Handride

Jboom at Merryland Farm

noreply@blogger.com (Handride) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 21:57:00 +0000

I hope everyone is starting to get excited. The weather is getting warmer, days are getting longer, Spring is right around the corner and so is opening day at Monmouth Park. Our filly continues to be on the path towards a start at some point this year, and has had a great go of it so far. We need to continue to keep our fingers crossed and think good thoughts.

It was a breezy day down at the farm yesterday. Merryland Farm is a little northeast of Baltimore, but you have no clue where you are when you're at the farm; it could be Keeneland, it could be 1923. The farm sits in a little valley and if a nice Spring day comes by on the weekend I might have to take another trip down.

The finish line you see here is modeled after Churchill Downs, so if Johannesboom makes it Louisville it'll be familiar to her.

She's got the blue rider up and is stretching her legs with another 2yo filly from the farm.

She's still sporting her winter coat and looks a bit furry.

I'd say since I last saw her she's evened out between the height of her rump and shoulders, she should be close to full grown.

She took off well and came home well. JR said in the next few weeks she'll get her knees X-rayed to see if she's done growing. If she has then he can start working her an eighth of a mile or so and getting her ready for the track. If not she'll continue to gallop around the track and get some fitness in her while she finishes up growing. The timeline right now, if everything goes according to plan, and it never does, is she'll be down in Merryland till mid to late April then she'll come up to Monmouth and the trainer will take her over from there. Frank says a good rule of thumb for time with a trainer is about 3 months until a possible race if nothing goes wrong. It will take time for Jboom to acclimate to life on a track, she'll have to get used to having 30 horses on the track, not 1, she won't have a paddock to run around in, but she will be put in good hands. The trainer decision is our next big step.

Below is the video of the entire time on the track.

Johannesboom

noreply@blogger.com (Handride) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 02:42:00 +0000

A great trip to Delaware today, couldn't be a nicer December

Our New Johannesburg Filly

noreply@blogger.com (Handride) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 02:14:00 +0000

Took a drive down to Delaware today to finally get a look at our new filly who is so far unnamed (Johannesburg, Chapena by Fusaichi Pegasus). You can't see it here, but I don't think she was too keen on strangers as she kept her ears pinned most of the time, and stamped her feet in my direction. But, hey she wasn't bought for pony rides so a little anger is fine by me. All in all, knock on wood and whistle, she's in great shape, happy, healthy, and growing. She still has some growing to do, and looks like a pretty nice filly. Maybe even 2 turns, but who knows, right now she's in fine shape and that's all we could hope for.

Jockey Club Report - Be Vague Be Hopeful Do Nothing

noreply@blogger.com (Handride) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 14:14:00 +0000

What's one more report to throw on the ol' fridge? I wonder if it will come to fruition.
The 9 points

Increased television coverage.***

A free-to-play website.
Fewer, better races and better scheduling to increase field size and showcase the best product.***
Innovative wagering platforms.
Track-integrated Advance Deposit Wagering.
Racing integrity forms.***
Encouragement of ownership through greater transparency***
Dissemination of best practices from tracks around the country.***

***It was 3 years ago when a group came together and spelled out pretty much the same thing for the marketing representatives and head of the NTRA. In compensation we got a great trip out to Las Vegas and got to rub shoulders with some great people. 3 years later it seems like a missed opportunity.

Read the report here (PDF).

And as Alan notes, it's not like there's ever anything Earth shattering in these reports that others haven't brought up in the past. It happens almost every other year. The industry is in distress - pay some consultants - waltz out a report - get people to say their eyes have been opened - do nothing - repeat. It's infuriating and I refuse to get excited about anything till i see the end results. I want to see something big.

What's the Best We Can Hope For

noreply@blogger.com (Handride) — Mon, 16 May 2011 14:37:00 +0000

I think I forgot to mention in that last post that I made the whole thing up. My bad. But really my point is why not? I loved seeing the hits come in from the Jockey Club, NTRA, and McKenzie themselves. I wonder what they thought. Hopefully they look at the report that they've started work on and try a bit harder, and think a bit bigger. I loved seeing how it was picked up in forums and people showed some excitement. The coolest part was that it was all very plausible.

- Take-out is too high and needs a coalition of tracks to do something substantial and coordinated.
- Horse retirement is everyone's issues and needs a coalition of tracks to do something substantial and coordinated.
- Some casual fans are turned off by the hard sell of gambling and need a sport. To do this it needs a coalition of tracks to do something substantial and coordinated.

- Every market gauge is low and getting lower, to lift the industry the industry needs a coalition of tracks to do something substantial and coordinated.

The goal of any consultant should be to create a mechanism where most tracks are brought together and will work in each other's best interest, and that means revenue. I just came up with a way to structure that joint revenue, hopefully the consultants can figure out a few more ways.

Otherwise, this time next year I'll be faking a letter from Congress putting forth a new structure for racing to avoid an opening of their interstate wagering act. Keep an eye out for that.

Preview of McKinsey Report - Game Changer

noreply@blogger.com (Handride) — Thu, 12 May 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Sounds like I have a bit of scoop here... look at me with the inside track! I have seen a preliminary copy of the McKinsey report, and to say I'm excited is a HUGE understatement. We all knew that the McKinsey group was facing a daunting task: Lower handle, no central governing body, and lack of interest from even our most hard core players. The report, which I imagine could be released, sooner than later, has tackled every issue that has plagued racing in recent times. And with the way the report is written it appears the alphabet soup of racing has already begun to make changes. I was able to have short peek at the preliminary report, including the pre-draft press releases, and was allowed to see some next steps from McKinsey.

A strong national body is good for racing, as it emphasizes legitimacy and McKinsey recognizes this. They note there is currently no reason for cooperation and prior efforts have never had a strong reason to legitimize the cooperation. The reasons that prior joint ventures were put together were for appearance or convenience, and that while smaller coalitions have worked, the life spans are as short as the crisis they deal with. They also note the spectre of forced legislative cooperation; though it is a long way off is a very serious threat.

The next section is spent on legitimizing a national body. Legitimacy will come from large business decisions that will have a beneficial impact on all parties made by a conglomerate of the tracks and owners. Lots of big words like synergy and fruition, but it boils down to horse racing needs a money-making idea where everyone has a stake in success and growing the business. And, McKinsey has one. Not only does McKinsey have one this section reads like it's in place and just needs a signoff from a few tracks. There is a press release ready to go, and I'm going to do my best to paraphrase (I will use quotes as it's my best memory). I wonder if they leaked this to put some pressure on some slow to agree.

In the report it appears that the Jockey Club has tentative agreements from most of the major tracks and groups to package the graded stakes to TV, and VERSUS will be the buyer. VERSUS network is an up and comer on the sports dial as they've shown commitment to hockey, have had a great relationship with the WEC (now UFC), and they did a great job showing the Derby undercard last week. I think fans are comfortable with VERSUS and the industry seems to be even more so. VERSUS has signed up to show live and taped horse racing 19 weeks next year: the week after the Belmont to the week before the Breeders' Cup (BC). The show will be on Saturday afternoons from 4:30 to 6:30 (though I'm not sure how they'll handle playoff hockey). The hope is to catch as many graded stakes as possible in that "live" window, show replays from missed events from the week prior, and include in-depth analysis on how every race points toward the Breeders' Cup. VERSUS has signed up to PAY for these TV rights. This is a first for horse racing, as most of the television time horse racing is allotted is paid for by the industry. VERSUS sees a way to monetize this programming thanks to some new things adopted by The Jockey Club we'll get into later. However, the first thing making this possible is the Breeders' Cup changing Win and You're In (WAYI).

Regularly changed; the Breeders' Cup is again changing their WAYI format. VERSUS needs a story line week in and week out and the Breeders' Cup is going to provide that. From the Belmont to Breeders' Cup weekend every US based graded stakes race will carry a point value and that value will be split amongst the top three finishers. The foreign WAYI’s will still be valid; as a win in one race and you're in with costs covered, but now only the top three point earners in every BC category will get that paid treatment in the US. Furthermore, gate choice will now be put into a lottery. The horses that have compiled the most points over the season will be more likely to have their named pulled sooner for gate choice (think NBA lottery format). Matthew Lutz, interim CEO comments, "The Breeders' Cup is about competition, and with this change we not only hope to see more competition in the event itself, but to also show what great competition occurs throughout the year. We also wanted to incorporate some things that work in other sports, and the lottery for gate choice we think will be a hit for every type of race fan. We certainly don't want our best stars chances hurt by being handicapped before the race even starts."

Everyone needs legitimacy, and to get that the Breeders' Cup will rely on TOBA and their American Graded Stakes committee to create the point values of all the races. Dave Metzger from TOBA is quoted as saying "Grade I, II, and III are still going to be the focal point of owners and breeders, but our fans need something more tangible and specific, and we're more than happy that the Breeders' Cup is relying on our methods to put a fine point on the value of all these races. We're happy to do this for the fans who will gain new traction in the sport, and our owners and breeders who will see greater interest in every race."

The smaller tracks are obviously very excited about the possibility of getting national exposure. I expect to see racing directors look at moving some races around both in times and dates to help ensure their graded stake is on the show. With nothing on television set in stone small tracks can position themselves with a better chance to make it on the show by not duplicating another race in the same division. There are only so many turf route races for older horses that need to be held in early August. The bigger tracks were supposedly harder to corral but The Jockey Club has set up a structure for rewarding everyone involved in this change, and the NTRA is very involved in part of this new structure.

Alex Waldrop and the NTRA are central figures in all of these discussions. The NTRA is already set up as a not-for-profit and that status and their involvement in advertising and safety will be crucial in getting the new idea off the ground. The only bad news for the NTRA is that they will fall under the Jockey Club as a subsidary. Alex Waldrop remains and remarks, "The NTRA wants to be at the forefront of the industry returning to the prominence it once held. The only way we can move forward together is if we have a shared revenue source, and the NTRA hopes to help create this." The NTRA is poised to become the broker for advertising. "Horse racing is going to pursue advertising. NASCAR we are not, but there are ways that advertisers and horse racing can help each other. The NTRA has shown continued success in the area of corporate sponsorship, and we will work with those at the Breeders' Cup, to tackle this problem together." The idea is that corporate sponsors will place their advertising on the saddle cloths of the horses running in the races that get shown on VERSUS. The advertising itself will be broken down by owners. For example, all of Ramsey horses will carry “Advertiser X” while all the Stonestreet horses will carry “Advertiser Y.” That isn't to say that advertisers X and Y won't appear on other owned horses. The owners of smaller stables will get the most help from the NTRA to give them the best chance of gaining a sponsorship for at least one race.

The Jockey Club working with the NTRA was the starting point for all this. The initial hurdle was packaging the graded stakes to VERSUS. Ogden Mills Phipps has some pretty forward thinking goals, "The new revenue of this sport must insure that all parties are brought to the table to negotiate in the industry's best interests. This advertising will be on a horse owned by an owner, ridden by a jockey, raced at a track, and shown on television. Everyone one of those represent investors in our new business model and everything will be done to insure a fair revenue split." He went on to say, "This change is only the tip of a much larger, much more necessary change in racing. However, the ball must start rolling, and this is where it will begin." Mr. Phipps goes on to mention that he hoped such a small change to the sport will have far reaching affects. "Our long term goal is to change the way every track does business. Our current model is not sufficient. There are hard decisions to be made, but let's get people agreeing on this before tougher issues are tackled."

The Jockey Club, through the NTRA, wishes to purchase the exclusive signals of most every track in the country, and form a business around selling and buying them back to tracks. The Jockey Club/NTRA hopes to create two benefits with the above model: First, there will be a cut down on contracts, and there will be an industry-wide standard created by the industry for wagering and negotiating.

Second, the industry will be able to deal with offshore wagering, rebates, and defend against the threat of further exchange wagering as a group. The "clearing house" will instantly create a congress for our industry. McKinsey sees carrots and sticks created to get tracks working on the same goals to either increase what they can get for their signal or reduce what they pay.

In the conclusion of the report it's noted that by centralizing the contracts at The Jockey Club there will be an efficiency created and a chance to centralize power in the most democratic way. With the tracks owning this not-for-profit insuring transparency and an even playing field for negotiations. There is some anti-trust worries, but Congressional approval would come swiftly with concessions made for on-track safety for horses and jockey, retirement facilities for thoroughbreds, and a national standard for drug testing and their use. Not an easy task, but not hard either.

McKinsey concludes with where a central governing body can take us. They point to issues of takeout: Where the congress can lower rates together rather than one track trying something short term. Rebates could be created for players across a national scale. ADW's comparative advantage with overhead costs would be challenged.

The only shortcoming I see is that the breeders are left a bit out. However, this report mostly focused on the racing side. Hey, with a good product in racing breeding should take care of itself.

So, what do you all think of the plan? Will pressure be created for tracks to sign up for this because of the good deal?

Is Triple Crown Winner Diminished if the Crop is Weak?

noreply@blogger.com (Handride) — Sun, 08 May 2011 00:12:00 +0000

Animal Kingdom was head a shoulders above the rest here today, and hard to say anyone had a huge excuse ala Lookin At Lucky last year. What happens if he wins it all?

Masters Coverage

noreply@blogger.com (Handride) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 20:41:00 +0000

Have you been to the Masters Website? Even if you HATE golf, you will LOVE this website. And then you'll start to think about how they've set this up for a 4 day event.

Golf has money. The sport makes money. Advertisers flock to it. Golf has lost some sponsorships true, but it MAKES money.

If you want change in this sport, the first order of business is to tackle the revenue of this sport.

Horse Racing Is Dead

noreply@blogger.com (Handride) — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 21:56:00 +0000

$11,420,000,000 wagered divided by 50,600,000 fans means each fan is wagering $226 per year, $18 per month, Let's say $4.50 per weekend. Hooray we're a success! Is there a sport where less is spent on a weekly basis?

Yep, horse racing is alive and well. Nothing to see here, nothing to fix, let's move on to the next problem. Seriously people! I have had enough of this bullshit where nothing needs to change because obviously everything is honky-dory. Is horse racing the best industry it can be?

Listen, VS might lose the hockey rights to ESPN, it sure would be nice to have a 4:30-6pm show every Saturday packed with 8-9 stakes races from around the country, but what the hell do I know.

Just Saying

noreply@blogger.com (Handride) — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 16:22:00 +0000

The NFL is successful today because... it's based on socialism: Revenue Sharing. Many years ago teams like the Giants, Redskins, big market teams who could have reaped more revenue than other teams went in w/ small market teams and got a better deal for everyone, and today they are the most successful, powerful, rich league in America.

I'm not making it out that socialism is the best form of government or the best at anything. It's far and away not a good system. However sometimes, cooperation, negotiation, and big picture thinking can raise the sea for all boats.

Racing doesn't have this. It will never have this.

Racing needs a model that everyone invests into. We can't have the have's, the have-not's, the have's that don't really have, and the have-not's that are good at accounting. So while it's futile pissing into the ccean or shoveling shit against the tide I'll put it out there one more time. It has now been 2.5 years since our Marketing Report and it's never been more important. (I guess racing could get more bankrupt, but that happens everyday.) :

Racing needs a plan everyone buys into, and that starts with Television. A show on every Saturday 4:30-6 that covers 7 to 8 races from multiple tracks (who share revenue) from multiple categories. The races are meaningful because points are earned that lead to gate choice in the Breeders Cup, and possibly extra money bonuses (if the advertising market comes back, which it's starting to do). The owners are allowed advertising on the saddle cloths also split amongst all the shareholders.

Why doesn't this happen?

Unfortunately, I think I know. No standings because that would put a very fine point on how good a horse is; and how could these farms market a 2 time starter who won their maiden against a horse who turned out to be a world beater. Why no cooperation? Because there is panic. These track owners, horseman, everyone down the line protect their own pay check. They see things getting worse, and they can't take a chance. Recipe for disaster.

Good luck everyone, I'll go back to the sidelines now.

Standings In Horse Racing

noreply@blogger.com (Handride) — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 15:30:00 +0000

It’s that time of year again where I like to point out that the standings in this sport are possible, and would be helpful. The TBA has been compiling standings for 8 years, and in that time our standings have more often than not had the 3 Eclipse finalists and have had the winner on top. All this while I admit our standings are not perfect.

Our standings are a hypothesis that some form of cumulative points in the sport are possible. Again, I don’t claim them to be perfect; I just claim that they show standings are possible vehicle to frame races in a way a casual fan can easily understand, and that some tweaks made by someone *cough*AGSC*cough would greatly change the perception of our sport.

Blame, Zenyatta, Blind Luck, Gio Ponti, Big Drama, Dubai Majesty, Uncle Mo: It’s not hard to come up with those Eclipse winners after the year they had. And every year there are a handful of horses who are obvious winners, but standings are even more useful during the course of the year, before the Breeders’ Cup. Standings can help shape a race and show a casual fan why a race in July is important and why they should watch. Racing is greatly lacking context for every prep race sans the Road to the Roses, and standings are an obvious solution.

Win & You're In is a joke of a series, and while I once embraced it, I'm now embarrassed by it. Gr II winnners, winners from every continent, yet nothing to help contextualize the races here in America.

Why the hostility to standings? If you ask me it's $$$. By putting an actual number next to all these horses names on the catalogue page it'll become harder to sell studs w/ 5 race careers and 1 big win. But that's just me. Happy New Year everyone.

TBA vs The Eclipse Awards

noreply@blogger.com (Handride) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 15:50:00 +0000

That's an unfair title really, because no one is out to win the TBA standings, and there are a lot of other differences, but again the TBA standings this year prove that standings in this sport can and do work. Let's go category by category and see what the TBA missed and more likely what the Eclipse missed.

Older Horse
Richard's Kid vs Dakota Phone = Eclipse got it right w/ Richard's Kid. The TBA has Dakota Phone eligible w/ his Gr I win in the BC Dirt Mile. But really we're arguing over nothing here. Best of the rest, who cares.

3yo Colt
Eskendereya vs Super Saver = Hard to say really, it's hard not seeing the Derby winner on the Eclipse ballot who did have a decent first half of the year. Eskendereya 2 big wins came over Jackson Bend, I'm just sayin.

3yo Filly
Harve De Grace vs Switch = I like Switch here. Especially since she didn't get a look in the F&M Sprinter category. A game second to Zenyatta and a LaBrea score vs one win over Blind Luck. The West Coasters have a right to complain about this one.

Turf
Dangerous Midge vs Court Vision = Hard to say, I'm not a fan of rewarding a horse who ran 1 time here, and only 2 times this season, is that right?

Sprint
Majesticperfection vs EZ's gentleman = The Sprint division was god awful this year.
F&M Sprint = See Above. I won't even say who has it "wrong" just give the award to the horse that wins the BC, there's no rhyme or reason to the category other than that. Switch does deserve a bit of a look here though.
What is up with American Sprinters these last few years?

2yo Colt
Jaycito vs To Honor and Serve = TBA has this one right, give me a Gr I winner over a two time Gr II winner any time.

2yo Filly
Turbulent Descent vs Wickedly Perfect = All about what have you done for me lately I guess

Again the fact remains with a standings system in place the Graded Stakes could become the "professional league" of our sport and easier niche to market. It would allow flexibility for a TV product. The entry barrier for understanding what is on the line for a race is lower. Any idea that is "super" Gr I, or a selection of specific races is just a non-starter for everyone. The Graded Stakes have been in place forever, everyone is "ok" with them, trainers & owners understand the season; the list goes on.

The Tragedy Of Zenyatta

noreply@blogger.com (Handride) — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 17:00:00 +0000

In the last sixteenth of a mile I became a Zenyatta fan. I admit I was not a fan going in, and while I am, now, a fan going out, I can finally say why Zenyatta never appealed to me.

I knew she was that good, and I knew I was being short changed. I had seen the workouts, and I had seen flashes of her best in other races, but it was never displayed in full until Saturday. And for the fans of Zenyatta what they were given was enough I guess, but for me I did not like the game.

I imagine that at some point the perfect record became a burden for the owners and trainer. Because watching Zenyatta run on Saturday it was obvious the burden was not hers. The challenges: of tougher company and travel, would never have been a burden to her with the final gear she showed us all on Saturday. The gear Mike Smith had always talked about being there, and the reason why we all can’t stop talking about a second place horse (for probably another 3 months). I’m furious, upset, saddened, that we racing fans only ever saw that gear once. Out of twenty events to only see Zenyatta’s best one time is a waste of epic proportions.

This is the fault of horse racing. There is a game that owners feel responsible to play, and HOTY voters feel the need to reward. Only in college football (and everyone loves the BCS) does a sport decide championships in such an absurd way. On the track Blame beat Zenyatta. It was close, there are excuses for Zenyatta, but by rewarding her Horse of the Year voters are saying…. Well I don’t know what. Are they saying that given 10 races Zenyatta would be Blame at least 6 times? Because I wouldn’t disagree; but that didn’t happen. Are they saying she had a better career? Again can’t disagree, but the title is Horse of the Year. Are they rewarding what could have been: Are people picturing her running down Haynesfield, closing faster than Blame in the Whitney, or even taking this year’s Pacific Classic? It doesn’t matter the reason, in any light voters are deciding with their heads, not with results. Hopefully at some point results will matter, and challenges will be taken head on. Do people not realize how much there is to gain in a loss?

Don't Piss on Sanan and Tell Him It's Raining

noreply@blogger.com (Handride) — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 15:37:00 +0000

“But if we didn’t allow the bullies to play, they’d find our spot about 20 minutes beforehand and piss in the holes,” Sanan said. “To some degree, that’s the kind of crap that goes on in this business.”

Who doesn't like this guy now? Satish Sanan, my new favorite guy in racing. It appears the plan is dead for trying to do too much, that's code for saying the plan is dead for trying to fix everything at once whereas these asshats in charge would rather continue to take their cut and go home and screw everyone else.

So, it sounds like it was too much of a takeover for the group at large and no one would really take the first step, understandable, but not excusable. My advice for Mr Sanan would be to back up and try and get everyone on the same page up to the point of contention: owning an ADW.

My solution would be to create a clearing house for signals. An LLC would own the exclusive rights of all the racing: betting and televising. And, from there you could increase revenue and affect structure. Think of it as TVG on steroids, but w/o the wagering platform. Think of it as all the good stuff that Mr Sanan had done without the thing that held it all back. Instead of competing and creating ADW's the LLC would control the price of the signal. We all know that the ADW's get it for too cheap and that the racetracks charge to high a price. So, as fans I think we could assume takeout to be lowered (and that would be a good start for any process to get the fans on your side).

The new hang up would be to convince Twinspires or Youbet to pay for the Churchill signal more than they are currently paying, however, that extra money would come back to them because they'd be part owner of what they were selling to.

Thoughts?

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Not A Good Year to be a Horseracing Fan

noreply@blogger.com (Handride) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:30:00 +0000

Take a look at the TBA standings, not much you can really quibble about I think. The #1-5 seem about right to me (for horses not trying to win the TBA standings), but overall count me nonplussed. Is there any division you're looking forward to a showdown in now? I can't say I am. Maybe I'm just bored on a Tuesday morning. Let me know what you think.

Older Horse - One of the few divisions where you have horses with multiple Gr I wins. Quality Road and Blame both with 2 Gr I's, this one will come down to the Classic I'm sure; and I'm on Blame's bandwagon. The rest of the division? Pretty thin. Other Gr I winners: Richard's Kid, Awesome Gem, Misremembered, no one is even stringing Gr II wins together. It's not that great.

Older Mare - Zenyatta. She hasn't travelled, but with no one else stepping up, where should she go? With no one else stepping up who cares? Give me the 3yo's.

3 yo Colt - Lookin at Lucky is the ONLY 2 time Gr I winner and they give out Gr I's for 3yo colts like candy. Is that a standout? I'm not so sure.

3 yo Filly - This is the category to be excited about, this is the exception that proves the rule. Blind Luck, Evening Jewel, Champagne D'Oro, Devil May Care. That's what I'm talking about.

Turf - B- minus horses from Europe are eating our lunch.

F&M Turf - Real sad about Tuscan Evening. Proviso is exciting, but again, from the top 2 down it's thin.

Sprint & F&M Sprint - Can you name a horse in this division? Pretty good if you can.

Am I wrong for being so down right now?

You Have to Be F'ing Kidding Me

noreply@blogger.com (Handride) — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:10:00 +0000

I'm not a rocket scientist but I do consider myself intelligent (i'll wait for the laughing to die down), and I think it's fair, as a person with a functioning brain, to second guess professionals with 20/20 hindsight as professionals should have known better with foresight. They are paid to know these types of things in advance, no? The situation at Santa Anita has left me gob-smacked that a project worth millions of dollars was basically done on the cheap, by people no smarter than trained monkeys. (FYI...Trained monkeys CAN lay a bunch of shredded spandex on a flat surface)

Peterson also, in a slide presentation, showed a picture of a dozen or so small rocks he found in a 30-foot area on the track. It is believed the rocks came to the surface through a protective membrane that covers the base.

It's called a granularity ~~stupid~~, I read about it a while ago, basically it's a different state of matter and explains why large objects will "float" to the top in a mixture of different sizes. So, if you're in charge of a project that costs millions of dollars, that involves these sort of engineering/science questions; you should know that in a place prone to small tremors, that people can't even feel, that the granularity will be affected. And, that the membrane should be able to withstand that sort of movement and pressure.

I believe synthetic tracks are still a step in the right direction. I think hiring cheap idiots to figure out the engineering process is criminal. Everyone is slapping ol' Frank on the back for ripping it up and going with dirt, but where's the blame for short changing this whole thing in the first place.

Social Interaction

noreply@blogger.com (Handride) — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 15:57:00 +0000

I have been mulling this over in my head for months now, but with Ed DeRosa's recent post I figured I'd add my .02 cents into what I'm looking for with social interaction from any horse racing website. What started my thinking this was the obnoxious sign-ins I still have to do on some websites. I sign-in, but I have no idea what I'm getting in return for providing that information. I think it is about time these sites put some resources behind this sign-in and make it worth our while.

My thinking..... On Saturday I wake up to find my wonderful wife has taken my 3 wonderful kids away for the day, and Daddy has the day for himself. There's even that day's DRF on the table cause she figured that what's I would do, but it's crappy outside and my friends aren't going to Monmouth, so I'm left to watching it on TV, and I'll be betting online.

I log on to a the website (or maybe an app). I have a little interface like I do on most sites, I have friends, i have signed up for specific track news, or people posting messages about a few tracks: I also have what my friends are talking about in general on my feed. However, my focus is at Monmouth Park. So, I check-in to Monmouth Park, I'm not quite the mayor there, but I've earned the badge "degenerate" and a couple more weeks I'm sure I'll be mayor. Other users are here talking about that day of racing, bets, conditions, just talking on this private feed. Some information right at my fingertips: MTP, PP's (I can purchase), basic info like runner's name, trainer, jockey, odds, race info. Furthermore, there are links to ADW's handling that track so I can go make a bet, but I can also place my bet w/ this website (fake money of course). I have options when doing this. I can keep it all private which I might want to do if I just want to track my personal bets; because if I track them with this website, this website will slice and dice my cumulative wagering 1000 ways, and track all the tracks I wager on. However, I'm going to go public w/ my wagering (Why? I'll get to that shortly). I place a bet, and it comes up in the group,"Handride: $5 W/S on #5 in race 2 (stats)" What is that "Stats" well the site will use my prior history (real or fake whatever the user wants) to publish how i do on these type of wagers, think about the trainer line at the bottom of PP's, but now think about it for gamblers. Cool right? So i can watch other players make wagers and if I see something I like from someone who has a good record I'll probably jump on his bandwagon, maybe if I don't like the bet I can "back" it. It's fake money of course so this type of exchange is no big deal. The first thought is "Why would a good gambler put their picks out there" and I answer, "why do people tell the world they are going on vacation for a week and their house will be empty?" I don't think everyone will do it, but there are some people who like to open w/ their bets and they like to gain popularity and credibility, so people will do it. Popularity and credibility isn't all a public wager will get you. A gambler earns "points" by all manners of things: Obviously with money earned, but also hitting the biggest exacta of the day, or hitting a super, backing the most of other's peoples bets and coming out on top... you can take your points and gift them to other users who helped you score, or you could turn in your points for something from the site, like an upgrade on your next purchase of PP's or other types of discounts, we're talking A LOT of points, most social sites just have points/karma/likes that get you nothing. While I'm betting at Monmouth I can check into Saratoga and have the same experience and now I'm getting the feeds of both tracks and placing wagers and interacting w/ other people from both places. It's as close to being on the rail with friends as you can imagine, and possibly you make new friends.

Why would a site do it? Maybe they sell PP's, or other wagering information. Maybe they are an ADW and do this for their fake money site. Either way they will end up with a captive audience for a day to show their advertisements to and hook into.

noreply@blogger.com (Handride) — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 14:14:00 +0000

Nothing To See Here

noreply@blogger.com (Handride) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:10:00 +0000

These are just the headlines from today's DRF, but I'm tired, I can't keep waking up every morning and perusing the news only to be inundated with this crap. Horseracing is and has always been dying since the 70's, but I gotta admit these last 5 years have felt like it's been dying a bit faster, and the last 6 months feel like a flat line. Maybe I'm paying more attention, but it seems like every track is making do or die decisions. I also have to say I'm tired of all the "fixes". Everyone means well, we all want to see our sport returned to some sort of glory, but it's not going to happen through fan opinion. If change was going to come through customer concern it would have happened by now. Although there is one final idea I have....

I was the big optimist, I was the customer with ideas, but I think the window for optimism and ideas coming from a good place is now over and the window on forced, painful change is now open. So, here's my final idea... if you are in charge of a race track looking for "ideas" QUIT. You are part of the problem, everyone knows what the fixes are stop coming to your fans w/ outstretched arms like you don't know what the problem is. If you're part of a board that has some bullshit function in the industry and hasn't done anything to fix the big problems of racing QUIT, and in the process try and take the whole board with you, stop putting out press releases about irrelevant crap and realize you're not doing anything and your board isn't doing anything and go down in a blaze of glory. If you're a state politician and you don't know what to do don't listen to the asshats from either side, let's go federal with this monstrosity of a sport, and see how they cry and complain and change real fast.

Do you think if horse racing was invented today it would be structured like it is today? It wouldn't. So change needs to occur. The longer they wait the more painful it is for everyone.

“Things are going to get a lot worse before they get worse.”

noreply@blogger.com (Handride) — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 12:42:00 +0000

The subject of this post was suggested by the Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance, and other posts like it will be found at the TBA homepage throughout the day for Wild hot Topic Friday.

The subject this week: State Of Racing: Will the current hard economic times and state ineptitude lead to a brighter racing future? Will failures in any big racing state like California, Kentucky, or New York lead to a brighter future?

I agree w/ the title of this post, which is a Lily Tomlin quotation, that things have to get a lot worse before they can get better. How long has horse racing been on life support? 10, 20 years? A long time, and things are still getting worse: Turfway cutting Kentucky Cup races, California has issues filling races and has cut days, New York has picked what seems to be 5 VLT operators all of whom operate out of the back of vans over the last 3 years, and Illinois, well it might not be as big as the other 3, but it ain't pretty there either. Is this the bottom, are we ready for our intervention moment? I was hoping we were close at the end of 2008 but here we are mid 2010, I wrote about it in March of 2009, but here we are mid 2010.

And just like the swallows return to Capistrano we have everyone with their way to fix racing, like it's something new. It's not. There are plenty of great ideas out there (mostly mine, I kid), but we don't need a good idea, we need pain. I'm sorry to write that, but after following this sport closely for a decade now I realize that it's not a lack of good ideas, but a lack of motivation. Good ideas are never a good motivator, going out of business is.

Solution Under Our Noses

noreply@blogger.com (Handride) — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 12:42:00 +0000

The subject of this post was suggested by the Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance, and other posts like it will be found at the TBA homepage throughout the day for Wild hot Topic Friday.

When you sit back it's kind of funny really. Ask any horse racing fan what their favorite track is and you'll probably get 1 of 3 answers: Keeneland, Del Mar, or Saratoga. It's funny because if you wanted to say what's successful about horse racing you'd point to those 3 tracks. It's sad because you'd think it wouldn't take economic Armageddon to force tracks to adopt the boutique racing model. It's even sadder that Saratoga keeps growing in days and you hear more and more people complain about their midweek cards, or their weekend cards with no graded stakes, and I get the feeling that the smart guys over at NYRA are thinking about running year round at Saratoga w/ a 2 week boutique meet at Aqueduct in December. (I kid)[at least I hope I'm kidding].

So what happens next? Are boutique meets the future? I certainly hope so. The downsides are well known, less racing dates, means less horses, means less jobs, but if it also means a self sustaining viable industry with a good image then there is no choice.

My home is Monmouth Park, and I can't tell you how much of a difference it has made. I'm talking beyond dollars; walking into that track on the weekend, it just seems like a nicer place. Bigger crowds, more noise as the horses come to the wire, more people in the paddock, more people talking to each other; just adds to a great day out, the image of the place changed overnight. I want to see Monmouth get leaner and meaner in the next few seasons, we'll see how it pans out.

A Regal Ransom

noreply@blogger.com (Handride) — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 12:42:00 +0000

The subject of this post was suggested by the Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance, and other posts like it will be found at the TBA homepage throughout the day.

Being a Monmouth homer you can bet I'm excited that Rachel Alexandra will be making her next stop in the Garden State. But, I have to admit that in prior instances the extra money that Mr Jackson pulls out of the tracks makes me feel a little uneasy inside. Listen, (or read), when Rachel is on the track there is going to be more people in the seats, at home, and wagering, but $250k more? I don't know. I'm not begrudging or second guessing what Mr Jackson or Monmouth is doing. But I guess I'm just nervous mostly. It's not like racetracks have a great record of making responsible money decisions.

I guess though Monmouth knows what they are doing. They did this 2 years ago with Big Brown and his first try on Turf. It was a wonderful experience, and I'd have to imagine Rachel is just the same draw as he was maybe even more so. We got a practice walk out in the paddock w/ Big Brown, I wonder if Rachel will ship in a few days early, that'd be nice. Ok back to retirement.

Derby 20/20

noreply@blogger.com (Handride) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 16:40:00 +0000

Here's the FULL PAGE

Derby Picks & Pans

noreply@blogger.com (Handride) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 14:56:00 +0000

Just really quickly you can keep up w/ many bloggers top picks here:
and don't forget to check the site for blogs, news, & videos (and all the free pp's you can find)

Good luck everyone, factor in some rain on Saturday.

A Small Wager on a Non Derby Race

noreply@blogger.com (Handride) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 18:58:00 +0000

While many will focus on Kentucky Derby BettingI think a really good race to make a wager might come the day before in the American Turf Stakes. A mile and a 16th on the Turf with a ton of horses that all look the same at first glance. We know Setsuko who it seems had a soft spot in many people's hearts for the Derby will get some wagering love, but count me as one not too enamored. So what do we have?

I think the speed of the speed of the will be Strike the Tiger with John Velazquez aboard. His last race was a total speed and fade as he lumbered home and still only lost by a neck. This will be his third start off the layoff and count me intrigued w/ a trainer who gets 50% ITM with 3rd off the layoff. Pushing him early I think will be the 7 Asphalt who I'm hoping has learned to rate a bit better than his last effort. Funny how you can like the 3rd start for one horse and the layoff for another, but I do. And the 3rd horse I'm using is Doubles Parter. This is an easy explanation = Pletcher + Gomez + Winstar + 10/1 + breeding to Serena's Song = My money on the nose.

So with the cacophony of the Derby now gaining to its fevered pitch don't forget the other races.

$1 Ex and Tri box = 5,6,7
$8 Win Doubles Partner