AUGUST 16, 2009

CHEERS & JEERS For The Week Of August 10

CHEERS!

To: The Southern California jockey colony

For: Making the humane treatment of our athletes a priority

Kudos to the current riders based at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club for agreeing, across the board, to use a more humane whip on their mounts, starting last week. From my understanding, the decision was a mutual one between the jockeys and Del Mar management, and one which was spearheaded by California Horse Racing Board member Bo Derek. Del Mar even went so far as to purchase 40 of the new crops (at a cost of $60 each) to help with the riders’ expenses, and it is now the first California racetrack to mandate the use of the kinder equipment.

When it comes to horse racing, there’s a fine line between love and hate for our sport in the view of the general public, and our popularity continues to lose traction thanks to the loud, but misguided, efforts of extreme animal rights organizations. This step toward preserving our athletes’ well-being is one in the right direction.

JEERS!

To: Breeders’ Cup

For: Trashing yet another tradition

I might be a party of one when it comes to this particular complaint, but I am not a fan of the switch to multi-colored saddlecloths for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships races, which was announced earlier this week. I understand the reasoning behind the change, but, to me, it’s just another tradition — a 25-year tradition — gone by the wayside. Kinda like the Breeders’ Cup Distaff being ludicrously re-named the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic. (Is there supposed to be an apostrophe there in ‘Ladies?’ I can never bother to remember.)

The traditional Breeders’ Cup saddlecloths were charming and distinctive, and emblazoned with the color of royalty: purple. Now, the kings and queens of our sport will be wearing the same generic saddlecloths as the $4,000 claimers at Thistledown.

I will really lose it if, in their next attempt to “modernize” horse racing, they decide to broadcast those annoying little chicklet things all over the TV screen during the Breeders’ Cup races. What are they called…Trakus? Yuck. I always think those moving digital blips make the horses appear to be no more living or breathing than a monotonous Keno display in Vegas, or an animated videogame. Why bother handicapping or following a particular horse’s career, when you can just pick a random, faceless number to put your $2 on? It’s dumbing-down our game to the lowest denominator, and I find it cheap…and tacky.

But hey, who am I to stand in the way of “progress?”

AUGUST 9, 2009

CHEERS & JEERS For The Week Of August 3

CHEERS!

To: CARMA

For: Raising funds for retired racehorses

On Thursday, August 13, the California Equine Retirement Management Account (CARMA) is hosting a Texas Hold’em Poker Tournament at the Del Mar Hilton at the conclusion of that day’s racing program. Included during the fun-filled evening, which is sponsored by TVG/Betfair, are a silent auction, a delicious array of food and beverages and camaraderie with other participants in the local Thoroughbred racing industry.

Proceeds from this charitable event will go to a very worthy cause: retirement, adoption and re-training efforts for California racehorses. Ray Paulick recently published an informative article about this new organization after he interviewed our good friend, CARMA Chairman Madeline Auerbach, for his Paulick Report website.

For more information about this upcoming fundraiser, visit the CARMA website at the link provided above, or call (626) 574-6622.

JEERS!

To: The California racing industry

For: Its current lack of leadership

Where have all the leaders gone?

The chain of command in the California racing industry has suffered several broken links within the past eight months.

The mass exodus began in December 2008, when Barretts Equine Limited President and General Manager Jerry McMahon announced his resignation from the Southern California auction company which he had co-founded in 1989.

One week later, Richard Shapiro shocked the racing establishment when he announced he was immediately vacating his powerful post as chairman of the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), a position he had held since 2006, and one from which he had directed several changes to the state’s racing landscape, such as the controversial mandate for major California racetracks to convert from dirt to all-weather racing surfaces.

Fast forward to June 2009, and the announcement that Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC) President Drew Couto would not be renewing his contract with the organization which he had helped form, and for which he had served as leader for the past five years.

Then, just two weeks ago, California Thoroughbred Trainers (CTT) Executive Director and General Counsel Ed Halpern announced his retirement from his 20-year position, effective at the end of 2009.

Only one of these important leadership roles, with Barretts, has been filled with a permanent replacement. Executive searches are ongoing for the remaining three jobs.

Is it naive to hope that this situation actually provides a rare opportunity to attract new leaders, new ideas and new directions that will energize and expand the California racing industry? Or is it simply a case of the captains all abandoning a sinking ship?

AUGUST 2, 2009

CHEERS & JEERS For The Week Of July 27

CHEERS!

To: The “San Diego Union-Tribune”

For: Its thorough Thoroughbred coverage

Thumbs up to the “San Diego Union-Tribune,” for going against the current grain of cutting back its horse racing coverage and, instead, deciding to embrace it. This publication appears to be a strong supporter of its local racetrack, and is offering regular coverage of all things Del Mar in 2009: from opening day festivities and celebrity attendance to personality profiles and even some helpful tips for first-time racegoers, such as what to expect during a day at the track and even a train schedule detailing one fun way to get there.

Of course, along with the good comes the bad, and this year that means the rash of fatal breakdowns Del Mar has experienced during the early days of its season. The “Union-Tribune” has covered this aspect, as a good news source should, but they have done it tastefully so.

To read this newspaper’s online coverage of the 2009 Del Mar meet, bookmark the convenient “Western Newsbeat” section of our website.

JEERS!

To: ESPN

For: Its less-than-thorough Thoroughbred coverage

This weekend, the winners of the 2009 Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes, Kentucky Oaks and Dubai World Cup competed in the Haskell, the San Diego Handicap and the West Virginia Derby. But unless you were visiting one of the host tracks, or watching from a simulcast facility, chances are you had to be a subscriber to one of the two niche all-racing cable television channels, TVG and/or HRTV, in order to see any of these elite races.

That’s funny. I could have sworn that ESPN promised more racing on TV, not less, when they convinced Breeders’ Cup execs to switch their championship event coverage from their inaugural media partner, the network giant NBC, over to ESPN’s family of sports-related cable networks. Ah, yes. Here was the exact quote, from April 2005:

“The Breeders’ Cup agreement ushers in a new era for thoroughbred horse racing on ESPN, reflecting our increased commitment to the sport,” said Mark Shapiro, ESPN executive vice president of programming and production.

As it turns out, Mr. Shapiro left ESPN less than six months after making that statement. Not long afterward, EPSN dropped its weekly “Wire To Wire” racing program. And, in its first broadcast of the Breeders’ Cup, in 2006, ESPN lost 50% of the television audience that NBC had attracted in 2005, marking the lowest-ever Breeders’ Cup viewership in 23 years. In 2009, ESPN even canceled its coverage of the Kentucky Oaks, while saying the network “still has a great commitment to horse racing.” Ooo-kay.

Back in 2005, ESPN officials also forgot to mention that their live horse racing broadcasts would often be pre-empted — or, worse, shown tape-delayed or not at all — in favor of such scintillating cable network “sports” coverage as women’s bowling matches, college hockey games and the Little League World Series — all events which I’ve personally had to suffer through while waiting for ESPN or ESPN 2 or ESPN 300 (how many channels do they own, anyway?) to dole out their measly television coverage of a national racing event.

But that’s a topic for another day. Right now, I’m just frustrated that my horse-loving mom, who does not subscribe to either HRTV or TVG, and who lives nowhere near a racetrack or simulcast facility, did not get to see the resplendent Rachel Alexandra make history again this weekend, just as she did not get to see her record-breaking Kentucky Oaks victory, thanks to ESPN’s programming decisions.

How many other potential racing fans did we lose this weekend?

JULY 30, 2009

Another day, another death

I hate to turn this blog into a Del Mar Death Count, but I am truly starting to get alarmed by the daily news coming out of the oceanside track. Another horse suffered a fatal injury this morning during training hours, and it was a runner by another one of our Showcase stallions. His name was Pocosin’s Game Boy, and he was one of the highest lifetime earners for the California sire Game Plan. This was no pansy pony. He was a hard-trying sort who won or placed in 17 of his 25 races and who earned more than $230,000, mostly in allowance company, and always with a spirit that conjured up his middle name: “Game.”

To set the record straight: I am a lover of horses first, and a lover of horse racing second. Often, these two passions conflict, as they do for many other animal lovers who invest their hearts, and their lives, in this sport.

There are hundreds and hundreds of Thoroughbreds which we follow on a daily basis here at Thoroughbred Information Agency — sons and daughters of our Showcase stallions whose progress we track and report on each stallion’s website, and whose successes we promote through individualized news articles. But they are more to us than just faceless names on a computer screen. We root for them all, and we can’t help but get attached. So, when one of them goes down, well, it starts to get personal.

I cannot imagine what the losses must feel like for the human connections of the seven horses who have lost their lives at the nine-day-old Del Mar meet. The question is: Is the number high enough for those in charge to take a serious look at what exactly is causing the carnage?

JULY 29, 2009

Make that six...

Oops. The official body count at Del Mar for 2009 is actually six horses, not five, as I mentioned yesterday (see my July 28 entry, below). It turns out another 2-year-old suffered a front leg injury during a morning work on the main Polytrack surface back on July 23, but unfortunately could not be saved.

Racing journalist Tracy Gantz uncovered this fatality and other interesting behind-the-scenes information today in a timely article she wrote for The Blood-Horse.

Hoping for better days ahead during the remaining six weeks at Del Mar.

JULY 28, 2009

What is going on at Del Mar?

The 2009 race meet, less than a week old, has already experienced five fatal breakdowns: four on the Polytrack main surface, and one on the turf course. Three of the fatalities have occurred in view of an afternoon full house of racing fans, many of whom are vacationing, first-time racegoers who are likely not to return — ever — after witnessing such a horrific scene. The other two deaths took place during morning works, the latest of which happened today, when the 4-year-old filly Maggie and Hopie, a winning, California-bred daughter of Showcase stallion Lit de Justice, suffered a catastrophic fracture while running in the homestretch and had to be euthanized.

Her exercise rider, Jorge Soto, was taken to the hospital, according to Daily Racing Form’s Jay Privman. This is the same hospital where leading rider Rafael Bejarano underwent facial surgery just last week after being trampled when his horse, the 8-year-old Group 2 winner Mi Rey (Arg), broke down badly in the stretch in front of a record-breaking crowd of nearly 45,000.

Horse racing is hard-pressed to overcome any more bad publicity at a time like this. One needs only to read the “comments” section of any Del Mar article on the San Diego Union-Tribune website to have the point driven home, loud and clear, that many in the general public believe racing to be cruel, and are actually calling for the sport to be banned. The anti-racing voices are getting louder and more vicious each time a death is reported.

Is Del Mar just unlucky, or is something else to blame?

JULY 25, 2009

CHEERS & JEERS For The Week Of July 20

CHEERS!

To: Magali Farms

For: Earning recognition as TOBA’s Breeder of the Year for California

Congratulations to Rich and Gaby Sulpizio, whose Magali Farms will be honored as Breeder of the Year for California by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA) during an awards ceremony at Keeneland on September 10!

Magali joins 28 other farms in the U.S. and Canada as 2009 award recipients. On September 11, TOBA’s National Awards Dinner at Spendthrift Farm will reveal other major honors, such as National Breeder of the Year, National Small Breeder of the Year, Regional Owners of the Year and National Owner of the Year.

Located in California’s tranquil Santa Ynez Valley, Magali Farms is a 238-acre, full-service breeding and training facility. The farm’s success is due in equal parts to their many hard-working staff members and to their top-quality stallion roster, which currently includes the Showcase sires Atticus, Decarchy, Event of the Year, Good Journey, Lit de Justice and Ten Most Wanted.

Way to go, Magali! We’ll be rooting for you to bring one of TOBA’s biggest prizes home to California in September.

JEERS!

To: Breeders’ Cup

For: Doing their darnedest to keep the sport unattainable

Whoever is in charge over at the Breeders’ Cup organization needs to get a serious reality check. Did you hear they announced something called the “Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge,” which will make its debut during this year’s championship event at Santa Anita? Hey, that sounds pretty good, right? What a great way to introduce some new folks to horse racing, and maybe even offer a seminar or two at the track along with handicapping tips.

Oh, wait. Read the fine print. That’s right, their brand-new handicapping tournament requires a $10,000 buy-in. $10,000! As in, a one followed by a whole bunch of zeros. The contest is limited to the first 100 well-heeled players who enter, and there’s a non-refundable $500 deposit required.

Who on earth can afford to participate in a pricey event like this, smack-dab in the middle of the worst economic recession many of us have ever had the displeasure of suffering through?

Horse racing is fueled by the $2 bettors, and the casual fans who want to take their hard-earned $100 to a local track for a day of outdoor fun with their family, and who want to come away with some good memories, and perhaps even some modest winnings. With its uncanny knack for focusing on the absolute wrong ways to promote Thoroughbred racing to the public at large (the ridiculous, and sexist, concept of Ladies Day and pumped-up ticket prices for a bloated two-day event being prime examples), the Breeders’ Cup organization appears to have lost sight of its primary — and potential — audience a long, long time ago.

JULY 17, 2009

CHEERS & JEERS For The Week Of July 13

CHEERS!
To: Animal Planet
For: Renewing — and expanding — its horse racing programming

Kudos to the Discovery Channel’s Animal Planet network for announcing the second season of its popular television program “Jockeys” will not only begin on August 21, but will be expanded from its half-hour format to a new, full-hour edition.

Sure, I have a few problems with this so-called “reality” show and its eyebrow-raising editing tactics (such as the constant misspelling of horses’ names, re-recording Trevor Denman’s race calls to dumb them down for a non-racing audience, getting the timeline of the 2009 Breeders’ Cup events all mixed up, etc.), and I really wish they would change their tasteless show slogan that focuses on the inherent dangers of the sport (“Win Or Die Trying”) to something less…oh, I don’t know…ambulance-chasing. But I do have to say that our household found itself looking increasingly forward to each week’s episode during its first season last spring, especially after the series stopped trying to grab casual viewers with shock value and got down to some actual story-telling. That, and the producers were smart enough to realize that young Joe Talamo is a bona fide television star in the making.

Besides, in an embattled industry where most elements are shrinking (see below), it’s welcome news to hear that one is actually expanding. Thank you, Animal Planet.

JEERS!

JULY 10, 2009

CHEERS & JEERS For The Week Of July 6

CHEERS!
To: Our Showcase Stallions

For: Setting off fireworks during the Fourth of July holiday weekend

Several of the stallions in our Showcase combined for an explosive weekend of racing all across the country from July 3-5. Three of these sires sent out stakes winners: Atticus was represented by his dual stakes-winning daughter Strawberry Tart at Hollywood Park, Lit de Justice achieved his 20th lifetime stakes winner via Joni’s Justice at Canterbury Park and Vronsky notched his first stakes winner when his undefeated colt Excessive Passion dominated a juvenile black-type race in Northern California. Also notable were stakes placings by offspring of Cahill Road (Wasserman at Emerald Downs) and Perfect Mandate (Run Brother Ron at Mountaineer).

The exclusive articles about these stakes accomplishments are being published in our Showcase Updates section all week long. Congratulations!

JEERS!
To: NYRA Executives

For: Ridiculing racing at Del Mar

The East Coast strikes again! Instead of spending their time and dollars to promote their own troubled product, two executives representing the New York Racing Association allegedly used the occasion of a recent press conference in Albany, New York that was set up to preview the 2009 Saratoga meet to instead belittle West Coast racing. During the event, NYRA President Charlie Hayward referred to Del Mar as the “minor league Saratoga of the West.” Taking the cue from his leader, NYRA Chief Operating Officer Hal Handel apparently referred to Del Mar as “our Triple A affiliate.” Both of these unprovoked and downright tacky comments from officials who should know better were reported by blogger John Pricci in his July 1 commentary entitled ‘Provincialism Taking a Toll on Rachel, Zenyatta Match.’

And people wonder why we West Coasters are always so defensive about our racing. Call me crazy, but I’ve been to the beaches at both Coney Island and La Jolla, and guess what? The beautiful Pacific Ocean wins, no contest. Plus, the last time I checked the history books, Seabiscuit did beat War Admiral. Too bad that famous upset of West Coast skill over East Coast elitism didn’t stem the tide of snide, territorial comments with which we continue to be barraged.

JULY 3, 2009

In a rare “Battle of the Baby Brothers” at Hollywood Park yesterday, the half-sibling to 2005/2006 California Horse of the Year Lava Man outran the half-sibling to 2007 California Horse of the Year Nashoba’s Key. There were eight horses entered in the $51,200 allowance optional claiming race, but the stretch run of the one-mile turf test belonged to the two runners whose pedigrees set them far apart from the field.

In the end, it was Enriched, a 4-year-old High Brite half-brother to the seven-time Grade 1 winner and $5,268,706-earner Lava Man, who looked — dare I say it — more than a little like his older brother when he got that big, dark body rolling in the final turn and ate up the remaining ground with gusto to post his second consecutive victory. His time, 1:33.80, came within a second of endangering the course record. Not bad for only his fifth career outing.

Congratulations to my good friend Carol Lingenfelter, the owner and breeder of Enriched who raised Lava Man at her Poplar Meadows farm in Sanger. Carol was also the longtime owner of their dam, 2006/2007 California Broodmare of the Year Li’l Ms. Leonard, and gave Enriched his name because of all the joy and fulfillment the retired champion’s family has brought her through the years.

Running a game second, 1 1/4 lengths behind Enriched, was the 2-1 favorite and third-time starter, Nashoba Express. This 3-year-old colt is an In Excess (Ire) half-brother to the three-time Grade 1 winner and $1,252,090-earner Nashoba’s Key, who died tragically last year from injuries she suffered in a barn accident. Nashoba Express is owned by breeder Warren Williamson, who also campaigned Nashoba’s Key.

JUNE 29, 2009

CHEERS & JEERS For The Week Of June 29

CHEERS!
To: The Connections of Zenyatta

For: Treating this undefeated mare, and her many fans, with dignity and respect. Not only have Jerry and Ann Moss, along with trainer John Shirreffs, kept the world updated of her progress through regular YouTube video postings, they invited everyday fans who were toting handmade pro-Zenyatta signs into the Hollywood Park winner’s circle after her repeat victory in the Grade 1 Vanity Handicap on June 27. Bonus points go to these folks for wisely avoiding the temptation to chase a 3-year-old filly around the country this fall (see below) and, instead, focusing on the greater task at hand: to win another Breeders’ Cup race and, hopefully, retire as the rarest of all Thoroughbreds: an unbeaten champion.

If Zenyatta wins out the year, she also has a chance to surpass 2002 Eclipse Horse of the Year Azeri (another West Coast Wondermare) as North America’s richest female earner of all time, with a career bankroll exceeding $4 million. Go Big Z!

JEERS!
To: The Connections of Rachel Alexandra

For: Announcing, in no uncertain terms, that the country’s top 3-year-old filly will not participate in this year’s Breeders’ Cup World Championships, simply because it is being held on an all-weather racing surface that is derided as “plastic.” For the sake of the tens of thousands of horse racing fans who will be paying top dollar to attend our sport’s designated year-end championship event in November, I sincerely hope her new owner, Jess Jackson, will reconsider his decision, as he ultimately did with his Curlin last year. As I recall, Curlin received a warm wave of applause from the appreciative Santa Anita crowd after he finished fourth — a tired fourth (and one not caused at all by the Pro-Ride racing surface, but by his ambitious 2007/2008 schedule) — in last year’s Classic. He also ended up receiving the 2008 Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year, despite his Breeders’ Cup loss.

Although her owner says he does not want to “risk” running his star filly in California, it should be noted that the 2008 Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita marked the first time since 2004 that a horse was not severely injured and subsequently euthanized in front of a worldwide television audience while running in a Breeders’ Cup race. That kind of positive statistic is vital in keeping our industry afloat in the court of public opinion.

So what’s the real risk in sending Rachel to the Breeders’ Cup this year, Mr. Jackson?

JUNE 22, 2009

CHEERS & JEERS For The Week Of June 22

CHEERS!
To: Churchill Downs

For: Attracting more than 28,000 fans to the track’s first-ever nighttime race card on Friday, June 19. Heck, we’ve run under the lights for years at Hollywood Park (and look where that has gotten us; the wrecking ball is on the horizon) but, hey, much credit goes to the 134-year-old Kentucky landmark for at least trying something new to fill their historic grandstand anyway.

JEERS!
To: Churchill Downs

For: Refusing to announce handle figures for its daily racing product, including its inaugural “Downs After Dark” event. How are we supposed to gauge if the “success” of this marketing ploy actually puts any money into the pockets of horsemen, rather than just benefiting the track and its (reportedly) overwhelmed concession stands?

JUNE 20, 2009

Sometimes I think I’m kidding myself, and that there’s not an East Coast bias in horse racing. But then something invariably comes along to dredge up those thoughts yet again.

In their rush to crown Einstein (Brz) as The Next Best Thing, a couple of prominent turf writers assumed the 7-year-old veteran would win the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs last weekend in a cakewalk, thereby equaling California-bred Lava Man’s unique record of being the only horse in history to win Grade 1 races on dirt, turf and all-weather racing surfaces. The headlines, such as “Einstein set for historic result,” stopped just short of predicting an easy victory.

In fact, Jason Shandler of “The Blood-Horse” went so far as to write the following: “Lava Man is the only horse to have won Grade 1 races on all three surfaces, but he did it over the course of three seasons.”

Wrong.

Lava Man, a seven-time Grade 1 winner and $5.2-million earner overall, won the Grade 1 Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap on turf on June 10, 2006, the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup and Grade 1 Pacific Classic on dirt in subsequent starts over the next two months and the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup on Cushion Track on June 30, 2007. In other words, it took the Cal-bred less than 13 months to set the triple-surface standard — not three entire seasons, as Shandler inaccurately reported.

As fate would have it, Einstein encountered traffic in the Churchill stretch and ultimately ran third in his fourth lifetime attempt to secure an elusive Grade 1 dirt victory, and Lava Man’s extraordinary record remained intact for yet another race. But the way the whole episode was generally reported still left a bad taste in my mouth.

Don’t get me wrong; I adore Einstein. I have cheered him on for a couple of years now via television and I stood near the winner’s circle and applauded for him after his connections exhibited sportsmanship by shipping him west to win the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap earlier this year. Heck, I even gave him my Eclipse Award vote for 2008 Champion Male Turf Horse (see my January 24, 2009 entry, below). But classy old Einstein has yet to accomplish the same remarkable hat trick that Lava Man, now retired at Showcase member Magali Farms in Santa Ynez, did two years ago.

It would be nice if the media wouldn’t be so hasty to bestow historical accomplishments on those who haven’t earned it (“Dewey Defeats Truman,” anyone?). And it would be nice for California’s beloved Lava Man, who was so often maligned by East Coasters during his racing career, to finally get the credit he richly deserves.

It often makes me wonder what his reception is going to be like if, and when, Lava Man is finally sent to the Old Friends retirement farm in Kentucky, the heart of East Coast racing. It’s a real shame the two-time California Horse of the Year and third-highest Cal-bred earner of all time won’t have a permanent residence here in his home state, the site of his Grade 1 dirt/turf/all-weather trifecta and home to the vast majority of his real fans who supported him every step along his journey.

MAY 28, 2009

One year ago today, California lost an unforgettable champion: the enigmatic Nashoba’s Key.

As beautiful as she was tenacious, the 2007 California Horse of the Year and Eclipse Award finalist was taken from us suddenly and inexplicably — not as the result of a tragic racing incident or a training mishap, but during an otherwise quiet morning spent in her outdoor pen at Hollywood Park, where she was enjoying a brief respite in anticipation of an ambitious fall campaign.

The 25th annual Breeders’ Cup World Championships was going to be held in her Southern California backyard that year. Surely she would have merited a favorite’s chance in either the $2 million Ladies’ Classic (G1) or the $2 million Filly & Mare Turf (G1); she had, after all won Grade 1 events on both courses at Santa Anita Park already, en route to compiling her lifetime record of eight wins from 10 starts and $1,252,090 in earnings. Her bankroll was already big enough to rank fifth-highest among all California-bred distaffers in history, and 30th among all California-breds of both genders. She was just getting started, and would have undoubtedly climbed higher on that elite list.

But none of that was to be. On May 28, 2008, the feisty California champion kicked the wall of her pen, fracturing her left hind leg in a freak accident which left no choice but to permanently ease her pain, and which left her connections and her fans devastated. The news was especially shocking since the 5-year-old Silver Hawk mare was clearly in the prime of her life, not unlike poor Eight Belles had been only four weeks earlier, when she died on the track at Churchill Downs after finishing second in the country’s most revered horse race.

I had always remarked, when Nashoba’s Key was alive and I was lucky enough to take part in some of her winner’s circle celebrations, how lovely her head was. She possessed a spirited eye, a distinctive white blaze and a regal carriage which somehow fit her athletic abilities. I always said she looked like an artist had carved her onto canvas.

Fortunately, an artist did do just that. Our good friend Marcie Heacox created a striking image of this mare while she was racing — one which we admired enough to adapt it into our official logo for Thoroughbred Information Agency when we took over the company late last year. Today, Nashoba’s Key is remembered on every page of our website, there in the bottom left corner. It’s the least we could do to commemorate this unforgettable champion who brought joy, and, ultimately, sadness, to so many.

The fates provided their own nod to the one-year anniversary of her passing earlier this week: on May 24, her 3-year-old half-brother Nashoba Express broke his maiden in fine fashion on the Hollywood Park turf, not far from the spot where the fates cruelly decided to take his sister for themselves. Appropriately enough, her baby brother’s first career victory came on Memorial Day weekend.

MAY 25, 2009

Well, the newsstand sales for the May 11 issue must have been brisk...!

Only two weeks after "Sports Illustrated" featured the longshot winner of the 2009 Kentucky Derby (G1) on its cover (see my May 6 entry, below), horse racing again garnered some prime real estate on the cover of the magazine's May 25 issue. It took Rachel Alexandra breaking an 85-year-old, all-boy tradition in the Preakness Stakes (G1) to get her lovely mug (and Calvin's animated one) on the front of this major sports publication, but by gosh, there she is.

Sure, the image (in the top right corner) is rather small. But it's a compelling one, with both horse and rider coming right at the reader. Plus, any time a Thoroughbred is considered newsworthy enough to be featured alongside such popular modern sports icons as baseball's Randy Johnson, the newly minted NBA MVP LeBron James and the much-admired Olympian Michael Phelps, it's a step in the right direction.

So, thanks, "SI." And please do keep it up. Those of us who have been bitten by the racing bug — and who somehow manage to carve a living out of this rollercoaster industry — really appreciate all of the mainstream publicity we can get.

P.S. Would it be too much to ask for a Zenyatta centerfold next week?

MAY 16, 2009

Over the past few weeks, while the attention of the entire Thoroughbred racing industry has been squarely focused on Triple Crown mania, some pretty sobering headlines have quietly made the news:

• Santa Anita Park To Go On Auction Block
  
• Hollywood Park Project Gets Key Approval
  
• Governor Wants To Sell Del Mar Fairgrounds

Surely I am not the only one alarmed — or paranoid — enough to take a moment away from the Kentucky Derby/Preakness/Belmont fun to be worried about these dire possibilities. In plain, black-and-white terms, the existence of every major racetrack in Southern California is now being threatened.

We provide links to these articles, and more daily news, in the "Western Newsbeat" section of our website. But why isn't there an industry outcry that our very existence is endangered? Perhaps everyone is too busy being mesmerized by the plights of Mine That Bird and Rachel Alexandra, or perhaps everyone has just decided that racing in California is not worth fighting for.

Let's review.

As we have known for a few years now, Inglewood city officials and opportunistic land developers have had their local bulldozer drivers waiting on standby, as they have salivated at the opportunity to demolish historic Hollywood Park. Adding insult to injury for the racing industry, the developers had the gall to name their proposed retail/residential complex "Hollywood Park Tomorrow," which actually begs the question: How can there be a Hollywood Park tomorrow, if Hollywood Park itself is destroyed? (And gee, doesn't the Hollywood Park Tomorrow logo look familiar?)

Then there's the Magna mess. The company's ongoing bankruptcy proceedings mean that glorious Santa Anita Park is now on the auction block. I'd like to believe that the city of Arcadia takes too much pride in its gem to allow it to be destroyed too, but it's been more than three years since the exciting Shops At Santa Anita project was announced, and it has been met with enough local resistance that this magnificent add-on, which would provide a vital community anchor to the racetrack, hasn't even broken ground in Santa Anita's vast, empty parking lot yet.

And if all that wasn't enough to make you want to pull your hair out and/or beg for mercy, the California governor came along this week and proposed selling the prime property upon which beloved Del Mar is located, simply because it is worth too much money — money that he and his cronies can put toward balancing their failed state budget, rather than continuing to grant California taxpayers the "extravagance" of watching horses going around and around in a circle every summer. The mind reels at the thought of having no more turf by that famous surf.

With the economy in the toilet, and no 100% guarantee that there will even be a major racing venue in Southern California in the very near future, I certainly can't blame anyone for not breeding their mares this year, for not patronizing the Barretts sales or for not keeping their horses in training. The latter action has already forced our tracks to reduce their live racing dates this year, getting us into an even deeper financial hole. Why should California Thoroughbred breeders and owners invest in the future, if the very real possibility looms that there will be no future?

After all, who can say with complete confidence that Del Mar, Hollywood and Santa Anita won't soon go the way of poor Bay Meadows, leaving nothing but a trash heap and a near-century of racing memories behind?

MAY 6, 2009

If a picture is worth a thousand words, could this picture be worth a thousand new fans?

It has been five long years since the plucky Smarty Jones graced the cover of the bellwether magazine “Sports Illustrated” — five long years since the unlikely Pennsylvania-bred won the Kentucky Derby on a muddy strip and captured the general public’s imagination on his way to Pimlico and a shot at the Triple Crown.

In between those long drinks of water, racehorses have come and gone, great ones such as Curlin, Zenyatta, Rags to Riches, Lava Man and Big Brown. Each of them had stories to tell, stories that are now familiar to those of us inside the racing industry. But none of these truly remarkable horses were featured so prominently, beckoning for newsstand attention from the general public, until now. I guess it’s true, then, that America — or at least the American media — loves a longshot. And now they have one to grab onto in the shape of a small, brown 50-1 Kentucky Derby winner.

I am not a “Sports Illustrated” subscriber, nor am I a regular reader. But five years ago, I went out and bought a copy of the magazine’s Smarty Jones issue as a collector’s item, just as I did in November 2004, after the hapless Boston Red Sox finally broke their 86-year drought and miraculously won the World Series. Both magazines are now safely tucked away as keepsakes, and who knows? Maybe they’ll be worth a few extra dollars sometime in the future. This week, I’ll do the same with Mine That Bird’s May 11, 2009 issue.

Wouldn’t it be a tremendous show of support if each of us in the racing industry spent a few dollars this week to make this issue a top seller? Perhaps it would encourage the powers-that-be at “Sports Illustrated” to feature the Derby winner, or a Breeders’ Cup winner, on its cover every year as a new tradition. Perhaps that could, then, draw more new fans to our struggling sport.

And perhaps it wouldn’t take five long years of waiting for another mud-drenched longshot to capture the public’s imagination again.

APRIL 29, 2009

The Cal-breds put on quite a show during the 10th annual California Gold Rush program at Hollywood Park last Saturday. It’s too bad hardly anyone was there to see it.

Consisting of 10 state-bred stakes races (six of them offering black-type opportunities) and total purses of more than $1.3 million, the event itself went off without a hitch. Those of us who did attend were treated to beautiful weather, plenty of wagering options and, most importantly, safe journeys by the 91 horses who competed, with only one horse being vanned off after a finish for undetermined reasons.

Several of our Showcase stallions sent out the day’s biggest winners, as well as some runners who earned stakes placings: Lit de Justice, Poteen and Unusual Heat. We were also fortunate to witness a breakthrough performance by Compari, a talented son of the Showcase stallion Redattore (Brz) who won the feature race, the $250,000 Snow Chief Stakes for 3-year-olds, in only his third career start.

The problem with this year’s Gold Rush, however, was that the grandstands were a ghost town. Only 7,693 racing fans passed through the turnstiles this year, marking the lowest attendance in the event’s 10-year history, and more than 50% off the event’s record high of 16,205 fans, who attended Gold Rush back in 2002. Indeed, attendance has gone down every year, except one, since Gold Rush greeted 16,020 fans in 2000, its inaugural year. On-track handle was down this year as well, coming in at just over $2 million for its lowest event wagering total in history, and less than half the record $4.2 million that was wagered on-track during Gold Rush in 2001.

Another telltale sign of the times is that Gold Rush was presented without a major title sponsor when Cal National, the event’s chief underwriter since 2005, withdrew its support.

Our table of six included a young couple who were attending the horse races for the first time, and who really enjoyed the experience, betting on every single race and even going home with some winnings. But our dining table was only one out of four occupied tables in the vast Terrace seating area; the rest of them sat completely empty. In fact, the entire place would have been a complete dead zone if it weren’t for a group of 50 or so ladies who happened to be attending a baby shower in the upper seating area. Where did everyone go this year?

On the positive side, the Hollywood Park wait staff were extremely courteous and there was no line at the delicious buffet or at the mutuel windows — some benefits of not having to contend with a crowd. Jay Cohen, the official track bugler-slash-greeter, also did his part, as he always does, to make our guests feel special with a personal visit.

So, was it just the nose-diving economy that kept folks away this year? Or was it the lack of a marquee horse? Perhaps it was the $80 ticket price for the CTBA-hosted party we attended, or even the murky future of Hollywood Park that kept the seats empty.

Whatever the reason, it will be interesting to see if the next big event for Cal-breds — California Cup XX at Santa Anita Park in October — suffers the same fate. For the sake of our local Thoroughbred industry, I certainly hope that’s not the case.

APRIL 22, 2009

Ever wonder what it's like to be in the driver's seat of a slick, black Ferrari, with nothing but an open track in front of you and no speed limit signs posted?

Thanks to John Shirreffs, now we can all find out.

The affable trainer, a YouTube aficionado who saddled the amazing Zenyatta to a perfect seven-for-seven championship campaign last year, outfitted jockey Mike Smith with a video camera to record the big mare's six-furlong work at Hollywood Park on April 19. The results are breathtaking.

Those of us who are fortunate enough to spend time in the saddle will recognize the familiar sights and sounds of this most rewarding relationship between horse and rider, which has been captured so precisely on this videoclip: peering at the path in front of us through a pair of constantly flicking ears, finding joy in the mutual shadow that travels on the ground silently alongside us and, ultimately, hearing that rhythmic, locomotive sound of the wind whipping by as our loyal companion carries us, BAH-DAH-BUM, BAH-DAH-BUM, to destinations both known and unknown.

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association should take a big clue from John's low-tech experiment. Can you imagine how many everyday horse lovers across America would be instantly drawn to Thoroughbred racing if the powers-that-be would simply hitch Mike up with a helmet-cam when he rides Chocolate Candy — a closer, who will likely have the entire herd galloping in front of him early — in the Kentucky Derby next weekend?

APRIL 4, 2009

With all of the dreary headlines clouding the Thoroughbred racing industry these days, it was encouraging to find at least one silver lining today at Santa Anita.

Thanks to heavy advertising efforts, promotional giveaways and some glorious weekend weather, Santa Anita greeted more fans for today's Santa Anita Derby card than in 2008. The official on-track headcount in 2009 is 50,915, compared to the 50,358 racing fans who attended the 71st running of the $750,000 race last year. In fact, 2008 Santa Anita Derby day was the most well-attended day of all during the track's 2007-2008 Winter/Spring Meet, and today's total eclipsed it.

A slight increase of "only" 557 fans might not seem a lot at first glance, but let's put it in perspective.

In New York today, Aqueduct hosted the East Coast's most prestigious prep for the Kentucky Derby: the $750,000 Wood Memorial (which was won, incidentally, in remarkable fashion by the California-based colt I Want Revenge). As the pitiful photo that accompanies this "Blood-Horse" article depicts, few were there in the empty Aqueduct grandstand to witness the 85th running of the Wood Memorial in person. Only 7,209 diehards made the trek — that's less than 15% of the audience that turned out at Santa Anita for the West Coast's major Kentucky Derby prep. 

Aqueduct handicappers wagered $1,688,266 in on-track handle, compared to the $5,606,698 in on-track handle wagered today at Santa Anita. The 2008 Santa Anita Derby day on-track handle was $5,080,701 — indicating another sign of improvement this year, especially considering the fact that the morning-line favorite for the 2009 Santa Anita Derby, The Pamplemousse, and two other runners were scratched just hours before the big race.

Despite everything else that's going on, it's nice to see that horse racing in Southern California can still attract a crowd. Literally.