Posts Tagged ‘kentucky derby’

Trainer Bob Baffert, elected to the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame this year, is a native of Arizona who bases his multiple Eclipse Award-winning stable in Southern California. But he’s no stranger to Kentucky, having won the Kentucky Derby three times in addition to the Kentucky Oaks, the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland and many other races at Kentucky racetracks. His longtime client, Mike Pegram, got his start in racing by attending Ellis Park in western Kentucky. Pegram is among many clients that Baffert has represented while spending millions of dollars on Kentucky-bred yearlings and 2-year-olds in training at sales in the Bluegrass State over the past 20 years.

Because of his concerns for the current state and the downward direction of Kentucky’s Thoroughbred industry, Baffert wrote the following letter, sending it to Gov. Steve Beshear, all members of the Kentucky state Senate and a number of state Representatives. He told the Paulick Report he was not solicited by any individual or organization to write the letter, but approved our request to republish it here.  –  Ray Paulick

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I am a Thoroughbred horse trainer.  I don’t live in Kentucky, but I spend a good amount of time in your fine state throughout the year and it’s here where I have enjoyed some of the proudest, grandest moments of my life.  As I watch racing in your state diminish, I am appalled at the lack of interest or concern on the part of legislators in the Bluegrass…the "Horse Capital" of the world.

This is an industry that generates over four billion dollars to your state and brings in another nine billion dollars in tourism.  That’s not including the hundreds of millions of dollars from the Kentucky Horse Park and events such as the Kentucky Derby.  Racing in your state directly or indirectly employs more than a hundred thousand workers.  That translates into hundreds of thousands of people and their families who depend on it for a living. Over the past several years, I have seen many of our wealthiest horse owners leave my home state of California for the bluegrass of  Kentucky.  They bring to the Commonwealth a multitude of resources.  How can you allow an industry of this magnitude to fail?

The world is ever-changing.  Horse racing is no exception.  What once worked for an industry must be tweaked or, in some cases, totally revamped.  Alternative gaming (i.e. slots) in neighboring states is killing racing in Kentucky.  That is fact.  Millions of dollars are being spent in areas, which, in many cases, are just a stone’s throw away from Kentucky soil.  While there is much work to be done within our industry, you and your fellow lawmakers have the power to give it a fighting chance. As stewards of the state’s economy, it is your duty.  Horse racing has been too good to Kentucky for you to turn a blind eye to its plight.

Time is of the essence.  If the legislature doesn’t act swiftly, Kentucky will not resemble the state you or your children grew up in.  Pristine horse property will be abandoned, or worse yet, replaced by concrete.  Once viable, thriving communities will shrink or vanish as their economies disappear.  The state will find itself supporting many of the hundred thousand hard working men and women who will be left with no way to support their families.  Public works projects will suffer as tax dollars wither away.  And then there’s the challenge of caring for the three hundred twenty thousand displaced race horses.  Have any ideas?

Rich in history and steeped in tradition, Kentucky has long been the bastion of Thoroughbred racing in America.  It should be looked upon not only with a sense of pride, but as a vital and irreplaceable staple of your economy.  Racing is not asking for a handout, but simply the tools to compete in a changing, highly competitive market. Your state’s signature industry is fighting for its survival.  What are you going to do to help?

Respectfully,

Bob Baffert

Arcadia, CA

The big question when the negotiations with various networks begin later this summer is whether the three racetrack companies that present the races — Churchill Downs Inc., Magna Entertainment’s Maryland Jockey Club, owner of Pimlico, and the New York Racing Association — will work together through Triple Crown Productions or continue to go their separate way on TV contracts.

The three tracks ended an 18-year cooperative venture in 2006 when the New York Racing Association worked out its own deal to telecast the Belmont Stakes on ABC. The breakup followed a rift among the tracks over how the rights fees would be distributed. According to published reports, NBC, which broadcast the three Triple Crown races from 2001-05, paid $51.5 million for the rights to the three events, with Churchill Downs receiving 50% and Pimlico and NYRA getting 25% each. In three of those five years, when a Triple Crown was on the line (War Emblem in 2002, Funny Cide in 2003 and Smarty Jones in 2004), the Belmont telecast drew the highest ratings of the three events, and former NYRA chairman Barry Schwartz was among those who felt the revenue split was inequitable.

Coinciding with the breakup of the TV package on NBC was the loss of the Triple Crown’s title sponsor, Visa USA, which ended a 10-year deal that included a $5-million bonus to any horse that wins the Triple Crown. That sponsorship was said to be worth $25 million. With Triple Crown coverage divided between two networks, Triple Crown Productions has been unable to secure another title sponsor since Visa’s departure.

Prior to Visa, Chrysler Motors had sponsored the Triple Crown Challenge, which in addition to the bonus to a Triple Crown winner also paid a $1-million participation bonus to the horse that accumulated the most points in all three races. Some critics said that bonus scheme might convince an owner or trainer to put an unsound horse that had won the first two legs in the Belmont Stakes just to make it around the track and win $1 million. That, of course, is a ridiculous suggestion when you consider the residual value or future earnings potential of a horse that could be compromised by such a move.

The participation bonus ended in 1993 after points leader Prairie Bayou broke down in the Belmont and the late Paul Mellon collected $1 million when his Kentucky Derby winner Sea Hero finished seventh in the Triple Crown’s final leg. It was a sullen presentation ceremony, and Mellon graciously donated the money to the Grayson-Jockey Club Equine Research Foundation.

The Triple Crown may have lost some continuity and promotional value since the participation bonus and points standings were dropped, though it can’t be proven statistically that such a bonus would convince more owners to run their horses in all three races. Participation does seem to have fallen in recent years.

This year, Mine That Bird and Flying Private ran in all three races; in 2008, Big Brown was the only one to do so; in 2007, there was Curlin and Hard Spun; 2006, no horses ran in all three; 2005, Afleet Alex and Giacomo; 2004, Smarty Jones; 2003, Funny Cide and Scrimshaw; 2002, War Emblem, Medaglia d’Oro and Proud Citizen; 2001, Point Given, A.P. Valentine, Monarchos and Dollar Bill; 2000, Impeachment; 1999, Charismatic, Stephen Got Even, Menifee and Adonis; 1998, Real Quiet, Victory Gallop, Basic Trainee; 1997, Silver Charm and Free House; 1996, Editor’s Note, Skip Away, Louis Quatorze, Prince of Thieves, In Contention and Cavonnier; 1995, Thunder Gulch; 1994, Go for Gin and Tabasco Cat; 1993, Sea Hero, Prairie Bayou and Wild Gale; 1992, Pine Bluff and Casual Lies; 1991, Hansel, Strike the Gold, Mane Minister and Corporate Report; 1990, Unbridled and Land Rush; 1989, Sunday Silence, Easy Goer and Hawkster; 1988, Winning Colors, Risen Star and Brian’s Time; 1987, Alysheba, Bet Twice, Cryptoclearance  and Gulch; 1986, Ferdinand; 1985, Chief’s Crown, Eternal Prince and Tank’s Prospect.

Triple Crown Productions and the two bonuses were created in reaction to a decision by the owner of 1985 Kentucky Derby winner Spend a Buck to skip the rest of the Triple Crown and go for a bonus created for a Derby winner that also won a trio of races in New Jersey. For the first time, the three tracks worked cooperatively on marketing, television and nominations. Since the 2006 split by NYRA, Triple Crown Productions’ principal role has been reduced to securing nominations for the races and unsuccessfully seeking a title sponsor. Even the nominations aren’t fully cooperative; the three tracks have different eligibility conditions as we learned with this year’s Preakness Stakes and the short-lived conspiracy to keep Rachel Alexandra out of the field because she was a supplementary nomination.

Let’s hope the tracks opt to work together on a TV deal and put the races back on one network. Other sports, including the NFL, the NBA, and Major League Baseball, thrive by having their playoffs on more than one network, but the Triple Crown consists of just three events, not multiple rounds of playoffs that lead to one championship. This year, there was a very good promotional buildup on NBC leading to the Kentucky Derby, and even stronger marketing of the Mine That Bird vs. Rachel Alexandra matchup before the Preakness Stakes. But things seemed to fall flat in the transition from NBC to ABC, perhaps helped in part by the indecision regarding Rachel Alexandra’s participation in the Belmont. There seemed to be very little promotion of the Triple Crown’s final leg on ABC or on the ESPN sister family of networks until just a few days before the Belmont. ABC’s production values also seemed low in comparison to NBC.

Ratings were extremely solid for the Derby and Preakness on NBC, and even without a Triple Crown bid on the line and seemingly little promotion by ABC, the Belmont Stakes performed well in the ratings, too. This isn’t a sign that overall popularity in racing is on the rise but does suggest that the sport’s marquee events still capture the interest of a large segment of the public.

If the tracks work together, there are great possibilities, not only on NBC and ABC/ESPN but on Fox and CBS. The Triple Crown remains a highly desirable television property, especially if it is held together as a unit where 1+1+1 equals more than three.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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We had a Kentucky Derby won by a 50-1 longshot, Mine That Bird, a gelding that once sold for $9,500 as a yearling. He was trained by Bennie L. "Chip" Woolley Jr.,  a black hat wearing cowboy from New Mexico who some years earlier befriended Mark Allen, one of Mine That Bird’s owners, in a bar fight. The trainer had saddled just one winner this year before the Derby. Anyone outside of New Mexico who knew him was probably a relative.

The Preakness was won by Rachel Alexandra, a filly bred by Dolphus Morrison, a retired businessman from Alabama with a modest breeding and racing operation. That’s right, Alabama, not exactly horse country. But it puts an addendum on the old adage that a good horse can come from anywhere. So can a good horse breeder, and Morrison has enjoyed success as a breeder even before Rachel Alexandra became a national star.

The Belmont winner, Summer Bird, was bred and owned by a couple from India who are retired medical professionals. Dr. Kalarikkal Jayaraman was a cardiologist and wife Vilasini was a pathologist who discovered a love of horse racing in Arkansas and eventually bought a farm in Ocala, Fla., where Kalarikkal Jayaraman trains the young horses before sending them to the racetrack. Summer Bird’s trainer, Tim Ice, is in his first year as a head trainer. His earliest memories of racing come from Waterford Park in West Virginia, a track that used to be the poster child for the leaky roof circuit until West Virginia got slot machines and the track was transformed into Mountaineer Park.

The only “spoiler” in the little guy Triple Crown was Jess Jackson, a billionaire winemaker from California who bought Rachel Alexandra from Morrison and a partner after her 20 ¼-length win in the Kentucky Oaks. Morrison is a traditionalist when it comes to racing, saying he didn’t think fillies belong in the Classic races, which he believes should be a showcase for future stallion prospects (that would seem to preclude geldings from running in them, too). But Morrison is also a capitalist, and was willing to sell his prized filly for the right price.

Jackson, despite his many years as a racing fan (as a young child he saw Seabiscuit run in Northern California), is not a traditionalist. He likes to see the best run against the best, especially if he has a stake in the outcome. He swooped in to Baltimore and won the Preakness with Rachel Alexandra, then exited center stage with the Medaglia d’Oro filly. Where or when she’ll resurface is anyone’s guess, but let’s hope it brings on the same dramatics as the Preakness.

Among the beaten in this Triple Crown were Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed, who in addition to being a leading buyer at virtually every major sale throughout the world, purchased the top two 2-year-old colts in training in North America last year, Eclipse Award winner Midshipman and runner-up Vineyard Haven (shouldn’t Jess Jackson have bought a horse with that kind of name?). The sheikh, for reasons of pride, insists on training his horses in Dubai each winter and dispersing them to major races like the Kentucky Derby, a program that hasn’t yet been very successful. To Kentucky he came, he saw, he failed to conquer.

Triple Crown training king D. Wayne Lukas failed to hit the board in the three Triple Crown races, but it was good to have him back on the beat after a drought. Bob Baffert came to Churchill Downs in search of his fourth Kentucky Derby win with a live contender, Pioneerof the Nile, but after finishing a distant second behind Mine That Bird was left repeating the line from the movie “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby”: “If you ain’t first, you’re last.” And Nick Zito, who talks of Triple Crown glory in almost Biblical terms, made appearances in the Derby and Belmont, but couldn’t muster much of a run in either race. These three Hall of Famers help make the classic races something special.

Then there is Todd Pletcher, a future Hall of Famer and multi-Eclipse Award winning-training who seems to be followed by a dark cloud whenever he comes to Churchill Downs in the springtime. Pletcher started three in this year’s Derby, failing to hit the board with any of them, and is now 0-for-24 in America’s most famous horse race. Hang in there, Todd. As a Chicago Cubs fan who was not around for their last World Series championship in 1908, I feel your pain. Cub fans have an expression that might work for you, too: Wait till next year.

Some additional thoughts from a Triple Crown notebook:
- Major stakes at Oaklawn Park produced two Triple Crown race winners, Rachel Alexandra, who won the Grade 2 Fantasy Stakes as her final prep before the Kentucky Oaks, and Summer Bird, who was third behind Papa Clem and Old Fashioned in the Grade 2 Arkansas Derby. It is amazing to many people (except for those on the Graded Stakes Committee) that the Arkansas Derby remains a Grade 2 race after producing Triple Crown races winners like Smarty Jones, Afleet Alex, Curlin and now Summer Bird in recent years.

- Sunland Park races deserve closer examination in the grading process as well. Mine That Bird came to Kentucky after two races at the New Mexico track: second in the Borderland Derby and fourth in the Sunland Derby. Gabby’s Golden Gal, winner of Saturday’s Grade 1 Acorn on the Belmont undercard, won the Sunland Park Oaks. No Sunland Park races have ever been graded by the committee, but since the addition of slot machine revenue they have dramatically increased purses and improved the quality of runners the races attract.

- Breeders should be excited about the emergence of two young Kentucky-based sires, Birdstone and Medaglia d’Oro, whose first crop of foals are now aged three. Birdstone, who upset Smarty Jones in his Triple Crown bid at the 2004 Belmont and also won the Champagne and Travers, sired Mine That Bird and Summer Bird. He stands at the Beck family’s Gainesway Farm. Medaglia d’Oro, a top racehorse over several seasons who finished a close second to longshot Sarava in the 2002 Belmont before winning the Jim Dandy and Travers, sired Rachel Alexandra. Medaglia d’Oro, who started his career at John Sikura’s Hill ‘n’ Dale, then moved to the Haisfield family’s Stonewall Stallions, was the subject of a recent bidding war involving several stallion farms, with Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley emerging last week as the winner.

- “Practice? We’re talking about practice.” Did Calvin Borel move too soon in the Belmont aboard Mine That Bird? Would some practice runs on the mile-and-a-half Belmont oval in preliminary races on Belmont Day or earlier in the week have benefited the lovable Cajun, who shrugged off his lack of experience at Belmont Park as not important while boldly guaranteeing victory for Mine That Bird? Borel became a media darling during this year’s Triple Crown, which he nearly swept on two horses. He jetted to California for the “Tonight Show With Jay Leno,” made an appearance on “Late Night With David Letterman,” was a hit during a Triple Crown luncheon and never seemed to stop talking. He did everything but ride during the week of the Belmont. But if someone had asked Calvin about practicing over the Belmont Park strip before the race, is it possible he would have said something like this?

- Business on the Triple Crown was strong in light of the poor economy. Betting on the Derby was down, not surprisingly. The morning line favorite, I Want Revenge, was scratched and wet track conditions such as those horseplayers found on Derby Day generally lead to wagering declines. Preakness betting was up significantly from 2008, though attendance took a huge hit when Magna officials changed their policy and prohibited fans from bringing their own beer into the infield. The Belmont, whose numbers boom when there is a Triple Crown on the line, did not have that advantage this year, but did well in comparison to the last non-Triple Crown year, 2007. Adding to the good news was increased television ratings for the Derby and Preakness on NBC. ABC’s Belmont Stakes telecast will almost certainly have a smaller audience than in 2008, when Big Brown was going for a Triple Crown.

How much handle from the Triple Crown is leaking to offshore bookmakers offering online wagering is anyone’s guess. These businesses do not have contracts with racetracks or horsemen’s organizations, and pay nothing to support the game. It’s beyond me why anyone who cares about horse racing would do business with these sites or  (whether they are established publications, web sites, or fan blogs) accept advertising from them. They are aggressive in seeking places to advertise, and are willing to pay top dollar to market their products. Again, they put nothing back into the game. The Paulick Report refuses to accept advertising from these businesses and applauds all the other web sites and publications who have a similar policy.

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I’ve even got a few opinions of my own …

– Calvin Borel has likely ridden himself into the Hall of Fame with his rides in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. What he did aboard Rachel Alexandra from the 13 post in the Preakness was every bit as ingenious as his rail-skimming trip on Mine That Bird in the Derby. If Borel doesn’t send the filly from the gate the way he did, there’s a good chance she gets hung up very wide going around Pimlico’s first turn, and we’ve got a completely different horse race with Big Drama loose on the lead.

– We’ll start hearing over the next few days about how this crop of 3-year-olds is a weak one, based on an unheralded gelding winning the Derby and a filly taking the Preakness. But let’s not forget this crop has lost some of its best and most promising members (at least temporarily), starting out with 2-year-old champion Midshipman, and the two other finalists for the Eclipse Award, Old Fashioned and Vineyard Haven; the Derby’s morning line favorite I Want Revenge; Florida Derby winner Quality Road; and West Coast speedster The Pamplemousse, the likely favorite for the Santa Anita Derby. That’s an unusually large attrition rate at the top.

– I’m not sure why there was so much criticism of Jess Jackson for buying Rachel Alexandra after her tour de force in the Kentucky Oaks, switching her to his regular trainer, Steve Asmussen, and injecting some enthusiasm into an otherwise humdrum Preakness. Does Jackson have an ego? Of course he does. Does he care about this game? I don’t think there’s any question.  Was the move ultimately in the best interest of our sport? I think so. The California winemaker did right by Curlin and the sport, racing him as a 4-year-old and showcasing him before an international audience in Dubai, giving him the proper time off, and then running the son of Smart Strike in Kentucky, New York and California. There was talk of sending Curlin to the Arc de Triomphe until the colt was properly given a chance to prove himself on turf in New York, and the right decision was made not to pursue that goal. I think Jackson will similarly put the best interests of Rachel Alexandra and the sport in the forefront (in that order) when making decisions about here future.

– Sunland Park may be off the beaten path between Kentucky and New York, but the American Graded Stakes Committee has to take a more serious look at the New Mexico racetrack’s premier races when it comes to their grading process. There is a flaw in the system that discriminates against racetracks in a “circuit” that is without a graded race. That same flaw promotes self-perpetuating grades on many formerly important races. There should be an uproar if the Sunland Park Derby is not made a graded stakes for 2010 after the exploits of Mine That Bird in the 2009 Triple Crown.

– The Triple Crown needs to get back to the concept of a participation bonus and points system for the horse that has the highest finish in all three races. If Rachel Alexandra doesn’t go in the Belmont  Stakes (and I don’t think she will), I’m afraid that race is goinig to be a dud. Over the past decade we’ve seen the failure of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association to create a national office, the loss of a title sponsor for the Triple Crown, and the disappearance of racing on television. Is anyone in a position of authority paying attention to these trends as we slip towards oblivion?

– Maryland Jockey Club officials deserve some sort of award (the Dumbass Decision of the Year?) for their decision to keep Preakness fans from bringing their own beer into the infield this year. The decision cost the bankrupt parent company over a million dollars in ticket sales that could only be offset if each infield patron drank 20-30 beers apiece at $3.50 a pop. Were the kids who brought in cases of beer over-the-top drunk in the past? Yes. But when I looked at the front page of the Washington Post on the morning after the Preakness, the visual was stunning: a picture of a mostly empty infield in 2009, compared with a jam-packed infield party last year. That image sent out the message that the Preakness and Maryland racing is on a fast track to oblivion. I used to think keeping patrons from bringing in their own beer was the right move, but I was convinced by people who knew better that it would kill the spirit of the Preakness and any chance to ever get young people to that rundown, crumby facility.

That’s my six-pack of thoughts after the first two legs of the Triple Crown. What do you think racing has done right and wrong this year? Use the comment section below to express your opinion.

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"This time, we have something to measure it to, as far as how she feels and how she’s acting,” Asmussen said. “It’s our first comparison, so to speak. We’re not going to tell her how she’s feeling. She’ll tell us how she’s feeling."

“I’ve spent a lifetime trying to get into this position,” Asmussen said. “The overwhelming feeling is pride.”