This Thursday evening, racing returns to the Meadowlands, kicking off three days-a-week racing. This Thursday, debuts the John Simpson Memorial Stakes at the Meadowlands for the first time and the first four races of hte night card showcase the two year old trotters with one division of the Simpson for 2yo trotting colts and geldings and three divisions for trotting fillies.
Betting two year olds at this time of year when they are making their first pari-mutuel starts makes it somewhat challenging to handicap races. You have some world beaters on paper who have looked super sharp in the morning, but will those races show up in the evening under the lguhts? What I am going to do is give you my selections for the first four races plus the horse to look out for (i.e., the longshot play).
1st Trot $27,065; John Simpson Memorial - 2yo Colts and Geldings
1 - Dewycolorintheline (Lachance, 9-5)
1B - Caveat Emptor (Schnittker, 9-5)
1A - Sinatra Hall (Gregory, 9-5)
2 - Kegler Hanover (Takter, 2-1)
5 - Lindys Creditline (MacDonald, 3-1)
Coupled: Dewycolorintheline, Sinatra Hall, and Caveat Emptor; Kegler Hanover and Corky
Horse to Look Out For: 3 - Zapta (Ingrassia, 8-1)
2nd Trot $10,588; John Simpson Memorial - 2yo Fillies (1st Div)
6 - To Dreeam On (Takter, 4-5)
5 - Tru Day Dream (O'Mara, 8-1)
4 - Andie Sphia (MacDonald, 9-2)
Horse to Look Out For: 5 - Tru Day Dream, O'Mara, 8-1)
3rd Trot; $10,588; John Simpson Memorial - 2yo Fillies (2nd Div)
1 - Royal Assets (Schnittker, 2-1)
6 - Ladyfinger (D Miller, 4-1)
4 - Lady Rivera (Pierce, 5-1)
3 - Morningstar (Takter, 5-2)
Coupled: Royal Assets and Right Away
Horse to Look Out For: 4 - Lady Riviera (Pierce, 5-1)
4TH Trot; $10,588; John Simpson Memorial - 2yo Fillies (3rd Div)
8 - Miss Steele (A Miller, 3-1)
1 - Muscles Secret (Schnittker, 5-2)
5 - Dewey Lane (D Miller, 6-1)
Horse to Look Out For: 7 - Bull Spreader (Lachance, 10-1)
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Another Yonkers Flop
To no one's surprise, once again there will be no eliminations for the Yonkers Trot and Hudson Filly Trot as only five horses entered the box for the Yonkers Trot and three entered for the Hudson Filly Trot. True, these races have marquee horses going as Googoo Gaagaa will compete with the boys and Check Me Out will lead the trio in the filly stake.
Once again, people will talk about how no one wants to race on the half mile track. For those who feel this way, I say poppycock. If the payments for the stakes races were lower or more added money was contributed to the final purses, people would enter and take their chance in drawing the outside posts. Let's compare the payments for the Hambletonian and Yonkers Trot:
This year, if you make it into the final, you will have contributed 5% of the net final purse to race in the Yonkers Trot but only 2% to race in the Hambletonian. To get to the $40,000 elimination at Yonkers (if there was one), it would have cost you $12,625 and you run the risk of drawing the dreaded post seven or eight. For the Hambletonian, it will cost you $15,250 to get into a $70,000 elimination where you may draw posts eight, nine, or ten. Based on this information, would you enter your horse in the Yonkers Trot?
For all the talk about the great purses at Yonkers Raceway, they certainly don't invest it in their stakes races, they leave it up to the owners to pay a much bigger chunk of the purse. Hence, we have the lack of starters. I assure you if the Yonkers Trot went for a guaranteed $750,000 or the starting fees were reduced, more horses would drop in and risk the outside posts; the numbers make sense.
Yonkers needs to decide whether or not they want to be real players when it comes to stakes races. Either lower the fees to get into the races or raise the added money to make it worthwhile to enter. Otherwise, hosting these races with so few horses is not worth the investment and the track would be better served to scrap these races.
Once again, people will talk about how no one wants to race on the half mile track. For those who feel this way, I say poppycock. If the payments for the stakes races were lower or more added money was contributed to the final purses, people would enter and take their chance in drawing the outside posts. Let's compare the payments for the Hambletonian and Yonkers Trot:
| Hambletonian | Yonkers Trot | |
| Nomination Fee | $25.00 | $25.00 |
| 2yo Sustaining Fee | $500.00 | $600.00 |
| 3yo Sustaining Fee | $2,250.00 | $2,000.00 |
| Starting Fee - Elimination | $12,500.00 | $10,000.00 |
| Starting Fee - Final | $12,500.00 | $10,000.00 |
| Total Payments | $27,775.00 | $22,625.00 |
| Purse for Final | $1,500,000.00 | $445,594.00 |
| Payment to Purse Ratio | 1.85% | 5.08% |
This year, if you make it into the final, you will have contributed 5% of the net final purse to race in the Yonkers Trot but only 2% to race in the Hambletonian. To get to the $40,000 elimination at Yonkers (if there was one), it would have cost you $12,625 and you run the risk of drawing the dreaded post seven or eight. For the Hambletonian, it will cost you $15,250 to get into a $70,000 elimination where you may draw posts eight, nine, or ten. Based on this information, would you enter your horse in the Yonkers Trot?
For all the talk about the great purses at Yonkers Raceway, they certainly don't invest it in their stakes races, they leave it up to the owners to pay a much bigger chunk of the purse. Hence, we have the lack of starters. I assure you if the Yonkers Trot went for a guaranteed $750,000 or the starting fees were reduced, more horses would drop in and risk the outside posts; the numbers make sense.
Yonkers needs to decide whether or not they want to be real players when it comes to stakes races. Either lower the fees to get into the races or raise the added money to make it worthwhile to enter. Otherwise, hosting these races with so few horses is not worth the investment and the track would be better served to scrap these races.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
The Only Certainty Seems to be the Status Quo
People talk about how strong the racing industry is because of the large purses it is offering. Thanks to large purses, horsemen are doing well, blacksmiths, grooms, and people growing the hay are doing well. Of course, this is due to the state providing purse subsidies from slots. If not for these subsidies, many tracks would race for about 10% of the current purse level, resulting in many owners, horsemen, trainers, grooms, blacksmiths, hay producers, and breeders going out of business. No wonder horsemen fight so hard for slots or maintaining subsidy levels.
Now, let's say the state gave a subsidy to another industry to produce its product. As a result of this subsidy, workers are making good salaries; people who grow bamboo, make beads, and producing wire are kept employed. Only one problem, there is no real demand for the end product by the general public, after all when was the last time you saw someone use an abacus? The state has a financial problem. Should they continue to keep the abacus manufacturing industry strong by providing them with assistance keeping all those people employed or should the state re-route those funds to something which would benefit the general public even though it would put many people out of work? If you are honest to yourself, there is a good chance you will say the abacus industry should not be supported.
So the next time you are racing in front of an empty grandstand or your mutuel pools are minuscule, ask yourself if racing is a strong industry.
What is particularly frustrating, other than offering guaranteed pools, you don't hear much about doing anything to improve the demand for the racing product. Little talk about takeout rates or new wagering types. No one suggesting the industry attempt to take back business from the ADWs by forming a partnership to operate an ADW to compete against the existing ADWs. No one talking about solving the problem of late odd changes after a race goes off, curtailing the number of race days to have the product match the demand for it so we may have pools worth wagering into, nothing about making owners accountable for the sins of their trainers when they gravitate towards questionable trainers, talk about getting rid of beards. All we hear about is closing backstretches and reducing costs. For an industry which is not doing all that well, it seems the status quo would not be acceptable, yet with the exception of the rare few, the status quo seems to be acceptable.
Quick Notes
How do you handicap horses of layoffs? HANA Harness has an article regarding this.
Exchange wagering may be coming to California, more specifically at Los Alamitos. The thoroughbred horsemen and trainers keep refusing to give their blessing on exchange wagering so TVG has approached Los Al regarding introducing exchange wagering. The CHRB will be voting on the issue at their next board meeting. Apparently, the standardbred industry has plenty in common with thoroughbred horsemen, in particular the fear of trying anything new for fear it will hurt purse accounts. What should happen is if approved, Los Al should have exclusive rights to exchange wagering in the Golden State for a period of five years; stupidity of the horsemen and owners should be punished. In the meanwhile, no action seems to be taking place in New Jersey regarding exchange wagering, another state which has legalized it.
Tioga Downs is offering a $500 bonus for the trainer of each winning horse on their July 4 program. It will be interesting to see if the racing gets more competitive or not.
Bill Finley writes for ESPN about Googoo Gaagaaa, in particular about the success trainer Richard Hans is having with this pacing-sired trotter. Make no mistake, Googoo Gaagaa is this year's feel good story in harness racing, something the sport sorely needs in the year of the druggist. When it comes to breeding, the Hans basically threw out the rulebook, albeit by necessity. It is far too early to say, but wouldn't it be great if Googoo Gaagaa becomes the next Vivid Photo, coming off the beaten path to dominate the sophomore crop? Time will tell.
I failed to mention yesterday that starting next week, Yonkers Raceway will be increasing their guarantee for their late Pick 4 on Tuesday evenings. The new guarantee will be $25,000.
Thanks to SBOANJ publicist Carol Hodes for bringing the website Recollections to my attention. This website goes down memory lane in harness racing, primarily concentrating in Canada. The current featured article deals with the life of 'Jack' Campbell, the late father of Jim and John Campbell who recently passed away. Those who have an interest in the good ol' days may very well want to bookmark this website.
I came upon a nice article about thoroughbred jockey Rosemary Homeister Jr. and how she is currently doing double duty as a jockey and mother of a nine month-old at Arlington Park. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the article was the part how gender bias is not the issue it once was in thoroughbred racing. Shame the same can't be said about harness racing where if you don't own it, women don't get a chance to go behind the sulky in races. For harness racing to seriously attract female players, we need women in the sulkys.
Now, let's say the state gave a subsidy to another industry to produce its product. As a result of this subsidy, workers are making good salaries; people who grow bamboo, make beads, and producing wire are kept employed. Only one problem, there is no real demand for the end product by the general public, after all when was the last time you saw someone use an abacus? The state has a financial problem. Should they continue to keep the abacus manufacturing industry strong by providing them with assistance keeping all those people employed or should the state re-route those funds to something which would benefit the general public even though it would put many people out of work? If you are honest to yourself, there is a good chance you will say the abacus industry should not be supported.
So the next time you are racing in front of an empty grandstand or your mutuel pools are minuscule, ask yourself if racing is a strong industry.
What is particularly frustrating, other than offering guaranteed pools, you don't hear much about doing anything to improve the demand for the racing product. Little talk about takeout rates or new wagering types. No one suggesting the industry attempt to take back business from the ADWs by forming a partnership to operate an ADW to compete against the existing ADWs. No one talking about solving the problem of late odd changes after a race goes off, curtailing the number of race days to have the product match the demand for it so we may have pools worth wagering into, nothing about making owners accountable for the sins of their trainers when they gravitate towards questionable trainers, talk about getting rid of beards. All we hear about is closing backstretches and reducing costs. For an industry which is not doing all that well, it seems the status quo would not be acceptable, yet with the exception of the rare few, the status quo seems to be acceptable.
Quick Notes
How do you handicap horses of layoffs? HANA Harness has an article regarding this.
Exchange wagering may be coming to California, more specifically at Los Alamitos. The thoroughbred horsemen and trainers keep refusing to give their blessing on exchange wagering so TVG has approached Los Al regarding introducing exchange wagering. The CHRB will be voting on the issue at their next board meeting. Apparently, the standardbred industry has plenty in common with thoroughbred horsemen, in particular the fear of trying anything new for fear it will hurt purse accounts. What should happen is if approved, Los Al should have exclusive rights to exchange wagering in the Golden State for a period of five years; stupidity of the horsemen and owners should be punished. In the meanwhile, no action seems to be taking place in New Jersey regarding exchange wagering, another state which has legalized it.
Tioga Downs is offering a $500 bonus for the trainer of each winning horse on their July 4 program. It will be interesting to see if the racing gets more competitive or not.
Bill Finley writes for ESPN about Googoo Gaagaaa, in particular about the success trainer Richard Hans is having with this pacing-sired trotter. Make no mistake, Googoo Gaagaa is this year's feel good story in harness racing, something the sport sorely needs in the year of the druggist. When it comes to breeding, the Hans basically threw out the rulebook, albeit by necessity. It is far too early to say, but wouldn't it be great if Googoo Gaagaa becomes the next Vivid Photo, coming off the beaten path to dominate the sophomore crop? Time will tell.
I failed to mention yesterday that starting next week, Yonkers Raceway will be increasing their guarantee for their late Pick 4 on Tuesday evenings. The new guarantee will be $25,000.
Thanks to SBOANJ publicist Carol Hodes for bringing the website Recollections to my attention. This website goes down memory lane in harness racing, primarily concentrating in Canada. The current featured article deals with the life of 'Jack' Campbell, the late father of Jim and John Campbell who recently passed away. Those who have an interest in the good ol' days may very well want to bookmark this website.
I came upon a nice article about thoroughbred jockey Rosemary Homeister Jr. and how she is currently doing double duty as a jockey and mother of a nine month-old at Arlington Park. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the article was the part how gender bias is not the issue it once was in thoroughbred racing. Shame the same can't be said about harness racing where if you don't own it, women don't get a chance to go behind the sulky in races. For harness racing to seriously attract female players, we need women in the sulkys.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Monday Miscellanery
Martha Maxine, the mare who turned out to be a horse died this past Saturday night at Mohawk Racetrack at the age of eight in the eighth race, a $30,000 claiming event. Maxine broke at the start and was distanced the whole way around until he fell at before the 3/4 pole. While the cause of death is not yet known, the horse was probably doomed the moment the race started. Martha Maxine was claimed out of the race, so unless there has been a rule change voiding claims when a horse drops dead in a race, the claimant is not going to be very happy.
Rumor has it the Liberals were not happy with WEG CEO and Preside Nick Eaves comments regarding the end of Slot at Racetracks program and how there was a good chance the last Queen's Plate has been run. Allegedly, the Liberal party's leadership had cancelled their tables for the big day at Woodbine. I guess the Liberals don't appreciate the public hearing and seeing first hand what may be happening, so the Liberals were upset that WEG hasn't just rolled over and died.
Running Aces last night set an all-time track record for an eleven race card handling $225,096. Not exactly big numbers for serious gamblers, but it is a step in the right direction; something not occurring often enough.
Harnesslink has run an article about Jeff Gural who is on a mission to get rid of the cheats from harness racing and how he has no qualms about using his exclusionary rights. Gural questions why other tracks don't do the same. A very good question. Also, Gural has gotten regulators and some trainers to agree in concept to standardize medication rules between Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, following the New York model as a guide; that means regulated withdrawal times and the ability to look at veterinarian records. This of course is a start and since Gural initiated this discussion, one would expect a response by the SOA of NY. In fact, I am surprised a comment has not yet come out. I guess when there is talk about using New York rules, the SOA of NY can't find as much fault.
When asked about Lou Pena, Gural made an indirect comment which refers to the smell test that Pull The Pocket had talked about today. I for one, have a few other trainers in mind that would flunk my smell test. You don't have to know what someone is using to know they are cheating.
The tone of the article is somewhat muted. Harnesslink has not been particularly talking kindly about Gural, finding objection to some of the steps he has taken.
While we don't typically cover thoroughbred racing, the Paulick Report indicates Monmouth Park has the inside track for hosting the 2013 Breeders' Cup with all the nonsense going on at NYRA. I think this would be great for the NJTHA and I let me say I for one would be very happy if Monmouth Park was awarded the Cup.
Speaking of the Breeders Cup, one must wonder what the status is of next year's Breeders Crown if WEG can't support holding the event. I can't see the Meadowlands at this point being able to support it either. My guess is we may find the Breeders Crown at Pocono next year if the status quo falters.
Jay Bergman is probably right when he says the Meadowlands handle is suffering because a lot of the name drivers flee the Meadowlands for stakes races elsewhere, leaving the Meadowlands with less-recognized drivers. Bergman refers to the current meet as 'Tioga South' when talking about the drivers colony and horses. I personally don't mind the newcomers driving as I feel it opens up the prices a bit as the drivers are somewhat a wild card, but I can see where the heavy hitters don't. I'm not sure changing the racing schedule that much would help, New Jersey needs a spring meet for NJSS events and others. If there is a problem with the new drivers, it is they are being integrated in the spring. I would suggest attempting to integrate some new drivers during the winter months so come spring, they will have developed a reputation, good or bad.
Rumor has it the Liberals were not happy with WEG CEO and Preside Nick Eaves comments regarding the end of Slot at Racetracks program and how there was a good chance the last Queen's Plate has been run. Allegedly, the Liberal party's leadership had cancelled their tables for the big day at Woodbine. I guess the Liberals don't appreciate the public hearing and seeing first hand what may be happening, so the Liberals were upset that WEG hasn't just rolled over and died.
Running Aces last night set an all-time track record for an eleven race card handling $225,096. Not exactly big numbers for serious gamblers, but it is a step in the right direction; something not occurring often enough.
Harnesslink has run an article about Jeff Gural who is on a mission to get rid of the cheats from harness racing and how he has no qualms about using his exclusionary rights. Gural questions why other tracks don't do the same. A very good question. Also, Gural has gotten regulators and some trainers to agree in concept to standardize medication rules between Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, following the New York model as a guide; that means regulated withdrawal times and the ability to look at veterinarian records. This of course is a start and since Gural initiated this discussion, one would expect a response by the SOA of NY. In fact, I am surprised a comment has not yet come out. I guess when there is talk about using New York rules, the SOA of NY can't find as much fault.
When asked about Lou Pena, Gural made an indirect comment which refers to the smell test that Pull The Pocket had talked about today. I for one, have a few other trainers in mind that would flunk my smell test. You don't have to know what someone is using to know they are cheating.
The tone of the article is somewhat muted. Harnesslink has not been particularly talking kindly about Gural, finding objection to some of the steps he has taken.
While we don't typically cover thoroughbred racing, the Paulick Report indicates Monmouth Park has the inside track for hosting the 2013 Breeders' Cup with all the nonsense going on at NYRA. I think this would be great for the NJTHA and I let me say I for one would be very happy if Monmouth Park was awarded the Cup.
Speaking of the Breeders Cup, one must wonder what the status is of next year's Breeders Crown if WEG can't support holding the event. I can't see the Meadowlands at this point being able to support it either. My guess is we may find the Breeders Crown at Pocono next year if the status quo falters.
Jay Bergman is probably right when he says the Meadowlands handle is suffering because a lot of the name drivers flee the Meadowlands for stakes races elsewhere, leaving the Meadowlands with less-recognized drivers. Bergman refers to the current meet as 'Tioga South' when talking about the drivers colony and horses. I personally don't mind the newcomers driving as I feel it opens up the prices a bit as the drivers are somewhat a wild card, but I can see where the heavy hitters don't. I'm not sure changing the racing schedule that much would help, New Jersey needs a spring meet for NJSS events and others. If there is a problem with the new drivers, it is they are being integrated in the spring. I would suggest attempting to integrate some new drivers during the winter months so come spring, they will have developed a reputation, good or bad.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Still Time to Head to Historic Track
 |
| A field getting away at Historic Track |
I am a little bit late this year, but the Grand Circuit is visiting Goshen Historic Track in New York this coming weekend starting June 29 thru July 2. Hall of Fame Day is Sunday, July 1. If you have never attended the races at Historic Track, you really need to make an effort to go.
You may think how good can the horses be at Goshen, but you would be surprised. There have been some really good horses that have graced the historic oval as trainers like Ray Schnittker make their Historic Track as their base of operation. Tomorrow's champion may be racing in front of your eyes.
The schedule this year is as follows:
- Friday, June 29 - Landmark Stakes for 2 and 3yos (both sexes and gaits)
- Saturday, June 30 - New York Excelsior/State Fair Stakes - 3yo pacers; CKG Billings Amateur Driving Series; Catskill Amateur Drivers Pace
- Sunday, July 1 - Hall of Fame Day; New York Excelsior/State Fair Stakes - 3yo trotters; Hall of Fame Pace (Invitational); Ladies Invitational
- Monday, July 2 - New York County Fair Races - 2 and 3yos (both gaits)
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| A field heading into the final turn at Historic Track. |
Post Time each day is 1:00pm. Admission for adults is $5.00. One of the neat things about Historic Track is you can roam all around the track and backstretch during each day's racing plus you never know who you are going to run into, and not just on Hall of Fame Day. True there is no wagering, but quite honestly, you won't miss it.
If you want to see pari-mutuel racing in the evening, the Meadowlands races Thursday-Saturday while Yonkers Raceway races each evening except Sunday during the Goshen meet. Monticello Raceway races Monday and Tuesday at 12:50pm and if you are around for July 4, they will be racing their only night card of the year starting at 5:30pm which culminates in their renowned fireworks display.
If you are looking for sightseeing, you are not far away from West Point and Bear Mountain State Park (fireworks on Friday night). Of course, don't forget the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame next door!
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