Gathering the wind

On luck, hope and dead cat bounces

2009-08-18T05:45:00.001-05:00

The funny thing with being in "The Zone" is, you almost never have a genuine opportunity to take advantage of it.

I don't know, nor do I care to recall, how many times I've walked around "feeling it." When all the lights turn green; every last second three point shot rewards you as it rattles home in the bottom of the garbage bin; you find money in your pants and on the street; you glissade the Giant Slalom of expressway traffic, seeing six moves ahead, smoother than Kjetil Andre Aamodt. It is your day and all the planets have aligned, attaching their ephemeral cosmic thread to your nescient ass...

...and it's a dark day at Arlington.

Yesterday was such a day.

You can't force the issue; you can't hold on to The Zone. You also can't give yourself a nickname but try telling that to my friend "Hammer", all 6'3", 148lbs of him. Come on!

But I digress...

Then there is the quiet denouement. When you know it has passed you by but before you are subject to paroxysms of flatulence in front of a pretty girl; the sun once again traversing its ecliptic; the mechanism disengages, light and sound envelop you. You find yourself, once again, down here with everybody else.

Fortuna. She is fickle with her charms; exiguous with her visits.

But when she is with you, it's a good ride.

Stirring

2009-06-30T13:00:00.004-05:00

Loss and regret bring existence into stark relief.

Imalexus broke her maiden a few weeks ago and within twenty-four hours my world caved in on me; absolutely nothing has mattered since. Blackwatch Stables is no more; Imalexus was claimed a few weeks later. Those two events are mutually exclusive.

Pretense and ego fall away when what one believes true is ripped from the sanctuary of home. I was a fool; enamored with my hubris, I wasted away everything that truly mattered until it was gone. How easily everything becomes ancillary and those extremities are severed when true loss blindsides you.

The soul is laid bare on life's stage and there is no exit. How painfully I look back, now, piercing through the veil of ignorance and selfishness I wore. I spent too much time on this game thinking it could make me whole; dreaming on clouds of fancy; Ozymandian in my vision; neglecting the absolute gift I already had, the wealth of nations at my doorstep. A king's ransom the likes of which has never been seen nor likely ever will be, since the sharing is the true gift.

I visited Arlington today; the first time in months I could bring myself to even care about horse racing. The day overcast and cold, the sun hidden and sullen; as if this place I foolishly called home knows it can no longer be that for me. I am still welcome and can shelter here from time to time but the comfort I mistakenly thought I could find here was somewhere else all along.

The horses still run, as they always do, and there is comfort in that. The faces are familiar and the flow of the day is wonted. The stubborn consistency of this game, today, is welcome; I am even wearing my coffee again. Not five minutes after I arrive, I am pierced by the loose horse siren but mercifully see nothing.

The drumming beat of hooves, that I thought was the tempo of my life, is now a poor substitute to the cadence I know I lost to pride. The beat I had is gone and I can no longer find my rhythm. Not having with whom to share this leaves a bitter taste and a dead, hollow echo.

In the dying embers of my cigar I lose the desire to stay; they haven't even started the renovation break.

As I leave the track , the sun breaks out and pours itself on the green. For that moment, Arlington is once again a promise. It won't ever be the same; nothing in this world remains constant. It changes, as all things do, inexorably becoming what we need them to become, as we dance like dust specks in the last of the light, drifting on our own eddies.

I am not yet ready to find my way back and I no longer know that I care enough to try but there is an exquisite pain in loss and redemption.

Empty words and failed promises are all I have left.

For now, they will have to be enough, because the horses do still run.

Becalmed

2009-03-31T14:25:00.002-05:00

Adrift in the horse latitudes, an albatross around my neck, I find myself lacking anything of value to contribute; not for a lack of material, just inspiration. As Coleridge wrote and Iron Maiden covered:

Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.

I am furling my sails for now, content to outlast this malaise.

Down dropt the breeze,
The sails dropt down,
'Twas sad as sad could be;
And we did speak only to break
The silence of the sea!

All in a hot and copper sky,
The bloody Sun, at noon,
Right up above the mast did stand,
No bigger than the Moon.
Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.

There are a plethora of quality blogs at the TBA homepage. Brooklyn Backstretch is a must read, whether you care about NYRA or not. HANA is making inroads in letting the industry know the bettor is a force to be reckoned with(I am late in getting this out but there will be other events. Watch this space). Railbird 2.0 is back with a vengeance and the game is better for it.

Opinions are diverse but a fundamental right. Bloggers, journalists, industry insiders and casual fans all have something to add; it just takes someone to listen, respectfully. I have not done much of that and am taking myself out of the game.

Read, read a lot, educate yourself...about anything. This game is old and will endure but it could be so much more. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

"Racing in the United States is now so big an operation that it may be endangered by its own size. It sprawls and grows bigger and bigger, and there is no possibility of intelligent centralized growth or of its lesser problems. The challenge now is to make possible, through access to information, intelligent decisions at state and local levels. With adequate knowledge at hand, we should be able to salvage the best of our traditions and discard the worst of them. The folklore of yesterday is not a sound basis for the racing of tomorrow. This is the age of automation, and the time has come for automation in racing...Why is the population of this country so fascinated by baseball? Because it knows baseball and it knows baseball because organized information is always available."
-Joe Estes speaking at the Thoroughbred Club of America, 1962

I am done for now. To those of you who stopped by on occasion, I am humbled and grateful; to those who returned, well, that's your own fault. This was never intended as a forum or much of anything really and now it will rest.

Maybe someday I will resume, on a following sea; sails reefed and on a beam reach. Until then...

But soon there breathed a wind on me,
Nor sound nor motion made :
Its path was not upon the sea,
In ripple or in shade.

It raised my hair, it fanned my cheek
Like a meadow-gale of spring--
It mingled strangely with my fears,
Yet it felt like a welcoming.

Swiftly, swiftly flew the ship,
Yet she sailed softly too :
Sweetly, sweetly blew the breeze--
On me alone it blew.

Please continue to hold...

2009-03-26T15:34:00.003-05:00

Your call is very important to us. Your approximate wait time is...

Flashing lights everywhere

2009-03-24T10:57:00.001-05:00

This is too good to pass up.

How much would it cost, do you think, to wire up everyone at the NTRA, Jockey Club, state racing commissions, Magna and CDI?

Quick hit

2009-03-23T18:42:00.001-05:00

I have not been in the mood to do anything, as it pertains to posting or racing. I will snap out of it, maybe.

I just thought someone should pass this on to Alex Waldrop. Clock is ticking.

Betfair's end game?

2009-03-19T05:51:00.002-05:00

Jockeys are supposed to be amazing athletes. Imbued with a classical pianist's hands, an acrobat's poise, a longshoreman's strength and the self preservation of lemmings; they balance, on the balls of their feet; on a half-inch metal bar; on top of a 1000lb animal, moving close to forty miles an hour; while steering, jostling and whipping.

Blah, blah, blah...can they do it while twittering?

I want to know who is full of run. Who is riding at the 5/16_th pole? Who tucks in behind Chantal Sutherland just for the view?

Then I might be inclined to actually log on to my twitter account.

Flotsam and Jetsam

2009-03-18T16:36:00.005-05:00

Winstrol...it's what's for dinner.
Limiting your options...always a good idea.
In a footnote, Shepherd also questioned the authority's initial rationale that jockey advertising could challenge "the time-honored traditions and splendor of thoroughbred racing" for a race that itself is now sponsored by Yum! Brands.
Something you will never hear at CDI or Brisnet or DRF or....
“We could raise our prices to make money,” she said. “But that’s not in our mission statement.”
What if Stronach did this when Magna dies? Here is the link for the Injured Jockeys Fund(ht...MR)
With no heir, the late Herbert Blagrave, a philanthropic racing figure, left his family fortune to a trust, along with orders that the money should be spent on sick children, the elderly and injured jockeys.
Any US trainers that do something like this? (check the byline)
Rumor has it the BC is shopping around for a host track to replace Santa Anita this year, should the Magna situation take a shit. I'm just saying.

An appeal for virtue

2009-03-12T11:30:00.001-05:00

Practical wisdom is the combination of moral will and moral skill.
-Aristotle

In aviation, there is a maxim, 'You're only as good as your dumbest competitor.'

The race to the bottom is frantic and pervasive. Nobody is willing to charge what it actually costs to get that plane from point A to point B because the other guy is going to undercut you and take your market share, so the miasma of mediocrity suffuses the friendly skies.

The racing industry is no different.

Purses are nice and owners like them to be bigger. Handle covers purses but handle comes from bettors. Bettors like full fields because they provide value and need it in this game, burdened as it is with taxes. Tracks like big purses because they attract more horses and in theory increase handle but don't want to pay for them. The tracks, seeking a profit, thus might cut purses when handle declines. States and communities don't like tracks but they like taxing them; when receipts fall, governments, unable to balance a checkbook, seek to raise taxes to maintain revenue. There is no Pareto optimum.

We dance around the issues, ignoring the fact the music has stopped and the band is packing up. States and tracks cannibalize each other for that last scrap of handle. Casinos and slots are thrown around as the panacea and nobody is thinking of the fundamental problems. Transfusions only keep a bleeding patient alive for so long; eventually the blood runs out. The symptom needs to be addressed and yet, it is escaping the conversation.

Why is horse racing given short shrift? Because the perception of the industry is of an unethical group of social misfits, lying, stealing and drugging their way to the top.

The first thing to come to mind is gambling, and gambling translates to moral turpitude. For all intents and purposes, we might as well be on the deck of the Exxon Valdez; smoking a crack pipe, watching porn, clubbing baby seals-when we aren't injecting them with cobra venom, hoping to cash in on the natatory daily double.

The industry does itself no favors by perpetuating the stereotype and urging people to come out to the track and cash in on a longshot. Catering to the lowest common denominator is not a sustainable practice.

Instead of selling what is good and wholesome about the game, they peddle the exact product putting people off.

Buddhism teaches the Noble Eightfold Path. (I am sure there are other practices out there)

Right View
Right Intention
Right Speech
Right Action
Right Livelihood
Right Effort
Right Mindfulness
Right Concentration

Ray Anderson, Chairman and CEO of Interface, Inc., the worlds largest manufacturer of commercial floor coverings, describes his corporate identity change here.

" ... Business is the largest, wealthiest, most pervasive institution on Earth, and responsible for most of the damage. It must take the lead in directing the Earth away from collapse, and toward sustainability. ... "

If a manufacturing giant, dealing with chemicals and petroleum, can undertake the goal of creating a sustainable corporate culture, surely a pastoral game can do the same.

The Malden Mills factory burned down on December 11th 1995, CEO Aaron Feuerstein decided to not only use his insurance money to rebuild the factory, but also to continue paying the salaries of all the now-unemployed workers while the factory was being rebuilt. By going against common CEO business practices, especially at a time when most companies were downsizing and moving overseas, he achieved a small degree of fame. ^{[1] Wikipedia}

Will Magna do the same?

Money is fungible and while members of congress might not understand that concept, they do understand a sound bite. Perhaps changing the argument from 'We want slots to increase purses.' to 'We want slots to fund drug testing and after care for jockeys and thoroughbreds.' might grab their attention.

Tracks should be investing in recycling and green energy; sustainability is the new black.

Tracks should become corporate citizens, stewards of the community and develop outreach programs. The demographics, while discouraging at first blush, can be used to advantage. Institute programs where AARP members can host their meetings and receive discounts. Create big brother/sister days. Have the elderly partner with the next generation and learn from each other. Build yourself a future customer and the elderly can learn what ROFLMAO means.

Bring librarians to the track and put them to good use, showing you how to run a community resource on limited funds, while maybe cashing in the occasional exacta.

No politician is going to look good trying to raise taxes on, or shutting down, outreach centers.

Horses will still run and bettors will still curse the jockeys for getting shut off at the rail. The game will not change, but without some thought into what exactly racing is doing as an entity, it might just go away.

Formulator 2020

2009-03-12T07:20:00.002-05:00

You definitely need to see this. It's a game changer. (ht...MR)

Of course, the game needs to be around in ten years but...

Heels down!

2009-03-11T16:47:00.003-05:00

I had my second riding lesson today. We started jumping. I hope my wife is happy with the number of kids we have.

Illinois might soon allow online wagering. One argument against this:

Anita Bedell with Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction Problems says online gambling will lead to more people losing money, because people won't have to leave their homes to place bets.

Now I don't know about addiction but if your argument is people might lose money at home as opposed to anywhere else, maybe you shouldn't be arguing this case.

Ms. Bedell is obviously not an avid reader of HANA , Cangamble or the TBA.

Bedell says that the state should instead raise money by taxing racetracks.

332 more people who won't be making any breeders' sales this year.

Ten racing cards for ten bucks at DRF. Promo code tbablogs.

More jetsam than flotsam

2009-03-10T22:06:00.002-05:00

Proving yet again his deserved stewardship of Arlington's card, VP of Racing, Kevin Greely, created a $1.3 million overnight stakes program.

Arlington also needs a new track superintendent. With the Magna situation and racing at Turfway soon to dwindle to an enlarged prostate-like trickle, plenty of people should be available for the job.

The TBA has lost the free PP's from Brisnet but has signed an agreement with DRF to offer a discount to TBA readers. 10 cards for $10; just enter the promo coupon found on the TBA homepage, in the DRF banner (tbablogs).

With the Derby preps starting to come fast and furiously, what better time to take advantage-but call within the next twenty minutes, operators are standing by...

Illinois needs everyone to step up and stop this bill proposal.
Released by: Illinois Equine Humane Center, NFP

For Immediate Release:

Contact: Gail Vacca (815) 476-5257

March 9, 2009

Illinois Equine Welfare Organizations Unite to Denounce Proposed Repeal of Horse Slaughter Ban

Wilmington, IL (March 9, 2009) – In a joint statement issued today to the Illinois General Assembly, Illinois-based equine rescue organizations announced their united opposition to pending legislation that would repeal the state ban on horse slaughter enacted in 2007.

The Illinois Equine Humane Center (Wilmington), C.A.N.T.E.R. (Northern Illinois), Field of Dreams Horse Rescue & Adoption (St. Charles), Hooved Animal Humane Society (Woodstock), Mid America Horse Rescue (Millstadt), and the Society for Hooved Animals Rescue and Emergency (Champaign) are united in our opposition to HB 583 or any other attempt to re-establish horse slaughter in Illinois,” said Gail Vacca, President of the Illinois Equine Humane Center.

“It is very disturbing that those seeking to profit from the sale of horsemeat are once again trying to bring this cruel industry back to our state, and even more disturbing is the proposed “blood-money” amendment that has been offered to this bill,” added Vacca.

The amendment calls for a fee of $25 to be charged to the slaughterhouse for each horse slaughtered. The results of which would then be placed into a fund for eventual distribution to equine rescues for use in expanding their operations or for use in providing care to rescued horses.

“I speak for all of us in stating that none of our equine rescue organizations would ever accept a single penny from this fund. This is blood money, pure and simple. We wish to let our legislators know that no legitimate organization dedicated to equine welfare would ever accept money to save horses that was derived from the pain and suffering of other less fortunate horses,” said veterinarian and Executive Director of the Hooved Animal Humane Society, Dr. Patti Klein-Manke.

Margo Sutter, President of the Mid America Horse Rescue in Millstadt added, “if Illinois legislators are truly interested in equine welfare, we could think of a million ways they could help Illinois horses, none of which would involve their suffering and slaughter. The proposed repeal of the horse slaughter ban and the blood-money amendment are as distasteful as they are disingenuous.”

In closing their letter sent to the Illinois General assembly, the leaders of Illinois’ equine welfare and rescue organizations urged Members to vote “NO” on HB 583 and Amendment #001.

Gail Vacca, President - Illinois Equine Humane Center, NFP - http://www.ilehc.org/
Denise Fillo, Executive Director - CANTER Northern Illinois - http://www.canterusa.org/
Sue Balla, President - Field of Dreams Horse Rescue & Adoption - http://www.fodhra.org/
Dr. Patti Klein-Manke, Executive Director - Hooved Animal Humane Society - http://www.hahs.org/
Margo Sutter, President - Mid America Horse Rescue, NFP - http://www.mahrnfp.org/
Linda Hewerdine, President - Society for Hooved Animal Rescue and Emergency - http://www.s-h-a-r-e.net/

Barriers of entry

2009-03-10T13:16:00.002-05:00

Bill Pressey, at The Science of Horse Training, has a great post. It's a short post so I won't excerpt anything. Go ahead and read it, I'll wait.

I have also wondered about the implementation of Trakus or similar technologies and Brooklyn Backstretch kindly noted that NYRA dismissed the issue for cost related reasons.

How can the cost be this high?

I can put a lo jack in my dogs and have NORAD find their ass, no problem. Of course, no matter how far from my house I drop them off, they manage to find their way back.

Could it be, Equibase doesn't want this information readily available and open sourced? It would eliminate their stranglehold on this commodity. Just asking?

Google has to have an answer for this. They know what horse racing needs.

More dumb ideas

2009-03-10T12:53:00.002-05:00

I resumed my riding lessons this past weekend and must say, I don't see why there is such a big deal made of jockeys and how courageous they are for getting back up on a horse, after racing spills.

I was thrown at least six times yesterday-that the horse was not yet moving is irrelevant-and I got right back on...

My recent mornings at the track, watching workouts and just shuffling around, made me think tracks could offer the public a service. Offer riding lessons, at the track, with retired thoroughbreds.

The infield is just wasted space. Why not turn it into a riding course? Allow exercise riders to qualify, under some licensing program, as instructors; maybe Chris McCarron could incorporate this into his program. Maybe not exercise riders, maybe anyone interested.

Offer an apprenticeship program for trainers or exercise riders or what have you. Maybe there are individuals out there, not having grown up around horses, living in the city, dashing and bon vivant, interested in working with thoroughbreds. Maybe I they would take advantage of this.

Maybe the track could offer more than just high takeout rates.

Morning work pics..Kip Deville work video

2009-03-09T11:15:00.000-05:00

The tools of ignorance

Sitting close to the official clockers is insightful. No longer will I put as much weight on the listed times. I also know what trainers to avoid like the plague so I guess that makes us even.

Kip Deville getting ready to roll

I am waiting for the Super Duper Unique Rum

Apparently, one should not have six shots of espresso prior to filming; it may not be very good but at least it's blurry.

Live blogging morning works from GP

2009-03-09T06:31:00.009-05:00

Made it out to GP before sunrise, fully expecting to see Zito and Pletcher sending out their charges under cover of darkness, trying to sneak a sharp tightener in before the Florida Derby.

Apparently, they don't have a sleeper for the Derby or they are just smart enough not to wake up at oh dark thirty. I arrived before they harrowed the track. We'll see what happens.

The sun is beginning to peek through. Clear and a million.

I took an air traffic controller course in college, at least my transcript shows I did, tracking works and times is something akin to that. I am sitting close to the clockers and can hear the gate and whoever is announcing the workouts from the backstretch, calling out horse names and trainer as well as the work distance. Juggling the camera, laptop, blackberry(stopwatch) and the binocs is taxing my morning synapse relay.

I would post horses and their times but my reports would look a lot like...chestnut, running, spotted at the 1/16_th , timed the gallop out in :15.

As fun as this is, I am missing the whole morning, trying to be here. For you.

Mary Forney has a much better thing going. So does pretty much anyone else at the TBA.

I will sign off now, with the words of Todd Schrupp...'may all your workouts be bullets.'

Randy Moss on The Daily Show

2009-03-08T19:15:00.002-05:00

He shows up at 4:20. (You will need to sit through a media blitz from Philadelphia Cream Cheese.)

Tell me I'm wrong...Come on.

Breed the best to the best...and sell a naked put

2009-03-08T17:47:00.005-05:00

The two commercials from the Super Bowl I remember, because they were good and funny, involved Hyundai and Doritos.

While the breeding industry might just feel like hurling a magic eight ball at somebodies crotch right about now, the idea that prompted this post involves Hyundai.

A recent article in The Economist discusses Hyundai's innovative marketing strategy, prompting its increase in market share. (ht...MR)

...its market share in America has increased from 2.1% in January 2008 to 3.7% in January 2009, and the company is now gaining market share more quickly than any other carmaker in America. Besides the Genesis, Hyundai is also benefiting from a novel scheme, launched in January, in which it offers to buy back cars from customers who lose their jobs within a year of their purchase. (The company essentially offers a smaller discount and then uses the money to buy an insurance policy.) This has proved so successful in stimulating sales that General Motors said on March 3rd that it was considering a similar scheme.

Perhaps studs could offer incentive packages such as this to prospective breeders.

Instead of the buy back, which they could do as well, offer the breeder a reduced rate in exchange for a share of the profit-determined ahead of time after projected expenses-at whatever sale the breeder states up front(or however the system works). If the horse is a breed to race prospect, the insurance cost would be higher. If the breeder is targeting the yearling sales, the insurance premium would be lower but the return could be higher.

Take a horse standing for $75,000. Offer a breeding session for $50k with the $75k paid, stands and nurses. Breeder is targeting the yearling sale. Stud farm buys an insurance policy on the $25k for $5k-10k(or whatever real numbers work) to pay out to the breeder if the horse doesn't meet an agreed upon price. If the horse sells for $150k, the stud cancels the insurance policy and gets an agreed percentage of profit from the breeder. If the horse doesn't make it, the stud exercises the insurance policy and pays the breeder the $25k.

Just don't pitch this to AIG.

Cost cutting?

2009-03-08T16:30:00.002-05:00

I was at Gulfstream yesterday, all day.

I went early to watch the workouts, then stayed through the GP card and past, to watch the SA Oaks. Between the paddock and the apron, Gulfstream has an island bar with maybe a dozen tv's, simulcasting races.

I watched the SA Oaks but didn't get to see Stardom Bound win.

Why, you might ask? Was I distracted? Did someone bump into me at the moment of climax? (Not necessarily a bad thing)

No, no. Frank, apparently, was trying to save whatever money he could, so decided to lose the signal inside the 1/16_th pole.

Dismay and disbelief are charitable descriptions of the commentary permeating the gloaming. Well, somebody must have been messing with the circuit breakers because they soon got the feed back, during the replay, with the horses turning for home.

Then they lost it again.

Good times.

On Puritans, the moral majority and the stale missionary position

2009-03-08T10:52:00.002-05:00

Everyone knows gambling is evil.

Horse players are degenerates and a societal burden. Gambling leads to crime and a frenzied game of NIMBY, unless revenue can be obtained; it also explains why the Epistle of BINGO never made it out of Paul's rolodex.

Vices are taxed with increased vigor to supplement the profligate spending in state and federal capitols. The theory, I imagine, hinges on driving the cost of the activity so high, participants will suddenly see the error of their ways and run out to volunteer at the nearest soup kitchen; instead of patronizing it.

I don't pretend to know all the psychological and social impacts hard-core, gotta have it, sift through garbage to find an uncashed ticket, gambling engenders; I would imagine, at the margin, those impacts are genuine and significant but they cannot be the norm (by definition).

In President Obama's budget, to help fund some of his health care reform initiatives, he plans on raising taxes on liquor and tobacco; two commodities I enjoy on occasion. Will this significantly affect me? Probably not but it will cause me to think twice about buying that box of cigars or the latest offering from the Lagavulin distillery. My consumption will probably go down and the theoretical tax gain will just vanish.

Takeout impacts racing in much the same way. Raise it in hopes of buttressing a shortfall in the budget but then wonder why your revenue is not keeping pace.

I don't know to what, if any, gambling assistance programs, the NTRA or Jockey Club contribute. I would think they do something.

Would it not make more sense to present, to elected officials, a plan, whereby, these organizations will increase their funding of these programs, if the government reduces the taxes on the product?

Find whatever ratio works out as it relates to government v. private spending on these programs and put it into effect. The government is notoriously inept at managing money anyway.

If takeout is reduced, handle will, in theory, rise. These increased profits could then be put to better use as a form of community outreach program or whatever the hell else they think would keep those damn Puritans off our back.

Brisnet is stupid and greedy

2009-03-06T10:32:00.003-06:00

Foolish Pleasure and Handride have excellent posts concerning the fatuous and edacious policies at Brisnet. Worth a read.

The TBA, as a result of the efforts of these two people, has provided free PP's for the past few months. They obtained them from trainer sites that already paid whatever it is they paid, so Brisnet was not hurt in any way by this process. These PP's, by the way, are still available on the respective trainer sites and are still free. The TBA homepage has links to these sites so you can still go there and get all this information. What you can't do is get it all in one place. Wouldn't want the customer to have ready access to your product and perhaps contribute to your bottom line.

In a time when handle is down and every wager helps the industry, Brisnet has dipped into the seemingly infinite well of moronic, group think, to block access to this source. Pathologically short sighted, they block access to a product, already available, in hopes they can squeeze an already spent consumer.

As PtP states, twenty years from now, this will be a case study for MBA students, in just how stupid the industry managers were.

"Grandpa...what's a horse track?"

Flotsam and Jetsam

2009-03-06T08:30:00.000-06:00

While my fan days peaked with Cuatro, I have always considered the phrase itself, a poetic and acute arrangement of wordcraft.

Arlington Park offers $500,000 for Mid-America Triple. Kevin Greely is the VP of Racing and the Racing Secretary for Arlington Park and has instituted some genuinely good programs into the seemingly interminable AP season. He started the American 1000 Guineas, I wrote briefly about it last year, and is proving a worthy caretaker of the turf. Deadline for nominations is April 10_th
"The sky isn't falling." Bear Sterns was a buy in March '08, too. Time to stock up on water, canned goods and ammo. (ht to PR)
"...we are comfortable with sales performance." Hmmm...anyone see a pattern?
Maybe Belmont Park could try this for the next "Test of the Champion." (ht to MR )

I'm too sexy for modelling

2009-03-06T06:50:00.002-06:00

This recent article in the Economist, discusses how AI, crowd behavior and engineering applications derived from it, can simplify and expedite the planning of any project.

As agent software becomes better able to capture complex real-world behaviour, other uses for it are sure to emerge. Indeed, this could soon become a crowded field.

There must be some software application out there, simulating the potential increase in handle, generated from a reduction in takeout. Anything would be an improvement from the moronic congressional dart throwing that is the norm now.

The bucolic meme of cloud computing

2009-03-05T22:30:00.001-06:00

I have it on good authority, the economy is experiencing a mild downturn.

Massive speculation, rabid schemes, unhinged leveraging and ill conceived real estate acquisitions, have conspired to tender the butcher's bill; and this was just Frank Stronach.

Nobody has experienced a crisis of this magnitude but the so called stewards of this game allowed it to deteriorate to the point where it needs an obscene makeover. It is telling when the agency, created to inform the public of the facts, can't get out of its own way to present the truth. I second Handride in his assessment of the talent on CNBC but I would head the list with Larry Kudlow.

The NTRA Alliance Code of Standards is a positive start but the question remains, why was this not policy instead of a reactionary measure? The initiatives are sound but how will they be enforced?

A. Uniform Medication Rules and Penalties

Members shall insist that local regulatory authorities regulate drugs and therapeutic medications consistent with ARCI Model Rules, ARCI-011-010, ARCI-011-015, and ARCI 011-020 based on RMTC recommendations. Further, Members shall insist that local regulatory authorities adopt uniform minimum penalties consistent with ARCI Model Rules, ARCI-011-020 (B), based on RMTC recommendation. To the extent the regulatory authorities do not so regulate drugs and therapeutic medications, the Members shall advocate the adoption of such rules and penalties by the regulatory authority.

Members shall insist...; ...Member shall advocate... How, exactly, will members insist? What is the grace period for members who do not adhere to these recommendations? States can't fund fire departments and schools, any bets on where regulating drug use in horse racing will fall on that list?

What happens next? What is the end game? I fully appreciate the theory of fighting the alligator closest to your ass, but at some point one has to come out of zugzwang. The past eighteen months oversaw a basal zeitgeist shift and it will be at least a generation before-to paraphrase the philosopher, Pete Townshend-we get fooled again.

Racing needs a mission statement. It needs an identity that resonates with the public and can, once again, draw them into the fold. A Noblesse oblige for parimutuel events.

What will that mission be? How do we complete it?

Back when the S&P was at the hypoxic heights of 913, I wrote a couple of ill conceived posts on how racing should position itself as a green venture. The possibilities for this concept are myriad.

Time banking, city farming, self-sustained energy production through solar panels and wind turbines, hosting farmers markets and anything else you can think of.

The track could be a destination. An experience beyond torn mutuel tickets and stale beer.

Financial constraints being what they are, some changes will not be cheap but they are affordable, when one considers the long term ramifications of this concept. Government subsidies are available for energy efficient construction; green building is the new black.

Cloud computing and virtual reality are technologies in their infancy and could prove invaluable in bringing together the disparate factions that grouse over a diminishing pie.

Virtual Worlds would bring collaboration to the fore. While it can be difficult for
disparate work groups in a firm to collaborate, Virtual Worlds would create secure sites where teams within a firm or teams combining expertise from a number of firms might work together. This would mean that experts at different locations could focus on a single task, such as creating a new product, testing new designs, or fleshing out a marketing campaign.
By enhancing and strengthening design and development operations, Virtual Worlds have the potential to enhance levels of competence, which could reduce the need for close management and time-consuming controls over various business segments. In fact, by providing for improved collaboration, Virtual Worlds might strengthen design and development operations and improve firms’ economic performance. This could lead firms to respond more rapidly to changes in customer preferences or to regulatory requirements as well as to incorporate enhancements that would save money or improve product quality.
In essence, by mirroring the gains that social networking makes possible and by
incorporating a social networking–like structure within parts of the corporation, Virtual Worlds can significantly change the behavior of modern firms. (Full PDF doc. here. Worth the read.)

The NTRA could use this forum to combine the research at the Grayson Jockey Club, Rood and Riddle, New Bolton and any other institution, into a monolithic institution.

As businesses experiment, for instance, running the complex tests used to evaluate new auto designs or evaluating alternative investment strategies in 3D space, they will see firsthand the important benefits of using Virtual Worlds.

Bone impact research performed at a fraction of the cost and all the information shared freely. Track surface analysis and composition testing. Trainer and emergency response team training.

The possibilities are endless.

The only thing required is vision.

Working past the wire

2009-03-05T17:25:00.004-06:00

I have ignored racing news for the past week or so; I find detoxing every now and then to be a good thing...

I missed a few posts on the Paulick Report, so this might be old news, but I found this one, regarding the stewards and the RCI, interesting. BTW, how does whipping a horse, on the head, after a race, only draw $500?

The lack of comments on his post leads me to believe; 1) few people read it, 2) few people care, 3)this is old news.

I too find the idea, a comprehensive database of steward rulings too expensive to collate, to be absurd.

From the standpoint of communicating to the public, there is no greater role for RCI to play than to be a clearinghouse of current and past information from all of its members. That means all rulings from stewards and racing commissions against licensees should be easily accessed at the RCI website, and in a perfect world those rulings would be completely searchable. That’s not the case yet, because RCI is yet another one of those cash-strapped racing organizations that has a bigger mission budget.”

I think if one were to give an intern a Horsehat and a 100 card, DRF PP package, one could put something together right quick.

Derby preps are in full swing and the TBA is well represented in the Paulick Derby Index (for reasons that defy comprehension, yours truly snuck past the quality control board). Good racing this weekend and the TBA has free PP's so go ahead and stick it to "The Man".

Why is Ernie Munick not Director of Marketing over at the NTRA? (ht to TDH)

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2008-10-08T00:00:00-07:00

Wales’ horse racing successes stay secret

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2008-06-02T00:00:00-07:00

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