Jul 7
2015
Old Proverb:
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
Translation into Horse Racing:
“Give a man your picks and you have a spectator for a day. Teach a man to handicap, and you have a fan for a lifetime.”
This has always been my philosophy when introducing horse racing to my family and friends. And it all started with my wife more than thirty years ago. But, let me first confess … it began for selfish reasons.
Read More >>
Jul 1
2015
Exactly one year ago, on our way to an Alaskan cruise vacation, we decided to spend a couple extra days in the Seattle area so we could visit Emerald Downs Racetrack. We were lucky enough to have timed our visit so we were there for their annual “Fireworks Spectacular” celebrating the July 4th holiday. Having never been to Emerald Downs, we did not know what to expect.
To put things in perspective, my hometown racing venue is Saratoga, a mecca of horse racing, where the purse for one Maiden race exceeds the sum total of the purses for all nine races ($61,475) at Emerald Downs the day we attended. The “feature” race was an $18,000 Claiming race with a purse of $14,800. But we learned there is more to the “quality of racing” than the claiming tag or the so called value of a horse. There is also the “quality of the racing experience.”
Read More >>
Jun 26
2015
Bandit
Warning: This is not a story about horses. It is a personal story about an animal, a pet of mine – that I decided to share with the animal lovers that follow our website.
I have been an animal lover my entire life, especially cats and dogs. I’ve had everything from Siamese cats to Saint Bernards (two at one time, in a mobile home). This story is about my latest, a beautiful white and black cat named Bandit. The photos make it fairly obvious how he got his name. Like many of my pets we rescued him from an animal shelter as a kitten. At the time we had a beagle, named Oscar, who was the family dog for nearly all of our kid’s childhood.
Read More >>
Jun 24
2015
Full Tap Galloping
Updated: June 24, 2015
Last summer we featured Full Tap in an article about individual horses making their debut. At the time she was a promising 2-year old in the barn of Christophe Clement. She made her debut at Saratoga on July 18, 2014 in a 51/2 furlong race on the dirt. She finished 3rd that day behind a horse, The Lewis Dinner, who went on to win three races as a 2-year old, including two stakes races.
Full Tap has not raced since that day, 341 days ago. She did not have any injuries, and the decision was made to just let her “grow up” in the words of Assistant Trainer, Thomas Brandebourger. Thomas added, “She is doing great and looks stronger than last year. She had some fast works here at Saratoga without being hard on her, to keep her mentally on the right side.”
Full Tap is returning on Wednesday, June 24 in the 2nd race at Belmont Park, in a 6-furlong maiden race on the turf. Regarding the change of surface, Thomas explained “She showed us she was moving well on the turf (in workouts).” Her two official workouts on the turf were at Payson Park in April-May, and she has since put together four solid workouts over the training track at Saratoga. Thomas ended by saying, “The filly is ready and we are expecting a very good performance from her on Wednesday.”
Race Result:
Full Tap lived up to her expectations and won by a comfortable 2 1/4 lengths, being “geared down in the final strides.” Click here to see the complete race chart. Here is a photo of Full Tap taken the day after her first career victory.
Full Tap After Maiden Win
Read More >>
Jun 18
2015
JUMBLE PUZZLE (Solution Below)
If you check the puzzle section of the newspaper you’re likely to find these two types of puzzles. Many horseplayers can be divided into these two broad categories. One is not necessarily better than the other, but understanding the Pros and Cons of both might help you decide which one fits your style.
A crossword player isn’t finished until they’ve finished filling in all of the words in the puzzle. A “crossword horseplayer” likes to evaluate all of the horses and angles before making his selections in a race. He sizes up every horse in categories of distance, class, pace, and form. He looks at result charts and watches video replays. Depending on the type of race he might sprinkle in some trainer statistics, age angles, jockey changes, etc. This describes me, I’m a “crossword horseplayer.”
Read More >>
Jun 12
2015
In June of 1978, at Belmont Park, Affirmed didn’t just win the Triple Crown. He fought for it. He dug in when confronted in the stretch by his adversary, Alydar, looked him in the eye and whinnied, “Hoy no compadre.” Laz Barerra taught him that.
In that moment, countless new racing fans were born. Ask a group of fans between the age of 50 and 60 today what got them hooked on horse racing, and the vast majority of replies will begin with the words, “Affirmed and Alydar.”
Read More >>
Jun 6
2015
In Part 1 of this article we showed a chart of the “disappointed dozen” horses who have attempted to win the Belmont Stakes after winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes since 1978. Included in that article was a more detailed account of the first six of these Triple Crown candidates. In Part 2 we describe the attempts of the remaining six, and offer a comparison of all twelve with this year’s candidate, American Pharoah. We also contrast the Belmont Stakes spoilers from year’s past with the field from the 2015 Belmont Stakes.
Read More >>
Jun 2
2015
You know the story. Since the last Triple Crown winner in 1978, Affirmed, there have been 13 horses prior to American Pharoah, in a position to win the Triple Crown after they won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. From this point forward, we are going to give a pass to one of these 13 horses, I’ll Have Another, who was scratched from the 2012 Belmont Stakes. How did the remaining twelve fair in the Belmont Stakes. Their record: ZERO wins, 4 seconds, 4 thirds … and 4 off the board. Given the fact all twelve were post-time favorites and their average win odds was 4-5, that’s not so good. It’s a pretty safe bet that American Pharoah will be somewhere around that 4-5 mark when they load the gate on June 6. Will he suffer the same fate of these dozen horses … highly regarded, heavily bet, and considered by many in the crowd to be destined for greatness?
In this article we’ll take a closer look at the disappointed dozen and see if we can find any common threads in their dashed dreams. Later (in Part 2) we’ll compare these past Triple Crown candidates with our present day candidate American Pharoah. Then you can decide for yourself whether or not he’s destined for greatness.
Read More >>
May 28
2015
Belmont Park is The Green Monster of Racetracks, with the largest oval of any thoroughbred racetrack in North America, 11/2 miles in circumference. That’s 12 furlongs, or put in relative terms, 3 furlongs longer than Saratoga and Aqueduct (the other two racetracks on the NYRA circuit). It’s 4 furlongs longer than Santa Anita, Churchill Downs, Monmouth Park, and other 1-mile tracks. Again, in relative terms, that 50% longer than those racetracks. Also, unlike many other racetracks, there are virtually no restrictions on the possible distances of races that can be run at Belmont.
Belmont is a visually stunning racetrack to witness in person. From the stands it seems like the backstretch is miles away. And, due to the structural design, there are no televisions mounted near the grandstand seats. For that reason, binoculars are as essential to the racing patron as a copy of the racing program and a cold draft beer. Fancy hats are optional.
Read More >>
May 22
2015
I recently sat down with Ian Wilkes, the trainer of 2012 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Fort Larned. Ian told me that “Fort Larned took me to places I’d dreamed of going.” But to get to those places, Ian Wilkes had to learn from some mistakes first. And during the course of our conversation, I discovered that Ian is very willing to share his mistakes and the lessons he learned along the way. He explained, “You’re never too proud to say that you screwed up. Successful people always make mistakes in life and learn from them. Just don’t keep making the same ones over again.”
Read More >>
