Looking Past Lexington

As the Red Mile meet draws to a close (the final card is this coming Sunday, October 6), eyes are looking past this meet on to other things.  For one, Breeders Crown nominations are coming up fast with supplemental nominations due one day after the Kentucky Futurity for potential eliminations to be raced next weekend with the finals coming up October 19.

Out west Cal Expo resumes racing with the month of October featuring Saturday night racing.  Granted Cal Expo doesn't exactly have the quality of racing we do in the Midwest and East Coast, but their pools are decent (especially the later races).  Cal Expo, following the models established by Canadian tracks is instituting $.20 Pick-4s and Trifectas in an effort to cater to smaller gamblers and increase churn.  Unlike their thoroughbred brethren, Cal Expo will offer 16% takeout rates on the Pick-4, Pick-5, and Super High-Five wagers.  Come November, Cal Expo returns to its Friday and Saturday night schedule. All this going on in the shadow of Exchange Wagering coming in January, the first track in North America to offer it (California residents only).

If you want to look a little further out, the Meadowlands rolls out Meadowlands 2.5 on November 23, a mere 51 days away from today.  A new grandstand, new attitude can be expected with the fall meet featuring true year end championships.

Yes, there are some suspenseful things coming up with racing schedules for 2014 coming up for awarding.  Will the legislature come through in Illinois to save racing or will racing in the Prairie state look more like fair racing?  What happens to Rosecroft Raceway once the Prince George Casino

The season is waning but there is plenty of exciteement remainint,                                                                  ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

We, the Afterthought

Earlier this week, the letter sent to Ed Martin of the ARCI by USTA President Phil Langley was released, outlining the USTA's reasons to no longer fund the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium and demand different single standards for the individual breeds racing.

If one reads the letter, the arguments made by Langley make perfect sense.  Unfortunately, it also suggests the problem the standardbred industry has when it comes to doing something in conjunction with our thoroughbred cousins; the standardbred industry goes to the back of the bus, mainly considered an after thought by policy makers.  Unfortunately, due to thoroughbreds being more popular where it counts with more money wagered on thoroughbred bred racing at harness tracks; even at the Meadowlands, they get away with it.

So  the USTA drops funding for the RMTC because it is a thoroughbred-centric group.  What's next?  Unfortunately, as of now the ARCI has proposed a single medication policy for consideration by the various state racing commissions.  Standardbred interests are going to have a challenge to get racing commissions who are members of the ARCI to go against, in effect, their own rules.  By all means, the attempt should be made but it is going to be an uphill battle.

New York and Ontario Sires Stakes Recap

VFTRG contributor Joe F. has provided a recap on the New York and Ontario Sires Stakes Finals.  I apologize for the delay but family emergencies has kept me from posting this earlier.  While it may be a couple of days late, I always find Joe's comments worth reading and once again he did not fail.

Yonkers distributed $1,800,000 in their eight sire stakes finals Saturday night. The handle was less than a million dollars. There were five 8-horse fields and three with seven. The onerous NYRC coupling rules haunted the card. Three of the eight were won by favorites and two by the second choice. No driver won more than one and eight different trainers sent forth winners. American Ideal was the only stallion with multiple winners, with his progeny taking the two-year-old colt (He’s Watching) and three-year-old filly (Social Scene) stakes.

He’s Watching stole the show, thumping his class by five lengths in a track record :52.2 at 1/9 for Jim Morrill. Casie Coleman’s Design Guru, who got close last time, went wide on the first turn and that was it for him. And the If I Can Dream colt, Big Boy Dreams, put up an admirable second. Forty-four years ago next month Columbia George knocked a second off the world record for a two-year-old pacer on a half in the Sheppard at Yonkers. He beat Truluck in :58.4 that night, 6.2 seconds slower than He’s Watching went Saturday night. Yes,  it’s impossible to compare performances from different eras, but we’re talking about more than 30 lengths.

The two-year-old colt pacers are an ordinary lot; none resided in the top ten as of last week. He’s Watching fell a couple of slots out of the top group but may step up this week. His problem is that he isn’t staked to the Red Mile races and therefore can’t start in a split of the ISS this week. He’s not eligible to the BC either. Will he race in the Governor’s Cup at M1 at the end of November? The money leader in that freshman colt division, Boomboom Ballykeel, is also a sire stakes colt. He isn’t staked to the BC either. Which GC colt will capitalize on this situation?  

He’s Watching’s paternal sister, Social Scene, was also very impressive in crushing the competition by five in :53 for Brennan at a generous 4/1. The 4/5 favorite, Summertime Lea, the archetypal sire stakes filly, who was interfered with on the first turn and used early, wound up seventh. Social Scene is staked to the BC, but then again, so is Nitelife. If the Bettor’s Delight filly, Shebestingin, had put her mind to accumulating SS points she would have been a handful for Social Scene.

Mark Austin’s lightly staked Art Major colt, Fool Me Once, was another who dominated his divisional final. Sears steered him home in :51.3. As was the case with Summertime Lea, Last year’s kingpin, Doctor Butch, was near the back at 33/1.

The trotter that impressed on this Night of Champions was the Credit Winner filly, Bouncing Bax, a sister to Bax Of Life and Baximum. She drew off from her 3 YO foes to win in :56.2 at 2/5 for Jason Bartlett.

**********  

The OSS Super Final Night allocated $1,600,000 for eight stakes at Mohawk, a little less than Yonkers. However, those races featured ten horse fields and as a result the handle (entire card) was 42% higher than Yonkers’ handle. Paul MacDonnell was the only driver to win more than one, while Muscle Mass and Kadabra each sired two winners. Four of the eight races were won by favorites.

A blanket of fog left viewers in the dark and Ken Middleton speechless from the last turn to deep 

stretch in the ninth and tenth races. The teletimer and sound of the field were the only clues available.

The toughest winner of the night was surely, Bruger Bruiser, a son of the Mach Three stallion Believeinbruiser. Contrary to the non-confrontational style of driving that prevails at the WEG tracks, Anthony MacDonald and the Bruiser carried Doug McNair and Three Of Clubs past the quarter in :25.4. The favored Bruiser then withstood last half pressure from third choice Crafty Master to beat that one a neck in :50.3. Believeinbruiser is the sort of marginal stallion the breeding program finds to be more of a nuisance than anything else, but good for him.

Another winner by an off-brand stallion was Duc Dorleans, who hails from Shanghai Phil, a son of 1999 Canadian Pacer of the Year, Blissful Hall. Duc isn’t a one-off like the Bruiser; he’s the richest son or daughter of his daddy—not that there are very many. Duc emerged from the fog as the winner of the three-year-old colt pace for Sylvain Filion. He went off at 5/1. The 1/2 favorite, Mach It So, finished last.

Kadabra, the premier stallion in the province, had two winners in Bee A Magician and Flanagan Memory, both sporting short prices and high expectations. But it was new kid on the block, Muscle Mass, who stole the show. His freshman daughter, Riveting Rosie, buried the opposition in :56 (27.2) at 1/5 while paternal brother, Muscle Matters, did the same to the boys. Ironically, the public made a son of Dewey, another Muscles Yankee protégé, the favorite over Muscle Matters. Dewey skipped town after a relatively brief stay in Ontario, and his exit came none too soon, because Muscle Mass is better than he is, and a lot cheaper.

Muscle Mass’s  celebrated brother, Muscle Massive, is being heavily promoted by Hanover this year: there will be 41 available at the Harness Breeders Sale. He is expected to succeed as a Grand Circuit stallion while also taking advantage of the PASS pot of gold. Muscle Mass has been presented as a regional stallion but like Shadow Play that may change over the next couple of years. There will be seven Muscle Mass fillies for sale at Lexington and two colts and two fillies selling at Harrisburg, where he’d be viewed as competition for his brother.

The Badlands Hanover filly, Love Canal, was expected to assume a hybrid role this year, with two feet in the OSS and the other two in the open realm. That hasn’t happened; she met with no success in her open starts and finished second to the Mach Three filly, Regil Elektra, on Saturday.

There were some predictable results at Yonkers and Mohawk that are the natural outgrowth of sire stakes racing, which is inherently unbalanced and beyond correction by cleverly written conditions. However,  seeing the likes of He’s Watching, Bouncing Bax, Fool Me Once, Riveting Rosie and Muscle Matters dominate the way they did infused a sector of the sport that can be rather ho hum with a shot of energy.

MR - MUNICH MILE; BILLINGS TROTS & GERMAN-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP RACES FEATURED WEDNESDAY

Wednesday, October 2^nd will certainly be an action packed day at Monticello Raceway. Besides  two Billings Series trots and two  divisions of the German American Friendship Races, the Munich Mile, the sixth leg of the Heritage Drivers Series featuring drivers of German descent, will make for  a very interesting afternoon.

We knew that a contingent of German drivers would be visiting here on October 2^nd so we rescheduled our Munich Mile for that date and now we have four native Germans in the event,” noted Eric Warner the tracks director of racing.

Warner is referring to Peter Platzer, Christoph Pellander, Martina Bredlau and Andreas Schwartz who are part of a contingent in America as guests of the North American Amateur Drivers Association.

“Since they will be racing against four NAADA members on Tuesday we thought by having them drive in our Munich Mile on that day would make it all the more interesting,” Warner added.

Joining the aforementioned German natives in the Munich Mile are Greg Merton, Chuck Poynton, Bruce Aldrich, Jr. and Mike Merton. That event will go as race nine on the 13-race program.

The winner of that race will become eligible for the series finale—the All-America Cup—in mid-November and join the previous Heritage Drivers  Series leg winners.

The 11^th and 12^th races on the card will be trots for the members of the C.K.G. Billings Driving Series. Among the drivers in those events are former Amateur Drivers of the Year, Bobby Krivelin and Alan Schwartz, along with  the new Billings president Tony Verruso and the longtime former president, Peter Gerry.

At the completion of those contests it will mark the fourth time that the Billings has made a stop at the Mighty M this year.

And  the main reason the visiting Germans are in the USA is to compete against their counterparts in the North American Amateur Drivers Association. Driving in the Munich Mile was a late added attraction for them. 

The German American Friendship races will be a trot in race sixth race and a pace in race in race seven. In the first event the Americans will go with Alan Schwartz, Peter Gerry, Gerry Fielding and Bobby Krivelin. Driving for the USA in race seven are Schwartz, Fielding, Gerry and George Bonomo.

After  the race, as is custom in international amateur racing, the participants will get together at a local restaurant and ‘break bread’.

On Thursday the German-American Friendship races will take place at Yonkers Raceway where the visiting Germans will drive against a different slate of NAADA members. Then on Friday, (Oct. 4)the Friendship races will be at Vernon Downs with yet another group of NAADA drivers competing for the USA.

So You Want to Get a Rescued Horse?

Readers of this blog know I am a big supporter of horse rescue, all horses, but in particular standardbreds.  For those looking for a pleasure horse or even a show horse, there's nothing better than a bomb proof standardbred.  The big question is where to get them? 

There are several ways to get horses.  If you have the ability, the ideal place is at a horse auction where you can get a horse at the cheapest cost and possibly keep the horse from shipping to slaughter.  Of course, a horse auction is not the best place for a novice as you need to deal with issues such as quarantine and evaluating a horse in an auction setting.  If you have a friend who has the knowledge and ability to help you deal with these issues, by all means please do.  Otherwise, donate to rescues which will go to these auctions and pull these horses and go look for your pleasure horse elsewhere.

The best place to get a horse in my opinion is to adopt a horse from a legitimate rescue.  A legitimate rescue will require you to submit to a background check to see you truly are able to care for a horse and they will help you select a horse which fits your ability and requirements.  If for some reason something goes wrong with the adoption, you can return the horse to the rescue where it will be safe until re-homed.  You will likely pay a relatively small fee to adopt a horse, basically to allow these rescues to continue to operate.  In many ways, it is like getting a dog/cat from a shelter.

Then there are broker owned horses.  These are groups who will work with brokers (kill buyers) to find horses new homes.  Personally, I don't care for this method.  Yes, you may be saving a horse but you are doing so by rewarding a person who buys a horse just to resell it at a handsome profit by preying on the emotions of good natured individuals.  The urge to save a horse can be strong and I imagine if you are willing to let someone profit by dealing in unwanted horses, then this option is an acceptable avenue for you.  Some of these groups may be legitimate, but be aware some of these groups are 'less than honorable'.  Before going this route, you may wish to read The Ethics of Horse Rescue (This blog is independent of mine and as such I take no responsibility for its content.).  If you look to the right side of my blog, you will see some of the most recent blog entries from Ethics of Horse Rescue listed.

Whichever way you choose to go about getting a horse, be educated and due your due diligence.  It may be the difference between having a rewarding experience with your new horse or heartache.