Posts Tagged ‘Calvin Borel’

In what can’t be an uplifting article for industry folks in Kentucky, Greg Hall of the Courier-Journal writes that slots moving through the legislature is a 50-1 shot in 2010. Instead, Hall seems to conclude the only real chance to get slots done in Kentucky is through a constitutional amendment proposed by Sen. Damon Thayer, the same amendment that former Governor Brereton Jones calls too little, too late.

Of course, Kentuckians know a little something about 50-1 shots (Mine That Bird anyone?) so there’s always a chance. Anyone have Calvin Borel’s number?

Click here for the Courier-Journal article

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

- Bradford Cummings

In the third annual ‘Best of’ voting, Zenyatta took the prize as best horse, Calvin Borel won as best jockey and Churchill Downs received accolades for their foray into night racing.

Click here to read the entire article and tell us where you stand. But beware, 3,797 online voters can’t be wrong…or can they?

- Bradford Cummings

By Ray Paulick
I recently returned from my 20th horse racing-related trip to Japan, and each visit brings with it something new and interesting that makes me want to keep coming back. I leave Japan each time with a renewed sense of hope that horse racing can once again be a sport that appeals to more than a niche audience in our country, just as it does over there. I also bring back images of some of the cultural differences between our two societies that often bring a smile to my face.

In my mind, there is no getting around the fact the Japanese structure for horse racing is superior to what we have in the United States, where there really is no structure at all. The Japan Racing Association, a branch of the federal government, controls all aspects of horse racing. There is a lot of good and some bad that comes with such a defined structure and central rule-making and control.

The good: scheduling, marketing, product development and presentation, licensing, regulations and enforcement of rules done on a consistent, national basis. What you get at Nakayama race course is the same as what you get at Hanshin or Tokyo, whether it’s the betting menu, regulations or interpretation of rules by stewards.

The bad: a greedy government that takes more out of each yen wagered than it should (25% in most cases), a top-heavy bureaucracy that doesn’t appear to invite creativity from the rank-and-file within the JRA, and a seeming inability to adapt quickly to change. Betting menus have not grown quickly enough to help racing compete with new forms of gambling, such as soccer pools, takeout is too high on most bets, and fans are denied the opportunity to bet on Japanese stars when they race overseas because of protectionist policies.

On balance, however, the good far outweighs the bad.

Having said that, the JRA will suffer its 12th year of declines in year-end betting turnover at the end of 2009 (Reality check: JRA handle for 2009 will still more than double the total U.S. handle despite offering 90% fewer races.) 

But the organization’s top executives have not given up and said they can’t compete with pachinko parlors (similar to slot machines) or recently added wagering on soccer. They are slowly expanding the kinds of bets offered; when I first visited Japan in 1993, there was only win, place and quinella wagering; they have since added exacta and trifectas and announced the 2011 debut of a Pick Five bet.

The JRA has continued to market the sport but has shifted away from multi-generational geared marketing (i.e., a father teaching his daughter to appreciate the dignity of the Thoroughbred and the sport of racing as an honorable activity) to campaigns that are more focused on the fun of going to the track with friends and wagering on the outcome of a race. I am told that in Japan the youngsters no longer like associating with their parents or elders (sound familiar?).

One of the biggest challenges the JRA sees is getting young fans involved with racing and hoping those who do attend won’t find the challenge of handicapping too intimidating. As in the U.S., many in the younger generation in Japan are more interested in video games than real-life activities like horse racing. Market research has shown they don’t have the patience to learn how to handicap and would prefer to play lottery-type quick pick bets like the soccer pool wagers offer. Thus, the JRA has recently introduced testing for Quick Pick, computer generated bets.

This year marked my first visit to Hanshin racecourse and its breathtaking architecture. Hanshin (left) has been the home of the World Super Jockeys Series, an event that brings riders from around the globe to compete against one another in four contests spread over two days. I was amazed to see how many people stayed for the post-race awards presentation in the track’s paddock, and the interaction between the jockeys and Japanese racing fans was really something to see. They were treated like superstars.

But what’s more amazing to me is the serious studying by Japanese horseplayers of the horses in the paddock prior to each race. Every JRA track was built with this in mind, offering a tiered view of the paddock/walking ring to permit thousands of fans to study the horses before making their wagers. On-track wagering accounts for less than 5% of the total handled by the JRA, but those fans who do attend tracks for live racing are not forgotten.

Some final memories of this year’s trip: 

*  The shinkansen (bullet train) trip from Tokyo to Osaka that went right by the stunningly beautiful Mt. Fuji. The trains seem to run every 10 minutes or so between the two cities. The efficiency of the Japanese rail system is amazing, and nothing about it is more amazing than these high-speed trains that travel up to 180 miles per hour. From Tokyo, Mt. Fuji can occasionally be seen in the distance, but the bullet train provided an incredible view.

* Watching jockey Calvin Borel embrace his first overseas trip was something to remember, whether it was his journey through the food line at the Welcome Reception, his winner’s circle celebration after winning the first race in the World Super Jockeys Series (after sweating out an inquiry), or his interaction with fellow riders and fans during the WSJS awards ceremony. If you don’t like Calvin, you just don’t like people.

* I missed out on dinner with the crew from TVG on my final night in Japan, but host Chris Kotulak (right) was kind enough to send some photos, including one allegedly showing him eating the eyeball of a poor, dead fish. I’ve had many enjoyable and interesting meals during my visits to Tokyo, Hokkaido and now Osaka, but I’ve never been tempted by a fish’s eye.

* A trip to the Osaka Kaiyukan Aquarium was well worth the time. An eight-story building that has its aquatic wildlife divided by world regions (Aleutian Islands, Monterey Bay, Antarctica, Tasman Sea, Great Barrier Reef, Pacific Ocean et al), the aquarium has the coolest collection of King Penguins I’ve ever seen, and the two whale sharks were something to see as well.

* No visit to Japan should be complete without a trip to a local drug store to buy some items you may have forgotten to pack. It’s often a guessing game as to what might be inside a package (unless you can read Japanese), but there are often some hints in the surrounding signage as to what a product might be (i.e., what else can the photo on the left be promoting other than some kind of diet pill?).

* Finally, after walking past a silly-looking elf-like statue in the Osaka train station a dozen or so times, I finally decided to stop and see what this Billiken fellow was all about. The explanation (written in Japanese and English) said Billiken was created more than 100 years ago by a Missouri art teacher, who modeled it after portly President William  Howard Taft (the original manufacturer had some luck with a “teddy” bear modeled after President Theodore Roosevelt). Billiken found his way to Japan a few years later as an homage to America and was presented as “the God of things as they ought to be.”

Supposedly, if you scratch Billiken’s feet, good luck will come your way. I did so on the morning of the Japan Cup Dirt and second day of the World Super Jockeys Series. But after America’s Tizway finished far back in the JC Dirt and Borel and fellow American Garrett Gomez were shut out in the WSJS, I’m no longer a Billiken believer. I suppose I can try it again next year.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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OSAKA, Japan—Calvin Borel won the opening race of the two-day World Super Jockeys Series at Hanshin race course on Saturday, but the victory was an eventful one. Borel, riding the favorite, the Australian-bred Red Ransom colt Oceana Boss, had to sweat out a lengthy inquiry after an incident at the top of the stretch.

Borel pleaded his case to the stewards after he swung out from a tight spot on the inside on the turn for home, causing another horse in the race to check in the seven-furlong turf contest. The horse directly in front of him, Borel said, had taken a bad step, and he was concerned that he was going to break down. The horse in question did finish the race but was vanned off.

The inquiry seemed to take forever, which oftentimes indicates a disqualification is coming. In this case, however, it’s more likely the translator didn’t speak Cajun, and had a difficult time explaining to the stewards in Japanese what the Louisiana native was saying. Don’t look for Borel to learn Japanese anytime soon, either. On a sightseeing trip in the Osaka area Friday, a tour guide was explaining how to read the Japanese kanji symbols. “How am I going to learn that?” Borel joked. “I can barely read English.”

After Borel’s winning race was made official, he quipped, “The trainer told me he had a horse that could run like Rachel Alexandra. I just tried to get him to relax early and he was much the best.”

He is learning Japanese customs, however, bowing on cue during the winner’s circle ceremony and the presentation of a gold medal.

The win gave Borel a brief lead in the competition, which consists of a total of four races Saturday and Sunday. All the horses in each of the races are weighted A, B, C or D by racing officials, and the jockeys ride one of each class. Oceana Boss was Borel’s “A” horse. A victory is worth 20 points, with 15 for second, 13 for third, 11 for fourth, 10 for fifth, and then 6, 5, 5, 3, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1 for the remaining finish positions. A total of 15 riders are competing.

Japanese jockey Norihiro Yokoyama and Hong Kong-based Ryan Moore ended the day tied as the points leaders. Yokoyama finished second to Borel and fifth in the second leg of the competition behind Moore, who won aboard Charm Nadeshiko after finishing sixth in the first leg. Garrett Gomez was third in the final race following an 11th-place finish in the first leg. Borel could do no better than 12th of 15 horses in the second leg while aboard a 130-1 shot. For a minute, it looked like Borel was on Mine That Bird, trailing the field by a wide margin the early stages of the nine-furlong dirt race. But rather than taking the inside route like he did to win the Kentucky Derby, Borel rallied to the far outside and only passed a few horses.

Here are the leaders after day one of the World Super Jockey Series:

1-Norihiro Yokoyama, 26 points
Ryan Moore, 26 points
3-Yutaka Take, 23 points
4-Calvin Borel, 21 points
5-Shinji Fujita, 19 points
6-Douglas Whyte, 15 points
Mick Kinane, 15 points
Garrett Gomez, 15 points

New York-based Rajiv Maragh, in Japan to ride Tizway for trainer Jim Bond and owner William Clifton Jr. on Sunday, was the riding star of the day, winning two races earlier in the card—one on turf and one on dirt. The experience was a good for Maragh, who has never raced in a clockwise direction, as Hanshin races are run. (Neither had Borel or Gomez, for that matter.) Maragh also has some mounts on Sunday’s card before the Japan Cup Dirt.

Maragh won aboard the first-time starter Steal Pass (by Neo Universe)  going seven furlongs on dirt on the fifth-race of the card, then took the seventh aboard Meisho Jimmu going nine furlongs on turf.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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Jess Jackson and Harold McCormick’s 3-year-old daughter of Medaglia d’Oro kept her perfect 2009 record intact, winning for the eighth time this year, defeating males for the third time, and making her first venture in the older horse category a successful one.

While the margin of victory was the smallest of her 11 career victories (from 14 starts), the now-almost certain pick for Horse of the Year was under pressure every step of the way in the 56th running of the Woodward. First it was the 2008 Belmont Stakes winner, Da’ Tara, who pushed Rachel Alexandra through a sizzling opening quarter mile in :22.85 seconds and a half in :46.41. Then it was Past the Point, who forced Jackson’s two-time Horse of the Year Curlin to the limit in last year’s Woodward. Past the Point ranged up alongside, as Rachel Alexandra ran the first six furlongs in 1:10.54.  And then Whitney winner Bullsbay came up to challenge as the field rounded the final turn.

Borel sat chilly on Rachel Alexandra to the top of the stretch, then inside the three-sixteenths pole asked her for everything she had, first going to a right-handed whip, giving her two taps on the right flank, then switching to the left hand, hitting her five times, then switching back over to the right hand, striking her a dozen times or more with every stride she took to the wire.

Macho Again raced far back early as the trailer, saved some ground into the stretch and then closed resolutely. Robbie Albarado appeared to have to straighten out the son of Macho Uno as he was leaning in on Bullsbay inside the eighth pole, losing some momentum, but the wire came just in time for Rachel and Borel. Bullsbay finished third. Asiatic Boy, who made a wide move while appearing to be a threat around the final bend, finished fourth, and he was followed by It’s a Bird, Past the Post, Cool Coal Man, and Da’ Tara, who was eased.

Rachel Alexandra covered the 1 1/8 miles on a fast track in 1:48.29, after a mile clocking in 1:35.48. She carried 118 pounds, getting an eight-pound age and sex allowance from her older male rivals. Steve Asmussen has trained Rachel Alexandra to her last four victories, taking over from Hal Wiggins after Jackson and McCormick bought the filly following her 20 1/4-length win in the Kentucky Oaks. She then reeled off wins in the Preakness Stakes over Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, the Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont, and the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park against colts. She had race previously for her breeder, Dolphus Morrison. Rachel Alexandra was produced from the Roar mare, Lotta Kim.

Rachel Alexandra tossed Calvin Borel in the post parade but didn’t get loose from the outrider. Borel had taken his left foot out of the stirrups as Rachel Alexandra was tossing her head started to brush with the outrider’s pony. Just then, she threw her head up and down and appeared to catch Borel in the head with her nose, throwing him to the ground. He quickly remounted, and Rachel Alexandra didn’t seem to lose her composure in the incident.

Rachel Alexandra paid $2.60 to win as the heavy favorite.

Rachel Alexandra joins a roster of legendary Thoroughbreds to have won the Woodward, which until 2006 had been run at Aqueduct or Belmont Park. Among the previous winners of the race were Kelso, Buckpasser, Damascus, Forego, Seattle Slew, Affirmed, Spectacular Bid, Alysheba, Easy Goer, Holy Bull, Cigar, Ghostzapper, and Curlin. With the record she has compiled — 11 wins in 14 starts and earnings of $2,948,354 – Rachel Alexandra easily deserves to mentioned in the same sentence as any of them.

Click here to see a video of Rachel Alexandra’s historic Woodward victory. 

Click here for the official chart.

The Woodward attracted a crowd of 31,171, many of whom wore “Rachel” buttons given away by the New York Racing Association.
 

Rachel Alexandra absolutely destroyed her  male opposition in Sunday’s $1,250,000 Haskell Invitational Handicap at Monmouth Park, coming from just off the pace of Munnings, taking command on the turn for home, and romping home to a six-length victory for Calvin Borel, who is now a perfect-eight for eight on the Medaglia d’Oro filly now carrying the colors of Jess Jackson’s Stonestreet Stables and trained by Steve Asmussen.

Rachel Alexandra paid $3 to win as the 1-2 favorite.

As expected, Munnings, coming off that impressive win sprinting in the Tom Fool, went right to the front under John Velazquez and set fractions of :22 4/5 for the opening quarter mile, :46 2/5 for the half-mile and 1:09 4/5 for six furlongs. Borel had Rachel Alexandra just off his right hip, and Summer Bird was close behind in third, along the rail. Papa Clem raced close up in fourth.

On the turn, however, Borel let Rachel Alexandra extend her stride and she was quickly in front. When the field hit the top of the stretch, it was really only a matter of how big her margin of victory would be. She galloped to the wire in yet another incredible performance that may be the equal of her 20 1/4 Kentucky Oaks victory (her last start for trainer Hal Wiggins and breeder Dolphus Morrison, after which she was purchased by Jackson and Harold McCormick) or her 19 1/4-length victory last time out in the Mother Goose. This was her second victory over colts and geldings, following her one-length Preakness win over Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird.

Jess Jackson said he didn’t know where Rachel Alexandra would go next either, saying, “We’ll see how she comes out. Her next race will be decided by us when she tells us.” Jackson did say the Breeders’ Cup at Oak Tree on a synthetic track is not an option, though he does want to face the unbeaten, reigning filly and mare champ Zenyatta. “We’re not going to the Breeders’ Cup,” Jackson insisted. “I’ve said that from the beginning and I mean it. I’d like it on a neutral course and I don’t like synthetic tracks.”

While there is plenty of racing remaining in 2009, Rachel Alexandra has clearly becoming the pro-tem leader in the race for Horse of the  Year. She has won all seven of her starts this year–four of them Grade 1 and two Grade 2–and is now 10 for 13 lifetime.

The Haskell topped a big weekend for Asmussen and Jackson. On Saturday, Asmussen saddled Soul Warrior to an upset victory over Mine That Bird in the West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Park and took the Jim Dandy at Saratoga with Jackson and Gulf Coast Farm’s Kensai. Kensai looks to be the favorite for the Travers Stakes at Saratoga later this month–unless Jackson and Asmussen opt to run Rachel Alexandra. That seems unlikely, however, since the filly may be better at 1 1/8 miles and the Travers is run over 1 1/4 miles, longer than she’s ever been.

Rachel Alexandra, produced from the Roar filly Lotta Kim, became the second filly to win the Haskell, joining 1995 winner Serena’s Song.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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