an article about the meet's opening in the paper today, a lack that does not bode well for future Southern California racing or Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita print coverage this fall ...

Which reminds me of a point made by Maryjean Wall, retired from her turf writing gig at the Lexington Herald-Leader this spring, in a recent Blood-Horse chat:

[I]t's no secret that the numbers among print media are declining. I would look around in any press box and wonder, who will be here to join us or take our places some day? ... Blogging appears to be the wave of the future; when the future arrives, blogging might be horse racing's only remaining media outlet.

I don't know that blogs will end up the only remaining media outlet for racing, but online publishing is clearly the future, and it can be a very good future for turf journalism, which is just the sort of niche that can thrive on the web. It's a shame that reporters such as Mieszerski and Stewart are being cut from newsrooms, but such unfortunate losses don't have to mean the sport or its coverage is disappearing.

7/17 Addition: Bob Ike gets a call from Bob Mieszerski,

telling me that he had been laid off as part of the L A Times cost-cutting measures. The Times cut 150 jobs, and Mieszerski and racing writer Larry Stewart were two of the victims. Mieszerski is an extremely talented handicapper and writer who has been in the newspaper business since he was 21 years old. Blessed with an incredible memory and great feel for the game, I consider him one of my main handicapping mentors.... Mieszerski deserved better -- being notified two days before the start of Del Mar showed a complete lack of class by the Times, which will now have no horse racing coverage in the country's second-largest market. With the Breeders' Cup coming to Santa Anita this fall, could the timing have been any worse?

No, not really, and the LAT sports editor's claim that the paper will provide "robust coverage of the Breeders' Cup this fall at Santa Anita," doesn't provide much solace.

Curlin's Options Open

2008-07-16T05:45:00Z

... said trainer Steve Asmussen after the champion finished second in the Man o' War. Why not help owner Jess Jackson decide what comes next? Via the Paulick Report:

He's not quite Uncle Sam looking for a few good men and women to sign up for the U.S. Army, but Jess Jackson does want something from the public: their opinion.... the California winemaker and Thoroughbred horseman is seeking input from both fans and horsemen in an online poll on where 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin should race next.

Cast your vote here, any time before July 30. So far, returning to dirt or adventuring synthetic trail continuing on turf, which is what I'd love to see, with a fall campaign culminating in a tilt at the Breeders' Cup. Dana has a similar poll up on Green but Game; there, turf is a runaway.

Checking In

2008-07-16T03:00:00Z

Few posts this week, as preparations are underway to move Railbird headquarters north for the upcoming Saratoga meet, and there's been a little project consuming many of my hours lately. In the weeks since I announced this web site, I've been delighted by the response from potential readers and contributors, but whenever anyone has asked for details -- as so many have -- I've been evasive. "I'll let you know," I've said. "I'll email." And then I've changed the subject. The secrecy is ending soon; Raceday 360 is nearly ready for unveiling, just in time for the Spa ...

But first, Del Mar opens tomorrow, and track officials are confident the Polytrack will play faster in the afternoon, now that watering will be part of daily maintenance. "I hesitate trying to predict time, but I would be surprised if we didn't break 1:40," said racing secretary Tom Robbins, referring to the meet's first race, a $10,000 one-mile claiming event (DRF). That time would be about two seconds faster than a mile run over the surface last summer. As with last year, it's worth it to pay attention to pace and time, especially for the first few days -- a simple spreadsheet noting the early positions and final fractions of winners, maintained from the start, can yield much useful information through the meet.

The opening day feature is the Oceanside Stakes, split into two divisions, with the first (race six) coming up slightly more interesting. Indian Sun, a bit player in the California Derby preps this spring, starts off a brief layoff for trainer Dan Hendricks. The colt's won twice over turf, once at the distance, and finished second in his other three grass starts, including his last, the G3 Will Rogers. Moral Compass, third in the G3 Hill Prince at Belmont last month, ships west to make his first start for trainer Jack Carava and gets Garrett Gomez aboard.

The best racing meets of the year are upon us ... as Frank of That's Amore put it so well, "Summer is here."

Raw Fandom

2008-07-12T02:45:00Z

From Ernie's daily Thoroughbred Racing In New York email:

I watched Horse of the Year Curlin circle the paddock just as the first was going off. Schooling session. I screamed to Asmussen, "Thanks for running him here, Steve. Thanks for running him anywhere!"

"If he were mine," he said, smiling, "I'd run him every day."

Awww. I'm reminded ... racing is all about the horses.

Related: NYRA is offering free admission and parking on Saturday. For those who can't make it to the track, ESPNews will air the Man o' War live at 5:15 p.m. ET. Thanks!