Will Old Folks Ever Stop Being Cranky?

When you don't have anything else to write pick on the bloggers. I think this happens every Summer, no? This time it's Vic Zast and his Track Words blog. I'll try and keep this short and sweet. Here's the source material. Which I found at tbablogs.com (home of 138 blogs, including 2! from Zast, & 137 people on Twitter.) anyone able to string a noun with a verb considers himself qualified as a writer, and if he’s alone in his opinion, he starts a Web site True, but having a voice means there's someone listening, and if you string together lies, crap, and pointless drivel you don't have anyone reading you, and you might as well start a website or a looking in the mirror club. The overall effect is the same: nought. People without the wide view of how one thing impacts another portray themselves as experts. I'll agree to this point a little, but this industry is in dire need of outside the box thinking. But the better question is how many in the industry portray themselves as experts and don't know which end of the horse to put hay in. I'm looking at the smart people that managed the California synthetic experiment. The compilation sites can be garbage dumps TBA blogs is by far NOT a garbage dump. It's a way for fans of racing. You know there are a few left that haven't been turned off by your self serving rant, but I digresss. Fans aren't ignorant, what you're saying is that grown people can't tell the difference between a press release and an investigative article. That attitude is one of, if not the main reason readers left main stream writers. The holier-than-thou attitude is over. The old system in which news releases were passed along to turf writers who, in turn, asked some questions, checked the facts and gave their own view on their newsworthiness is outdated. Can I just call bullshit on this? Bloodhorse is OWNED by the industry, and all the others are so dependant upon advertising dollars they don't say BOO when Storm Cat is throwing blanks, and God forbid you say the Sheikh isn't the greatest thing to racing since sliced bread. The blogs do ask questions. We're the only ones. Filly Friday, Take back the Race, 2 years in BC. I'll admit we get run over a bit easier, but we're new to this. The old guard had 30 years to question authority, how'd that work out for y'all? A complaint with the status quo wasn’t a rant that was dashed off. I want you to know this is completely a rant and totally dashed off. Regardless of the wonders of technology, there remains a small body of industry experts practicing the art of communication at the highest level. Is this a plug for the TBA? hucksters and grousers Am I huckster or a grouser? Was this term demeaning in the Civil War? I've been called Dreadful (I told you it always happens in July) is this worse? What we know, nonetheless, is that digital communications are ineluctably becoming the preferred means of news travel. It would behoove those who deal in the written word to make it a vehicle they’re proud of. I am proud of the TBA. I think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. Not all blogs are created equal, not all news sites cover with the same amount of depth, but it'll be over my dead body when someone says that they can choose the news better than I can for myself.

Nerd Herd 09 - A Haskell Meet Up

I will be at the Haskell, a few of my friends are coming to the Haskell, and I'd personally like to see how "social" this media truly is. So, before the race before the Haskell (If Haskell is Race 12, let's meet before race 11) I will be at the fountain on the Grandstand side of the paddock with few blogging friends. I will be wearing a Zayat t-shirt and a look of loneliness (cause that's how all bloggers look) on my face. So, if you're feeling brave say hi!

It's Kind of Embarrassing - No?

I'm just about ready to sit down and watch tonight's race coverage on ESPN. You really couldn't ask for a better setting to show a race than Del Mar. Good weather, beautiful people, and what should be a well contested race. It will be a success for all racing fans new and old I'm sure. And yet what really catches my attention are the Marx Brothers. Their movie A Night At The Opera is on AMC. It's your basic Marx brothers fare: showing how stupid and self important the rich folks are and having the little guy win in the end. Why does this remind me of the NTRA on ESPN? What kind of dissonance does having this race on TV create with no BC berth on the line? Last week 2 winners secured a spot and neither were on TV, and neither were house hold names of even hard core racing fans. This week you have the #4 and #5 Monmouthpark.com Turf horses Artiste Royal (220) and Thorn Song (200) going head to head with I guess NOTHING on the line (well you and me, us racing fans know what's on the line, but...). It will take about 25 minutes of TV time to tell casual fans why this race is important, explaining why Del Mar is important, how the Eddie Read is a Gr I, how it fits into the overall picture. 25 minutes this will take. Or you could just say: This week you have the #4 and #5 Monmouthpark.com Turf horses Artiste Royal (220) and Thorn Song (200) going head to head. And show a couple more live races. But what really is stupid and back to the Marx point what is the point of having the NTRA on one weekend doing its thing and having the BC doing something completely different. I'm sure there's a great reason why they aren't together, but to me its all about how dumb the rich folk are. How they think their slice of racing is more important than the other guys. Listen, I'm a guy who has talked to both NTRA folks and BC folks, and they have the best intentions, and some great ideas, motivation etc etc etc. I have nothing really bad to say. I'm just saying tonight's show on ESPN is a logistical nightmare if you're trying to sell the sport of racing because it creates more confusion than context. It looks like everyone is just trying to make themselves look more important.

Monmouth Park

They are on a roll. 3 things I'd like to mention. They bumped the purse of the Haskell. That's the easy one, but I'd like to bring up two other great things they are doing. The Haskell Challenge is a must sign up for event. You bet WPS on every race on Haskell day and the winner will be a VIP at Santa Anita. I will be entering this as many times as possible. Finally, the week after the Haskell is an event I've been waiting for now a long time. Or if it's happened prior I missed it. The Monmouth Mile, a charity one mile run for ReRun. Now, in the description is says "Run (or walk) a mile on the racetrack" I'd LOVE to run on the turf and see what that feels like, but I'll double check to see what surface it's on, if it's on one at all (I kind of doubt it, but it would be AWESOME). So there you have it. Monmouth Park making the case that it is the premiere race track on the East Coast for fans. (No need to point out that I'm a homer).

Every Track with $1500 should buy 5 of these

I've talked about these cameras before, with great results. Emerald downs got footage on a local radio show, Zenyatta carried one along with her for a workout (shown again below). They give the greatest footage imaginable. For horse racing fans it's crack. I really could watch this type of footage all day long. And imagine if a track could get them approved for wear during a race! Well, like with all technology there's been an update. The new Hero Wide. $1,500 dollars would get you 5 cameras. The footage would get you on the local news, and probably a lot of blog love. I need to see a state approve these for in race footage. The new version shoots in 1080

Ascot - Something to Behold

Kenny Mayne's fan feast took a turn to Ascot today. He does label the BC as racing's 2nd must go to event. I'm sure the Haskell was third.

A Great Use of Twitter

You don't have to have a Twitter account to join Twitter. You don't even have to go to twitter.com The TBA is keeping track of every important person in racing. I just wanted to use the example of DelMarRacing which today has posted a ton of photos of opening day. It's been fun to scan through them.

Thank Horses for Your Knees (if you need surgery)

Just found this interesting piece on horses recieving stem cell therapy, and supposedly it's working pretty well. LINK

Single Entity - Most Important Words to Racing

The NFL won a case in court, but has decided to support the appeal all the way to the Supreme Court. The NFL is doing this because it wants this appeal to be the last one. It faces numerous litigations every year, and a ruling by the Supreme Court would end it. The NFL wants to be a single entity. The single-entity ownership structure is defined as a for-profit league that owns and controls all member clubs. Investors then purchase shares in the league overall. This means that each investor purchases an equal stake in the performance of each member club. The business advantages of a single-entity structure include lower operating costs, better risk allocation, and an exemption from Section 1 of the Sherman Act. The Section 1 exemption allows a single-entity league to unilaterally set ticket prices, pool broadcasting and licensing rights, and allocate player contracts among team Both articles reference the negative side of the equations: Raise in ticket prices, collusion, less free agency, harder on the workers. I understand this, but the reason single entity is allowed is because the Patriots aren't really competing with the Giants (well other than standings & games), those teams are competing against the Yankees, Celtics, casinos, movies, and other forms of entertainment. So, yeah I guess it would be easier to raise ticket prices all over, but you're likely to alienate customers and you're likely to have work stoppages (ask the NHL). I doubt the owners want to do this. There are 2 reasons an industry can fall into Single Entity and racing could choose both: antitrust efficiencies defense and a failing company defense. The AE defense for horse racing would be that as a group horse racing would be able to address not only drug rules enforcement, but share the cost of testing and R&D, the single entity horse racing could also improve the Tote, and upgrade other technology as it would benefit everyone. The FC defense for horse racing is even more obvious. Slots are not a panacea, the sport should be competing against slots not trying to carve its existence based on them. So take your pick, horse racing would benefit from Single Entity status. How do we get it? Or what a single entity would look like. The first step is admittedly the hardest part. Every track would sell their signal to an LLC owned and operated by every track (technically they'd be selling it to themselves, but yes not every track would get their way, everyone would have a seat, but no one would be a dictator). The tracks and ADW's would then go to this LLC to purchase the signal. This mechanism would be the cause for a major overhaul in how racing does business. First, and foremost Take Out would probably be smoothed out across tracks to help efficiency. It is ludicrous to have every track 1 or 2% from each other, and then add in every different type of wager. Now, yes it would be easier for Take Out to be raised across the board. Now imagine the outcry and the bad press. I'm hopeful it wouldn't happen, and if tracks are serious about it, this would be a great first selling point. If the tracks got together and lowered takeout across the board so that every track was equal you'd get all the players on your side from the start. I'm not saying lowering to take out to 12% (which would be optimal), but a gradual first step. Selling your signal to an LLC. There is overhead for tracks. Money spent on things like vets, necropsies, on site care, jockey insurance, jockey quarters etc. Every track has different amenities, and those tracks should be commended. The reward would be the LLC would pay higher for your signal. The LLC would determine what things are beneficial to the sport and the tracks doing these things would see higher revenue from this activity. Every track would have a say in what is beneficial. Every track would be encouraged to put in place those amenities to reap the benefits. The NTRA Safety and Integrity fits in here nicely. Small tracks, it's easy to imagine small tracks at a disadvantage where larger tracks might just say they don't need your signal. This would not be good. Allow tracks under a certain amount of handle to combine with other small tracks to pool their signals together if they are able to show that their amenities (horse & jockey safety) are equivalent. Buying signals from the LLC. The LLC buys the exclusive signal and television rights. The two are completely separate. TVG would be able to purchase the exclusive TV rights of a signal and then the signal itself would be cheaper. If you show a race on TV you should pay less for that signal. You're boosting revenue for everyone. TVG would benefit. The LLC could again put levies and subsidies together that would make purchasing signals cheaper or more expensive for those buying depending on benefits they provide to the sport. The LLC would make money by buying signals at one rate and selling them at another. This wouldn't be taking money away from tracks as the tracks are part owners. The % ownership of the LLC would be based on handle from prior year. Everyone, ok many, want a commissioner in racing. It's a novel idea and fun to fantasize about, but it's not reality because there is no mechanism that would give that commissioner authority. The above single entity plan would create an LLC, and a congress for racing, and possibly a commissioner. The mechanism is what makes the world go around: $$$. It's a radical idea, I understand, but with this economy, combined with 30 years of things not working, what other choice is there? Does racing sit idly by as tracks go under? There's no debate that we're over supplied, but there is also no debate that the idea of operating for one's individual track while the one down the street burns doesn't work either. At this point we're all in this together.?.

Why Mine That Bird should Reconsider the Haskell

There is nothing to gain from winning the West Virginia Derby, everyone expects it. There is everything to lose by losing the West Virginia Derby, a loss even a scratch would diminish your ranking in Eclipse voters and the general public's eye. There is nothing to lose from losing a hard fought battle to Rachel at Monmouth. It isn't the Breeders' Cup, and people will appreciate the move. A loss you go onto the Travers, the Breeders' Cup plenty of opportunities to turn the tables or just add to your resume. There is everything to gain from winning the Haskell. You beat both other jewel winners. You'd take the lead in HOTY voting easily.

Dinner with D C and Jose Velez, Jr. win at Monmouth Park

Dinner with D C and Jose Velez, Jr. win at Monmouth Park Originally uploaded by Rock and Racehorses I tracked down Kelly Breen at Monmouth last weekend. He's not hard to spot wearing his, I'm not sure what to call it, it's not fedora, it's short brimmed, anyways, I tracked him down after Atomic Rain went to post and asked him about Dinner with D C. Her next race he said would be on the turf at Penn National. Just checked the calendar and couldn't find it, but that's what he said. Breen noted her mom was a winner on the turf, and I noted Dixie Union is a good sire for any surface. So keep an eye out for her next start.

What Holds Back Racing - It Ain't Marketing - And An Open Letter to Grass Roots

400 pages. That's the size of a report that was created for the BC members, and I tend to agree 120% with Bill Christine and his Consultants by the Carload, the last thing the industry needs is more consultants. I should know I guess I've been a quasi one for about a year now. I've been lucky enough to go to the NTRA annual meeting, the TPA's meeting, and am part of a group of fans talking about the BC. And this is what I've learned: It's not the marketing that holds the industry back. It's the industry itself. They hire consultants to come in look over their books but at the end of the day a few deck chairs are moved around but we're still on the Titanic. I'll tell you the one story that is a great example of all this. Remember, the horse industry wants nothing to do with being for or against legalizing gambling (poker) on the internet. The reason for this is because the Inter-State Horse Racing Act is so poorly worded that at any time Congress could pretty much say, "This doesn't mean what you think it means" and poof there goes the industry. What holds back this industry is the inability and the reluctance to admit that past contracts and dealings do not make sense in 1989 let alone 2009. Everyone is so scared to try and word a new contract because it might cause the whole house of cards to come tumbling down. The industry doesn't need a new era of marketing it needs a new era of trust and cooperation at the most basic level. The Contract. ------------- Dear HANA, You have done a phenomenal job of organizing and you have people within your board ready to make change. I hope this open letter serves as a push, it is by NO means a critique. The time has come to be more specific. Change is always be coming to this sport, but all we get are 400 page documents full of platitudes and affirmations. If you want change, if you want recognition, you must be specific. A lot more specific than below: "We want open access to all track signals for all ADWs, takeouts that are competitive with other forms of gambling, the abolishment of breakage, severe penalties for trainers who cheat, and odds updates in real time. But most of all we want those who run racing to recognize us. The player matters. The player is a stakeholder too. Without money bet by us players the game would cease to exist." Taking the idea that the current contracts in place between tracks on all levels are poorly acclimated to today's world and combining that with your focus on take out, breakage, and signal I ask you come up with a new contract. Most signal agreements between tracks are cumbersome, unwieldy, inefficient, take your pick. What the industry needs is a new starting point. So what would a signal agreement look like? What should tracks strive to get to? I want to see real numbers, real contractual language, no more change, I want a finished product. Sincerely, A Consultant who realizes how dirty a word that can be.

The Argument Against Standings

These are the common arguments against standings, and as no one came out against standings yesterday on the blog I guess I have to do it myself. Confusion - How can we count every graded stakes race? That's just too much for a casual fan to handle. My response - I'm a big Yankee fan, but I certainly don't watch +1400 innings of baseball a year. In standings more races calculated is less confusion for the casual fan. This is because every race does count towards where the horse will might run next. Give fans standings that encompass EVERY race and you give them the opportunity to digest the parts they want to. Give fans standings that encompass EVERY race and you simplify the season as a progression that us hardcore fans already know quite well. Calculation - Who is going to calculate all these races, it's still too confusing. My response - Does anyone know what the point value is of winning a NASCAR race or how they earn bonus points? Only the hardcore fans do, but many casual fans know who the top 10 drivers are. The current points and standings don't work because they aren't logical. I won't say the TBA's are either, but they do a far better job, and someone with authority could make a legitimate logical points based approach to graded and non graded stakes. Past failure (ACRS TCT)- My response - ACRS & TCT did not fail because they used standings, they failed because they asked for something in return that tracks or owners didn't want to give up, and are fed up giving away: Money. To quote Steven Crist "The problem [for getting attention] is a lack of context and continuity." I agree 120%. Standings do that, greedy bastards screw it up.

A New Website

Please check out the new tbablogs.com The site makes it easy to not only follow 123 people on Twitter 132 blogs 38 horse racing news feeds but interact w/ those posts w/ facebook and twitter. The site also includes Video Free Past Performances search and a little karma [charity] too Please go check it out, let me know what you think

A Tactical Plan

400 pages but none of them include tactical details. Good job. So, here's the plan for strengthening the road to the Breeders' Cup. And, if you follow this blog you might have heard bits and pieces of it before, but I'll try and put a fresh spin on it and I believe the logic is sound. I don't want to say W&YI is bad, because it's a great first step, I do support it, kind of, and I think the below is a logical next step. Problems Do you get road to the BC emails from virtual stable? The first ones that come out have horses I've barely heard of, and I follow racing. Furthermore, going to the BC page for the challenge leads one to believe that the below horses are ones to follow (we do want our fans following right?): Turf Mile: Sight Winner F&M Turf: Dar Re Mi Dirt Mile: Coal Play Turf: Presious Passion Turf Sprint: Yankee Injunuity F&M Sprint: Game Face Sprint: Eaton's Gift July is a dead month for sports coverage, and the BC has a chance to launch their series of races with very little noise. The above horses are ones you should follow? This is a BIG problem for 3 reasons. First, you'd have a hard time saying any of the above horses are top 5 material in their respective categories. Second, you had Gio Ponti, Benny the Bulll, and Life is Sweet run this past weekend. Finally, why follow a horse that's already in, what else does it have to do? The same issue is found on the road to the Derby: Casual fans get interested in the Derby not in November but in February, March. By this point in time there already exist horses generating buzz. The hardcore fans know who is wintering where and might share that info with them. They know what races buzz horses are showing up in next. The buzz starts with the hard core fans and moves up the chain, this is how Buzz works. The Buzz horses are created by those following sport. I'd say the horses listed above aren't too buzz worthy. I'd say the above horses create dissonance when a casual fan might try and talk with someone who knows racing, I don't know how I'd react if someone wanted to talk about Dar Ra Mi's chances in the F&M Turf. Basically, you can't force buzz. Therefore, you can't kick off the road to the BC with a W&YI format. Why should a horse who does well in April, hell even August deserve a bid in November. And it's definitely a bad way to engage casual fans with horses who are less likely to make it to the race yet even win it. The best W&YI races are ones held in Sept & October. Those races have horses peaking at the right time and even a win by a longshot will mean a "fit" horse in the starting gate, think of the longshot that wins in September as a Cinderella. Let's agree to have W&YI in races be the Gr I's in Sept & October and save a few for the big European & Asian races if you really love them that much. That way they can create legitimate Cinderellas or affirm who has been top horse in the category for the year. So am I killing W&YI? No, I'm repositioning it where it can have the greatest impact. Now, let's talk about the Breeders' Cup Challenge. They already have a race count in April so nothing is too early, and now the BC is talking about finding tracks willing to cooperate with them. So, BC, you'll need to give something back. Take every category (yes that's a lot, but so is 162 games and a 12 month football season)(oh and because a buzz horse can be in any category) and create standings. NOT FOR YEAR END AWARDS, but for gate choice. Create a home field advantage. Imagine the BC is at Belmont and you have a horse who has dominated every race leading up to Classic and then you get post 14. Ugh. Yes, you could overcome it, but it doesn't sound too fair to me. You want your stars, who have performed all year long, to have the best chance to culminate a winning season with a championship. This is good business. It's why David Stern fixes the NBA finals to always get 1 big market team in the big game. The current standings don't work. That is a no brainer. Let's not talk about prior attempts either that centered on taking money from host tracks, tried to pick and choose what was important, or anything else. Nothing like the following has been tried before. Every Graded Stake at any track at any time from Jan 1 to the BC count towards home field advantage. The TBA standings aren't perfect and aren't the same categories, but it'd be a hell of a lot easier to launch a series with your current leaders being: Einstein, Mine That Bird, Rachel Alexandra, Life is Sweet, Gio Ponti, Forever Together, Fabulous Strike, and Ventura. What do you do about the Dirt Mile, Marathon, Juvy grass races? 1 of 2 things: You get that panel together and start looking at all the NG races to add to some divisions like the Juvenile Turf or you say your points travel with you. Sprinting points count towards the Sprint or Mile, Classic points count toward the Mile or Marathon. What do you do about the Europeans? You count their Graded Stakes as well. I've gone over past BC's and the horses that come over fit nicely in the "home field" advantage theory. It's not a stretch at all. Now imagine the "sell" You want cooperation from tracks you now have something to give tracks: A hook. Come see #5 vs #8. Come see a race that means something. You have email addresses? Help those tracks w/ email blasts, pump every graded & sometimes ungraded race on your site, help prime the local media w/ press releases and get in touch w/ trainers owners to add to all that info. You want BC banners hanging around on the grounds, I think you've got a fair trade. Now imagine the website. We all can't be tbablogs.com but imagine if you could see the standings and click the horses name and end up at a bio of that horse, click the standings and you get a list of the videos in the races he competed in, and finally a bit of info on what that horse is doing today. So now he have a plan that is organic to racing; a series of accumulation rather than attrition, a way to offer something to the tracks, a way to engage new and old fans alike. Will they do it? They have to. fact checked by Kennedy

Self Servicing Idiots - Doing Things For Free

Let me boil this plan down: The BC wants to know how horse racing can make it more [important, money, relevant]. Take your pick. Is it good for horse racing if BC only plays nice with a few tracks? To take a quote "in the past, they’ve said here’s our series, would you like to participate,"... and now they'll find out who wants to participate with them first. This is a bad starting point for any plan looking to reform and reinvent the industry. The way horse racing can pull itself onto the national conscience of sports is for groups like the BC, NTRA, TOBA, AGSC to do something for the benefit of horse racing while looking for NOTHING in return. This is because a plan that lifts all ships will only work to make everyone that much stronger. The BC can't pick and choose which ships to lift, nor lift only themselves. And, yet when you get that many titans of industry in a room nothing seems impossible. Who is willing to step up with a plan where everyone benefits?

A Great Monmouth Park Weekend

Some crazy times at the Shore's Greatest Stretch this weekend. As noted by a LATG reader, there were more people at Monmouth Park Saturday (Monmouth Park Attendance: 15210) then Belmont all weekend long (6767 + 7667) and even more than Belmont had on Rachel day (13,352) The average exacta payoff on Saturday was $162. It seemed like every field was full and well matched with favorites at 5/2 and sometimes greater. Kelly Breen has something with Dinner with D C. I was standing in the paddock when Breen was talking to jockey Jose Velez. I won't use quotes, but he said Don't shut her down if she's winning by big lengths, if she can win by 10 you win by 11, our next race will be for $500k. I looked at my friend and we both saw Dinner with D C at 4-1, I couldn't put enough money on her, she went off at 2-1 and won by 8 easy. Velez didn't quit on her that's for sure. I liked Lauro and Spice Route in the UN. I put win money on both and bet a Tri using Presious Passion in 2nd and 3rd. This is what kills me! Why didn't I take that win money and put it on PP OVER Lauro and Spice Route cause I already had it covered had they won. Cost myself about $200 dollars on that one. Also Monmouth Park has a new website. I challenge you to find a track with a better one.

The Tossers

Tell me you're not running to Itunes to download this song right now. RUN YOU BOLLOCKS!!! And yes this is about Arlington Park.

How Much Does Secrecy Hold Us Back?

The list is easy to make. Stewards, medication, workouts, but I'd like to add something to it: Entries. Knowing who is going to show up for a race only 3 days before it's run puts a damper on my calendar. The problem is that, as a trainer or owner you don't want to tip your hand. You don't want to scare off all the competition. And this is again a structural problem in racing where winning is everything and losing by a nose is the same as losing by a street. Who knew Ricky Bobby was right. What could racing do? Well it'd be nice if some horses were actually rewarded for racing more than 6 times a year. Any idea who will show up in the UN or the Salvatore?