Posts Tagged ‘bloodhorse.com’

Kate Hunter wins the prize for traveling the farthest to see Rachel Alexandra at Fair Grounds in New Orleans on Saturday, coming all the way from Tokyo, Japan. Actually, Hunter, a native of Nashville, Tenn., is an English teacher in Tokyo who was back home on a school break but decided to go forego family and hop in a car for the drive to Louisiana.

Paulick Report asked if she would mind sending us a brief account of her experience at the Fair Grounds, whether Rachel Alexandra won or lost.

Hunter writes her own blog on Japanese racing at www.keiblog.net and takes racing photos in Japan for Bloodhorse.com. Following is her recap of the mood at the Fair Grounds after the reigning Horse of the Year suffered her first loss in more than 15 months. –Ray Paulick
 

By Kate Hunter
You wouldn’t have known that Rachel Alexandra had lost her 2010 debut by listening to the reaction of the crowd as she made her way back toward the grandstand to be unsaddled. The cheers and applause were just as loud after the race as they had been during the post parade.

People of all ages and from far away places were there to see the 2009 Horse of the Year in action and to cheer her on, no matter what the results were. Racing fans from all around the United States came to the Fair Grounds on March 13tto see the inaugural New Orleans Ladies Stakes and their favorite racehorse. New York, California, Tennessee, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Arkansas, and of course Louisiana were there to lend their support.

Between all of the hats, signs, shirts, hoots and hollers, it felt more like a rock concert than a horse race. Track officials hoped for about 10,000 people to visit their dear Fair Grounds, and they might have gotten close. There were so many people in attendance that late comers had to park in the stable area. This ended up delaying Rachel’s return to her stall by almost an hour, since hundreds of race fans found themselves trying to navigate their way to an exit, through the racetracks vast stables.
 
Even after hearing about Zenyatta’s victory, Rachel’s fans held to their beliefs that their girl would win when she finally does meet trainer John Sherriffs’ other mare whose name also starts with Z. They justify their belief by the 11-plus lengths between second place Rachel  Alexandra and third place Unforgotten, and the fact she fought back so hard down the stretch. "Rachel Mania" won’t let a second  place finish rain on their parade.

After much back and forth about the legitimacy of the deal struck by Governor David Paterson and AEG, the Division of the Lottery in New York has refused to give the controversial investor group the slots bid at Aqueduct.

Because of this refusal, Paterson’s administration informed AEG the state has withdrawn their support of the organization.

No doubt this came as a result of the political pressure and lack of transparency in the bid process for the long anticipated VLTs at the Queens racetrack.

Read it at Bloodhorse.com

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

- Bradford Cummings

By Ray Paulick
I was all set to name Satish Sanan the winner of the first annual John Mayer Foot in Mouth Award for comments he made on Steve Byk’s “At the Races” Sirius/XM satellite radio show last Tuesday from which he was quoted in a Bloodhorse.com article as saying Churchill Downs was the “worst” racing organization and each of the Breeders’ Cups at Lone Star Park and Monmouth Park was a “disaster.”

Then I thought I’d better listen to the show before throwing Sanan under the bus with Mayer, the pop star who made some outrageous remarks in a just-published Playboy magazine interview about former girlfriends Jessica Simpson and Jennifer Aniston, among other subjects. Since the interview was published, Mayer, a profilic Twitterer, said he has “been trying to prove to people I’m not a douche bag.”

For what it’s worth, I don’t think Sanan has to take that drastic of a measure.

He did, however, agree to send out a statement admitting that he “mischaracterized” the relationship between the Breeders’ Cup and Churchill Downs during the course of the interview, which mostly consisted of him responding to criticism from several callers who disagreed with the concept of a permanent site for horse racing’s championship event. The callers especially disagreed with Santa Anita Park being named the permanent site, a rumor that has been making the rounds after numerous trial balloons were sent out by Breeders’ Cup officials but as Sanan pointed out on more than one occasion during the show is a decision that has not been ratified by the board. His personal preference, he said, was for Santa Anita Park to be the permanent site. (Archives for Sanan’s weekly segment on the show, entitled “Our Industry,” can be heard here.)

The full board of members and trustees of the Breeders’ Cup met in Florida on March 3, the day after Sanan’s radio appearance, and the Bloodhorse.com article published that morning apparently caused Breeders’ Cup board chairman Bill Farish’s blood to boil.

Farish issued a testy statement by mid-afternoon:  “The Breeders’ Cup board is extremely disappointed with recent statements from board member Satish Sanan with regard to host sites and those views in no way reflect the official position of Breeders’ Cup, LTD. The Breeders’ Cup has longstanding and valued partnerships with Churchill Downs and the New York Racing Association. No final decisions have been made on host sites beyond 2010 and as we indicated in December the board is looking at a permanent host location as a potential option as part of our ongoing strategic planning initiative. We extend our sincere apology to Churchill Downs and the State of Kentucky. We look forward to our return to Louisville and Churchill Downs for the 2010 Breeders’ Cup World Championships.”

Only Tiger Woods has apologized to more people.

Sanan sent an email to all of the members and trustees on March 4, a copy of which was leaked (not by Sanan) to the Paulick Report.

It reads: “I want to take this opportunity to address and clarify a number of issues raised in Bill Farish’s memo and mischaracterization of my comments during my regular show on Tuesdays on ‘At the Races’ radio network. The facts are as follows:

Regards,
Satish Sanan”

Sanan said things on his radio appearance about Churchill Downs that almost certainly have been said privately by other Breeders’ Cup board members, but the horse industry is not used to someone who serves on some of these exclusive boards being as candid publicly as Sanan has been. Perhaps Farish is somewhat sensitive because his father, William Farish, is the former chairman of the Churchill Downs board, but he knows the attitude about the Breeders’ Cup represented by CEO Bob Evans and his top executives  in negotiations to be host site can be summed up as follows: “We don’t really care if we host your event or not.”

Was there anything to be gained by trashing Churchill Downs, Lone Star Park, and Monmouth Park? No, there wasn’t, and I’m sure Sanan has said other things he’s regretted during the many hours he has spent communicating with racing fans and horsemen on the “At the Races” show. In the heat of the moment, I think Breeders’ Cup chairman Farish was just as much out of line, overreacting publicly to what Sanan was quoted in a news article as saying.

This industry needs people with the candor, the fresh perspective and the creative business acumen that Sanan has brought to Breeders’ Cup and other industry organizations, including the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders’ Cup, where he is member of a committee addressing issues related to structural changes and horse racing’s broken business model.

The candor sometimes gets him in trouble. “There is a group of people particularly pissed off at me,” he said on the radio show, “not as to what I’m trying to achieve or what the group is trying to achieve, (but about) what I had said about the alphabet soup organizations…People are taking it personally, some of the officers of some of these organizations. Candidly, the old saying in business is if you are trying to solve a business problem, generally speaking people who are part of the problem are people who are going to object to it.”

It’s that kind of candor and blunt talk that doesn’t endear Sanan to some people, but I get the feeling he doesn’t really care about that. We haven’t gotten very far in this business by having boards who rubber stamp cautious executive decisions, discourage open dialogue, and keep electing the same people year after year after year.

Copyright © 2010, The Paulick Report

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By Ray Paulick
In honor of Black Friday, that “holiday” all men love to hate, we’re going to take a quick look at the year’s best bargains from among the ranks of 2009 American Graded Stakes winners. There are no American horse sales tomorrow, but perhaps this list of underpriced gems will inspire some of you to get up at 4 a.m. and drive to your local Wal-Mart in search of a flat-screen television for less $200.

First, some perspective. There have been 137 American Graded Stakes winners of 2009 sold at public auction as yearlings for an average price of $199,319 and a median of $105,000. That’s well above this year’s average price ($48,094) and median ($10,000) for yearlings sold, according to statistics from bloodhorse.com

Forty-five American Graded Stakes winners of 2009 sold as 2-year-olds. Their average price was $398,681 and their median was $170,000. Again, that’s well above the average ($48,797) and median ($20,000) for all 2-year-olds sold at public auction this year. (Pinhooked horses are counted in both categories.)

Of the 137 American Graded Stakes winners of 2009 that sold as yearlings, 43 of them sold for $50,000 or less—nearly one-third. That’s pretty good value!

Of the 45 American Graded Stakes winners of 2009 that sold as 2-year-olds, just 8 sold for $50,000 or less.

One of those bargains is Haynesfield, whose victory last weekend in the Grade 3 Discovery Handicap at Aqueduct was his first AGS win. Haynesfield was picked up for just $20,000 at the 2008 Keeneland April 2-year-olds in training sale. It was a good deal for his owners, but perhaps not for his seller; the Speightstown colt brought $100,000 at the previous year’s Keeneland September yearling sale.

The other top five 2-year-old sale bargains are G2 Distaff Handicap winner Secret Gypsy, $10,000; G1 Champagne winner Homeboykris, $11,000; G3 William Donald Schaefer Stakes winner No Advantage, $20,000; and G2 Razorback Stakes winner Let It Rock, $24,000. Like Haynesfield, Homeboykris sold for more as a yearling ($50,000) than he did as a 2-year-old, as did No Advantage ($35,000). There’s no telling why they brought less as juveniles than as yearlings, but I would bet dollars for donuts (and I love donuts) that veterinarians had something to do with it.

The blue-light special from the yearling sales among 2009 AGS winners is G3 Berkeley Handicap winner Autism Awareness, who sold for the bargain basement price of $1,000 at the CTBA’s Northern California sale. While it’s great value for the buyer, it’s a mixed blessing for the California commercial yearling market, or what there is left of it.

The other four steals were G3 Turnback the Alarm Stakes winner Unbridled Belle, $4,000; G3 Bowling Green Handicap winner Grand Couturier, $6,285; G2 Las Palmas Handicap winner Tuscan Evening, $8,823; and the $9,500 purchase Mine That Bird, winner of the G1 Kentucky Derby (though not for his original owners, who sold him privately for $400,000 late in his 2-year-old season.

There really are some deals out there, and when it comes to horses you don’t have to get up at 4 a.m. and fight the maddening crowds.