Horse Of The Year

The horse of the year ran in the Ladies Classic, undefeated Zenyatta deserves the honors. Curlin started the year off in sterling form, had an aggressive campaign planned that terminated as his form steadily waned. Zanyatta was steady and strong throughout the year winning on all the Socal tracks. Her ace in the hole is that she scored on dirt at Oaklawn. To put an exclamation point on the whole body of work her win in the Ladies Classic was absolutely brilliant.

Zenyatta won all seven of the Graded Stakes races she ran in and improved as the year went on. Her year was a steady accent. She has the potential to be a legend like Personal Ensign the other main track undefeated filly champion if she comes back for more. The fact that she won on dirt puts her over the edge, the dual surface wins are something that Curlin could not match. This year was the year of the Z fillys in racing, overseas we had Zarkava and in North America we had Zenyatta. The undefeated Z filly should be awarded the honors.

Curlin started the year off with such promise. Two rousing victories in Dubai and then an aggressive campaign lined up that was supposed to end in Paris. While we commend the connections for taking a sporting risk the end result was a let down. The turf was quickly abandoned and the Bredders Cup was sort of an after thought after the trip to Japan seemed like too much. The latter part of Curlin's campaign did not have the same level of success as his fall 2007 winter 2008 campaign had. He fell far short of that and failed to take the big prize the Breeders Cup classic, a race he had every chance to win. Curlin raced on three surfaces but could only manage to win on dirt. His turf race was a gutsy placing but was far from the extraordinary wins Zenyatta racked up over different tracks and surfaces. We have to give Curlin and "E" for effort and a "E: for racing as a four year old but the HOY goes to the filly.

Ladies Day Picks

Ladies day has finally arrived. Looks like a gorgeous warm day at Santa Anita. Hopefully racing fans can open their minds and accept a new concept. Change is not always bad.

BC FM Sprint
Looks like a ton of pace in here. Using Magnificence, Intangaroo, Miraculous Miss and Ventura in pick 3's. Win money on longshots Magnificence and Miraculous Miss.


BC FM Turf
Think that Mauralakana can bounce back here and run them down late. Will also use Halfway To Heaven and Forever Together.

BC Ladies Classic
Zenyatta is undefeat but is facing the toughest field of her career. I respect her but will also use Music Note and Cocoa Beach.

Breeders Cup Two Consecutive Years At Santa Anita

The Breeders Cup Ladies day has been the hot button issue and has stoked the fires of many fans on both sides of the argument. Another issue that is not getting as much discussion is Santa Anita hosting the Breeders Cup for two consecutive years. The main issues are the hot weather, the travel for European Shippers and the unknown surface. With all of these concerns and I felt that it was a mistake that Santa Anita was awarded an unprecedented two consecutive Breeders Cups. This is a track that is struggling with the surface and nobody can say for sure what type of surface the 2008 breeders cup will be run over.



While we can assume that the surface will be sorted out over the next seven months, it is an absolute risk to run a event like the Breeders Cup on the assumption that the ground under the horses hooves will be sound. Any injuries or ugly incidents and the finger of blame will be pointed to Santa Anita, and their incompetent management of their surface. This could be the first Breeders Cup run over a synthetic surface but who really knows what the surface will be at this point. There is such a diversity of synthetic surfaces, from the fast Hollywood cushion track to the waxy quicksand-like Del Mar polytrack. This uncertainly must make long term plans challenging as horses can not get a race over the surface. What ever Santa Anita installs will play a huge role in determining which horse excels in the 2008 breeders cup. Never has there been so much uncertainty leading up to the event. What if the unproven, freshly minted surface has drainage or safety issues? There will be very little time to make corrections and the pressure to run is tremendous.




The issue of weather is usually a problem wherever a Breeders Cup is run. Running at Santa Anita has issues unique to the desert climate. Last year at Monmouth the Breeders Cup was run under a constant deluge and the drops did not stop falling from Wednesday until Saturday. It seems like the move to run in the desert at Santa Anita for two consecutive years was a reaction to get as far away from the driving rain of the Jersey shore in Autumn. Another weather issue that of a Breeders Cup location is the biting cold of Belmont's North facing Grandstand, not the most pleasant place to be for many in late October. The weather issue with Santa Anita is the hellish heat. Santa Anita's inland location is far enough from the ocean that it does not get the cool Pacific breezes of Del Mar or Hollywood. Santa Anita is basically in the desert. The 2003 Breeders Cup was bone dry hot. As soon as the sun rose it was in the 90's and the earth was on fire with the Santa Ana winds stoking wildfires from San Diego to San Bernardino. The smoke filled, smoggy air compromised many horses. Not only did the Eastern and European horses have to acclimate to a hot dry climate they had to acclimate to running with smoke and ash in the air. Volponi shipped back to New York from the 2003 Breeders Cup with a lung full of ash, mucus and blood. The classic is run at at the height of the heat at 3pm to accommodate the eastern time zone TV slot. No wonder local boy Mandella won four races with three longshots, as his horses had the edge of acclimation.



The other issue with running at Santa Anita is the travel issues. California is 3000 miles from New York and it is a long ship to a place with a inhospitable climate for horses that have begun to grow their winter coats. For Europeans it is a very long plane journey and climate acclimation issues may prevent many shippers from contesting the Breeders Cup. Combine the hot dry weather with the currency conversion issues reducing the Breeders Cup purses and the ship from Stanstead / Shannon /Amsterdam to LAX is not very appealing. Running at Santa Anita for two consecutive years means that Europeans horseman and fans may just lose touch with the event.



Santa Anita is a undoubtedly a beautiful setting, the San Gabriel mountains beyond the backstretch make for one of the most appealing vistas in America. However running the Breeders Cup for two consecutive years at a track with a unsettled surface is a mistake. Breeders Cup is going to alienate the Europeans running under oppressively hot conditions for two consecutive years. When the Breeders Cup is done with Santa Anita in 2009 we may find an event that has lost much of its stature within the global industry. The Breeders Cup may have squandered much of its global appeal at a time when the Breeders Cup is attempting to expand. The Breeders Cup seems to be losing ground to other championship type racing events in Dubai, Hong Kong and Japan.

Ladies Day Idea Originated On-Line with a TBA Member

Reading through some of the comments on "Complain Overkill" post I noticed that a commenter or two disagreed that it is okay to celebrate the differences between the sexes. Ladies rooms are okay, Ladies Day at Ascot is okay but no further or new reference to Ladies is allowed. While I agree somewhat that the Ladies Classic is a unique name for the race previously known as the Distaff, however it is not without precedent as there is a Ladies Handicap at Aqueduct or a Ladies championship at Wimbledon. While the only thing offensive about a Ladies rooms is hopefully flushed down the toilets, it is political correctness run amok when people are offended by "Ladies" being used to name a race. A mis-named race perhaps, offensive it is not. What is so offensive about Ladies having their own day. Are Ladies Offended by Mothers Day? Most Ladies I know relish having a day where they are the focus of attention, what kind of twisted rhetoric has caused people to be offended by this?

Piqued by curiosity I initiated a search of what others have commented on their pages about Ladies day. The most amazing find was that the Superfecter blog had suggested that the Breeders Cup stage a Ladies Day way back in Feb 2007. Perhaps the brain trust at the Breeders Cup reads these blogs and they were inspired by this well presented post. Some of these pages are maintained by well educated fans, the creme de la creme of race fans. It is very shrewd of Breeders Cup to skim the top of the barrel when looking for inspiration.

Here is quote from the post that initiated the idea;

4) Create something akin to Ladies' Day at Ascot -- don't leave the pomp up to d-list celebrities at the Derby. If the Breeders' Cup is going to continue to add races, why not make it an occasion? I would gladly take a Friday off work and would even invest in a hat for that purpose.

However the same person that may have been the inspiration for Ladies day commented on the "Complain Overkill" post that they do not like the breeders cup staging a Ladies day. A total one hundred eighty degree reverse of opinion while not acknowledging their own creativity!

I think you missed those of us who are simply annoyed that they've moved a great race to day no one will watch or attend -- as a working mom, I certainly cannot just take a Friday off and fly across the country for a few races.

The conclusion I draw from this is that even the most educated, resourceful fans can have a knack for the negative. They come up with an idea, a real idea with limitless potentional and when it is implemented they still complain. Rather than giving the fans instant validation for their confused concerns with Ladies Day I think breeders cup should run with the Ladies days for two years and see how it works. The people complaining may feel a sense of initial rejection that their petition was a failure but perhaps after the knee-jerk offensive feelings subside Ladies day may end up becoming a rousing success. A celebration of the beauty and grace of the feminine form and the generosity of the female racehorse. Do we really want to celebrate juvenile horses? Everyday is kids day, but a whole day dedicated to the Ladies is so much better. Maybe in the future if Ladies day succeeds, ESPN could secure a Sunday slot. One has to realize that replacing NFL football coverage with horse racing is not going to be a something that could happen at this point in time. That is the reason Ladies day is on Friday this year. This is not marginalizing the woman it is validating the Women with an entire day devoted to her, where she can be the headliner. It is day to celebrate the beauty in the difference of the sexes that makes life so sweet.

Breeders Cup Change Complain Overkill

The people that are raising this ruckus fall in two categories. The first category is the run of the mill racing fan that just about rejects any change at any time. These people bashed NYRA when they introduced the Grand Slam, hated when a non winners of three allowance race became a non winners of three optional claiming race. These people find disappointment with any change and find glee when new ideas fail. It was a given that these people would dislike the changes to the Breeders Cup as this group does not do change under any circumstances.


The other group is the type that demands sexual homogeneity and sterilization of everything. For these people it is offensive for racing to tap into tradition. Tapping into tradition reminds them of the time when women had a primarily home-centric life. Women at home? Children are so unimportant and can wreak havoc with a career! These people have mailpersons not mailmen. They would have line persons instead of linemen maintaining their electric service but so far only men have signed up for this dangerous line of work. For these people a Ladies classic means limits on the female in society. They may even lobby for the Classic and Ladies Classic having an equal purse. However they ignore the fact that a filly or mare can run for the big purse of the Classic if able. These people desire a world where almost everything is androgynous and traditional sexual roles are vanquished. The mere changing of a race name sparks an outcry complete with protests, petitions, boycotts and bra burning.