From the infield

I got out to the infield at Aqueduct a while back and recently I got out onto the massive infield of Belmont Park, it is no wonder they used the middle of this racetrack as a landing strip at one point.


Winter track maintenance

The surface of champions

Widener Turf Course

Inner turf course, home of the Manhattan Handicap

Old tote, minus light board

Inside the old tote board, now a flag storage center and groundskeeping HQ.

Gazebo

The view from the other side.

They start with an advantage

It’s the end of October and that means two things. The first is that all of the important grade one races are over until the fourth of November and it is now time for the state breeding programs to shine. This upcoming Saturday is New York Showcase day and next week California bred runners take the spotlight. Last week Delaware and Thistledown showed off the best of their breeding programs from their states.

The fact of the matter is that while a lot of the state bred races from any track is usually impossible to scope at times, they serve a purpose of bringing in handle and filling the daily racing cards. Without the NY bred maiden special weight or first level allowance races that usually populate the weekday cards, NYRA would likely have to cutback racing dates due to the lack of races being filled. Not to go as far as using the term “necessary evil”, but these races usually serve a purpose on a daily basis.

In the instance of the showcase day cards, they usually are loaded cards with some decent fields. Not to mention the occasional horse on the rise that pop up once in a while. Funny Cide won the 2002 Sleepy Hollow and Haynesfield won the 2009 Empire Classic, the year after their victories were multiple graded stakes winners.

The state bred showcase days serve as a useful part of the racing landscape at this time of the year when the all stars of the sport converge on location, leaving the feeder tracks with little pull in the way of attention towards their racing product. The restricted state bred stakes races fill what would be a dead card with some interesting match-ups and provide some cover to what otherwise would be referred to as a barren part of the racing calendar.

He has Mo-mentum

Super Saturday was a formful day where the betting favorite took down four out of the six stakes races. Speed seemed best on the muddy dirt surface where most of the winners were either close to or on the the lead in the early stages.

Stacelita continued her superiority over her own gender on the turf. She will likely be a very well bet favorite for the Filly and Mare Turf off of this effort. How good is this filly? Dubawi Heights, the filly who ran second to Stacelita in the Beverly D. won the Yellow Ribbon a couple of hours later.

Cape Blanco has been racking up the frequent flier miles lately and Dean's Kitten almost took advantage of this. Dean's Kitten ran as a good a race as any of the other winners from today's card. The cross continental trips may be taking a toll Cape Blanco and if he goes in the BC Turf he could be a good play against.

Giant Ryan got to the front during the early stages and did not look back. As the old advertisement for the NY breds goes, "They start with an advantage.".

Uncle Mo loves Belmont and rolls into the Breeders' Cup with this zippy win. The connections of Uncle Mo are toying with the idea of going to the Classic if he did well in this race. It seems like a bad idea, Fusaichi Pegasus tried to the mile stretch out to the classic with no success and Mo seems to thrive at the one turn mile. He could be the first horse to win two different BC races either way, might as well try it in a spot he does well in.

Jackson Bend made a nice run at the winner at the top of the stretch, he has matured into a decent long sprinter. The spot I would run him in off of this race is the BC Sprint, the Dirt Mile may be an 1/8 beyond his best distance and he has not attempted the six furlong distance in quite a while. It may be worth a shot to run in the Sprint.

Havre de Grace won the Beldame with ease and she looked the part of a champion every step of the way through this race. With Blind Luck's loss in the Lady's Secret, her arch rival Havre de Grace edges that much closer to her hopes at Horse of the Year honors.

Flat Out made it two for two over the Belmont dirt with his victory in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. Stay Thirsty made a run at the winner, but it was too late. Drosselmeyer ran a nice effort to grab the place spot by making up ground in the last eighth of a mile, this effort could set him up well for the BC Marathon.

A Sea Of Slop

For the first time since 2003 the Belmont Stakes card was contested in the mud. Bad weather and longshots won the day. Only one of the six betting favorites won and it was Trappe Shot in convincing fashion. Otherwise, if you bet against the public, you made out well for the day.

The Acorn was a prelude of what was to come with the odds-on Turbulent Descent going down in defeat to It's Tricky, who was coming off of a wide journey in the Florida Oaks against the classy R Heat Lightning. Turbulent Descent was three lengths behind the winner and ten lengths in front of the show runner. It should be noted the the dirt strip had a pronounced speed bias just from the first glance at the full charts as well.


The True North was all Trappe Shot, chances are there will be a race between Big Drama and Trappe Shot in the near future at Saratoga. Below is the last point in the race that anyone was close to the winner.


Justin Phillip was up against the class of his division for the first four months of the year facing Mucho Macho Man, Vengeful Wildcat, Adios Charlie, and Astrology in graded stakes action. So far the Jerome has been an effective key race with Astrology finishing third in the Preakness and Adios Charlie getting nipped in the Peter Pan. This race was beaten up a little bit with the scratches of the royally bred Bold Warrior and Little Drama, reducing the field to five runners.


The two grade one turf races had two things in common, the winner was no worse than first at any point in the race and they were both tote board busting winners. C.S. Silk had a career resume that had a place finish in grade one company last year at Keeneland chasing home the dominant Proviso, yesterday she took advantage of a paceless race and wired the field.



Mission Approved is an incredible story when you look at his record, his most recent effort was July 18, 2010 where he almost upset Gio Ponti and before that mostly placings in NY bred stakes company with a win against $40,000 claimers to his credit. Gio Ponti has had a bad history on less than firm turf, he has lost twice as a favorite to two massive longshots. Before today, he lost the 2009 Turf Classic to Interpatation after holding a slim lead in the stretch on a soft surface.


Speed ruled the mile and a half races for the weekend at Belmont. Ruler On Ice was up close to Shackleford early and had enough left in reserve to hold off Stay Thirsty and Brilliant Speed to cap off a longshot laden series of three year old stakes races. Animal Kingdom encountered a bad trip from the starting bell and never got closer than fourth after a sustained drive from the half mile pole to the eighth pole. It remains to be seen how much the triple crown has taken out of the main players as well. Shackleford gave his all and was done in the stretch with just enough out finish Animal Kingdom. Mucho Macho Man was a non factor from the mile marker to the finish line finishing 24 1/4 lengths behind the upset winner.

Belmont Stakes Power Cap

Nice card at Belmont today. Hopefully the rain does not decimate the races and most importantly all horses and riders go back to their barns safely. This is the one day of the year when the racetrack crowd in downstate New York is not dominated by old degenerates. It is nice to see some people from outside the typical demographic enjoy the races.

McLaughlin's loaded gun
It looks like trainer McLaughlin can plan to make a more than one trip to the winners circle on this card. He has three likely winners; none of them are going to be great prices but they could be a safe heaven in a long program. In race one Marine Officer -dam was NY stakes winner Asti- should crush this field. She has class and a class turf horse like this usually has little problem winning off a layoff. In race four Rattlesnake Bridge has a rare five furlong work-McLaughlin usually works them 4 furlongs when they work 5 furlongs that signals readiness- this colt just towers over this field. Race 7 will be Trappe Shot's unveiling as top sprinter in the country. Like Rattlesnake Bridge this colt has a five furlong work signaling readiness.

Just A Game Stakes
This looks like a wide open race. No real standout here but Much Rejoicing is a filly that could win the"Just A Game" at a generous price. Race lacks pace which plays into Much Rejoicing's wheelhouse-this filly is used to pressing fast paces in sprints. Look at how this filly has done so much in such little time. Races on dirt, over pol track, over turf, then trips to Florida, New York, Canada. Then she completes her education with run over wet tracks, fast tracks and then turf. She has been liberally educated in the racing arts. She has shown that she has class and can run over broken bottles if needed. Today is the day she can apply that broad education towards a trip to the winners circle. Hopefully we can go for the ride alongside her.

Manhattan Stakes
Standout horse here in Prince Will I Am. Bet with him and you could feel like a king. The cutback from those marathon races in Florida should have this horse stout and strong in the homestretch. The Prince loves New York with a grade one win over this very track last year along with a win at the Spa. Race sets up nice for him. A cornerstone selection to build your castle around.

Belmont Stakes
Wide open race this year that looks interesting. Sometimes this race can be an afterthought. The early wagering has the public hammering down on Master of Hounds. The American raceing public has had this affection for Aiden O'Brien and the horses he ships from Ireland to run stateside. Unfortunately for the public Mr. O'Brien has not returned the favor with no wins in the last five years. Is this the horse to break the streak? Maybe it is better to let that long streak of futility to continue with someone else's money.

My longshot pet pick is Santiva. He is bred for this long trip and has run well in all of his dirt races. I like the preparation he has received taking five weeks off to prepare for this race from the derby. He is going to be my key horse that will be used with others in multi race wagers and trifectas.

Prime Cut is another horse here that will run well and surprise many with his talents of mobility.

Since Santiva is no lock with will also use Animal Kingdom, Mucho Macho Man, Prime Cut and money burner O'Brien's colt Master Of Hounds.

The Return of Big Sandy

After six months racing at Aqueduct, a place despised by 100% of the scribes that cover the sport for the daily newspapers the racing operations move to Belmont. The meet opens up with a lot of interesting notes; reduced base wagers, the return of the train to the track, and the annual stakes shuffle.

Pick four? Can barely pick one!

The base wager for the pick four is now fifty cents with the start of the spring/summer meet. Anything that can bring more players into a lucrative wager is always a positive thing. The dime superfectas are a staple at the NYRA racetracks since its inception in 2007 and the Gulfstream dime pick six built up a pool of five million on the mandatory pay out day at its most recent meet. The low base wagers are a wonder for the bankroll for any horseplayer, they offer the chance for a big score for a low risk.

Offering the pick four wager at fifty cents gives one a chance to include more runners in one race as back up if a race is a skull buster. A pick four that is 4x4x4x4 would cost $256 a year ago will now be half of that. The downside to this is that a single longshot does not inflate the payoffs for the wager like it used to. The best strategy for this new base of the wager is playing some combinations more than other combinations, ensuring that you are paid a fair price for your opinion.

Use it or lose it

The LIRR is restoring daily service back to its Belmont branch; you’re welcome. More than likely this train will see an automatic increase in commuters due to the OTB branches not being open. Instead of the regulars going to the 38th & Broadway OTB parlor they will likely be walking four blocks to Penn Station to catch the early double.

Deeper than the fact that racing fans have their own rail service returning is the fact that getting the MTA to return defunct or abandoned service is really hard to do. The subway out to Aqueduct was at one point run by the Long Island Railroad. The NYC Transit Authority bought the whole line in 1955 and they only kept the trains in service from Aqueduct out to Rockaway as part of the A train. The line used to start at Rego Park and if they kept that around today there would be no need for the Air Train.

Pletcher will probably win those two races

The Matron and Belmont Futurity are back on the schedule in a new spot on the Independence Day weekend. It has been reduced to six furlongs and will go up against the Churchill juvenile races to be run on that same weekend. Both of the Belmont counterparts will probably draw five and Pletcher will have three in each race, one of which will probably be 1/10 and lose.

The Peter Pan is back as well and in its customary place on the weekend between the Derby and the Preakness. The stakes races on the NY circuit has been shifted around a lot in recent memory, the Withers was not run last weekend and in its place was the Jerome. The Bed O’Roses will be at Belmont for another year after spending decades at Aqueduct. The Gazelle was at Aqueduct last year after spending years at Belmont as a last run to the Breeders’ Cup. The changes to the stakes schedule reflects more on how little trainers and owners want to run their horses now as opposed to forty years ago when there was a big race every weekend on the NY circuit.

The Retro Files: Belmont LIRR Station, 2010

Only four days away from the opening of the spring/summer meet at Belmont highlighted by many important stakes races, including the Metropolitan Handicap and the Belmont Stakes. The MTA website has no posted regular LIRR train schedule for the meet, meaning that they will likely have only two days of commuter trains stopping at big sandy (the day before the Belmont Stakes and the day of). With the closure of NYC Off Track Betting, this will surely drive up the attendance of Belmont with people having to visit the track to bet the races if they do not have a NYRA rewards account.

When the MTA stopped service out to the racetrack it was due to low ridership and it being a money losing route due to the first reason. Now that the Off Track Betting locations are no longer open the ridership for this train branch would surely increase. The bus service NYRA offered from certain branch locations to Aqueduct and it looked like it did well in getting fans to the track. Aqueduct saw an increase of double the amount of fans that went through the turnstiles from the 2009-2010 winter meet.

Scenes from Belmont

Last week Greg went down south to Gulfstream (lucky) and I trekked out to the Belmont simulcast. Mostly for two reasons, the first was you can only go to Aqueduct so many times in a month before the charm wears off (for other people it is one trip in a lifetime) and curiosity, Belmont's clubhouse was opened to take up the slack that the NYC OTB left behind. Apparently the heating for big sandy's clubhouse wasn't quite up to snuff so NYRA had to bring in some kerosene heaters to keep the betttors warm and cozy.



Ever wonder what they do with the Secretariat statue in the paddock during the winter? Wonder no more, much like a museum exhibit it is boxed up and preserved when not on display for the public.


It must be a massive operation to get the odds board ready for winter inactivity as evidenced below.



Belmont's grandstand is big, cold, and empty during the winter. Every once in a while a politician or newspaper editorial raises the point that Aqueduct's property should be sold to developers and Belmont be made into a primary racing center for the year in New York. Just from touring the closed off grandstand this would not be wise. The heating issue is the primary reason, the surface change over to a winterized surface or building an inner dirt surface inside the turf course is another issue, and the track maintenance of this massive oval during the brutal winter months would probably be much more than what they are spending at Aqueduct right now.

The Attendance Myth

Attendance or lack of it is an issue that is brought up every once in a while when mentioning the Belmont and Aqueduct meet. It will probably be written about again by Bossert or Fountaine sometime next week after the Jockey Club Gold Cup and about 10,000 fans show up to see this high caliber event. After Belmont's opening weekend the NY Daily News' Jerry Bossert mentioned that about 8,000 fans showed up for opening day and 50,000 showed up for the final Sunday at Saratoga, which was a give away day. He bemoaned the fact that there was a lack of people showing up at Belmont compared to an inflated figure from one day at Saratoga. Using Saratoga's attendance figures as a measuring stick is fair, using a figure from a day they were giving something away is absurd. People show up in droves to with shopping carts to buy up whatever NYRA is giving out and leave before the first race starts, it is a nonsense figure. The other point is that Saratoga is upstate and there is less to do up there than downstate, also their meet has a majority of their dates in August and that is a big vacation month so of course there will be more interest in that meet from the weekend warriors and others who can't show up on a daily basis.

Attendance as a measure of how racing is doing is an archaic way of measuring the health of racing, overall handle is a better way to determine how business is going. There are more ways to legally place a bet now than thirty years ago, back in the early 80's in New York City the only two ways to place a bet were get out to the track or go to a brick and mortar OTB location. Now you have phone accounts and Internet wagering to accompany to the brick and mortar locations. Other than the regular daily crowd, people can't make it out to the track because they have work.

Speaking from personal experience, getting out to Belmont and Aqueduct during the weekend by mass transit or car is not a fun experience. It used to be easier to get out to Belmont until the LIRR canceled service to that branch, now you have to take the F train to the last stop (179th st Jamaica) and wait for the Q2 or an overcrowded N6. Aqueduct has two wonderful options to get out there, take the correct A train (there are two of them) through Brooklyn on the weekend when service is drastically cut back or wait at a bus stop in the middle of the winter for upwards of thirty minutes. Getting out to Aqueduct by car is not a good alternative to the MTA either, being near JFK airport makes the traffic worse than it should be and the Interboro Expressway is a traffic jammed nightmare that links up to the pothole laden Van Wyck Expressway. Belmont has the Cross Island Parkway, which is a trafic tangled nightmare after the last race.

Saratoga posted a decline this year and the NYRA executives were happy because they didn't lose as much as they thought they would. When one loses money it is not something to gloat about, you don't see someone leave a casino table game after losing with a smile on their face very often and if they do it probably is due to the fact they are inebriated. Saratoga used to be a meet that showcased the best of racing, in recent years due to added dates the meet has resembled Belmont or Aqueduct north. They had more maiden claiming and basement level claiming races during this meet than any other Saratoga meet in recent years. When you give the public bad races this is what you get, Aqueduct usually is last out of three with daily average handle because of this.

If NYRA really wanted to improve attendance they would be aggressive and promote how they have the cheapest attendance out of all professional sports teams in the area. I'm pretty sure the New York Racing Association has not run an ad on network television since 1998, I have it on tape somewhere. Millions upon millions are bet into New York racing every week even though the cumulative total of people showing at Belmont is somewhere in the 20,000 region. Complaints about people not showing up to the plant are minor in comparison to the fact that a decline in handle is a much more significant sign.

Doesn't look like a championship meet

Belmont’s fall meet is well under way and this meet going under the nomenclature of the fall championship meet is clearly false advertising. The stakes program that once was the envy of every other racing secretary in the nation has been savaged by overly cautious trainers, stakes races being moved to different dates, and competition from other racetracks.

The Breeders Cup has been a double edged sword for the national racing scene, it has given racing a “Super Bowl” style event to show off the sport’s stars. On the other end it has changed how trainers manage their horses during the course of the year. Case in point would be the 1996 season of Skip Away where after competing in all of the triple crown races he ran in the Ohio Derby, Haskell, Travers, Woodbine Million, and the Jockey Club Gold Cup. Last year after Summer Bird ran in two of the triple crown races he ran in the Haskell, Travers, and Jockey Club Gold Cup with the ultimate goal being a start in the Breeders Cup Classic. The lighter schedule high caliber horses are on is due to trainers making decisions based on speed figures and avoiding a bounce race. This trend is most prevalent with the juveniles, Pletcher’s top two year old Uncle Mo won by open lengths in his debut and the Champagne is his next start. If he wins that race and the Breeders Cup Juvenile to go three for three there is no denying him the juvenile eclipse honors. When Favorite Trick won his Horse of Year and Juvenile eclipse award in 1997 he was undefeated in eight starts with victories at four different racetracks.

Opening weekend at Belmont used to have a solid lineup of high class stakes action, this year featured second string older turf runners on Saturday and New York bred turf routers on Sunday. Back in 2004, only seven years ago the Woodward, Gazelle, Man O’ War, and Ruffian were on the opening weekend card. Saratoga now hosts the Woodward and Ruffian, the Gazelle is now on Thanksgiving weekend at Aqueduct, and the Man O’ War is now in July. The Forest Hills Handicap, which is a race that Artax and Delaware Township won is no longer on the schedule. The Cowdin is not on the schedule either, Coronado’s Quest and Easy Goer were prominent winners of this race.

NY racing is facing tough competition from Philadelphia Park, the Pennsylvania Derby with a million dollar purse is now a week before the Jockey Club Gold Cup. This gives the trainer of a good three year old a chance at a good purse and extra rest before the Breeders Cup. I would say this race also drains from the Jerome, but that is not on the schedule this year. Recent history of the Beldame has been that it features small fields and short priced winners, the Cotillion stakes has been siphoning off of this race for years. Back in 2004 Ashado won the Cotillion before going on to victory in the Distaff and last year Careless Jewel passed up on a meeting with Music Note for the Cotillion.

The fall meeting at Belmont was once considered on par with the Saratoga, in the last two years it has taken a step backwards in terms of quality. Looking at the above reasons it is not hard to see why. Maybe with the green lighting of the Aqueduct VLTs a few days ago the racing quality will improve thanks to an increased purse structure. Until then, what you see is what you get.

From the roof of Belmont Park

I had some time to kill between races at the Saratoga simulcast from Belmont Park, so going up to the roof of the facility seemed like a just as good an idea as anything else I was thinking of.

The other half of Belmont Park (third floor)

The five picture limit split what I meant for a single post into two posts. The first post in this two parter is directly below this one.


The annex sign, the power cap flag would look good draped over that.

The only place where the windows clean you out.

Big empty.

Pull up a chair.

The other half of Belmont Park (second floor)

A few months back I took pictures of the closed section of Aqueduct racetrack, Belmont also has a closed section that is only opened to the public on major race days. The big difference from Belmont to Aqueduct is they keep Belmont in good shape, note how clean the closed off area is compared to the third world conditions of Aqueduct. They gave the closed section a name too, the reserved seats annex. I think it is high time that this blog claim some territory, so I officially claim the reserved seats annex in the name of the power cap and its associates. All I need is a flag to stake this territory.

Doors are locked that lead to the open section.

SAM machines are open for business.

Plenty of seats!

Old MTP sign, I'm pretty sure it wasn't in use before they closed off this section.

Don't bother jumping the turnstiles, the gates are locked.

July 10 recap

I could think of no better way to spend a Saturday than at the racetrack. Cheap admission, check; plenty of shade, check; frosty beverages on tap, check; gambling action, check. It beats going out to a Mets game by one.

Two races that I found interesting on the Belmont slate was an allowance race and the Man o' War stakes. The stakes action taking place on the eastern seaboard during the course of the day was of interest as well.

Race four at Belmont was an allowance race tha was the return race for Tahitian Warrior from his June 5 effort against Trappe Shot. His effort yesterday was impressive to me, he had to move from post seven out of eight in his last start to the rail yesterday. He rewarded his backers with an easy victory after sitting a patient rail trip and moving to the lead with ease at the top of the stretch. I'm not sure of where the connections are planning to run him next time out, but the King's Bishop seems like a spot where he could do some damage.

The results of the Man o' War could be interpreted a few ways, Gio Ponti ran a big race against an extremely slow pace and closed like a freight train. Gio Ponti could be a horse on the decline, last year in this race he would have demolished this field by open lengths. The second place finisher Mission Approved ran a monumental race in defeat running against superior competition. I am siding with Gio Ponti being 0n the decline and Mission Approved ran a monster race. Last year the Clement runner would have inhaled this competition to win by open lengths this year it took longer for him to get into gear, it happens to the best of them Cigar and Skip Away functioned on intestinal fortitude by the end of their career more than anything else. As for Mission Approved, I would be shocked if this horse does not win a stakes race before the year is out. The John's Call at Saratoga which has the condition of non-winners of a stakes race written up for it would be right up his alley, as a matter of fact the gelding ran in this race last year.The out of state stakes action was of interest too, the Summit of Speed was contested yesterday and the most impressive of the winners of the big four (the Azalea, Carry Back, Smile, and Princess Rooney) was the winner of the Azalea, Pica Slew. Pica Slew faced grade one winner Franny Freud last year and ran faster than older fillies and three year old colts on final time in her previous start. In this start she was stuck with the unenviable task of chasing a loose runner spouting off fractions of 21 and 44. The horse chasing the fast pace usually is the first victim of the fast pace, Pica Slew reeled the leader in and won easily.

D'Funnybone lost as the odds on favorite as well after setting the pace, he gave up the lead inside the 1/8 pole. Either this horse is starting show signs of fatigue after running hard in five races this year or he doesn't like running at Calder, he lost a stakes race there last year before two dominating wins at Saratoga and Belmont.

Trappe Shot won the Long Branch at Monmouth Park, the field had two scratch which reduced it to a four horse field, he ran on June 5 against the earlier mentioned Tahitian Warrior. Trappe Shot won without putting a lot of effort into the Long Branch. Southern Ridge was taken out of his normal (for his the only two races on his resume) running style by going to the lead and he did not look comfortable at all. Nacho Friend turned in his usual decent effort by finishing strong for second, but the race was over with an 1/8 of a mile left. The most likely next start out for Trappe Shot would be the Haskell seeing how the Long Branch is the traditional prep for this race. The Long Branch did not answer a lot of questions about Trappe Shot's ability to go two turns seeing how this race was an easy spot to run in.

Saturday Musings At Elmont Embellished With A Play Of The Day

Race 4 O. Phipps Handicap GI- Unrivaled belle is indeed without a rival in this race. She should win for fun at 3-5. Funny Moon and Life At Ten are pretenders. Unrivaled Took down the mighty Rachel last out and has been working bullets for the on-fire Mott barn. Would not bet against this favorite as she states her case for 2nd best filly or mare in the country.

Race 8- Major Class relief here for Raffie's Rose who finally escapes the brilliant Franny Freud. This filly has some talent and at 12-1 will offer mondo value. The right key horse in a monster betting race. Pretty Cozy returns from her flop as the play of the day. I liked her on the inner turf as lone speed going 1 16th much more than 7 furlongs on the widener. I think that she will flop today at a short price. Will also cover 3,7,9,10 in this race in pick 4s.

Race 10- Pardon the pun but Financially Secure looks like a safe bet today. The right key horse in the late pick 3/pick 4. Might even be a good bail out horse as the New York degenerates eschew a good thing like Financially Secure for hopeless longshots in their desperate attempt to get even after a day of losing. Favorites are usually a rather generous price in the Belmont finale. Financially Secure will be my key horse and play of the day.

Belmont Race 10

Win #12 Financially Secure

stats
14 4-2-1
strike rate 29%
cumulative return $62.80
$2 ROI $4.49
average winner $15.70

Belmont Stakes Run At Monmouth?

When New Jersey elected governor Christie last year it seemed like a referendum against the incumbents and the ubiquitous corruption blanketing the region. Unlike most elected officials in the last two years Christie has been a pleasant surprise. Christie is backing a plan to boost purses at Monmouth to $1 million a day. During his six years in office as US Attorney general Christie gained the reputation as something of a corruption-buster, having won convictions or guilty pleas from 130 public officials, both Republican and Democrat. Christie did not lose a single case. While NJ is poised become the premier Northeast venue, vultures are circling New York racing. Don't be surprised if the Belmont stakes in run at Monmouth as soon as 2011 as the situation at NYRA is more dire than many believe.

Monmouth Park


It looks like Christie is listening to smart racing people; unlike New York he is acting on their advice. Christie has come up with a branding approach for New Jersey racing that will define New Jersey racing as an upscale event. For the first time in recent racing history an American track is actually positioning themselves in the market as something other than just another track running yet another race that you can make yet another bet on. Monmouth already has trumped the attendance figures of Belmont; the appealing shore location helps, but now Monmouth is positioned to trump the handle and prestige as well.

New Jersey has proposed a 50 day meet that will only race on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from May 22nd to labor day. The purses will be tremendous; with $1 million a day for the horsemen. Certainly those barns shipping up to New York after the Preakness will want to race at Monmouth and not Belmont. While Jersey is actually running an appealing product, downtrodden Belmont will osculate between$38K statebred/horsemen welfare races and conditioned claiming events. Who will be at Belmont for this extravaganza? The same 1,000 or so beleaguered degenerates that show up everyday until they die.

Monmouth attendance will surge as this become a destination venue that will drive tourism into the area. The scarcity factor of only running on weekends will further make the Jersey shore the place to be. With a fairly new turf course, a familiar 1 mile dirt oval that horsemen prefer and close-in shipping from Philly, Maryland, Delaware, New York and Fair Hill; Monmouth fans can look forward to a horse racing renaissance on the Jersey shore. The expectation is for high class racing, large purses and full fields. This is destination racing that appeals to all demographics; with great racing and a Oceanside location this is a venue that will attract the young and old to the Jersey shore.

Give credit to Christie for matching the product to the venue. With it's seaside location Monmouth should be an upscale meet like Del Mar, not a racing factory like the Philadelphia Park. Give credit to Christie for having the courage to do what's right. This is a leader with that listens to sharp thinkers and has the courage to implement their plans. Like all worthwhile efforts implementing this plan will not be easy; a 50 day meet will not be in every trainer's interest. Christie had the courage to pinch the few for the collective good of all. Trainers with cheaper claimers may have to race at venues like Belmont or Phily that have mundane, unappealing products that card low end races. New Jersey bred horses may not find as much opportunity this year at Monmouth as the high class allowance and stakes horses dominate the entry box. Pushing these barns out of the state was surely not the easy thing to do, but it will prove to be the right thing to do. When the racing is a success, the grandstand is packed, the hotels fill up and Monmouth has a positive buzz all of the apprehension to new ideas will be forgotten. So rare it is to see a man do the right thing for the collective good. Often times these decisions are based on avarice. A decision like this could never happen in neighboring state like New York which lacks vision or leadership.

Chris Christie


Across the Hudson in New York, the state bred welfare races and conditioned claimers will continue to attract a crowd of hardened gamblers, stoopers and the mentally ill. The formerly prestigious New York stakes races are consistently a disappointment. These stakes races have short uninteresting fields that are consistently relegated to early part of the card. As the quality of races in New York has declined the stakes races have proven to be an unattractive wagering proposition. With little to no new ideas in New York the game is suffering a painful death; "little me too" style social marketing initiatives has not atoned for the horrible product. NYRA has waited through a nine year long slot machine farce that has reduced New York racing into a pathetic groveling parasite. NYRA needs to break free from the clasp of Albany and try to replicate the virtues of Monmouth. The Big-A and Belmont needs to be positioned in the market and the venues must be upgraded.

the carcass of the Big-A rots

While New Jersey is set to flourish the parasites have multiplied at NYRA. You know death is imminent when the vultures have begun to descend on the carcass. Contrast Christie's bold leadership to Spitzer's and Paterson's whore mongering, drug use and political opportunism. These two New York governors are men without a moral compass. Their behavior ipso facto demonstrates that they are not fit to lead. Spitzer's lack of a moral compass was his undoing; it looks like Patterson is following in his footsteps. It is men like this with a lack of character that are poisoning the waters that all New Yorkers drink. A culture of corruption pervades the entire state. OTB balances their books by not paying their debts. This is a abject lack of leadership in New York and it is flavoring everything we do. No longer can NYRA play the victim and passively let their product deteriorate. NYRA must stop wasting time on twitter and start pressuring Albany to find the courage it needs to make the right decisions.

NYRA Sues Al Gore

Ozone Park - NYRA has taken the unprecedented step of suing Al Gore in New York Federal Court for fraud. Citing his work in "An Inconvenient Truth" NYRA has directly tied the fraud of climate change to decreased parimutuel handle that has placed NYRA and their 'Global Warming" extended turf season in peril. NYRA head Charlie Hayward "we bought into the global warming propaganda and it has cost us; we extended our turf season clear into December and now we have an obsolete condition book. It is mid-October and it has already snowed twice and we may have to shelf turf racing for the year " Promising not be fooled again by bogus environmental policy NYRA will revamp the 2010 condition book to reflect the post sun-spot colder weather conditions. The 2010 turf season will be moved back to late April while terminating some time in early October.

The Interpatation Of Saturday's B.C. Preps

The day had a wet forecast looming over it like a terminal prognosis. It thinned out the crowd and dimmed the spirits of those in attendance. However the early part of the day was dry, and it looked like the meteorologists were going to be completely wrong about a wet day of persistent light rain. They only thing they were wrong about was the intensity of the rain. Instead of light rain Belmont was walloped with a biblical strength drenching monsoon that quickly turned the fast track into brackish stream. The rain was cold, it was intense and it dominated the races, effecting times and results. The big story to emerge from these races was not a breakthrough performance and brilliant equine form but the utter dominance of the heavens over the results on Saturday.

The first stakes race of the day proceeded without any weather related interference. The heavy favorite Music Note was able to break out of the Pletcher trap set for her on the rail and draw off to a facile win.

While the horses were in the paddock for the Vosburgh the heavens opened up. A few miles to the north a powerful burst lightning illuminated the sky and deep growling thunder shook the grandstand. Within a matter of minutes the fast track was inundated with water. However the results were fairly formful with GI winner Kodiac Kowboy catching Fabulous Strike late near the wire.

The Flower Bowl was the wettest of the days races. This race was run in the most intense portion of the storm. The rain was coming down as hard as rain can fall from the heavens. It surely dominated the results here. Very slow fractions and an undoubtedly slick grass effected the results. However reason still held sway here. The winner Pure Clan is a Grade I filly and was the second choice in the wagering. I can only imagine that one or more of her competitors did not take kindly to being pelted with rain or the slick conditions under hoof.

The Turf Classic was also run in a driving rainstorm. Rarely are turf races run in these conditions. Visibility was poor as we could barely make out the runners on the backstretch. If someone told me that Interpatation was going to win this race wire to wire I would thing that they were delusional or quite confused. Fortunately for Bobby Barbara they would have been right. In a result that defied all reason we witnessed a horse in the winners circle who had not won in over two years; his last score in a ungraded race at Philly. Somehow Interpataion outgamed the best American older horse in training.

You would need a super-duper ego or passion fueled desperation to arrive at this interpretation pre-race. This result was in the spirit of outlandish interpretations like Freud's proclamation that all men are driven by the want of sexual relations with their mama. This is the race where the heavens and the deluge of water had the greatest effect. This was a strange race, run under perilous conditions. It was like have a yacht race in a typhoon; the conditions had greater effect on the results than the competition.

The Jockey Club Gold Cup was run over an extremely sloppy track. The absurdity of the Turf Classic was followed by a reasonable result. Summer Bird who has confirmed his affinity for wet racing surfaces outgamed Quality Road late for the win. This was a slow and tiring wet surface so it makes sense that the only horses in the field confirmed to like 12 furlongs was best in the lane at 10 furlongs.


Once again this years Breeder's Cup betting will be complicated by more surface questions. Significant horses like Gio Ponti and Summer Bird will have big questions associated with their handling of the pro ride surface. Will there be a transition issue out of these very wet races. Sometimes reasons yields to the absurd in racing as the results of the Turf Classic illustrated. Take these results with a grain of salt and consider the challenge of going from a brackish river of extreme rain and mud, to the arid strip of polymer, rubber and sand at Santa Anita. Compared to Belmont last Saturday; Santa Anita might as well be a synthetic planet somewhere between the moon and Venus. These are two extreme surfaces where just about anything can and will happen.

Local B.C. Preps Are A Huge Dud

The last few weeks I have been looking forward to "Super Saturday" at Belmont. Now that the card has been printed and the plans solidified I feel like I have a juvenile case of Christmas morning buyers remorse. That toy looked so good in the Toys-Я-Us flyer, but now that it is open it is quite the bore. This Saturday's Belmont card is not only a bore, it just may be defective. Those are not a gaggle of small parts, those small parts are the small fields we are forced to play with. What factors have contributed to the sharp decent of graded race quality at Belmont? Racing has attempted to expand by division and has compartmentalized the competition into too many small parts. Too many tracks, too many surfaces and too many divisions.

Thirty-one betting interests over Saturday's five Grade I races equals an average of 6 per race. It must have pained P.J. Campo to publish this card. At least three of the races will have a formidable odds-on favorite. Gio Ponti will be 1-9, Fabulous Strike looks like 2-5 and Music Note should be 1-5. Not only are these races unbettable but they are boring to watch. This is not about some degenerate needing action, it is about an entertainment venue having the attraction of a pet rock. Racing this boring is like watching old re-runs of the "A team"; no matter what happens you know what the result is before they start; so why watch? Racing intrigue thrives on competition and uncertainty. Horses need to brought together; now the 14 B.C. divisions and multitude of tracks are keeping them apart.

Never to receive much luck from the heavens NYRA also drew the cold and rainy combo from the weather hopper; conditions that are sure to further decimate attendance. Those that stay away will have plenty of company. Nothing speaks to the failure of racing more than the attendance numbers for a non-TV day at Belmont Park. These five Grade I races will bring out an estimated 7-8K in attendance. The second biggest race card in New York City and attendance is a more pathetic number than the field sizes. Some politician will try to fix this with slot subsidies. This is no answer but I understand that it is almost compulsory to install them to "keep up with the Jones'". A game with no fans that depends on slot subsidies will not survive. In the same way that a family on long term welfare will disintegrate into moral degeneracy a game on welfare will disintegrate too . The slots band-aid can not support a sport that has no public interest. Sooner or later the rug of slots welfare will be pulled out from under the game which will expose a wasted carcass. More must be done to restore the game to a healthy size.

Why are these field sizes being decimated? Could it be redundancy in stakes races? Deserted tracks putting up sizable purses to run races that nobody watches or cares about? While Belmont runs the Beldame, Philly Park will host the Cotillion the same day. Instead of a clash of Careless Jewel and Music Note; the race fan can sleep through two odds-on borefest five filly fields. While Belmont runs the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Hawthorne will run the Hawthorne Gold Cup at the same distance. If those cups are not empty enough some of the liquid has to be sent over to the Hoosier state for the Indiana Derby. Another competitor for dirt route colts that could have ran in Chicago or New York is the Ohio Derby also run the same day. Don't forget the Meadowlands just opened up and they too will run a series of stakes races that competes with the Belmont program.


The frustrating part is that it seems like there is nothing anyone can do about these fields getting chopped into smaller and smaller pieces. The market pressure is there to fold some of these tracks and restore field size. Handles have crashed as horseplayers head to the exits and funeral homes. However slot welfare is keeping many of these venues propped up and field size remains depressed. We can only watch from the sidelines as the intrigue and fans are sucked out of the sport like a door was opened up on a pressurized airplane mid-flight.

A really good example of a short field borefest is Sunday's Kelso at Belmont. This Kelso Mile is an underwhelming race. This race looks like it competed with the Cliffhanger at Meadowlands for entries , which also has a smallish field. Combine these two heats and we have a decent prep for the B.C. Mile. Decent races are hard to find in the era were tracks like the Meadowlands are propped up by Atlantic City subsidies causing all races to have small fields and zero intrigue.


The leading B.C Mile Prep in New York will at best produce a 40-1 chance if the connections choose to enter the B.C. Mile. It it did not help that the B.C. also sliced and diced this group by introducing a dirt mile. Not only are races getting split but whole divisions are getting split. Further divisions are being opened along surface lines. The three surface split among turf, poly and dirt horses has exasperated the situation. It is almost like a perfect storm has taken shape. A combination of too much slot subsidized racing, too many B.C. divisions and the new poly surface has sliced and diced the fields to a point critical point where human interest is lost.


Expanding racing by division is a horrible trend that must be reversed. The results have been dramatically terrible. Perhaps some of the dirt mile bound horses could have stayed on the turf and ran in the Kelso. The people in charge should return to their business school education and review the chapter on mergers. Someone needs to take the lead and show this industry how to merge these fields instead of expanding to an unsupportable size.

Donor Stakes 1 1/4 miles Inner Turf

Wednesday Race 8 Donor Stakes

This looked like a lone speed dream trip for Sunshine For Life. Not sure what happened last time when she rated for the first time in a long time but this mare likes to control things on the front end. She should have a dream trip out there on the front end as every other filly or mare entered is a closer. She is a huge danger to steal this race especially if the turf is rated firm.


The big X factor for the masses will be fresh import Bubbly Jane. This filly is a two time group I winner in Brazil. I located her last two race replays and have provided them for the readers of power cap. For us she will be a known quantity. Bubbly Jane looked sharp in both wins while rallying from off the pace. She looks like a classy, game and gritty filly. I will be using her in conjunction with Sunshine for Life.

Grande Premio Henrique de Toledo Lara G-I

Grande Premio Diana G-I