tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143643307133251382024-02-07T05:02:03.453-08:00The Dresden Filemalcerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913127739083446726noreply@blogger.comBlogger85125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414364330713325138.post-7422937850775270662010-09-17T07:21:00.000-07:002010-11-04T14:03:46.342-07:00Munich's Oktoberfest, A Racing History<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF1A_dyHcCrW0kpvYQVaJgHZQwx2ZhE7ayo_r-dOwipRLg2v7oFdzMNg9ygzJlPBpyS4tKawZErXYJnLrucT7UUaclEQII9S4tIwfJyz9phyphenhyphen2YhegAPgW1bKkEebNArRtdHEDwmiCIK7Q/s1600/image.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 281px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF1A_dyHcCrW0kpvYQVaJgHZQwx2ZhE7ayo_r-dOwipRLg2v7oFdzMNg9ygzJlPBpyS4tKawZErXYJnLrucT7UUaclEQII9S4tIwfJyz9phyphenhyphen2YhegAPgW1bKkEebNArRtdHEDwmiCIK7Q/s400/image.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517885731585319858" border="0" /></a><br />Long before it became a favorite opportunity for the rest of the world to make fun of Germans, and for the rest of Germans to make fun of Bavarians, Munich's Oktoberfest had become an interesting footnote in the annals of horse racing.<br /><br />When it was first held on October 17, 1810 on a large meadow just outside town, there was not a single beer hall on the grounds. The history of the Oktoberfest instead began with a horse race, held as the highlight and final of the celebrations surrounding the marriage of Prince Ludwig of Bavaria to Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen five days earlier.<br /><br />Originally the idea of one Franz Baumgartner, a coachman and member of the Bavarian citizens' militia, the concept was presented to King Maximilian I. by Baumgartner's commanding officer, cavalry major and banker Andreas von Dall'Armi, whose personal fortune could also take care of the necessary investments.<br />Maximilian was all for it. The Duke of Bavaria since 1799, he had been proclaimed the first King of Bavaria in 1806, a title somewhat tainted by the fact that he pretty much owed it entirely to his controversial subservience to Napoleon, who had first stripped the duchy of a considerable part of its belongings, then awarded it even greater lands elsewhere (and the title of a kingdom) after the Bavarians had switched to his side. The result of these turbulent developments was that Maximilian now ruled a country in turmoil, constantly upset by one controversial reform after another, and with many of his subjects not particularly fond of either the king or the kingdom. It was in this light that Max was anxious to use the festivities to present himself favourably to his people. And this was also the reason why he decided to combine the race day with patriotic parades and a huge feast for the populace, which in turn sowed the seeds for what was to become the world's largest fair.<br /><br />The 1810 horse race itself was in the tradition of the medieval "scarlet races", with the winning jockey being awarded a valuable piece of scarlet cloth. His name: Franz Baumgartner.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbmdVkAfcxFYTyfvPeDwiR_JVTR7OCq-YXjzQNnEYxL4IeShb3pPfWyUGwlTSpMPoZtn0n7YYQticlEji7P_ymME3qG9D1CTYqfyfetnD6R4N9oyWQRpqp5XGU0BdykSFPwextM5OzIJg/s1600/41_00258526~_heinrich-adam_das-pferderennen-auf-dem-muenchner-oktoberfest-1823.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbmdVkAfcxFYTyfvPeDwiR_JVTR7OCq-YXjzQNnEYxL4IeShb3pPfWyUGwlTSpMPoZtn0n7YYQticlEji7P_ymME3qG9D1CTYqfyfetnD6R4N9oyWQRpqp5XGU0BdykSFPwextM5OzIJg/s400/41_00258526~_heinrich-adam_das-pferderennen-auf-dem-muenchner-oktoberfest-1823.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517884099330051298" border="0" /></a><br />A success with both the bourgeoisie and the lower populace, the festival was repeated the next year, and extended by an agricultural fair. Offering a handy and highly remunerative opportunity for brewers to clear out their reserves of last season's Märzen beer at the start of the new brewing season*, the Oktoberfest quickly took off as the almost aggressively convivial swilling-contest we know today (then again, you have to be pretty tanked to look the other way on the clothing, I guess). The original racing component on the other hand became more and more of an afterthought and was ultimately cut off between World Wars.<br /><br />In 2010, on occasion of the festival's 200th anniversary, horse racing will return for the first time since 1960, and the second time post-WWII in the form of short-circuit races for haflingers and other regional breeds.<br /><br />* before the advancement of refrigeration and production technology, brewing beer was only allowed between Michelmas (September 29) and St. George's day (April 23); <span style="font-style: italic;">Märzen</span>, which literally translates to an outdated version of March, indicates a beer brewed very late in the season and elaborately stored ('<span style="font-style: italic;">gelagert</span>') all through the summer<br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />(images: <span style="font-style: italic;">Peter Heß: "Das Pferde-Rennen bey der Vermählungs Feyer"</span>, depictig the very first Oktoberfest in 1810 [top]; <span style="font-style: italic;">Heinrich Adam: "Das Pferderennen auf dem Münchner Oktoberfest 1823"</span>, both paintings are part of a <a href="http://www.stadtmuseum-online.de/oktoberfest/oktoberfest_english.htm">current exhibition</a> by the<span style="font-style: italic;"> Münchner</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> Stadtmuseum</span>)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/G4NVSDyXN5c?fs=1&hl=de_DE&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/G4NVSDyXN5c?fs=1&hl=de_DE&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >(video of a 2010 Haflinger race; added Sept. 18; 1825 CET, 1225 EST; source: ganz-muenchen.de)</span>malcerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913127739083446726noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414364330713325138.post-84747119868506835862010-06-15T08:54:00.000-07:002010-06-17T15:41:50.912-07:00Joe Hirsch Must Be Rotating By Now<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTDs75uPSNuKQi1cQPq5kSInmsAB0eShSMzAEQLZC5VrCpFkbkPg1uPc-VrANXhj5ww2MFCaSQtBmIHZyHisDVsTPPfDEN7UCQkgDjliV5_xCwmRJV8qSXmxHeBzVVMp08MjfBvn_q0YQ/s1600/belle-watling3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTDs75uPSNuKQi1cQPq5kSInmsAB0eShSMzAEQLZC5VrCpFkbkPg1uPc-VrANXhj5ww2MFCaSQtBmIHZyHisDVsTPPfDEN7UCQkgDjliV5_xCwmRJV8qSXmxHeBzVVMp08MjfBvn_q0YQ/s400/belle-watling3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483027846810257762" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">The frequently insightful and entertaining <a href="http://www.paulickreport.com/blog/where-have-you-gone-joe-hirsch/">Paulick Report is chuckling</a> about a rather bad factual error in racing's paper of note, the <span style="font-style: italic;">Desert Valley Times</span> of Southern Utah. Apparently, the <span style="font-style: italic;">DVT</span>'s racing columnist Duke Hunt has suggested the Haskell Invitational as a possible tete-a-tete for <span style="font-weight: bold;">Zenyatta</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Rachel Alexandra</span> in <a href="http://www.thespectrum.com/article/20100615/DVTONLINE02/100614025/1054/DVTONLINE/Rachel+Alexandra++Zenyatta+show+the+boys+how+it+s+done">his latest column</a>, leading Mr. Paulick to suspect that Joe Hirsch must be rolling in his grave.<br /><br />Now, I can't help but think that Joe Hirsch would be more disappointed that with all the factual errors (to say nothing about leaps of logic) you'll find in an average edition of the DRF or Blood-Horse, the one turf writer Mr. Paulick slams is some retired former USAF sergeant who writes for a minor provincial paper on a hobby basis. Or the fact that Mr. Paulick ridicules this guy on a large racing website without even leaving a comment at the article itself.<br /><br />For perspective, not to ridicule (no, really), I had already dug up some old fact-checking error from the Paulick Report's archives, remembering that one edition of Mr. Paulick's helpful "Saturday Stakes, Where to Watch" posts had listed the Florida Oaks, Tampa Bay Derby and Honeybee Stakes as turf races, one of them at the wrong time too. Happens to everybody, unless you have an excellent fact-checking department.<br /><br />And then I decided to google the esteemed <span style="font-style: italic;">Desert Valley Times</span> of Southern Utah (both for info and because it struck me as odd), and wouldn't you know: the <span style="font-style: italic;">Desert Valley Times</span> is a twice-weekly paper from Mesquite, Nevada, right on the Nevada/ Arizona border. To be fair, the <span style="font-style: italic;">DVT</span> is owned and distributed by St. George, Utah daily newspaper <span style="font-style: italic;">The Spectrum</span>, but Mr. Hunt's column, which deals with racing topics and his local race book, is very obviously <span style="font-style: italic;">DVT</span>-produced content.<br /><br />Yes, sloppy fact-checking is a bitch.<br /><br />I guess you just have to be lucky that no one notices such easily avoidable mistakes, or that they at least aren't such a dick to write about it on the net, be it on a well-visited aggregator/ news site or some obscure blog from Germany that has made its own share of factual blunders.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >(Image of Secretariat winning the 1974 Breeders Cup Classic [<a href="http://sidfernando.wordpress.com/2009/10/03/belle-watling-beats-colts-in-chile-g1-and-alive-for-us500k/belle-watling3/">source</a>])</span><br /></div>malcerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913127739083446726noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414364330713325138.post-3806897892238544392010-06-12T10:06:00.000-07:002010-06-12T10:51:40.865-07:00Stand Up and Hide<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs3O6kqnW-XOoWz149qx5eHEdfBgBYDVTy7y6Y9igLq6oGCc9O3L1hzz06MzBklErz0ZiBkNIs_9yFRBojMt5LRGYmZLxcV6xND1AMFSYfPPgzjx6uuSsgvwpcEFoKGhTnru6POMXtJ08/s1600/59212105v24_225x225_Front.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 210px; height: 210px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs3O6kqnW-XOoWz149qx5eHEdfBgBYDVTy7y6Y9igLq6oGCc9O3L1hzz06MzBklErz0ZiBkNIs_9yFRBojMt5LRGYmZLxcV6xND1AMFSYfPPgzjx6uuSsgvwpcEFoKGhTnru6POMXtJ08/s200/59212105v24_225x225_Front.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481928971021756770" border="0" /></a>We know that controversial Southern California trainer Jeff Mullins<a href="http://www.paulickreport.com/blog/an-honest-mistake-by-mullins/comment-page-1/"> is not always aware of the rules</a>, but apparently he still doesn't break them, as <a href="http://www.justiceforjeffmullins.com/index.htm">this wonderful website</a> seeks to convince us. Seems Ole' Jeff is the victim of a conspiracy led by the California Horse Racing Board, an institution not often accused of taking no-tolerance policy a step too far.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">I admire the courage of those alleged "horse owners, trainers and friends in support of Jeff Mullins" who so bravely stand up to "do everything in [their] power" to help and "lend [their] voices", well... anonymously.<br /></div><br />I agree. Justice for Jeff Mullins by all means. I also agree that it won't come from the CHRB. My choice would be the FBI.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">(Image from </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.cafepress.com/%2Bnixon%2Bcoasters&usg=__j-lvhI1Q-GVwy1UmFNdbFI0jndQ=&h=225&w=225&sz=40&hl=de&start=222&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=VKQO1ypdXH0tUM:&tbnh=108&tbnw=108&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dnot%2Ba%2Bcrook%26start%3D220%26um%3D1%26hl%3Dde%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:de:official%26channel%3Ds%26ndsp%3D20%26tbs%3Disch:1">Cafepress.com</a><span style="font-style: italic;">)</span></span>malcerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913127739083446726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414364330713325138.post-86165898210660495682010-06-12T04:27:00.000-07:002010-06-16T12:44:48.446-07:00Apartheid Ended? Check! Now Get Rid of those Vuvuzelas!<div style="text-align: justify;">With the World's greatest excuse for public chanting having started in South Africa, there is still one local racing fixture on the agenda today: Dresden Racecourse's main raceday of the year, the remains of the traditional two-day meet.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Surprisingly unfazed by Berlin's big day last weekend, a one-off event that included the G2 Preis der Hauptstadtregion and the G3 Benazet-Rennen (replacement races for the <a href="http://thedresdenfile.blogspot.com/2010/04/45-days-to-go-or-136-or.html">cancelled Baden-Baden spring meet</a>), the Sachsen-Preis (Listed) field is just as outstanding as last year's. I don't think I've seen such an assortment of horses known for both potential and inconsistency before. Of 11 starters, 8 have won or placed in Class A races over their last 6 starts, almost all of them have also ended up up the track in the same class several times.</div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">Best of all: no vuvuzelas (two World Cup games in the books and I already <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/06/08/SPBR1DQUUK.DTL">hate those things</a>)</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">This marks the first time in more than a month that I'll watch a German race live and place a bet on it. Not coincidentally also the first time since all of my ADWs decided not to renew their license for the German simulcast stream. The reason they didn't is quite simple: the German stream costs about five times as much as one of the two British ones, shows roughly 10% of the number of races and - even according to the projections of German Racing, the sport's own promoter - creates far less handle.*</p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />I could of course open an account with one of the ADWs that still keep the German stream. I'll do that at some point in the future, but quite frankly this might be the drop that breaks the camel's water, or somesuch. I'm fed up with running after the providers for the privilege of betting into their pools, which – considering the 30% takeout – I do out of pity more than anything else. On a related subject, I also didn't spend the 10 minutes or so it would have taken to find a P2P stream for ABC on Belmont Day. If NYRA doesn't think it should provide overseas customers with any opportunity to see the main races, it obviously doesn't want overseas business. Must be glorious if you can afford yourself that luxury. I've never said that about a Triple Crown race before, but the 2010 Belmont definitely wasn't a must-see. </div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">* (numbers from memory; German Racing's business concept, which I got them from, doesn't seem to be online anymore)</p>malcerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913127739083446726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414364330713325138.post-9902135969489090452010-05-10T09:45:00.000-07:002010-11-04T14:18:47.837-07:00In Case of Filly Mishandling Accusations, Vodka can Provide Relief<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwd3BhPznrQuxLSMYqaRLB542aq18rKXxZNslrNlYT6-ioc1Bdmd7BGqw3OqV_KTGcCXESitofNc-4e9MUnYDJCu0od5d1P0arCC6lIwKptWdQtpQN2QPZZsDVANXWyCjUBut63f2kWqc/s1600/Vodka(horse)_20070527R1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 278px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwd3BhPznrQuxLSMYqaRLB542aq18rKXxZNslrNlYT6-ioc1Bdmd7BGqw3OqV_KTGcCXESitofNc-4e9MUnYDJCu0od5d1P0arCC6lIwKptWdQtpQN2QPZZsDVANXWyCjUBut63f2kWqc/s400/Vodka(horse)_20070527R1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469678912584041986" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Granted I don't follow the Japanese racing media extensively, but to the best of my knowledge fans and bettors in Nippon did not predict catastrophe in 2007, when 1000 Guineas runner-up <span style="font-weight: bold;">Vodka</span> opted to skip the Oaks and later Japan's Distaff Championship to instead compete in the Derby and Japan Cup. And when her winter 07/08 results were not up to previous form, trainer Kazuhiko Sumii and owner Yuzo Tanimizu were not broadly accused of mistreating the filly with their callous insistence on entering a racehorse in horse races. Then again, this being Asian racing, those people are used to seeing their greatest equine stars prove themselves for half a decade, a distant memory for followers of the sport in America (and the times when Europe's absolute superstars were around for more than a dozen races is beyond the recollection of the living). In "proving" themselves, it is obviously implied that some of those who looked like the next Horse of the Decade as youngsters will turn out to be merely good, and that's where we in the quality-starved racing world start to lose grip.<br /><br />Take <span style="font-weight: bold;">Rachel Alexandra</span> for example. Excluding her Kentucky Oaks romp and standard spring campaign for her old connections, the filly's allegedly too hard 3yo campaign consisted of two hard-fought wins (Preakness and Woodward) and one demanding one (the Haskell). Good, very good. But is beating <span style="font-weight: bold;">Summer Bird</span> by a couple of lengths and beating <span style="font-weight: bold;">Macho Again</span> by a nose really ample proof that she – even at her very best – was as spectacularly great as hype and her ambitious owner Jess Jackson would have us believe? (I want to make it perfectly clear that I found and find her a deserving winner of the 2009 HotY award based on this campaign, just not necessarily the best American filly in decades).<br /><br />Horses lose former class (or class edge) all the time, especially when turning from two to three and from three to four year olds. This shouldn't be news to anyone and generally isn't, but if the subject in question happens to be last year's "superstar", European and American fans seem to forget the most basic truisms about our sport. We have become so estranged from the experience of seeing a 3yo superstar return that we are willing to buy into the most assinine of theories to explain the most ordinary of developments. Developments that we wouldn't find in any way suprising for a returning G3 horse.<br /><br /><br />Horsemen of past decades didn't think that you should campaign a good horse as fluffy as possible. This thinking entered the racing world when a speculation bubble started elevating stud fees into ridiculous spheres, paradoxically making "not racing" the most profitable option available for the owners of talented racehorses. It was then that horsemen, in need of a justification other than pure profit, started telling the world that there was something like a moral obligation not to "overexpose" top class racehorses. It was, not coincidentally, also the time when horsemen started to routinely retire horses for injuries that in the past would have been treated with a short period of rest and a couple of changes to the campaign plan.<br /><br />It doesn't take a great thinker to find out that the real reason for this is a different one: by cherry-picking target races, equine stars can go through their career hardly ever facing other top horses and thus end up with stallion ads that make every borderline BC candidate look like the second coming of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Man O'War</span>. And by retiring early you don't risk finding out that this youngster of spectacular class was just an early bird with some fine class, after all. In a breeding market in which actual class had become an afterthought to flashy stats and superficial promise, this made perfect sense from an economical point of view.<br /><br />What we have here then, it strikes me, is a case of believing the cover story you made up yourself. Which, judging from the reaction to Rachel's La Troienne loss, most racing fans obviously do. A <a href="http://fuguefortinhorns.blogspot.com/2010/05/rachel-one-year-post-purchase-better.html">current poll</a> over at Fugue For Tinhorns, asking if Rachel's owner and trainer change a year ago was good for the filly, is heading for a resounding victory for "No".<br />Apparently, there is broad consensus for the theory that her demanding 3yo campaign has taken too much out of the horse, that horses should be campaigned more cautiously. Where does this lack of confidence come from? Or, to put it differently: when the fuck did PETA manage to convince even the fans of horseracing that thoroughbreds are indeed so incredibly fragile that the only responsible way to handle them is to not challenge them at all?<br /><br />What racing is left with after decades of alienating anyone who likes a little quality with their sports is a fanbase that's eaten up all the excuses. And maybe, just maybe, we racing fans are getting exactly what we deserve – and that's not good.<br /><br />Even though it largely dealt with self-inflicted proplems – superstitions and anthropomorphisms that never had any logical or empirical basis in the first place – having a three-year-old filly campaigned like a racehorse (until August at least) was probably the only major step forward American racing has done on its own in more than a decade. Given the public perception of her career, if Rachel Alexandra turns out to be less than outstanding it seems inevitable that American racing will take two steps back as a result.<br />No other sport I'm familiar with has such an incredible talent to create its own problems, and is so insistent on keeping them.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Vodka</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> - a Potent Cure for Problems of Perception</span><br /><br />Vodka at the age of two, winning the G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies Stakes, one of only two Japanese G1s for 2yo's:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ht3qWuJRGdE&hl=de_DE&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ht3qWuJRGdE&hl=de_DE&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />As a sophomore, Vodka won the G3 Tulip Sho (Japan's main 1000 Guineas Trial) from the great <span style="font-weight: bold;">Daiwa Scarlet</span> before finishing second to the same filly in the target race. In late May, she took the Japanese Derby from <span style="font-weight: bold;">Asakusa Kings</span> and the rest of what turned out to be a very strong crop. In June, she took on older horses for the first time but finished only 8th in the G1 Takarazuka Kinen.<br />She returned to form after a layoff, finishing third to Daiwa Scarlet in the G1 Shuka Sho (Autumn Oaks, if you will) before a respectable fourth place in the Japan Cup, 1 ½ lengths behind <span style="font-weight: bold;">Admire Moon</span>. At the age of three Vodka contested in six G1 races, all of them filled with the maximum number of 18 horses, and against the very best Japanese horses in open company.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ADj7nU0CHC0&hl=de_DE&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ADj7nU0CHC0&hl=de_DE&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Vodka's four-year-old season went off moderately with a 6th place in the G2 Kyoto Kinen and a 4th in the G1 Dubai Duty Free, her first start abroad. The elsewhere oft-maligned Dubai trip didn't seem to hurt the filly at all, as she went on to win the G1 Yasuda Kinen and the G1 Tenno Sho over 2000m (by a nose from Daiwa Scarlet) and in addition finished second in the G1 Victoria (F&M) Mile and the G2 Mainichi Okan before again coming close when third in the Japan Cup.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aYXmpfPJb50&hl=de_DE&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aYXmpfPJb50&hl=de_DE&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />After another mediocre return in the 2009 G2 Jebel Hatta and G1 Dubai Duty Free, a five-year-old Vodka ran a stellar season which included a 7-length romp in the Victoria Mile and a repeat win of the Yasuda Kinen before being crowned when she narrowly held on for that elusive victory in the 2400m Japan Cup.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Bo5q2ycNfbU&hl=de_DE&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Bo5q2ycNfbU&hl=de_DE&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />How's that for a challenging schedule? To be sure, Vodka was the rule rather than the exception in Japan. Her great rival Daiwa Scarlet ended her career after her 4yo season, which she crowned by winning Japan's second-most important race, the 2500m G1 Arima Kinen (in which she had already finished second as a 3yo).<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">(Wikimedia Commons image by Goki)</span></span><br /></div>malcerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913127739083446726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414364330713325138.post-13219251073503797762010-05-02T01:42:00.000-07:002010-06-19T13:16:15.606-07:00If It Had Four Legs And A Jockey On Its Back...<div style="text-align: justify;">... then it must have been at least 30/1 to top the 2010 Kentucky Derby field. Fascinating case study in mass psychology and otherwise, this edition of the Run for the Roses was a strange but enjoyable one.<br /><br /><object width="410" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PYUQhefukU4&hl=de_DE&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PYUQhefukU4&hl=de_DE&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Super Saver</span> became a worthy if somewhat circumstantial winner employing a strategy that is already hinted at in his name. A clear misnomer however was <span style="font-weight: bold;">Looking At Lucky</span>, who first had to be taken back right after the start, then was almost body-slammed into the rail by <span style="font-weight: bold;">Stately Victor</span>. That he still came back to finish sixth marks him as the best horse in this race. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Devil May Care</span> encountered a good deal of adversity too, but it's hard to say how many places it dropped her. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Paddy O'Prado</span> finished third, but should have been taken out of the race after shoving over Stately Victor – the incident that ruined the race for Looking at Lucky and could have easily resulted in a major spill on the rail. A perfect example of reckless raceriding that would have earned Kent Desormeaux a suspension anywhere outside of America.<br /><br />And finally, I'm weirdly torn between embarrassment and pride on that <a href="http://thedresdenfile.blogspot.com/2010/05/derby-brief.html">handicapping job I did</a> on <span style="font-weight: bold;">Ice Box</span>. On the one hand, I did expect him to finish off the board despite a lot of potential, on the other he did indeed lose all chance to threaten the winner by going far too wide on the final turn, and caught on for second with the help of what I see as a visibly firmer lane compared to most other horses (kudos to Jose Lezcano).<br />I'm not usually a fan of The Toddster, but you had to have some compassion with the silver-haired Ray Barone doppelgänger (I never noticed that before) for having to smile through the same dumb jokes every year, and particularly after the bad luck he had with <span style="font-weight: bold;">Eskendereya</span>.<br /><br />NBC was dealt a good hand starting their program off with a McCarthy/<span style="font-weight: bold;">General Quarters </span>victory, but they also did a nice job presenting this race to a larger audience, though they unnecessarily screwed up the audio during 'Old Kentucky Home', and failed to do so when they should have during that bad rendition of 'Star-Spangled Banner'. The camerawork was horrible especially during those crucial moments when the horses entered the stretch and you needed a HD home cinema to see anything, but that's not NBC's fault.<br /></div>malcerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913127739083446726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414364330713325138.post-61779799418425711002010-05-01T06:07:00.000-07:002010-05-01T06:17:14.441-07:00Derby Brief<div style="text-align: justify;">After reviewing the card and replays of more than 50 races including at least 3 for every single starter, the draft for my planned Kentucky Derby post died of obesity and still I couldn't pinpoint the one or two golden candidates, mainly because I think there isn't one. Since it doesn't make sense to add a 3-page post when there have been dozens of Derby previews all week, here's just the gist of it in brief:<br /><br />The possible burn to start it off: I toss out <span style="font-weight: bold;">Ice Box</span> – talent, pedigree, pace scenario and form be damned. He isn't good enough to make it from the 6-path, and Zito has always ordered his numerous jockeys to go "in the clear" with him. My approach is simplistic but quite successful: "In the Clear" in the Kentucky Derby translates to "Off the board", unless your horse is far superior to their opposition.<br /><br />The question who wins could easily come down to a more or less coincidence-based 'the one who gets through relatively unscathed on or near the rail' when the early birds are fading out. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Looking at Lucky</span> is the most likely candidate for this, especially since Gomez/Baffert will be searching for the inside route, which is not nearly as common as it should be. Plus, he does have superior class and seasoning compared to most of his opponents. Also, <a href="http://sidfernando.wordpress.com/2010/04/29/sarah-picks-devil-may-care-in-the-2010-kentucky-derby/">I agree with Sarah Palin</a> (I gotta shower now), <span style="font-weight: bold;">Devil May Care</span> is in it with a chance (like Sarah Palin, unfortunately) and not just a choice for the mentally disadvantaged (unlike Sarah), although there is a huge question mark behind her ability to handle adversity.<br /><br />If you like Mine That Bird odds, the entirely unheralded <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dean's Kitten</span> is one I wouldn't toss out. Yes he has lost against some of the weaker ones in this field, but looks to be perfectly primed for this race. He's got nice turn-of-foot and has settled down well over his last three starts, now showing enormous strategic range. Has to step up considerably, but then who in this field doesn't?<br /><br />And of course: keep an eye out for track conditions (or rather, track maintenance/manipulation) during and especially between races. My guess: it will once again be sealed up like a Chinese dissident, which usually means the inside becomes even more favorable than it would generally be in an overpaced 20-horse field.</div>malcerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913127739083446726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414364330713325138.post-54778810648640187412010-04-14T09:19:00.000-07:002010-04-27T09:40:22.094-07:0045 Days to Go... Or 136... Or...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-u8t4JwK77VNdG2jSgbGACHjOmds-za8dkm03Eds4rnGXNIwyyq-KsY3MTgsuKzv8kJnS7AvfI_VX7eMZzplF8DpXQHEMtqTktLzsa6S0M8BEZyGFDsRrwRwbCJPG1ciymhCSWfizMVM/s1600/7752240.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-u8t4JwK77VNdG2jSgbGACHjOmds-za8dkm03Eds4rnGXNIwyyq-KsY3MTgsuKzv8kJnS7AvfI_VX7eMZzplF8DpXQHEMtqTktLzsa6S0M8BEZyGFDsRrwRwbCJPG1ciymhCSWfizMVM/s400/7752240.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460026764049517474" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Iffezheim Racecourse near Baden-Baden, by far the most important track in Germany, has been slipping in out of bankruptcy for about a year now (publicly; much longer behind the scenes). Its most recent (potential) savior is <a href="http://www.infrontsports.com/about-us/">Infront</a>, a renowned Swiss-based sports promoter, more exactly its Chairman Andreas Jacobs, who also part-owns Deutsche See (Germany's leading wholesaler of frozen seafood), but more importantly is also the Chairman of <a href="http://www.faehrhof.de/">Gestüt Fährhof</a>, one of Germany's most important thoroughbred owners and breeders.<br /><br />Fährhof, which took the unusual step of turning into a not-for-profit foundation a few years before the passing of its founder Walther J. Jacobs (Andreas' grandfather), is currently represented Internationally by <span style="font-weight: bold;">Quijano</span> and has also campaigned the likes of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Silvano</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sabiango</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Borgia</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Black Sam Bellamy</span> in not-too-distant memory. Still, it may be most prominent as a breeder, the place where such sires as <span style="font-weight: bold;">Acatenango</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Lomitas</span> and<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Surumu</span> left their mark on the breed.<br /><br />On March 23, Baden-Baden Racecourse's prospective new operator issued a press release which was, for whatever reason, received very positively by most of the International racing media, although it didn't announce any substantial new developments, other than finally confirming the open secret that Baden's highly important Spring meet was indeed cancelled (read the <a href="http://www.racingpost.com/news/horse-racing/germany-brighter-future-for-baden-baden-racecourse/695721/">Racing Post's account</a>).<br /><br />What first dampened my enthusiasm about the "upbeat" announcement is the fact that, as of April 14, the club's <a href="http://www.baden-galopp.com/en/index.php">own website</a> is the only one in the world that still announces the next race date for May 22, and has a countdown ticking for a long-cancelled race date. In fact, the <span style="font-style: italic;">Internationaler Club</span>'s news section has not been updated to include anything about the press release.<br />The news coming since then (and also the news NOT coming) is some cause for alarm, because as of yet absolutely nothing – incl. Baden's summer meet – is definite, other than the fact that the "hope that all the legal niceties have been sorted out" was unjustified. An important notary meeting set for last Thursday was postponed until today. The city (which owns the property) and investor still have not come to definite terms on a lease and therefor on the contract itself.<br />Meanwhile, the Direktorium's (racing board's) plan to transfer as many as possible of the spring meet's feature races to other tracks had an official deadline set for April 11, but did go into overtime, with a final result to be expected tomorrow (Update: as of April 27, it's still not 100% airtight, but it seems very likely that all Group and a couple of the other races will be run on other tracks).*<br /><br />In local news, Dresden Racecourse's high-flying dreams of installing a large photovoltaic system in the infield (and thereby making roughly the handle of one of their racedays in annual profit) were pretty much scrapped by the city. In response to the discontinuation of the Listed Preis der Dreijährigen, Dresden Racecourse has announced a new Listed race, the Dresdner Herbstpreis, to be run on the traditional final date in mid-November, over 2200 meters for 3yo's & up, thereby adding actual sporting importance to what has already become a favorite day for most racegoers.**<br /><br />* Thanks go out to Rüdiger Schmanns, Manager Racing Department at the Direktorium, for giving me this information in the form of a prompt email response to a question asked via their website's "contact" box.<br /><br />** Race not officially announced yet and therefor subject to change (although it seems safe it will be scheduled). Distance and age group info as per phone conversation with the club's executive director, Uwe Tschirch (here too, thanks for a thorough update are in order).<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">(Panoramio image on top is by Sigi2)</span><br /></div>malcerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913127739083446726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414364330713325138.post-91628276340485108162010-04-09T12:39:00.000-07:002010-11-06T16:54:16.844-07:00The Cigarilla<div style="text-align: justify;">When five horses enter the gate for the Apple Blossom Invitational <scr>Handicap</scr> today at Oaklawn, none of them will be named <span style="font-weight: bold;">Rachel Alexandra</span>, and therefor the race will be run for a purse of 500.000$, <a href="http://thedresdenfile.blogspot.com/2010/03/oaklawn-dodged-bullet.html">rather than the proposed 5 million</a>. Though the costliest part of Oaklawn's questionable stunt* will go down as a historical footnote, the race will still be run over 9 furlongs, almost a week after the originally given date, and the word 'Handicap' was obviously left in the title just for a chuckle. The "Invitational" part is to be taken literally though: it pretty much is an open invitation for Zenyatta to hit the magical 16 consecutive wins at minimal risk.<br /><br />No race is ever won before the result is final, but <span style="font-weight: bold;">Zenyatta</span> will definitely not be 'beaten' by any of her opponents. Fate and Team Zenyatta themselves are the only ones who can cause the great mare to lose in this race.<br /><br />As for the 5-million proposal: a historical footnote it may be, but an isolated oddity it certainly isn't. This year's Apple Blossom marks the current nadir of a trend that spans several decades and may most aptly be called "the horseman's condition book". The trend is characterized by an ever-increasing tendency to write stakes books and assigning weights according to the interests of influential – or in some cases merely very vocal - owners, trainers and breeders rather than the interests of fans, bettors or the sport, let alone the principles of sportsmanship.<br />The late Robert Frankel elevated badgering racing secretaries into an art form back when he had superstars like <span style="font-weight: bold;">Ghostzapper</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Empire Maker</span> in his stable. Who could forget the time when he let it be known that his reigning HotY Ghostzapper would start in, of all races, the Oaklawn Handicap – but only if "the greatest racehorse in 20 years" (according to one R. Frankel) was assigned no more than 121 pounds. 2005 Oaklawn sent Bobby back to NYRA, where he always found an open ear. 2010 Oaklawn assigns 123 to Zenyatta - a virtual walkover. As if that wasn't enough, never before has the conditions sheet for a major race been mutilated so heavily to accommodate the interests of one or more specific horses.<br /><br />Going forward from here, connections of superstar horses know that they can get the purse, date, distance and conditions of even major fixtures changed at short notice (a side issue of course, but should a race that has all but one of the basic conditions changed after publication of the Graded Stakes Schedule not be stripped of its grade?). Inclusion criteria for this new class of platinum customer equine star seem to be based on hype, which is a problem for a sport known to overhype horses on a regular basis.<br /><br />So why is this post headlined "The Cigarilla"? Simple: as great a feat as Zenyatta's is, when <span style="font-weight: bold;">Cigar</span> tied <span style="font-weight: bold;">Citation</span>'s winning streak in 1996, he did so beating nine opponents, giving 12 pounds to <span style="font-weight: bold;">Unbridled's Song</span>, 14 to <span style="font-weight: bold;">Honour and Glory</span>, 12 to <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dramatic Gold</span>. Zenyatta will give 3 pounds to <span style="font-weight: bold;">War Echo</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Just Jenda</span>, and give new meaning to the old Soccer saying that "a tie is often a moral victory for one side".<br /><br />Trivia Corner: there actually was a racehorse called <a href="http://www.pedigreequery.com/cigarilla">Cigarilla</a> once, a 1979 daughter of Banderilla (by Native Dancer).<br /><br />* Several good reasons to call the proposal questionable can be found in this post on the great, recently revived (well, more or less) <a href="http://thoroughbredblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/cellas-offer-could-have-been-better.html">Thoroughbred Blog</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Result:</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >(section added April 10; 1025 CET, 0425 EST)</span><br /><br />No surprises here. The race was written for Zenyatta, and she effortlessly won it going away. That's it in showbiz news, now on to horse racing.<br /></div>malcerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913127739083446726noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414364330713325138.post-64906698433099473022010-03-28T07:05:00.000-07:002010-06-04T16:55:47.489-07:00The Passion of the Steven<div style="text-align: justify;">Steven Crist is often one of the first and most effective in pointing the finger at some of racing's ills. Even if you disagree with him, his columns and posts are usually informative.<br /><br />Unfortunately, he also has a tendency to become excessively adamant on some of his pet causes, to the point where his articles on the subject not only become repetitive, but where his passion for the cause gets the better of his reasoning. <a href="http://cristblog.drf.com/crist/2010/03/dubai-world-crapshoot.html#comments">A particularly egregious example</a> of this could be witnessed in the wake of yesterday's Dubai World Cup. Crist's DRF-hosted racing blog is one of the most-visited on the net, and therefor I think that a post like yesterday's Tapeta-bashing "World Cup Crapshoot" warrants closer examination (quotes from his post are in Italic):<br /><br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">"The winner, front-running <span style="font-weight: bold;">Gloria de Campeao</span>, is an admirably durable Brazilian 7-year-old who was beaten 16 1/2 lengths by <span style="font-weight: bold;">Curlin</span> in the 2008 World Cup and 14 lengths by <span style="font-weight: bold;">Well Armed</span> in the race last year"</blockquote><br />Of course he was the runner-up in 2009, beaten 14 lengths by <span style="font-weight: bold;">Well Armed</span>, but 4 ½ in front of everyone else. Crist doesn't mention that. Admirably durable he is indeed, but such a characterization seems somewhat understated for a horse that can also be summed up like this: "Gloria de Campeao obviously scored the signature victory of his career, but he has been successful all over the world. He was a Grade 2 winner at a mile on turf in his native Brazil, was sent to train in France with Bary, won the Singapore Airlines International Cup-G1 in 2009, and for the third consecutive year has won or placed in graded stakes in Dubai", the latter characterization is <a href="http://fuguefortinhorns.blogspot.com/2010/03/gloria-de-campeao-wins-thrilling-dwc-on.html">quoted from the Fugue For Tinhorns blog</a>.<br /><br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">"The runner-up, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Lizard's Desire</span>, came into the $10 million race with a field-low bankroll of $207,442, having finished 10th and 11th in his two prior starts in Group 1 company in his native South Africa."</blockquote><br />True; but the horse had also won a South African G3 by 5 lengths and finished second to Dan De Lago in a South African G2, both on turf. After the latter race he switched into the hands of Mike De Kock, who, they tell me, is quite good at prepping horses for the Dubai carnival. Lizard's Desire went on to win his first two Dubai starts comfortably, then finished 5th, beaten 1 ½ l. in the World Cup's major prep race, the G2 Maktoum Challenge Rd3.<br /><br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">"<span style="font-weight: bold;">Allybar</span>, who was third, was 0 for 6 in graded or group races of any kind"</blockquote><br />This is flat out false. Entering the gates yesterday, Allybar was 1-for-7 in group races, a winner of the G3 Maktoum Challenge Rd2 over this very course in February. An oversight like this can happen to anyone, but there are other things that can not be explained so easily:<br /><br />First: Yesterday evening, I left the following notice on Crist Blog:<br />"Allybar was 1-for-7 in graded stakes of any kind. He won the G3 Maktoum Challenge Rd2 over this course in February. He also finished on the board in 4 of his 5 French group starts on the turf and was beaten all of a length when fourth over this course and distance 3 weeks ago. Yeah, he really came out of nowhere."<br />It takes a special kind of dickishness to block this comment and not even correct a clear error of fact in the post. Of course, correcting this mistake would undermine Crist's argument, and given that Allybar also finished on the board in 5 of 7 group races, it never was much of an argument to begin with. It is common these days for so called "political commentators" to shamelessly contort reality into the shape that best fits their narrative, but for a racing essayist to slip into this kind of propagandistic rabble-rousing is more than a bit questionable.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">"America's supposed synthetic specialists -- BC Classic runner-up <span style="font-weight: bold;">Gio Ponti</span> (who finished 4th), Goodwood winner <span style="font-weight: bold;">Gitano Hernando</span> and Pacific Classic winner <span style="font-weight: bold;">Richard's Kid</span> -- had no impact on the finish."</span></blockquote><br />So what's your point? Would Tapeta have been acceptable if Gio Ponti had won? Aren't you just making a circular argument here? Richard's Kid, last seen winning a slow San Antonio Handicap by a neck after being without a chance in the BC Classic, should never have been anywhere near a 5/1 morning line to begin with. Gitano Hernando was the upset winner of last year's Goodwood Stakes at OSA, by a neck. He spent the winter in England, where he won the all-important Winter Derby Trial (Listed) at Lingfield. If you had him rated above Gloria de Campeao or Allybar for yesterday's race, the fault may be with your handicapping rather than the Tapeta. For the record, he's not an American horse. Gio Ponti's 4th place behind three horses specifically aimed at this race is not exactly catastrophic.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">"In the past, the World Cup was a true showcase for champions, such as <span style="font-weight: bold;">Cigar, Silver Charm, Dubai Milennium, Invasor</span> and Curlin. Now? Step right up and spin the wheel."</span></blockquote><br />Actually, the result matches better with previous forms than last year's edition, but why let reality interfere with our narrative. If your argument is that the 2010 World Cup lacked a superstar or two: the same is true for last year's edition. Well Armed became a superstar for a breathtaking romp on the old dirt track at Nad Al Sheba, but he went into that race a 10/1 shot and off-the-board in two of his last three starts, including a 9th place in the BC Dirt Mile.<br /><br />As for the other Tapeta races:<br />The UAE Derby – perfectly true to form; great race<br />Golden Shaheen – good performance by 7/1 <span style="font-weight: bold;">Kinsale King</span>, but if Robbie Fradd had settled into the race half as well as his mount, 7/4-favorite <span style="font-weight: bold;">Rocket Man</span> would have cantered home<br />Godolphin Mile – <span style="font-weight: bold;">Desert Party</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Cat Junior</span> failed to perform, which made this race a wide-open affair. The top three had all won at Meydan and were 3rd, 2nd and 5th over this course and distance in the G3 Alhaarth on March 4.<br /><br />Both the Godolphin Mile and the Dubai World Cup were very hard to handicap. But that was because of the depth of the field and the questions surrounding many of the shippers. A tough handicapping task is not the same as a crapshoot handicapping task (go handicap a German Hcp F or a bottom-level claimer at Mountaineer next and you'll notice the difference).<br /><br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">"[The race] was a $10 million advertisement for how synthetic surfaces can make a complete mess of so-called world-class championship racing. For all that it proved about the quality of the contestants either individually or as a group, the results of the Dubai World Cup might as well have been drawn out of a hat."</blockquote><br />Ladies and Gentlemen, we regret to announce that Steven Crist's sense of reason had to leave tonight's event early.</div><br /><object width="410" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0vGrCp5MluA&hl=de_DE&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0vGrCp5MluA&hl=de_DE&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="344"></embed></object>malcerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913127739083446726noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414364330713325138.post-87899008875342205032010-03-26T11:54:00.000-07:002010-03-27T15:21:18.013-07:00The Dubai Sheema Classic: Handicapping in a Vacuum<div style="text-align: justify;">Shd, shd, ¼, ¼. Those are the winning margins of all stayer races run so far over Meydan's Turf course. In more detail:<br /><br />February 4 (2800m): <span style="font-weight: bold;">Age of Reason</span> wins by a short head from <span style="font-weight: bold;">Titurel</span> (who, btw, won a Hcp C at Dresden last June), the third is Mojave Moon, distanced by another short head.<br /><br />February 11 (2485m): Globetrotter <span style="font-weight: bold;">Halicarnassus</span> adds another track to his CV, beating <span style="font-weight: bold;">Mourilyan</span> by a short head.<br /><br />February 25 (3200m): <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sabotage</span> goes clear by a full quarter of a length to take the DRC Gold Cup from <span style="font-weight: bold;">Age of Reason</span>.<br /><br />March 4 (2485m): <span style="font-weight: bold;">Campanologist</span> beats Turkish sensation <span style="font-weight: bold;">Pan River</span> by ¼.<br /><br />In all but one of these races, the 6th-place horse was beaten less than 2 ½ lengths by the winner. If we include all three races from the next distance run (1800m), it adds wins by 1 l., a short-head, and a whopping 3 ½ l. (by <span style="font-weight: bold;">Alexandros</span> on Feb 4, after what must be one of the most picture-perfect trips in the history of racing).<br /><br /><object width="410" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gjHwupPmzzI&hl=de_DE&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gjHwupPmzzI&hl=de_DE&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="340"></embed></object><br /><br />I learned all of this when I was trying to handicap tomorrow's 2400m Dubai Sheema Classic, probably the least predictable G1 race I have ever encountered. You get used to the fact that half the field in DWC races has not run in months, or has run a continent or two away as recently as two months back. But this year, even the Dubai forms are a clear case of "definitely maybe, if..." . I think I'll put my faith in <span style="font-weight: bold;">Buena Vista</span>. Or <span style="font-weight: bold;">Spanish Moon</span>? <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dar Re Mi</span>? <span style="font-weight: bold;">Deem</span>? <span style="font-weight: bold;">Presious Passion</span>?</div><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Result:</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">(section added Mar 27, 2320 CET, 1820 EST)</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Once again it proves true: never trust in anything John Gosden says. The new conditioner of Dar Re Mi was interviewed minutes before the race, mentioning that Dar Re Mi was not in peak form, was more of a horse that "gets better as the year goes by", and also noting that the harsh winter hasn't helped.<br /><br />One stadium lap later, Dar Re Mi (9/1) held on to take the race from Buena Vista (6/1) by 3/4 l.; Spanish Moon (6/1) was third a head behind the second. Deem (50/1) finished fourth, Presious Passion (12/1) came in last of 16.<br /></div>malcerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913127739083446726noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414364330713325138.post-10767418842245619332010-03-16T09:12:00.000-07:002010-03-22T14:41:14.472-07:00Oaklawn Dodged a Bullet<div style="text-align: justify;">There could be some debate about whether or not the connections of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Rachel Alexandra</span> must be considered the big losers of last Saturday. However, there can be no question about who the big winner of <a href="http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/racing-news/2010/March/14/Rachel-Alexandra-to-miss-Apple-Blossom.aspx">Monday</a> was: <a href="http://www.horseraceinsider.com/blog.php/west-coast-wash/02092010-charlies-angles/">Charlie Cella</a>, the mastermind of Oaklawn Park.<br /><br />And he is a mastermind indeed. During the decades of his ownership, the Arkansas track has fared remarkably well from both a sporting and a financial standpoint. It is a racino, but one of the few which are actually a racetrack with a casino, rather than the more common alternative of "a casino with lots of horses in the backyard".<br /><br />Cella has never been afraid of going his own way, as when OP continually got snubbed by the AGSC. To their credit, the committee finally gets the relative strength of the Ark, Illinois and Ohio Derbies right this year, but Oaklawn still continues its policy not to mention the grades of their stakes races in their condition books or stakes schedule.<br /><br />So it wasn't a huge surprise to see Charlie tackle the Rachel v <span style="font-weight: bold;">Zenyatta</span> question on everybody's mind head-on. Personally, I don't like Oaklawn's 5-million-Invitational proposal at all, but that's a topic for another post. More importantly, I'm sure that as of Saturday evening, nobody liked the proposal less than Charlie and the good folks at Oaklawn. After all, nothing in the <a href="http://www.oaklawn.com/StakesSchedule.aspx">revised conditions</a> sheet demands that Rachel or Zenyatta turn up for the race with their respective winning streaks intact.<br /><br />The fact is: after Rachel's hapless performance in an ungraded stakes race, the great duel that we've been waiting for has (at least temporarily) lost a lot of its appeal. What Oaklawn would end up with isn't worth half of the 5-million-tag.<br /><br />Sure, it was a loss in a race off a long layoff, a race in which Rachel's camp employed a pretty overconfident race strategy. Sure, racing fans would still be excited about the matchup. What's more, I don't think it would necessarily be a foregone conclusion. But as for the mainstream appeal ... well, mainstream might not be the right word to describe ESPN News or Fox Sports Southwest.<br /><br />The other fact is: Oaklawn has a wonderful storyline at the original purse, as long as Zenyata shows up. For 500.000$, Oaklawn is the place where Zenyatta can tie Citation and Cigar for 16 consecutive wins. (Even though the exact nature of the "record" is a bit cheesy; "modern day consecutive wins on major or mid-major racetracks", maybe? Oaklawn tries it with "consecutive unrestricted victories", but personally I'd say that "F&M" is quite a restriction. Regardless, it would be a great feat).<br />Tying Citation and Cigar should be enough to have the eyes and minds of racing fans focussed on Hot Springs on April 9. Rachel Alexandra would add another dimension, but basically the race would attract almost the same public attention with or without Rachel, the only difference being the 4.5 million more that Oaklawn would have to spend for the privilege.<br /><br />As for the fans: we were robbed of the great duel that should have happened. But that was last November, not so much on Monday. Time will tell if there will be another chance to see a peak-form Rachel race against a peak-form Zenyatta. Time has told racing often enough that you shouldn't let such opportunities slip when they're there.</div>malcerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913127739083446726noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414364330713325138.post-41868983737151094112010-03-13T02:55:00.000-08:002010-11-06T16:51:49.758-07:00Back from Hibernation<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBjbhObNtW-mMjjSLfz8sOMqyek9jCQsDT_6X4IKFAI6sUWI2qkeuRU6qv5RRRrdcYbT59sDjsDY-P96n7lxpWeMlV6ztCltwc14kKLo4sFdHcytSPJyFoXO_63zE_qGfM33XtWltD_ew/s1600-h/gisnow17.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 325px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBjbhObNtW-mMjjSLfz8sOMqyek9jCQsDT_6X4IKFAI6sUWI2qkeuRU6qv5RRRrdcYbT59sDjsDY-P96n7lxpWeMlV6ztCltwc14kKLo4sFdHcytSPJyFoXO_63zE_qGfM33XtWltD_ew/s400/gisnow17.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448073953761244402" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">I believe that sports, much like bears or squirrels, do much better if they allow themselves an annual period of rest and recovery (ask a panda!). Every fan knows that there are two outstanding days in any sport: opening day (when the whole season is ahead and everything is possible) and finals day (when a story that has been unfolding all season finds its conclusion).<br /><br />Horseracing, with its global, diverse heritage and its rootedness in nature, does not allow for a true World Championship or a uniform opening date, but it evolved from regional, strictly seasonal circuits. Yet, with the notable exceptions of Hong Kong and Ontario, all major racing jurisdictions today refuse to even give their followers any time to rest and reflect.<br /><br />In North America, the introduction of winter racing to Northern states and the simultaneous year-round expansion of Western and Southern circuits has pushed the sport into a downward spiral (in destroying season structures; economically; but even more in pioneering a destructive approach to business strategy) which the sport has never recovered from.<br /><br />In Europe, it was only over the last one or two decades that "winter racing" was introduced and gradually expanded – enormous numbers of dirt or artificial surface races of little sporting value. The effects are more subtle, but essentially the same.<br /><br />Racing fans therefore have to take their off-season breaks on their own, which I usually do from December to February. I went a step further this year by completely avoiding any racing media since early January (in Germany this is easily done by stopping outright effort to the contrary, you won't just stumble over racing updates). I was aided by the fact that we had a real winter for the first time in over a decade (or – in the words of the media – a "snow chaos"; because for the media on both sides of the Atlantic there is, apparently, absolutely no state in between "no snow" and "SNOW CHAOS – hide the kids and run – we're all gonna die --- and these goosebumps here prove that global warming is a sham made up by a billionaire scientist cabal out to destroy our defenseless mom-and-pop industrial corporations").<br /><br />Anyway, my rather extreme Off-season seems to have worked, I don't think I've been this excited about starting into a season in years. After spending last evening re-watching "Seabiscuit" (The Movie) and "Seabiscuit" (the related PBS docu)*, I intend to spend much of this weekend reading up on TDN newsletters, Turf-Times newsletters and half a dozen blogs.<br /><br />P.S.: I would have announced this blogs hibernation beforehand, but it was a slightly forced, spur-of-the-moment decision, and while I have received vastly different assessments about the size of my ego, it was in any case not large enough to dedicate a Raceday360 post entirely to such an announcement, particularly for a blog that's only updated once a month or so anyway.<br /><br />* - On a sidenote: how can PBS, with its tiny, constantly-threatened budget continually produce better work in almost all fields of documentaries (history, science, art, social, nature) than either of Germany's two public broadcasting behemoths with their 7.2 billion € annual battle chest?** And does it make things better or worse that, with the exception of the BBC, every single one of Europe's giant national broadcasters can't even begin to challenge PBS in this field?<br /><br />** - They're currently in the habit of just pretending they did. [As you can tell from the opening sentence] I bought the German-market DVD-Sets of PBS' superb "Evolution" series as well as the BBC's highly-acclaimed "Blue Planet" and "Planet Earth" series this winter, and in each case every episode ends with a "presented by ARD"-screen, as does every single BBC or PBS docu they broadcast on TV. It does not specifically mention that the ARD's involvement was limited to contributing the German-language audio track. I'm sure if they ever produce a German audio track for "Ken Burns Baseball", this one will be tagged as 'co-produced by Berlin-Brandenburg Broadcasting' too.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">(Image: 1963 race at New Orleans' Fair Grounds Race Track in the snow; <a href="http://nutrias.org/photos/generalinterest/snow/gisnow17.htm">Source:</a> the N.O. Public Library)</span></div>malcerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913127739083446726noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414364330713325138.post-22481241700822673112010-01-01T03:12:00.000-08:002010-05-11T15:29:06.108-07:00'10 Predictions<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsybNIq3qxViL8pmFdsmiOws61Q5IQk5_JnahWtJKZ3rmXBoShVG_bwywKJPil-L__i0qnrQ-1__4Z1BCvE-vSfOij5zEBMuQUCkhgC_BAfMcnKOs95CmvVd6plUpAn5kVHSz0z85XI9g/s1600-h/HBxWuDtY_Pxgen_r_467xA.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsybNIq3qxViL8pmFdsmiOws61Q5IQk5_JnahWtJKZ3rmXBoShVG_bwywKJPil-L__i0qnrQ-1__4Z1BCvE-vSfOij5zEBMuQUCkhgC_BAfMcnKOs95CmvVd6plUpAn5kVHSz0z85XI9g/s400/HBxWuDtY_Pxgen_r_467xA.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421731886436784242" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Silvester, the annual ritual of Germans quite literally blowing up millions of Euros in the form of fireworks, had a foggy renewal last night. Unlike most other countries, German New Year's Eve fireworks are an amateur event, meaning millions of cheap rockets being launched by tipsy family fathers and close-to-passing-out youths. Not coincidentally, Silvester is also the mother of all paydays for the German hospital and firefighting supply industries. As well as the German producers of sparkling wine (there may also be a causal connection there). But frankly, after witnessing the bright boredom of organized fireworks on New Year's Eve in other countries, I absolutely prefer our customary mayhem.<br /><br />In the spirit of randomly launching missiles for entertainment purposes, let's start this year off with a couple of random thoughts, labeled "predictions" to mask the fact that most of them aren't new:<br /><ul><li>Several more states will team up with casino operators to increase their respective gambling gains by cutting off the leech known as racing... </li></ul><ul><li>... Horsemen will be shocked, while the racing media will act as if you couldn't see this one coming a mile away</li></ul><ul><li>The 2010 BC at Churchill Downs will produce about as many odd results as both Santa Anita Pro-Ride editions combined, and that's if there is no increment weather</li></ul><ul><li>Yet, haters of artificial surfaces will continue to think of OSA as the "weird" one</li></ul><ul><li>There won't be an American Triple Crown sweep this year (this is the only prediction I don't feel very confident about), which is why the media will once again go through its own annual firecracker ritual of declaring the series anachronistic and practically impossible...</li></ul><ul><li>Based on those articles, casual fans would never guess that only one Belmont mishap and a less-than-daring filly owner prevented us from very likely celebrating back-to-back Triple Crown sweeps in 2008 and '09</li></ul><ul><li>There also won't be a British Triple Crown sweep (let's face it, if an overwhelming Guineas and Derby winner skips the St. Leger in a year when all they have to beat are Mastery, Kite Wood and Monitor Closely, it's not gonna happen)</li></ul><ul><li>If there isn't a very public, very graphic breakdown of a prominent horse, we will hear a lot about the necessity of a major overhaul of American racing, but not much about actual reforms</li></ul><ul><li>Alex Waldrop will see it differently</li></ul><ul><li>I will once again find it hard to explain to friends and family why I keep following racing when I'm aware that almost every other sport does a better job at putting up a product worth following </li></ul>(Image: New Year's Eve fireworks 2008/09 in Dresden; image from Focus.de)<br /></div>malcerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913127739083446726noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414364330713325138.post-27764057938602710422009-12-16T07:35:00.000-08:002010-03-13T13:56:52.427-08:00In Case You Still Have A Christmas Wish Open...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg69LwJSx1hOi5WfbKchnEC-vGiur3h0SYpY8jbL-CerBy7HQhzN199NDmujG0y4ymqhHqKUyfssd6K3ddCAT3wsNHzsie4j5sWLl8pDZXuzTyWgOqGEPDBitM4qtO-uG44QaHWNLDHmd0/s1600-h/race_meydan.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg69LwJSx1hOi5WfbKchnEC-vGiur3h0SYpY8jbL-CerBy7HQhzN199NDmujG0y4ymqhHqKUyfssd6K3ddCAT3wsNHzsie4j5sWLl8pDZXuzTyWgOqGEPDBitM4qtO-uG44QaHWNLDHmd0/s400/race_meydan.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415859575857286370" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">… last week saw the arrival of the latest installment of thoroughbred racing's only PC game franchise of notice, <a href="http://www.startersorders.com/">Starters Orders 4</a>.<br /><br />Developed by Mark Loveday's Strategic Designs, Starters Orders is the only series holding up the torch for a sport that, if you get a grip on its complexity, is really perfectly suited for the PC sports manager genre. Yet there have been few contenders, and most of them were just plain bad.<br /><br />I've played the original Starters Orders; played SO Pro; edited and played SO 2 Deluxe (the version including Aussie and US datasets). I never really played SO3 because I was one of a group of customers on whose PCs SO 3 didn't work (the demo worked, though, so I know what features were added).<br /><br />New features for SO 4 include a revamped graphics engine, a new Irish dataset (three actually: flat, jump, both). More fundamentally, the Australian and US data sets are finally integrated in the game itself (no longer as an add-on). There is also a multitude of minor new features, such as night racing, added racedays and improved jockey AI.<br />On the negative side, most of the race naming and scheduling flaws introduced in SO 2 or earlier are still around, and even though the game adds a so-called “schedule editor” feature, the latter is of little practical use. Hence, actual editing still has to be done using the enormously helpful SO Decrypter created by Strategic Designs forum member Outbackstables (the Decrypter can be found <a href="http://www.startersorders.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=869">here</a>).<br /><br />After about 8 hours of intense testing (unbelievable what hardships I'm willing to endure for the sake of this blog :-)), it's still too early to rate the detail changes; but it can be said that the Starters Orders franchise continues to step in the right direction, and maintains its traditional strenghts, which are complexity and realism for both player- and CPU-campaigned horses.<br />While this is (even in the US and Aussie datasets) unmistakably a British game (f.e., Claiming races continue to be run under UK rules in every dataset), there is some progress on the International front. Most notably, the game finally adds track conditions for dirt tracks.<br /><br /><br />Sidenote: No news about the only other racing simulations which can be labeled good: <a href="http://www.odds-onchoice.com/webdemo/games-1cartmgr.htm">Action Games</a>' Hooves of Thunder / Quarter Pole series, which has not seen a new edition since 2002. Those games had fundamental flaws resulting from very poor campaigning patterns of the CPU-controlled horses, but between such extras as a collection of racing artwork, racing jokes and using the voices of real-life Mid-Atlantic track announcers for its tracks, HoT/QPP emanated an air of true dedication to the subject, which is not often found in PC games in general. And after all, it had the right flaws, such presented by actual difficulties, not sloppy design and a rushed release (customers of EA Sports FIFA games in which snowfall was as likely in December in Trondheim as it was in Florence in June or NBA games with a completely wrong salary cap system will know what I mean).<br /><br />P.S. Nope, I'm not getting any perks for this post.<br /></div>malcerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913127739083446726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414364330713325138.post-49605175074131013272009-11-02T11:05:00.000-08:002009-11-02T23:29:53.927-08:00Things That Racing Fans Can Learn From Cycling<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC4krgICXQLJD2-Idw5mAowpAnMpjDDgdcGJ-Jgtw6jkm73z7NnqSHRZ8DD8CnpxvHoV5CoRZK21omOQjlYw8C5Sj2mEWZgYPkjfj6x55RGhqzWspiO7fdvfD7K5DxLS9VbJVyM-ymVvQ/s1600-h/pantani.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 394px; height: 277px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC4krgICXQLJD2-Idw5mAowpAnMpjDDgdcGJ-Jgtw6jkm73z7NnqSHRZ8DD8CnpxvHoV5CoRZK21omOQjlYw8C5Sj2mEWZgYPkjfj6x55RGhqzWspiO7fdvfD7K5DxLS9VbJVyM-ymVvQ/s400/pantani.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399576699111907714" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">After already missing out on the Arc weekend because of my diploma work, I’ll also be unable to follow the upcoming Breeders’ Cup live. Ironically, the reason is that I’ll be in North America (that is, on a week-long trip to NYC which more likely than not won’t include a trip to Aqueduct). So no handicapping or strong interest from my side, although I will root against Zenyatta in the Classic. She may have a good chance (not too much to overcome there anyway), but personally I just don’t want to experience another 'Zenyatta For HOTY' campaign.<br /><br />On a totally unrelated front, a topic that did catch my eye was a <a href="http://fuguefortinhorns.blogspot.com/2009/10/there-goes-joe-drape-again.html#comments">discussion</a> on the site of my blogger friend Glenn Craven. Even though I keep finding the root of the debate a non-issue, the debate itself offers quite some value (I frequently find comment sections more worthwhile than the post itself, including on my own blog).<br /><br />During said debate, I had brought up a comparison of racing’s drug problem with that of cycling, which Glenn rejected. I’m hardly the first one to draw that comparison, and it's also not the first time that I’ve seen it rejected based on the argument that cycling's doping issue was, as Glenn put it, "more obvious and well-reported".<br /><br />As a longtime cycling fan (up to last fall, when they dropped the fight against cheaters for the most part), I take issue with this argument. The "more obvious and well-reported" character of cycling's problem is just that: a matter of publicity. But to the 1990s fan of cycling, the similarities between the two situation are eerie.<br /><br />Just like in American thoroughbred racing, the suddenly public issue of doping was an open secret to many regular followers long before it made newspaper headlines. The problem wasn't any more rampant in 2005 or 2000 than it was in 1995, it's just that the media suddenly reported "shocking news" which had for years been commonplace knowledge to fans and many of those reporters. The only thing truly shocking was the extent of the cheating system, which (as it turns out after more than a decade of police investigations) included the vast majority of pro riders and teams, hundreds of medical professionals and even renowned medical research institutes.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Until shit hit the fan, however, cycling fans heard precisely the same kind of downplaying by pros, sporting directors and, yes, medical staff we in the horse racing fandom have become used to</span> ('no matter what it looks like, it's always just an isolated incident, and blown out of proportion anyway').<br /><br />Like in pre-investigation cycling, there has been the occasional whistleblower in American racing: Jack Van Berg labeling today’s racing environment "chemical warfare" during last year’s congressional hearings was one of several such examples out of the horseman roster.<br />There is also <a href="http://www.clockerbob.com/">this disturbing account</a> by former SoCal clocker Bob Kachur, an online book that I first came across about 18 months ago and initially thought must be quite well-known, but instead it seems to be a totally obscure one. I’ve read it several times since then and have continuously checked his descriptions against the facts known to racing outsiders, finally finding that the only reason it seems unbelievable at first sight is that I really don't want it to be true. I have yet to find a single instance in which I could disprove or even seriously doubt anything he writes.<br /><br />Also just like in cycling during the mid-90s, there have been a handful of journalists who are unwilling to take the crap dished out by the sport’s establishment, the most prominent being Joe Drape and Andrew Beyer. Interestingly, Beyer lists cycling as his other favorite sport.<br /><br />Such voices are, however, at best ignored by racing’s establishment of horsemen, racing officials, track operators, racing media etc.; often ridiculed as nutty curmudgeons, or outright accused of hurting the sport.<br /><br />There are more than enough instances which make it clear that cheating in American racing is everything but a minor issue, but let’s just review one (well, two really) example(s) from this season:<br /><br />Probably the most hilarious racing-related thing all year: Jeff Mullins initial defense to this spring’s detention barn incident, that he routinely used the substance in question, Air Power, on raceday in California and didn’t realize it was illegal in NY. The chuckler: it was just as illegal in CA for almost a year, meaning that Mullins unwittingly revealed that a) he and others routinely break the rules in CA; and b) Californian oversight is so incredibly lame that trainers not only never got penalized for openly violating rules, but don’t even care to learn those rules in the first place (even though "nothing but water on raceday" doesn’t seem such a tough one to memorize).<br />We shouldn’t be surprised though, after all CA is the state where racing officials traditionally see their primary task in helping to cover up instances of cheating, rather than in keeping such instances to a minimum. It’s also the state where, a few months later, a group of trainers including Mike Mitchell, Jeff Mullins, Art Sherman and Doug O-point-Nine'Neill <a href="http://www.paulickreport.com/blog/furor-over-fermin/">saw fit to openly lobby against a steward</a> they didn’t like. Excuse me, but isn’t opposition from a Who’s Who of cheaters the stuff that should earn a racing steward a raise rather than a trip to the unemployment office?<br /><br />The facts are obvious: at least a third of North America’s <a href="http://www.equibase.com/static/statistics/2009/earningtrainer100.html">Top 20 or Top 40 trainers</a> have a long list of major rule violations (and very little remorse for any of those). Keep in mind that those are only the instances racing’s (in most states) lax oversight authorities cared to inform us about.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Life Is Not a Hollywood movie</span><br /><br />I think one of the main reasons people are unwilling to accept the reality of widespread cheating in racing is because we’ve grown up with movie images of cheaters. One thing the cycling example makes clear is that cheaters don’t usually fit our superficial image, or even the alternate cheater images we’ve come to accept. There were the occasional tragic madmen (Marco Pantani) or desperate losers (Floyd Landis), but most of all there have been people who, in many ways, perfectly fit the cliché of the hard-working pro cyclist, who even showed a good deal of sportsmanship in other regards.<br /><br />That someone is a cheater doesn’t mean they’re lazy; it doesn’t mean they owe all of their success entirely to the cheating, and it doesn’t mean they are entirely bad people. That’s why I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Jeff Mullins is a caring family man, Kirk Ziadie can be a helpful friend, or even that Rick Dutrow (on some abstract level and with obvious reservations) deeply cares about the horses entrusted to him.<br />All of this is possible and not even unlikely. And you know what: I still want those crooks [<span style="font-style: italic;">more colorful expletive deleted</span>] kicked out of the sport. <span style="font-weight: bold;">I don’t care what kind of a person you are in any other regard as long as you keep ruining this great sport. </span><span>Be a great family man and a great friend, but as long as you can’t restrain yourself from cheating in our sport</span>: be all of that as a postal worker, and try keeping your fingers out of the envelopes please!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">(Image on top is from </span></span><span><span style="font-size:85%;">Good Times Cycling Blog</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">, showing Marco Pantani; a poster child for cycling’s drug problem, although the frequently raptured Italian national hero was an unusual case in several ways. His drug-related death may have been averted if authorities hadn’t been so casual about his problems. In one case, the Italian media and cycling federation successfully lobbied that the penalty for his third positive test in three years was set out as six-month ban from October 'til March, a time he wouldn’t have competed in a race anyway)</span><br /></span></div>malcerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913127739083446726noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414364330713325138.post-53160910963421069032009-10-17T11:58:00.000-07:002009-10-18T01:00:05.232-07:00Of Canadians, Cinderellas & Solar Cells<div style="text-align: justify;">Late entry, but not too late (also, <a href="http://theaspiringhorseplayer.com/2009/10/16/of-baseball-cards-and-horse-racing/">the</a> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/%7Er/blogspot/LATG/%7E3/qwt9X16qFlA/of-budgets-circumstances-and-trash.html">third</a> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Raceday</span> 360 post with a title starting with Of... in only two days). I intended to handicap the E P Taylor and Canadian International today, then got carried away, first by <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Newmarket</span>’s Champions Day, then by a quite stunning press release issued by Dresden Racecourse.<br /><br />The Champions Day’s highlight, the G1 Champion Stakes produced a mild surprise in <span style="font-weight: bold;">Twice Over</span>’s win as well as a surprisingly-surprising-to-a-surprisingly-large-number-of-surprised-people hapless performance by the favorite <span style="font-weight: bold;">Fame And Glory</span> (which came telegraphed to everyone who paid attention to the Arc).<br />The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">undercard</span> – if you want to use the term for 5 group races and one of those “Heritage” handicaps that really deserve the title - the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Cesarewitch</span> over <a href="http://thedresdenfile.blogspot.com/2009/07/worlds-weirdest-racetracks-original-one.html"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Newmarket</span></a>’s entire Beacon Course – saw a 33-1 G1 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Dewhurst</span> upset by yet another colt named <span style="font-weight: bold;">Beethoven</span> (in yet another case of 1-2-4 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Ballydoyle</span> dominance), <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Ashalanda</span></span> extending the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Aga</span> Khan’s Awesome October in the G2 Pride Stakes, and Dresden File favorite <a href="http://www.racingpost.com/horses/horse_home.sd?horse_id=695457"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Akmal</span></span></a> topping a rags-to-riches-y season with a 7<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">th</span> win in 11 starts by ways of an impressive victory in the G3 Jockey Club Cup.<br /><br />On the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">homefront</span>, Dresden Racecourse announced that it has entered an agreement to install Germany’s largest inner-city plant of photovoltaic collectors in the racetrack infield, which may not look all that great in combination with the wooden landmark-registered grandstand. On the plus side, the 25 million € project should ensure the quality of the racing product (Dresden itself is comparatively well off, thanks to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">attendence</span> figures which habitually outnumber all but the very big German tracks, but due to the remote location problems of the other East German tracks hurt Dresden, too).<br /><br />As to the initial topic of the post, the Canadian International at Woodbine once again falls short of what a 2 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Mio</span> race could offer if it was scheduled a little better, with the European contingent looking particularly weak. It's a wide open field with 7/1-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">longshot</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Buccellati</span></span> probably representing the value bet; 11/2 <span style="font-weight: bold;">Champs <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Elysees</span></span> and 6/1 <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Quijano</span></span> being the underlays.<br /><br /><br />Not falling short at all is this year’s edition of the E P Taylor Stakes:<br /><br />#1 <span style="font-weight: bold;">Treat Gently</span> – on class alone, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Vermeille</span>-3rd and Opera-4<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">th</span> is a ridiculous overlay at 8/1 ML, but this is only her second start of the year, the other one being a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">convinving</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Alw</span> win at Belmont in July; again competes on a track where her running style <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">shouldn</span>’t be that much of a disadvantage and look to be a contender here<br /><br />#2 <span style="font-weight: bold;">Rainbow View</span> – British-based <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">Dynaformer</span> filly was the winner of the G1 Matron at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">Leopardstown</span> last out and has also shown she can stay the distance, but she has had a long season and looks questionable at an 8/5 ML; then again, there is the dreaded First-Time-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">Lasix</span> factor<br /><br />#3 <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">Lahaleeb</span></span> – unimpressive in her last two starts, and on Euro forms has to be rated below #1 and #2; long season too and runs without <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">Lasix</span>; jockey switch <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">doesn</span>’t help either<br /><br />#4 <span style="font-weight: bold;">Eastern Aria</span> – good forms in high-level Conditions and Handicap races in Britain and France, but has yet to make her graded debut; second-to-last form upgraded considerably by winner and 3rd-place finisher; campaigning without layoff since early February though, and 16<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">th</span> start of the year might prove one too many; <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">FTL</span><br /><br />#5 <span style="font-weight: bold;">Princess <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">Haya</span></span> – first graded victory winning the G2 Canadian S. Over course last time out; class, speed figs and added distance remain concerns and make 7/2 ML an underlay in this field<br /><br />#6 <span style="font-weight: bold;">Look Here</span> – <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">hmm</span>, a Hernando horse on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">FTL</span>! The 2008 Epsom Oaks winner kept herself in the best of companies in Europe and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">didn</span>’t look half-bad; distance may be too short for her and trainer’s inexperience with transatlantic shipping is a concern, but 3/1 ML looks reasonable<br /><br />#7 <span style="font-weight: bold;">Roses n’ Wine</span> – only Canadian filly in the field comes of an OSS <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35">Algoma</span> romp, but has repeatedly shown limitations in graded company<br /><br />#8 <span style="font-weight: bold;">Salve <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36">Germania</span></span> – mind-boggling improvement when winning the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37">Ballston</span> Spa in her North America debut, thus hard to handicap here; this is still a major step up in class for the now <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_38">Pletcher</span>-stabled filly;<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Summary:</span><br /><br />Six European runners in a field of eight plus Princess <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_39">Haya</span> (the filly) make for more than this race’s fair share of sporting interest, but also make this another tough one to bet.<br />Rainbow View and Look Here are the obvious choices, but the Euro trio of Treat Gently, Eastern Aria and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_40">Lahaleeb</span> represent better value at hard-to-believe <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_41">MLs</span> of 8/1, 12/1 and 12/1, respectively. If it <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_42">wasn</span>’t for Woodbine’s exotics takeout, this one would look like a perfect case for the dime <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_43">superfecta</span>, but with things the way they are, my tip is #1 Treat Gently, who, if coming anywhere near last fall’s form (and according to her Belmont form and workouts, she likely will) should make this one a memorable race for any across-the-board bettor. I might play a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_44">trifecta</span> (or <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_45">triactor</span>) with some combination of her and #2 and 6 just for the hunch, takeout be damned.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Results:</span><br /><br />First: Woodbine's morning line person had a really bad day; I've never seen MLs so far off under normal weather conditions, let alone for two major races in a row.<br /><br />E P Taylor: huge upset by #3 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_46">Lahaleeb</span> (eventually 45-1) because a) she's a pretty good horse, and b) because all of the more likely candidates got used up in an almost comical (if I hadn't had money on this race) chase after a no-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_47">hoper</span> (#7) to fade hopelessly in the stretch.<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_48">Cdn</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_49">Int'l</span>: Won by #1 Champs <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_50">Elysees</span>, a horse I've come to memorize several years ago for his uncanny ability to find a way to lose even when he looked unbeatable, who then deviated several times before seemingly returning to his path, but who closed his career in style.<br />He profited from the fact that <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_51">Buccellati</span> would have won easily if aiming forward, but unfortunately wasted half his energy struggling against the jockey to get a closer look at the grandstand and was ultimately lucky to finish third.<br /><br />In both races, a moderate early pace was followed by plain crazy mid-session bursts; both races were won by horses who kept out of that freak show and passed tired horses, ridiculing the "superstar jockeys" part of the whole affair.<br />That being said, congrats to William Buick, the young English rider who scored his first graded/group win in the E P Taylor, then made the best out of a tough ride on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_52">Buccellati</span>.<br /></div>malcerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913127739083446726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414364330713325138.post-9537658300527105462009-10-10T07:47:00.000-07:002010-03-24T14:29:58.309-07:00Oh, the Humanity!<div style="text-align: justify;">More than a month has passed since my last post, but at least I have a great excuse as I was pretty occupied with putting the finishing touches on my diploma work in Social and Economic Geography. High time to get back into the game with a four-in-one post.<br /><br />In fact, the only thing I’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">ve</span> handicapped over the last three weeks was the German general election. This election was, however, more than just the usual opportunity to show how much we have descended mentally and morally over the course of just four years (this time we learned that Germans, as a people, are so mind-numbingly stupid as to vote the most market-liberal option into power, just one year after the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">neoliberal</span> agenda completely went bankrupt - in every possible sense of that phrase). Nope, when I started reviewing the candidates (talk about a field of bottom-level claimers), it dawned on me that this election was also gonna be the greatest spot play in betting history, thanks to the fundamentally undemocratic ramifications the “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overhang_seat">overhang seats</a>” in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">MMP</span> systems can have under very specific constellations, all of them in place this time. The kicker is: no one who <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">doesn</span>’t have an increased interest and at least some formal training in political systems research knows about those ramifications, and that’s why I was in every bettor's dream situation with a few minutes to go until the polls closed: knowing the outcome beforehand, and getting more than 4/5 on a lock. On that note: a hearty “ha ha” to everyone who told me that a minor in Political Science would never earn me a cent (now if I could only find a 'ha ha'-reason for the same accusation concerning my other minor in Social and Economic History...).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br />Otherwise, living shielded from the outside world for four weeks certainly adds perspective. As in, when you return to everyday life, the whole thing just seems too <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091009/ap_on_re_eu/eu_nobel_peace">outrageous</a> to be believable.<br />A <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">nobel</span> peace prize for a guy who has (not yet, even) closed exactly one part of a giant torture camp system while letting the rest operate freely? The rest, that’s things like <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Bagram</span> Prison, where according to Europe’s biggest newsweekly, <span style="font-style: italic;">Der <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Spiegel</span></span>, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">nobel</span> peace prize winner’s army tortured a human being by (among other things) destroying his leg so many times that the coroner’s report notified its ‘gelatinous’ consistency. The fun part: when they finally tortured him to death, the prison guards were already aware that the guy was entirely innocent, and not just because there never was any actual charge. Yep, sounds like a regular second coming of Gandhi, I suppose.<br />What’s next? Giving humanitarian awards to amok shooters if they don’t empty their entire magazine? Parenting awards for people who vow to only beat up their infants twice a week from now on? How ‘bout an animal advocacy award for Ernie <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Paragallo</span>? He chose not to starve all of his horses, after all!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br />Meanwhile in German racing, Baden-Baden escaped the very real threat of having to cancel their three-day October meet for shortness of funds. In the same press conference, it was announced that there will be a 2YO <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">BBAG</span> auction race for 200.000 € during that very meeting.<br />That’s right: 45K more than the standard German G1 purse, pooped out for a number of horses who, if history has told us anything, will almost certainly never amount to even G3 level. A little more perspective: most German top horses make a mere prep start or none at all as juveniles. In fact, fields are so short that many <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">racedays</span> don’t even include a juvenile race, and the 100K Auction race for 2yo fillies during Baden’s summer meet looked like a farce (none of the contestants warranted a fifth of that purse), but certainly turned notable when three completely green horses collided mid-stretch, leaving a seriously injured reigning jockey champion (Eddie <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Pedroza</span>) in their wake. All but two of the fillies in said race have yet to break their maiden, most haven’t been close either, and not one of them has won a race since. The tragic part: the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">BBAG</span> is independent of the <span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Internationaler</span> Club</span>, and while the <span style="font-style: italic;">Club</span> faces a dire future, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">BBAG</span> is alive, well and hell-bent on its mission to destroy what’s left of German racing.<br /><br /><br />Overseas, it seems like I’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">ve</span> missed one more <a href="http://www.paulickreport.com/blog/indian-charlie-racings-court-jester/">Indian Charlie controversy</a>. Unfortunately though, the mock paper ridiculing him had about the same level of humor ("basement") as the original.<br />Every time I get more behind-the-scenes info about <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Musselman</span>’s rag, I’m reminded of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117477/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Ridicule</span></a>, a French film about a nobility so infatuated with their self-amusement and shallow intrigues that everything else becomes merely a joke to them, and all their resources are wasted for the pettiest of causes. The wit of their mockery and the gamesmanship involved have an alluring quality, and it takes both the hero and the viewer some time to free themselves of it, to see the destructive effects of the nobility’s obsession with itself. In any case, the lure is strong enough that none of the “players” ever realizes how rotten the game is until it finally comes crashing down – and then it’s too late.<br />I think about <span style="font-style: italic;">Ridicule</span> a lot when I think about American racing’s “nobility”. Or today’s politics, for that matter.<br /></div>malcerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913127739083446726noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414364330713325138.post-66755411036883511922009-09-07T12:53:00.000-07:002009-09-07T14:01:53.883-07:00GP von Baden Video, Result and Trivia<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fqjJQWkn6zs&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fqjJQWkn6zs&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">As promised, here's the video for yesterday's Grosser Preis von Baden, which in my opinion lived up to the hype.<br /><br />To the extent that being caught on the line with <span style="font-weight: bold;">Adlerflug</span> in the last two editions can be considered a spell, trainer Jens Hirschberger has lifted it. The private trainer for Gestüt Schlenderhan* (which was primarily owned by Baronin Karin von Ullmann and is fully-owned by her son Georg after the grand lady of the German Turf passed away this spring, effectively merging the operations of both) needed all of three years to win his first GP, a long time considering he scored his first Derby within the first few months on the job.<br />The son of veteran trainer Peter Hirschberger, who runs a low-key (but well-respected) operation at Leipzig, Jens made a name for himself first as a moderately successful jockey, then working as a jockey manager, feed expert and assistant trainer for the likes of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Sch%C3%BCtz">Andreas Schütz</a>.<br /><br />Another one to feel some vindication yesterday was jockey Adrie de Vries. Hirschberger's retained jockey (the kind of guy one likes to root for) picked the wrong mount in both the Derby and Rheinland-Pokal, and couldn't be aboard Getaway for the horse's G1 Deutschland-Preis victory either because of a prior commitment. Luckily, with the kind of quality in Hirschberger's barn, you get a fourth shot.<br /><br /><br />The Racing Post result sheet can be found <a href="http://www.racingpost.com/horses/result.sd?&race_id=490724&r_date=2009-09-06">here</a> (actually my live/from memory recap was good enough, only I didn't fully notice that <span style="font-weight: bold;">Getaway</span> was actually driving away over the last furlong, which makes his performance all the more impressive)<br /><br />*Did You Know: Schlenderhan was founded in 1869, the same year the first German Derby was run, and leads the way with no less than 18 blue riband wins.<br /><br />Also, Did You Know that the term "Did You Know" is copyrighted. Oops!<br /></div>malcerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913127739083446726noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414364330713325138.post-83345383803519646922009-09-06T00:35:00.000-07:002010-08-18T15:04:18.387-07:00GP von Baden Preview<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKFikYrQycQAcdXGvYtPJay8n1V_mIAMlr23Qhd0wnbwA-fc3dEzkUh59eMj2sNuJ2vecbwOrBMhrOnIawN8Vz5s6Mrrx1OxDPUeuD6v53do_sTBFT7gQC5VhDAKBUoPqVaYjqCpQ2_Es/s1600-h/rheinland.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 380px; height: 388px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKFikYrQycQAcdXGvYtPJay8n1V_mIAMlr23Qhd0wnbwA-fc3dEzkUh59eMj2sNuJ2vecbwOrBMhrOnIawN8Vz5s6Mrrx1OxDPUeuD6v53do_sTBFT7gQC5VhDAKBUoPqVaYjqCpQ2_Es/s400/rheinland.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378261491842876034" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Why am I posting a preview for a race none of my readers (with the possible exception of Sid Fernando) cares about when I don’t even have a hot pick? To tell you the truth, I can’t fully explain it. It’s partly one of those ideas you get when returning home at six in the morning on a Sunday and aren’t even drunk, but I prefer to explain it with the joy of seeing how Germany’s most meaningful horse race has rebounded from three so-so editions with a real looker.<br /><br />Baden-Baden (the name sounds just as silly in German, btw) can use it too, as the <span style="font-style: italic;">Internationaler Club</span> is currently in bankruptcy proceedings and in dire need of a sponsor. <strike>The race will even get all of a 15-minute nationwide broadcasting slot as part of the public service’s afternoon sports lineup (which would have gone without further mention less than a decade ago, but now is enough to spawn a front page article in the racing paper)</strike>. Update: burned by sloppy fact-checking (again!). Turns out the 15-minute live slot was actually a 5-minute bit later this afternoon (which would have been disappointing less than a decade ago, but now is seen as "a positive signal" by the Sport-Welt, which it actually is compared to the Derby's 11 PM slot on a regional broadcasting/cable channel).<br /><br />On to the crystal ball...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Grosser Preis von Baden; 2400m; 250.000€; Group 1 for 3-y-o’s and up; 16:45 CET (1045 EST)</span><br /><br />#1 <span style="font-weight: bold;">Adelar</span> – not very consistent, but even his best forms (such as a close second in the G2 Prix Gontaut-Biron last out) aren’t even close to winning this race<br /><br />#2 <span style="font-weight: bold;">Eastern Anthem</span> – Godolphin’s Dubai Sheema Classic winner showed a nice late burst to finish third in the G1 Rheinland-Pokal, but still 2 ½ lengths behind #7 and #3; Dubai-owned challengers are always worthy of consideration for the GP though, after all Mo The Monetarily Magnificent Monarch’s Darley and Godolphin horses have won every edition of this race from 2001 to 2005 (<span style="font-weight: bold;">Morshdi, Marienbard, Mamool</span>, and twice <span style="font-weight: bold;">Warrsan</span>); Mo let his opposition take a breath for the last three years - now he's back; E.A. switches from Ajtebi to Dettori, and Flyin’ Frankie’s business trips to Germany have been nothing but frustrating this season (as were most of Godolphin’s)<br /><br />#3 <span style="font-weight: bold;">Getaway</span> – lost a stretch battle of epic proportions when beaten a short head by stable companion Wiener Walzer in the Rheinland-Pokal (video below), but is once again the retained jockey’s choice. Trainer Jens Hirschberger is riding a modest 39.66% win percentage for the season being the private trainer for Georg Baron von Ullmann, <a href="http://sidfernando.wordpress.com/2009/06/16/deutsches-derby-will-pit-monsun-against-schlenderhan/">who campaigns</a> Getaway under his own silks (a mere 33.3%) and also inherited Wiener Walzer’s Gestüt Schlenderhan (a whopping 43.2%); he’s giving a kilo less to his younger companion this time and belongs into every consideration<br /><br />#4 <span style="font-weight: bold;">Kamsin</span> – defending champion and last year’s Derby winner, this one hasn’t gotten up to his level this year, being decisively beaten by Getaway in his last two starts; hard to imagine a reversal, though really soft ground could go a long way.<br /><br />#5 <span style="font-weight: bold;">Youmzain</span> – two-time Arc runner-up didn’t show his class when 4th in the Sheema Classic, was subsequently beaten by a nose in the G1 Coronation Cup at Epsom (a form which hasn’t held up too well, though) and finished a disappointing third in the G1 Grand-Prix de Saint-Cloud last time; still, he seems to be aimed at the Arc again and could bounce back today; Owner Jaber Abdullah also isn’t a stranger to the Grand-Prix’s trophy, having won the 1995 edition with the fittingly-named colt <span style="font-weight: bold;">Germany</span>; not sure how to interpret the choice of Kieren Fallon as a jockey<br /><br />#6 <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sordino</span> – sporting one win in four lifetime starts, the 29/1 Derby runner-up came flying from far behind in every one of those starts and even has a trip excuse or two for his Hamburg performance; his trainer Waldemar Hickst recently enhanced his International prominence by winning the Ballston Spa with rather nondescript filly <span style="font-weight: bold;">Salve Germania</span> and seems to have his lot in prime condition, but a 55/10 (9/2) ML is a bit over the top; I would have preferred to see this horse at Doncaster next weekend, he absolutely strikes me as a St. Leger candidate; Update: scratched (very unfortunately, as I managed to get an incredible 16.5/1 early-market bet on him; some unique stellar constellation, and a short-lived one, obviously<br /><br />#7 <span style="font-weight: bold;">Wiener Walzer</span> – If the ground is good enough and he doesn’t get scratched, the victor of the Derby as well as the above-mentioned stretch battle at Cologne may well have to make it all once again, which wouldn’t be the worst of prospects; still, he may be up for a slight setback after three hard-fought victories in as many months, adds a further kilo and switches jockeys from Fredrik Johansson to Filip Minarik, which I don’t like because Freaky Filip can be a great jockey, but is always one for a major slip in judgement, on and off the course.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bNShk6zod6I&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bNShk6zod6I&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />(Replay of the G1 Rheinland-Pokal, August 16)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Summary:</span><br />Straight Win/Place betting for this race will be available on betfair. Unfortunately that means you can’t play the exotics, but I couldn’t confidently encourage you to play into Germany’s 30% takeout tote anyway (and now you know why Baden-Baden is bankrupt; 70% handle reduction nationwide over the last decade, and every point of it earned!)<br /><br />While Saratoga is only nicknamed the “Graveyard of Champions”, the Baden Grand-Prix really has been a chalk-killer: no favorite has won it since 2000’s <span style="font-weight: bold;">Samum</span>. From 2001 to 2005 (the Sheikh Mo era) no fav even finished on the board. So, statistically, this race spells trouble for either Getaway or Wiener Walzer (both 5/2 ML), while Eastern Anthem could be another ace up Mohammed’s sleeve.<br /><br />I’m taking a stand against Wiener Walzer and Youmzain (risky, but you gotta start somewhere in a wide-open field). I hope Youmzain, who is coming out of a layoff after he seemed a little tired, is primarily prepping for a big effort in the Arc, there are a couple of hints in that direction (and he's done it once before, when he finished 4th at Baden-Baden, then second to <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dylan Thomas</span> in the 2007 Arc).<br /><br />Which leaves Getaway as my favorite and Eastern Anthem as a value bet (if available for 11/1+). If the pace scenario set up right for him Sordino may be worth the price.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">(Image: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger)</span><br /></div>malcerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913127739083446726noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414364330713325138.post-44542950379378293572009-08-22T04:21:00.000-07:002010-06-05T08:58:36.856-07:00The World Isn't Waiting<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6wBkKe_eXCuEkjBbO1wPJlAPtN7VsvpSLTcIsWaxbxpun1AXDhPWSdNqP8FVR4f8y74QBxQlN4gW7UXenQwYkITqMfruYDPRasOyE8Hgp-dWR08GlmnETZe6QpcWR2NAS-HWfz011_is/s1600-h/Blank_Bottle_1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 75px; height: 221px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6wBkKe_eXCuEkjBbO1wPJlAPtN7VsvpSLTcIsWaxbxpun1AXDhPWSdNqP8FVR4f8y74QBxQlN4gW7UXenQwYkITqMfruYDPRasOyE8Hgp-dWR08GlmnETZe6QpcWR2NAS-HWfz011_is/s320/Blank_Bottle_1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372743254189846562" border="0" /></a>Claire <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Novak</span>’s most recent <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/blog?post=4412412">article</a> has stirred up some controversy in the racing <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">blogosphere</span>. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Novak</span> writes for the racing section of ESPN.com, the website of the world’s largest sports network.<br /><br />One of the critical <a href="http://blog-beb.thoroughbredtimes.com/2009/08/in-defense-of-jackson-and-owners.html">responses</a> was by Ed <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">DeRosa</span>, usually one of the better turf writers. I strongly disagree with most of his article for reasons discussed there, but it’s one of the minor arguments he brought up (one I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">didn</span>’t respond to on his site) which keeps coming back to my mind.<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Novak</span>’s argument for questioning the sportsmanship of Jess Jackson was, among other things, this:<br /><blockquote>“<span style="font-style: italic;">the completely ridiculous fact that reporters (and the public) had to wait for the overnight to come out to discover she would not be starting in Saturday's Alabama, one of five races listed as "under consideration" by her connections. [...] Enough cat-and-mouse. Set a date for a press conference, make up your mind, and make the announcement. That's what a true sportsman would do.</span>”<br /></blockquote><br />To which DeRosa responded:<br /><blockquote>“<span style="font-style: italic;">Some have lamented that neither Jackson nor trainer Steve <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Asmussen</span> publicly stated that Rachel Alexandra would not enter the Alabama Stakes, but her workout pattern clearly indicated that she would not be racing this week. For <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Asmussen</span>, an easy work back followed by a bullet means a race is at least another week away. John <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Scheinman</span> of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">NYRA</span> press office and trainer Mark <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Hennig</span> both noticed that, so it's not like deciphering <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Asmussen's</span> moves required possession of the Rosetta Stone or an advanced degree in reading tea leaves.</span>”<br /></blockquote>It’s a revealing statement, and a representative one, I fear. If people in the racing media actually think like this, it explains a lot.<br /><br />Sorry racing press, the mainstream media <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">isn</span>’t in the habit of reading <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">NYRA</span> workout summaries, or studying the subtleties of the workout patterns of the nation’s Top 50 trainers. They won’t get into that habit either. ESPN is, however, in the habit of picking the sports they deem most marketable, and sports that don’t offer information <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">aren</span>’t marketable.<br /><br />Jackson, the man who said he bought <span style="font-weight: bold;">Rachel Alexandra</span> to broaden <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">racing's</span> appeal, knows that. Kendall-Jackson wine bottles include information as to the appellation, grape composition, taste characteristics etc.. Why? Because customers are unlikely to buy a blank bottle for 25$, that’s why. TV networks are in exactly the same position. As long as they have a dozen sporting events offering press kits, full access and all kinds of help, they would be stupid to instead reserve a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">timeslot</span> for a sport whose protagonists don’t think they need to cooperate. No manager in his right mind will choose to broadcast races that could end up being interesting, or not; one's they don't know how to promote until three days before the event.<br /><br />In other sports, locker room access is a given, any development will immediately spawn a press release. In racing, you get a post-race interview with some <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17"></span>winning horseman with a history, who snots out a few cryptic comments about “considering five or six options for the horse’s next start”. And of course: “We want to do the best by the horse! Currently our filly thinks the Woodward purse is 500K too low”.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">(Although the image on top is by a South African producer actually called “<a href="http://www.blankbottle.co.za/article_2006-12-4_6.html">Blank Bottle</a>”, the bottle <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">isn</span>’t actually blank. The pictured example is a Shiraz with 2% <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Viognier</span>; from the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Paarl</span> Mountains, and characterized by “intense fruit and complexity”, according to the producer.)</span><br /></div>malcerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913127739083446726noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414364330713325138.post-75174388379409718242009-08-14T11:33:00.000-07:002009-08-14T12:52:52.000-07:00Girly Jocks<div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify;">I’ve recently been reading the "lifestyle" section of the quite extensive <a href="http://www.kathiwerning.de/">website</a> of German jockey/model Katharina Daniela Werning, after which at least two things are very clear to me:<br /><br />First: I’m definitely not her type, not least because I refuse to feel bad about wearing casual clothing to any track that doesn’t include the word "Royal" somewhere in its name.<br /></div><br />Second, she’s the kind of woman who warns newbie girls how hard it is to walk around in high heels on a racecourse, which leads her to advice that – no joke – ladies should inform their men prior to the racetrack experience that they might have to sponsor new shoes if the old ones get ruined (as a clearly superior alternative to not wearing heels). She also believes that women should put on a crown for the races in order to symbolize who’s in command, which isn’t the walking wallet to her left. Lovely!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif-V8-n3TBomrgD2YoG_kQEyuPhQK06hWc8Sx8raEZ4IypA1uVnX25Ow-yvwmyw-i_YOFfsf_A7RQt7m3Q9SE4P976LphxfhKQexPzfrN7WeVWBuUQgrH6x8BRMOkQRELrQoTL4NeeQd0/s1600-h/werning.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 103px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif-V8-n3TBomrgD2YoG_kQEyuPhQK06hWc8Sx8raEZ4IypA1uVnX25Ow-yvwmyw-i_YOFfsf_A7RQt7m3Q9SE4P976LphxfhKQexPzfrN7WeVWBuUQgrH6x8BRMOkQRELrQoTL4NeeQd0/s400/werning.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369894860131682802" border="0" /></a><br />Bottom line: if Katie would spend a little less time doing photo shootings in incomplete jockey dresses or complaining about guys who don’t pay her drinks, she probably wouldn’t be 8-for-156 for the year (5.13%, the worst percentage of all 30 jockeys with more than 100 starts).<br /><br /><br /><br />Now, if that photo to the left doesn't say "take me seriously as a professional jockey" I don't know what does.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">(Image from the <span style="font-style: italic;">Dresdner Morgenpost</span> of July 24) </span><br /></div>malcerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913127739083446726noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414364330713325138.post-30619009508668037842009-08-07T03:36:00.000-07:002009-08-07T11:58:39.104-07:00That Pesky Class Bias<div style="text-align: justify;">Yesterday I read the following sentences in an otherwise interesting post on the <a href="http://startelegramsports.typepad.com/west_points/2009/08/spoiled-or-prudent-jackson-wont-go-the-breeders-cup.html">West Points</a> blog: "Last year, not one horse who had been campaigning on dirt won any of the traditional Breeders’ Cup dirt races. NOT ONE HORSE."<br /><br />It was the second time I read this argument, and got me intrigued enough to spend the next two hours reviewing last year’s BC Pro-Ride races in search of the bigger picture as to how those horses with a dirt-centric career fared. A fun task that perfectly <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">accommodated</span> my advanced <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">horseracing</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">geekiness</span>, so here it is:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">F&M Sprint:</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Indian Blessing</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Ventura</span></span> were the only reasonable candidates. Indian Blessing came from a NY dirt campaign but went on to win the La <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Brea</span> at SA after the BC. Her forms looked impressive then, but less so in hindsight. You don’t need the Pro-Ride to explain why she ultimately fell to classy turf miler <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Ventura</span></span>. Third-placed <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Zaftig</span></span> delivers further arguments that I.B. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">didn</span>’t run a bad race (she had been beaten a few lengths by her before). <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Intangaroo</span></span> (6<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">th</span>) had most of her best forms on the dirt, but synthetics should have suited her running style, and she had won the Santa Monica over SA’s old Cushion Track.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Juvenile Fillies:</span><br />Cal-based <span style="font-weight: bold;">Stardom Bound</span> dominated this division all summer. Runner-up <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dream Empress</span> seems to have been more of an art-surf horse, although she did break her maiden at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Saratoga</span>. The third and fifth-place finisher (<span style="font-weight: bold;">Sky Diva</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Persistently</span>) came out of classic Dirt campaigns and their result matches perfectly with what could have been expected had this race been run on the dirt. That leaves 7<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">th</span>-placed <span style="font-weight: bold;">C.S. Silk</span>, who did indeed disappoint, but her subsequent dirt forms <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">weren</span>’t any better (in fact she <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">hasn</span>’t won any of her 5 starts since the BC, four of them on dirt)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Distaff:</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cocoa Beach</span> had made all but one of her previous 10 career starts on the dirt, but coming within 1½ lengths of <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Zenyatta</span></span>, she was hardly a victim of the Pro-Ride. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Music Note</span> (3rd) is a similar case. 4<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">th</span>-placed <span style="font-weight: bold;">Carriage Trail</span> had an affinity for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Keeneland</span>’s <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Polytrack</span> which <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">didn</span>’t seem to help at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">OSA</span>. Which leaves 6<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">th</span>-placed <span style="font-weight: bold;">Ginger Punch</span>, a pure dirt horse until then, but the defending f&m champ was on a downward spiral since July (and her 10/1 line suggests she <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">wasn</span>’t really a disappointment).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Marathon:</span><br />One of the weakest fields ever to be seen in a 500K was eventually topped by <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">Muhannak</span></span>, whose underwhelming best forms came from the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">Polytracks</span> of the Old World, although he had also won on turf. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">Muhannak</span> went on to prove that he was equally undeserving of BC-winner status on the turfs of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">Sha</span> Tin and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">Goodwood</span>, with his only acceptable post-BC form coming from Dubai’s dirt. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Delightful Kiss</span> was the only contender with a dirt-centric past, but his 4<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">th</span> place <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">wasn</span>’t really below expectations. The most disappointing favorite of the entire BC was <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sixties Icon</span>, who struggled home 5<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">th</span> in this race. He’s a turf horse.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Dirt Mile:</span><br />Winner <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">Albertus</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">Maximus</span></span> came with an artsy past, but his two post-BC starts were on the dirt, where he <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">Wonn</span> The Donn and placed sixth in the Dubai World Cup. Third-placed <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">SoCal</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">longshot</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Two Step Salsa</span> also had some dirty fun at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35">NAS</span> after the BC, winning both starts. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Lewis Michael</span> (8<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36">th</span>) was one of two disappointments, but he too had his best performances to the sound of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37">synth</span>. The other disappointment was <span style="font-weight: bold;">Well Armed</span>, who went on to dominate the Dubai World Cup, but was the favorite for winning the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_38">Goodwood</span> over Santa Anita’s Pro-Ride (I guess he would do better on very speed-favoring dirt, but his trainer <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_39">doesn</span>’t seem to). <span style="font-weight: bold;">My Pal Charlie</span> (4<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_40">th</span>) and <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_41">Pyro</span></span> (6<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_42">th</span>) were the two dirt-campaign runners, and neither disappointed.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Juvenile:</span><br />10<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_43">th</span>-place <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_44">Munnings</span></span> might superficially look like he was hampered by the Pro-Ride, but then again his far-beaten runner-up performance in the Champagne was hardly astonishing if reviewed in hindsight and nothing suggests that he particularly disliked the surface. Apart from him, no dirt horses took part.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sprint:</span><br />Actually, Mr West and Co. may have to reconsider their premise! While winner <span style="font-weight: bold;">Midnight Lute</span> had run a dismal performance in his only other race of last year over Del Mar's <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_45">Polytrack</span>, the majority of his top performances (including his wins in the previous BC Sprint at Monmouth and the 2007 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_46">Forego</span>) were on the dirt.<br />It’s easy to miss that fact when you concentrate on dirty guy <span style="font-weight: bold;">Fabulous Strike</span> (7/1), whose 5<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_47">th</span> place finish is as close as last year’s BC got to a disappointing performance by a dirt-campaigned horse (he was beaten by only one horse, 8/1 <span style="font-weight: bold;">In Summation</span>, with minimally longer odds).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Classic:</span><br />I don’t think I need to <a href="http://www.paulickreport.com/blog/jackson-acting-like-a-spoiled-kid/">explain for the hundredth time</a> how <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_48">Curlin</span></span>’s performance was not a huge surprise to anyone with some basic handicapping skills. Everyone who still <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_49">doesn</span>’t want to recognize this because “<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_50">Tiago</span></span> could never beat <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_51">Curlin</span>” has other issues, obviously. And is a complete hypocrite if they don’t also claim that “<span style="font-weight: bold;">Smooth Air</span> could never beat <span style="font-weight: bold;">Duke Of Marmalade</span>”. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_52">DoM</span> was clearly a better horse, but just as clearly out-of-form. Eventually, last year’s BC was decided in a battle of giants between two of the world’s best horses.<br /><span>Smooth Air</span> (7<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_53">th</span>) and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Fairbanks</span> (10<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_54">th</span>) were the other two <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_55">dirtsters</span> in the field, neither was a victim of the “plastic”.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Conclusion:</span><br />All in all, there is very little basis to argue that Pro-Ride was a major factor behind last year’s BC results. In any case it was a much smaller factor than the West Coast setting of Santa Anita, which kept many of the top East Coast horses away. One might argue that the "not one horse who had been campaigning on dirt won any of the traditional Breeders’ Cup dirt races"- sentence is technically correct, it is. But it's used as an argument on this occasion, and therefor the more important thing is: the implication of this sentence is wrong.<br />There's no reason to believe that it's impossible or even considerably harder to win a Pro-Ride BC with a horse that has been exclusively campaigned on dirt. It's just that hardly anyone has tried it, and those who did fell short for other reasons. There's also no reason to believe that Pro-Ride is any more of a factor in handicapping than speed bias, rail bias or sloppy track. It's a factor, but not an unfair one.<br /><br />The fact is: if one doesn't like Pro-Ride for another reason, that’s fine. If you think Pro-Ride ruined last year’s BC: start looking for a better argument.<br /><br />Oh, and if you happen to constantly find the need to attack this surface as a fundamentally unfair and (for whatever unexplained reason) dangerous type of “plastic” just because you’re willing to say anything rather than come to grips with a disillusion: go open a bottle of wine, lean back, start thinking, and shut the fuck up!<br /></div>malcerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913127739083446726noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414364330713325138.post-15551223198542270942009-07-26T21:01:00.000-07:002011-01-19T16:29:56.324-08:00World's Weirdest Racetracks: The Original One, or two<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEf_I33jJiZId4uFJmmht1aZRrRn8xKTyPWmIbju-2CN_8EYMrXR0zshAFk7q8RABTjS3q5ekZWbAo8ymvX8C3sdCRIqtRGLdf4yDMkptmY9V8nOr0xdxFnXlNIKEAWlRX3zpdyyiGuyA/s1600-h/newm1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEf_I33jJiZId4uFJmmht1aZRrRn8xKTyPWmIbju-2CN_8EYMrXR0zshAFk7q8RABTjS3q5ekZWbAo8ymvX8C3sdCRIqtRGLdf4yDMkptmY9V8nOr0xdxFnXlNIKEAWlRX3zpdyyiGuyA/s400/newm1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362864871636995042" border="0" /></a>In the beginning, the Lords spoketh: "let there be three". But so it didn’t quite come to pass.<br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />According to a 1740 parliament directive, British thoroughbred racing was to be limited to the three most important racecourses of the time:<br /><br />The first one, located on the Knavesmire moor in York, continues to stage top-class race meetings in May and August, with a number of quality racedays held throughout the season.<br /><br />The second one, Hambleton, is used as a minor training center to this day. Its location right on top of Sutton Bank in North Yorkshire ultimately proved too impractical for a racecourse, but at least today's workout riders can enjoy one of the best <a href="http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/397721.jpg">panoramas</a> of any training center in the world.<br /><br />The third one is known as the seat of The Jockey Club and remains one of the most prestigious on Earth - <span style="font-weight: bold;">Newmarket Racecourse</span>.<br /><br />Fortunately the Lords didn’t explain the “only three”-part quite as extensively <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOrgLj9lOwk&feature=related">as Monty Python later would</a>, and therefor it was never really heeded - or enforced, for that matter.<br /><br />Newmarket’s claim to the title of oldest racecourse in the world is controversial, but its pivotal role in the development of modern thoroughbred racing isn’t. Starting in the 17th century, the town became home to Britain's most important racing and training center, its very name a synonym for excellence on the turf.<br /><br />Much less appreciated, but no less stunning, are Newmarket’s contributions in the field of racetrack weirdness, where it remains #1:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtkBDdTHzAJ43bsxY_7KXxe2QyBDzdFBmrt6zQYE-WHX5uzrS25w8BEkrz58F7DcFG32wEjFKz99GAC-SWhSjoqy5dv6tYATbUtcC2HIPzwsHo6jplYsvc03dQeNa2jvTXCYKvchll4z4/s1600-h/Newmarket2.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 241px; height: 187px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtkBDdTHzAJ43bsxY_7KXxe2QyBDzdFBmrt6zQYE-WHX5uzrS25w8BEkrz58F7DcFG32wEjFKz99GAC-SWhSjoqy5dv6tYATbUtcC2HIPzwsHo6jplYsvc03dQeNa2jvTXCYKvchll4z4/s400/Newmarket2.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362864323392130322" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">(Image from the great <a href="http://www.tbheritage.com/">tbheritage.com</a> site)<br /></span></div><br />What’s commonly known as Newmarket Racecourse is actually two courses, consisting of nothing more than three long straights, one of which they share.<br /><br />The best-known of the three is Rowley Mile, which – as you would assume from the World’s Weirdest Racetrack – isn’t actually a mile. It’s ten furlongs long, narrowly edging out Maisons-Laffitte’s 2000-meter straight for the title (<span style="font-weight: bold;">Maisons-Laffitte</span>, btw, deserves a honorable mention as WWR #11, mainly on the merits of having three winning posts at different points of a strangely-shaped course). The Rowley Mile’s most famous feature is The Dip, created by a downhill penultimate furlong and a rather steep climb for the final one.<br /><br />Races over distances of more than 10f start on the Cambridgeshire Course, another straight of a full mile which owes its name to the fact that it starts and ends in the namesake county - the turn into the Rowley Mile occurs exactly on the border of Cambridgeshire and Suffolk. From June to August, no racing is conducted in Suffolk, but there is still racing at Newmarket Racecourse. Horses and jockeys just make a sharper turn a little before the end of the Cambridgeshire Course and enter straight number three – the July Course.<br /><br />Another straight of a mile, the July Course has its own stands and paddock area, which are located to the South of the track, facing the Rowley Mile’s. So even though both straights are run from West to East, the Rowley Mile runs clockwise while the July Course is run counter-clockwise. This layout also makes the July Course the only track in the world where half the course is actually outside the grandstand’s field of view.<br /><br />Not that patrons are missing anything they could see from the Rowley Mile’s grandstand. After all, even very good binoculars don’t help much when watching a 20-strong field head-on with nine furlongs to go. And you can’t see anything before they enter the stretch either, because most of the Cambridgeshire Course is hidden behind the estate of the National Stud.<br /><br /><blockquote>"There is no race course in the whole of the world like Newmarket. It is a severe course from the easiest five-eighths to the severest two miles. There is no horse who does not stay who will win any race there. That is what stamps the mark on any horse that wins at Newmarket. It stands to reason that Newmarket makes a heavy call upon all the art that a jockey possesses - the nursing of a two-year-old, the judgment of pace, the different gradients, the knowledge of the mount under you, whether to take the lead an eighth from home or wait to got your advantage till you are on the post"</blockquote><br />The quote above is out of a <a href="http://kdl.kyvl.org/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=drf1910s;cc=drf1910s;rgn=full%20text;idno=drf1919050301;didno=drf1919050301;view=pdf;seq=2_9;node=drf1919050301%3A2.9">May 3, 1919 article</a> in the DRF, as stated by “Brownie” Carslake, an Australian jockey who after establishing himself in his native country became one of the best jockeys to ride in Britain. Carslake’s bigger point was that Australian (and North American) tracks are build with the interest of the spectators in mind, while English racecourses were designed to bring out the best in horses and horsemen. He was arguably right on both counts.<br /><br />Newmarket Racecourse is at the same time the best and the worst in the world. The best track for champion racehorses and jockeys to compete against each other, and the worst track for spectators to witness them doing so. It's, in short, the World's Weirdest Racetrack.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy8PQM0GFZv8saIXm3vTHdB5uhLrwG7XNz1MD6bJ4t9ai5_sGfdyrWgkeFPeuqVsTRgSO0TOnHlsrlEFNtrVH-BbV9gRLc0q9BroB_D4xzknnMz2XP8JZvinsQA9p0_hczNpFzVlhJAe8/s1600-h/newmpano.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy8PQM0GFZv8saIXm3vTHdB5uhLrwG7XNz1MD6bJ4t9ai5_sGfdyrWgkeFPeuqVsTRgSO0TOnHlsrlEFNtrVH-BbV9gRLc0q9BroB_D4xzknnMz2XP8JZvinsQA9p0_hczNpFzVlhJAe8/s400/newmpano.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362861837345735234" border="0" /></a>("I think the 3 horse is a head in front with a mile to go"; Panoramio images by Footix [above] and Jonathan W [top])<br /></div>malcerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913127739083446726noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414364330713325138.post-58034380934242713192009-07-26T00:12:00.000-07:002009-08-02T07:32:46.684-07:00World's Weirdest Racetracks: #2<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnZ5sBAs2MC4SM4HKycNGdz1-XwIgkkgMjYmNQvnc3THpzmIm8zSCmUhxwr8m83q02RGMNNilOIO52uOiaJ1Ol2DtOOJlKxtqAEwDs1a5pVSy9qbpltVkDzN5Xq-UDNULotaJgihYZa3Y/s1600-h/smwtqu.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnZ5sBAs2MC4SM4HKycNGdz1-XwIgkkgMjYmNQvnc3THpzmIm8zSCmUhxwr8m83q02RGMNNilOIO52uOiaJ1Ol2DtOOJlKxtqAEwDs1a5pVSy9qbpltVkDzN5Xq-UDNULotaJgihYZa3Y/s400/smwtqu.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362669487390067618" border="0" /></a>Combining the spirit, and spirits, of an apres-ski party with the slightly (okay, decidedly) elitist posh of old-style spa racing, Switzerland’s most important racecourse is neither turf nor dirt; and it’s not an artificial surface either. Races at <span style="font-weight: bold;">St. Moritz Racecourse</span> are run on snow, which itself is covering the frozen surface of a lake.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />So there may not be much potential for a St. Moritz Racecourse "Midsummer racing at the Spa" meeting, but the track’s three racedays in February, labeled the "White Turf", are singular in the world of racing. As is the concept of conducting thoroughbred races on a frozen lake.<br /><br />Due to its location at 1822 meters (5.978 ft.) above sea level, in the middle of the Swiss Alps, the surface can usually be counted on to support runners and racegoers - the grandstand is on the lake, too. Nevertheless, racedays have occasionally been shortened and parts of the grandstand have remained closed off if the ice was getting a little thin.<br /><br />Conducting upper-class events on the frozen lake fits in with several of the towns other sporting highlights such as the <span style="font-style: italic;">Polo World Cup on Snow,</span> which uses the same grandstand, and the <span style="font-style: italic;">Cricket On Ice</span> tournament.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA7q2tuZeUisEp4ooXeHA6AFvNj0SCNY48hJv_9uDkOgyVvc5H-s03OQOWRT5A0CC1MXHCqZ7lXP3hC537LIyDSc4XtQwY7xbwbSw1eXxAzNmhm1wrNqUgZhtf6msxjkxBba9mw4vw-LM/s1600-h/smwt1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 271px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA7q2tuZeUisEp4ooXeHA6AFvNj0SCNY48hJv_9uDkOgyVvc5H-s03OQOWRT5A0CC1MXHCqZ7lXP3hC537LIyDSc4XtQwY7xbwbSw1eXxAzNmhm1wrNqUgZhtf6msxjkxBba9mw4vw-LM/s400/smwt1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362669668215391986" border="0" /></a><br />St. Moritz's feature event, the 121.121 Swiss Francs (about 105k$) Grosser Preis von St. Moritz, regularly attracts a number of quality horses from other European countries. Racing at this traditional Alpine winter resort offers by far the highest purses in Switzerland, and the Grand-Prix is also the country's most valuable race, beating the only other noteworthy race (the Swiss Derby at Frauenfeld) by 21.121 Francs.<br /><br />Besides Thoroughbred racing, other disciplines contested are harness trotting (with skates instead of wheels) and Skijoering, a horse-drawn ski racing discipline of Scandinavian origin. St. Moritz's White Turf races are one of the most important societal events in Switzerland.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmjHSNfLZXa___GJBqOyrKFJhfXoN4BPqxbh5eMhHMfoApaWqocJ5hPFMMBkQANdh7Rrr2zu-kyaO8adD6dNdLXYWh_bKCT6MICPMgg8qI_bfvStEP5nYE7c08rpTcRI59nsmXkatoaJs/s1600-h/smwtjoer.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 285px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmjHSNfLZXa___GJBqOyrKFJhfXoN4BPqxbh5eMhHMfoApaWqocJ5hPFMMBkQANdh7Rrr2zu-kyaO8adD6dNdLXYWh_bKCT6MICPMgg8qI_bfvStEP5nYE7c08rpTcRI59nsmXkatoaJs/s400/smwtjoer.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362669988235875250" border="0" /></a> (Skijoering is a sport for people who wanted to be harness drivers but couldn't afford the sulky and can't get their horses to remain trotting; images by <a href="http://www.pbase.com/dan_marino/white_turf_2005">Heinz Schmid</a>)<br /></div>malcerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913127739083446726noreply@blogger.com3