Posts Tagged ‘Florida Derby’

On Saturday, Gulfstream Park will host its signature day of the winter/spring meet by presenting five graded stakes on the 12-race program, highlighted by the Grade 1 Florida Derby. Trainer Todd Pletcher’s Rule heads up a field of 11 in the Florida Derby. The son of Roman Ruler brings a 4-race win streak into this 1 1/8-mile contest in which it will be the first time he has gone beyond 1 1/16 miles. The only other entrant with enough stakes earnings to make it into the Kentucky Derby field is Radiohead, trained by Rick Dutrow.

The graded stakes action begins in the 7th race with the running of the 1 1/8-mile Bonnie Miss, a G2 for 3-year-old fillies on the dirt. The small but very contentious field has attracted Amen Hallelujah, who comes off a winning performance in the G2 Davona Dale, rolling home by 6 ¼ lengths. The highly-regarded Christine Daae steps up into stakes company after an allowance win.

The Bonnie Miss is followed by the G3 Rampart, then the G3 Appleton. The Swale, a G2 seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds precedes the Florida Derby. In the Rampart, it’s hard to see past Unrivaled Belle; she had three consecutive wins last year on dirt and in her most recent outing, she took on stiffer competition in the G2 La Canada at Santa Anita where she finished fourth on the synthetic surface. Others to watch in this 1 1/8-mile contest are a pair from the Marty Wolfson barn, Miss Singhsix and Champagne Eyes.

The Appleton has a field of nine older horses going postward on the turf at 7 ½ furlongs. Kiss the Kid, at 5-2, is the slight morning-line favorite over Rahy’s Attorney who is 3-1. Rick Dutrow has D’Funnybone in the Swale; the highweight under Edgar Prado, he will be the one to beat, coming off an impressive winning effort in the G2 Hutcheson last month.

Graded stakes presented at Santa Anita this weekend will be Saturday’s 1 ½-mile marathon G2 San Luis Rey for 4-year-olds and up, and on Sunday, the Santa Ana (G3) for older fillies going 1 1/8 miles. Both events are on the turf. Neil Drysdale could have a big weekend with Bourbon Bay in San Luis Rey and Cat by the Tale in the Santa Ana. San Luis Obispo (G2) winner Bourbon Bay faces a field of ten, including Unusual Suspect and Sudden War, second and third in the San Luis Obispo. Tuscan Evening will be favored in the Santa Ana, and indeed, she has beaten Cat by the Tale twice at a flat mile, but perhaps the tables will be turned at the longer distance.

New York has been hit especially hard by adverse weather conditions during this Aqueduct meet. Last week’s G3 Cicada was rescheduled for this week and will hopefully go off without a hitch. Bickersons, the only graded stakes winner in the race is the 7-5 favorite. She won the G2 Forward Gal, and followed that up with a fourth-place finish in the G2 Davona Dale, where she was beaten by the red hot Amen Hallelujah.

By Ray Paulick
 What’s that old expression often repeated in the legal world: He who represents himself has a fool for a client? I think a similar statement can be said of some horse owners: He who makes decisions on where and when his horses should run has a fool for a trainer.

That phrase came to mind, not once, but twice this week when the owners of two of America’s highest-profile Thoroughbreds, Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra and early Kentucky Derby favorite Eskendereya, made the type of decisions that are better left to their trainers. And the real trainers of these two horses, Steve Asmussen and Todd Pletcher, respectively, are anything but fools. Both are locks to someday be inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame.

Jess Jackson struck first when he issued a press release Sunday declaring Rachel Alexandra out of the April 9 Apple Blossom Invitational at Oaklawn Park, less than 24 hours after she was defeated in the New Orleans Ladies at Fair Grounds.

“Yesterday’s race while a disappointment, helped us define Rachel Alexandra’s racing condition,” Jackson said. “While she is healthy, just as I had anticipated, she is not in top form. Therefore, I decided today she will not be going to the Oaklawn Invitational on April 9. Steve and I discussed this fully and we now regret we tried to accelerate her training in order meet the Apple Blossom schedule. We have a whole season before us to help define her greatness. She will tell us when her next race will be.”

The key phrase in the above paragraph is “Therefore, I decided…”

Only a few hours earlier, the Fair Grounds media office sent out the following comments from Asmussen, a two-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer: “We don’t have any negative indications yet today. Like anything, you want to be 100% and if you’re not you go from there. We don’t have any negative this morning other than the loss and the hurt feelings of yesterday. Our main concern is how Rachel feels and her well-being and we’re very pleased with her today.”

Two days later, Ahmed Zayat made a decision to pull his Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth winner Eskendereya from an intended start in this Saturday’s Florida Derby and have Pletcher instead send him to Aqueduct for the Wood Memorial on April 3.

“The main issue is timing,” Zayat was quoted in Daily Racing Form as saying. “I’m not really comfortable off the six weeks (the gap between the Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby). If I’m genuine about the Kentucky Derby, I need to give the prep I want to make sure he peaks on the right day.”

Zayat, who has been sued by Fifth Third Bank over alleged delinquency on a $34-million loan and has put his racing stable in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, like Jackson has owned racehorses for only a few years. Apparently, he thinks he knows more about training a Thoroughbred than Pletcher, a four-time Eclipse Award winner.

Earlier in the week, Pletcher was quoted in the Miami Herald saying he thought six weeks between starts was just right for Eskendereya. “He won an allowance (at Gulfstream) six weeks out from the Fountain of Youth,” Pletcher said. “So, six weeks seems like good spacing for him.”

Cynics may be thinking Jackson and Zayat–two owners with immodestly sized egos—might be fibbing about their decisions. In the case of Jackson, the real reason to skip the Apple Blossom could be based more on the winning performance by unbeaten champion Zenyatta at Santa Anita the same afternoon Rachel Alexandra lost. He can’t be blamed for wanting no part of Zenyatta at Oaklawn, and for that I say he’s nobody’s fool.

Zayat’s reason could be entirely different. The beleaguered owner has been entertaining offers to sell all or part of Eskendereya to help satisfy his loan obligations, and it’s possible he wants to finalize a deal before the son of Giant’s Causeway makes his next start.

I hope that’s the case. If Zayat thinks he can train a horse better than Pletcher, he really is a fool.

Copyright © 2010, The Paulick Report

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By Bradford Cummings
Oftentimes, the racing industry loses sight of what is important when trying to market its product. Talk of increased handle, while necessary for the bottom line of racetracks, does not change the public perception and momentum of a sport that has continued a slow and steady slide over the last 20 years. In order to grow this sport, racing needs new fans, not old fans making more bets.
 
So when the ratings came out for the Kentucky Derby and most recently the Preakness Stakes, it was a breath of fresh air and a much-needed shot in the arm for the psyche of racing. The first two legs of the Triple Crown brought in an average of 13.4 million viewers, the most since 1989 when Sunday Silence won both Classics over Easy Goer in a spirited East vs. West rivalry.
 
Individually, the Kentucky Derby brought in 16.3 million viewers with a 9.8 rating and 23 share, up 2.1 million viewers from last year. The Preakness came in at a strong 10.9 million viewers, pulling a 6.8 rating and 16 share. This number was up 3 million viewers from last year’s version with Big Brown easily pulling away from the field.
 
For those not familiar with the television ratings system, the Derby’s 9.8 rating means that 9.8% of all households with televisions were tuned into NBC’s telecast on the first Saturday of May while the 23 share means 23% of all televisions in use watched Mine That Bird pull an unprecedented upset. That means nearly a quarter of all Americans watching television showed an interest in racing’s biggest event.
 
Perhaps most significant was the true lack of a compelling storyline going into the race. Most of the favorites had been sidelined before the Derby, and morning line favorite I Want Revenge was scratched the morning of the race with an injury, leaving what has been proved to be an overrated colt from the Louisiana circuit in Friesan Fire as the betting choice. And while other sports have the ability to build audience throughout the course of a 3 hour game, the fact that a 50-1 shot won the race would have had virtually no effect on the ratings because of how quickly the telecast ends.
 
Much credit must go to NBC, which did an admirable job selling the event throughout the week prior with promos on mainstream mainstays like the Today Show and investing in a solid marketing campaign. The fact a long shot won only added to the mystique of the Derby they so effectively sold.
 
That momentum allowed for the male vs. female storyline to be created with Rachel Alexandra and the unintended positive consequences of media coverage from Mark Allen and Ahmed Zayat’s conspiring to keep her on the sidelines. Proving the old adage there’s no such thing as bad press, the Preakness well out performed every other running this decade except for Smarty Jones in 2004, which brought a 7.7 rating and 23 share.
 
Of course, all of these numbers are irrelevant without some perspective and comparison to other top events in high profile professional U.S. sports. While the Kentucky Derby will not be in the same league as the Super Bowl anytime soon with its 42 rating, racing’s biggest day in 2009 stands incredibly strong with other major championship equivalents.
 
The final game of the NBA Championship from last year, in a matchup of the two most storied franchises in the league, drew only 12.6 million viewers.  The Stanley Cup Playoffs featuring the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins never saw more than 6.8 million folks tune in to a game. The Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR, was down this year to a modest 15.95 million television fans. Even America’s Pastime peaked with just 15.49 million at home spectators during last year’s final World Series game.

Something the ratings do not take into account is the large number of racing fans who watch and wager on events like the Triple Crown races and Breeders’ Cup at a local track or simulcast site. Kentucky Derby Day is the biggest day of the year at some tracks, and those in attendance are not counted as television viewers.

This ranks the Kentucky Derby as the second most watched professional sporting championship of the last year, a fact few in the industry would have assumed. And the news is actually better than it looks. Wedged in at around 6 p.m. EST and potentially distracted by the dinner bell or an eventful Saturday, a viewer more likely schedules their day around the Derby coverage whereas a typical championship game appears during the primetime hours of 8-11 pm. That coupled with the lack of build up for the average racing fan as evidenced by the paltry ratings of preps like the Florida Derby, Wood Memorial and Santa Anita Derby, means racing has a legitimate opportunity to capture the imagination of the public if marketed correctly.
 
With drug issues and safety concerns being taken seriously, there will be an opening for racing to breeze through. Will we take the opening and shoot through like Mine That Bird’s last to first rally on May 2nd? Will we look at what we have and figure out how to sell this beautiful sport to the masses beyond the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes? Can we turn the Breeders’ Cup into a legitimate championship that builds from January on?
 
The good news is we can.

Liberation Farm celebrates the many horsemen and horsewomen who strive each day to make things better for horses and those who work with them.  To learn more about Liberation Farm, click here.

Previous Good News Friday subjects: Father Chris Clay, The Race for Education, Military Appreciation Day at Keeneland, Kentucky Oaks Pink Out for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, Mary Lee-Butte and the Blue Grass Farms Chaplaincy, Mary Jo Pons and the Radio Reading Network

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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By Brad Cummings

Since the inception of the Paulick Report, I have stayed under the radar. Outside of the Eclipse Awards live blog and a few small ghostwriting opportunities, I have been the behind the scenes guy on a publication I am very proud to be associated with.
 
And this is for good reason. Before mid-June 2008, I was like most Americans when it came to horseracing. Somewhere around the last two weeks in April, I would jump onto ESPN.com and pretend to be an expert analyst when discussing the Derby field around “the water cooler.” (I’ve worked for myself for a while and therefore only have Brita filter, so please allow for the stretched euphemism)
 
After countless minutes of exhaustive research, I would find my “guy” and throw $20 his way. Win or lose, I would tune into the Preakness and plan on the Belmont Stakes if there was a Triple Crown shot. By the beginning of June, my racing season was ostensibly over.
 
I tell you this because after nearly a year on the Paulick Report staff, I have become a serious fan of racing. And furthermore, I believe it can be effectively sold to the average sports fan. It’s a more fascinating and exciting sport than I’d ever realized. And the really cool thing is you can bet on it – legally.
 
I’m a hardcore baseball fan whose prized possession of his childhood is a signed Carlton Fisk Louisville Slugger. Each year, I watch nearly every University of Louisville basketball game; from their home opener against North Minnesota State A & M to their final encounter in the tournament.  And I am such an avid football fan that I traveled to Chicago to watch my Bears beat the Packers in -20 degree weather.
 
Unfortunately, the only reason I fell in love with this sport is because of my work here. Had I not been hired by Ray and found myself in a racing crash course, it’s unlikely I would have ever been a fan beyond the first Saturday in May.
 
I grew up in a major racing city, Chicago, and have lived in Derby Town U.S.A., for several years. The fact I had not been lured by a sport with so much to offer means there is a failure in selling the game to a passionate sports fan. Until Saturday, I wasn’t quite sure the path to redemption. But when I watched the stark contrast between our television production values and those in Dubai, I knew at least where we needed to start.
 
ESPN’s coverage of the Florida Derby was dry and appeared to have little time or money spent on the production value. It felt more like the third day of an average PGA tournament than a major Derby prep race. If I didn’t know better, I would have little concept of just how big the stakes (pun intended) were that day for the horses running at Gulfstream Park.
 
Television is a visual medium and therefore production value wins the day. When CBS produces the March Madness basketball tournament, they don’t make a sweeping shot over the court and deliver a distant camera angle like racing likes to do. Instead, they pop you in the mouth with exciting clips, exploding graphics and camera angles that put the viewer right at courtside. After the first five minutes of a broadcast, my heart is pumping and I’m so hooked I don’t even notice Ray calling me for the eighth time that day.
 
Before watching the Dubai World Cup’s live feed on Saturday, I would have just assumed Thoroughbred racing had a brother in hockey, a sport that simply loses something on TV. But as I continued to watch the Dubai coverage, with its emotional build and track view camera, a similar feeling came over my body. It was a new sense of March madness, one I hadn’t ever expected.
 
Guys like me want to find new sports to obsess over. We love the thrill of competition and thirst for new outlets to find that action. And a lot of us like to bet. Deliver us visual fireworks, place us on the field of play and get our hearts racing. Once we’re hooked, we will be customers for life. The sports fan is an obsessive creature and before too long, we’ll find ourselves watching midnight replays of claiming races at Ruidoso Downs on TVG. (I speak from experience)
 
But the Paulick business model probably won’t transfer. You can’t hire all of your potential fans.

With Ray traveling abroad this weekend, we are happy to have The Saratogian’s Brendan O’Meara filling Paulick’s shoes for the Dubai and Florida Derby preps. If you would like to read more from Brendan, please visit his blog here.