Archive for the ‘kentucky derby’ Category

Jennie Rees of the Courier-Journal makes the case to bring Drew Brees, Super Bowl Champion and MVP for the New Orleans Saints, to Louisville for the Kentucky Derby. She rightly states that he would be a perfect grand marshall for the Kentucky Derby Festival’s Pegasus Parade and smart addition for the Barnstable Brown party.

Owning a piece of racehorse Daddy Forty Niner, Brees has proven himself a fan of the sport and would make headlines across the country for being so heavily involved in racing’s biggest day. It’s a strong play and the type of pop culture melding our industry desperately needs.

Read it at the Courier-Journal

Then come back to the Paulick Report and let us know what you think

- Bradford Cummings

After an exciting weekend of racing, Gary West offers a strong analysis of where we are on the Derby Trail so far. Above all, it’s hard to argue with his assessment that Eskendereya’s Fountain of Youth performance puts him on the very short list of elite contenders for this year’s Kentucky Derby.

Read it at the Star-Telegram

Then come back to the Paulick Report and let us know what you think

- Bradford Cummings

As Marty McGee says in his column about Derby future wagering, the mutuel field is the favorite in Pool 1 for the 12th time in as many years. Makes sense when you consider how rarely an early favorite even stays on the Derby Trail (can anyone say Old Fashioned?) much less wins the most prestigious race in the country.

However, it’s not a complete crapshoot as the eventual winner has come out of Pool 1 wagering five of the eleven years Churchill has offered this bet including Mine That Bird.

Lookin at Lucky and Buddy’s Saint led the list followed by a cluster of eight horses.

Read it at the Daily Racing Form

Then come back to the Paulick Report and let us know what you think

- Bradford Cummings

By Bradford Cummings
Many sports fans have played fantasy sports of some sort. Especially with growth of the Internet, fantasy football has become king but many fans can recall at least once sitting in a friend’s basement during their teenage years with a group of like-minded pimply-faced contemporaries drafting fantasy baseball teams with nothing more than a Bill James guide and case of Mountain Dew.

So like most innovations, the horse racing industry has found themselves behind the times. While a quick Google search will bring up several instances of attempted fantasy racing leagues, any in depth look will reveal little follow through. That’s why it’s refreshing to see WinStar Farm utilize a little ingenuity to give fans the opportunity to simulate the excitement of horse ownership through their WinStar Fantasy Derby.

The rules are simple. Create a 12 horse stable to compete against others along the Derby Trail. The stable that racks up the most purse winnings through April 17th wins.

The prize packages are very well thought out and definitely sweeten the pot for those interested in this type of game. Click here for the entire list of prizes for the top ten winners. Then sign up and put your stable together. Most importantly, you had better act fast. The deadline to sign up is tomorrow, February 13th at Noon EST.

We applaud WinStar’s attempt to bring fans to the table and feel a part of a sport that can sometimes feel a bit untouchable. So get off your duff and put together your winning stable.

Copyright © 2010, The Paulick Report

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While he joined the long line of NFL stars who have followed a Super Bowl victory with the iconic phrase "I’m going to Disney World", it appears the Saints quarterback may have plans on the First Saturday in May. That is if all breaks well.

Brees is part of an ownership group that also includes Jimmy Buffett and several members of the Monday Night Football crew who own gelding Daddy Forty Nine. The 3-year-old could run in the Louisiana Derby. While he has won three starts, the son of Ghostzapper finished a disappointing fourth in a recent Monday race at the Fairgrounds.

Is it possible? Absolutely. But probable? We’re a little less optimistic about that. But what great publicity it would be for such a high profile star coming off a Super Bowl victory to be involved in racing’s biggest day.

Read it at the Indianapolis Star

Then come back to the Paulick Report and let us know what you think

- Bradford Cummings

ONLINE KENTUCKY DERBY, OAKS TICKET SALE
RESCHEDULED FOR WEDNESDAY, JAN. 6 AT 12 P.M. EST

Churchill Downs’ online sale of limited two-day Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks ticket packages, which was delayed Wednesday by a potential data error with its new online box office, has been rescheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 6 at noon EST. A total of 3,000 seats have been allocated for this online exclusive at http://tickets.churchilldowns.com.
 
“Our concern regarding a potential data error that temporarily delayed our online sale of Kentucky Derby and Oaks tickets has been erased, and we’re pleased to announce that those coveted tickets will go on sale shortly after the holidays on Wednesday, Jan. 6 at noon,” Churchill Downs Racetrack President Kevin Flanery said. “The customer experience with this first-of-its-kind online offering is paramount, and we truly appreciate our patrons’ patience as we worked through this process.”
 
As promised, reserved seating packages to be sold, which include tickets to both the Kentucky Oaks on Friday, April 30 and Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands on Saturday, May 1, include:
 

• Third-floor clubhouse box seats in sections 312-314 and access to the Secretariat Lounge, an exclusive, upscale, indoor hospitality area that will feature premium gourmet food, an open bar, televisions, betting kiosks and live music between races (50 boxes or 300 seats which range from $6,132-$6,390 per six-seat box);
• First-floor clubhouse box seats in section 111 (166 boxes or 996 seats which cost $1,500 per six-seat box);
• Second-floor grandstand bleacher seats in sections 222-225 (300 seats which range from $214-$225 per seat); and
• First-floor grandstand bleacher seats in sections 121-128 (1,404 seats which range from $172-$207 per seat).
  

Ticket prices vary based on location. There is a purchase limit of six seats or one box per order. Those who want to purchase box seats must purchase the entire box, which includes seats for six. Tickets must be purchased with a Visa credit or debit card. Minimal ticket processing charges will apply.
 
This offer is exclusive to http://tickets.churchilldowns.com; no sales will be made in person or by submitting letters, e-mail or telephone calls to Churchill Downs.
 
Already available for purchase on the Website are advance general admission tickets to the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks, which cost $40 and $25, respectively, as well as reserved seat packages to other 2010 events, including six “Downs After Dark” nighttime racing events scheduled for June 11, June 18, June 25, July 2, Oct. 31 and Nov. 19.
 
Churchill Downs, the world’s most legendary racetrack, has conducted Thoroughbred racing and presented America’s greatest race, the Kentucky Derby, continuously since 1875. Located in Louisville, the flagship racetrack of Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CHDN) also operates Trackside at Churchill Downs, which offers year-round simulcast wagering at the historic track. Churchill Downs will host the 136th running of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands on Saturday, May 1 and the Kentucky Oaks on Friday, April 30. The track will conduct its 2010 Spring Meet from Saturday, April 24 through Sunday, July 5. Churchill Downs is scheduled to host the Breeders’ Cup World Championships for a record seventh time on Nov. 5 and 6, 2010. Churchill Downs tickets are available at tickets.churchilldowns.com or by calling (502) 636-4400. Additional information about Churchill Downs can be found on the Internet at www.churchilldowns.com.

That darn technology! Churchill Downs Inc., the Louisville, Ky., racetrack company with the world’s most legendeary propeller heads, had to postpone the start of online ticket sales to the 2010 Kentucky Oaks and Derby due to, you guessed it, technology glitches at its new online box office. Can anyone say "Stub Hub"?

Following is the press release distributed by CDI late Wednesday morning, just minutes before the online sales were supposed to begin.  – Paulick Report

• Third-floor clubhouse box seats in sections 312-314 and access to the Secretariat Lounge, an exclusive, upscale, indoor hospitality area that will feature premium gourmet food, an open bar, televisions, betting kiosks and live music between races (50 boxes or 300 seats which range from $6,132-$6,390 per six-seat box);
• First-floor clubhouse box seats in section 111 (166 boxes or 996 seats which cost $1,500 per six-seat box);
• Second-floor grandstand bleacher seats in sections 222-225 (300 seats which range from $214-$225 per seat); and
• First-floor grandstand bleacher seats in sections 121-128 (1,404 seats which range from $172-$207 per seat).

By Ray Paulick
I’m not sure how I learned this little trick, but during my high school years in the late 1960s I had a transistor radio that fit perfectly into the cutout pages of a hard-cover book that I would dutifully carry into all of my classes each autumn afternoon when Major League’s Baseball’s World Series was under way. I’d plug an earpiece into the radio and run the wire up my shirtsleeve and into my ear, surreptitiously listening to the play-by-play accounts of the games as my teachers droned on about Herodotus or Themistocles.

That sneaky little maneuver ended in 1971. That was the year I graduated from high school, but it also marked the first time a World Series game was held at night, under lights. I didn’t understand then why the men who ran our national pastime were intent on ruining the game. Baseball was meant to be played in natural light, wasn’t it? Certainly, they would see the error of their ways.

I was overruled on that decision. In fact, as the years went on, more and more playoff and World Series games were played at night, and in fact the last day game for a World Series was more than 20 years ago. The reasoning was quite simple: more people watch television at night than during the daytime, even on weekends. Larger television audiences meant bigger rights fee for Major League Baseball.

So it goes with just about every other major sporting event, except perhaps tennis and golf (and the television networks have experimented with hosting golf tournaments under temporary lights). Nearly every major sporting event–from college football’s BCS Championship game and the NFL’s Super Bowl in January to the NCAA’s Final Four in March to the NBA Finals and World Series—have one thing in common: they are held at night to capture the largest possible television audience during what is known as “prime time.”

It’s about time horse racing started thinking like those other sports.

“Oh, but we’re different,” racing traditionalists will almost certainly say in protest to a transition to nighttime. “We can’t have the Kentucky Derby or Preakness or Belmont Stakes or Breeders’ Cup at night. We’ve never done that before.”

Well, guess what? That’s the way we’re heading with at least one of those events, and it’s the biggest one of all: the Kentucky Derby.

With Monday’s announcement that Churchill Downs is planning to install permanent lights, there is no question that a plan will soon be in place to hold the Kentucky Derby at night. And just like baseball’s World Series, years from now a few old-timers like me will rue about the good old days when the big race was held in the bright sunshine of afternoon.

Moving a race like the Derby from day to night isn’t quite as simple as shifting a baseball or football game, however. There is the not-so-small matter of wagering to consider. Horseplayers bet more than $150 million on the Kentucky Derby day card from Churchill Downs (more than two-thirds of that amount on the Derby itself), and they make the majority of those bets at other tracks around the country or at off-track betting facilities. What impact would moving the Derby to a nine or 10 p.m. starting time have on handle?

The ace up the sleeve to help Churchill Downs’ chief executive officer Bob Evans answer that question is account wagering. As more and more horseplayers wager legally by telephone or computer, it will be that much easier to envision a night-time Derby. In fact, how better to get new people to sign up for account wagering than to dangle that very proposition in front of them—many who might learn about it for the first time—during a prime-time telecast of racing’s marquee event?

Make no mistake about it, night racing is not a new thing. Harness racing programs have been held at night for as long as I can remember, and tracks like the Meadowlands in New Jersey have night-time Thoroughbred cards. Churchill Downs may have added some bells and whistles to its Friday night experiments last summer, but Hollywood Park and other tracks have been doing that for years.

The only thing missing from racing’s night-time schedule is a truly major event on prime-time television. And that could be just around the corner.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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It could happen, judging from the results of Monday’s two Grade 1 races for 2-year-old colts, the Three Chimneys Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga won by the Lukas-trained Dublin, and the Del Mar Futurity won by the Baffert-trained Lookin at Lucky. Both colts turned in strong performances to win their respective races, and they each have the pedigree to continue as the races get longer. It’s a long, long way, however, from the first Monday in September to the first Saturday in May, and a lot can happen. But Lukas and Baffert each are well stocked with well-bred and talented 2-year-olds, and history shows they know what it takes to win the Kentucky Derby.

It would be great for this sport if these two Hall of Famers and now-fast friends do show up at Churchill Downs with the leading Derby contenders next spring. Lukas and Baffert have been the two most recognizable faces and best spokesmen for the game when the media and general public are paying attention—during the Triple Crown.

Seven Derbies have passed since Baffert last stood in the infield winner’s circle and it’s been 10 years for Lukas. They were synonymous with the race in the 1990s, when the sport and the industry at its foundation were going through better times. Neither Lukas nor Baffert is big enough or strong enough to save the sport on their own, but their success can help move it back into the spotlight.

It was hard to believe when reading David Grening’s Daily Racing Form recap of the Hopeful that Lukas has gone nearly four years without a Grade 1 victory—his last one coming with Folklore in the 2005 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Belmont Park. That’s a huge drop from the 1980s and early ‘90s when “D. Wayne off the plane” was winning Grade 1 races in bunches, from coast to coast. There were the 10 consecutive North American training titles by money won, from 1983-92, and four more from 1994-97. In 2008, Lukas finished 93rd by money won. Lukas also started a horse in 20 consecutive Kentucky Derbies, from 1981-2000, a total of 38 in all (and, yes, I know, and Wayne probably would admit that some of those horses didn’t belong). But he’s been without a starter in five of the last nine Derbies, a race he won four times between 1988 and 1999.

Some of Lukas’ most important owners, like Bob Lewis and W.T. Young, died, and some others moved on to different trainers.

Baffert hasn’t experienced quite as severe a drought, but he, too, has weathered some storms in recent years. Prince Ahmed Salman and Bob Lewis were important patrons of Baffert, and his stable suffered from their deaths. Like Lukas, Baffert also lost some owners to other trainers, but he’s had some loyal ones, too, like Lookin for Lucky’s owner Mike Pegram, who convinced Baffert to make the transition to Thoroughbreds. 

Baffert won the North American money title four consecutive years, from 1998-2001, but in three of the last four years (2005-08), he slipped out of the top 10. In six years, from 1996 (when Cavonnier fell a nose short of the Lukas-trained Grindstone, almost giving Baffert a Derby win as a rookie) to 2001, Baffert started 11 horses in the Derby. In the eight years since, he’s had just seven Derby starters. He’s won the Derby three times, with two seconds and two thirds.

While both came from the Quarter horse ranks, they were more rivals than friends in the 1990s when Baffert appeared on the Thoroughbred scene and threatened Lukas’ dominance over the sport. But as the years have passed and both men have mellowed, they’ve become good friends. Baffert even asked Lukas to introduce him at this year’s Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, something Lukas did with his usual flair.

Both are enjoying a revival in 2009. Baffert surged to third in the trainer money-won standings following an unforgettable Labor Day weekend at Del Mar that included three Grade 1 victories (Zensational in the Pat O’Brien, Richard’s Kid in the Pacific Classic, and Lookin at Lucky in the Del Mar Futurity—all for different owners). Lukas, though ranked 42nd by money won, is just getting his 2-year-olds going, and he has said he’s loaded, thanks to some new owners, including Legends Racing (which also has horses with Baffert and Nick Zito) and Scott Ford of Westrock Stable, along with some mainstays, including Dublin’s owners, William Mack and Robert Baker.

“This was my No. 1 pick in the sales,” Lukas said of Dublin (who was one of two Grade 1 winners at Saratoga over the weekend sold as yearlings by Gerry Dilger’s Dromoland, the other being Spinaway winner Hot Dixie Chick). “I still haven’t lost my eye in that part. I like to play in the main arena – these 2-year-olds, when they turn 3, that’s the name of the game.”

The boys—Lukas and Baffert–are back, and I think the game is better off because of it.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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