Posts Tagged ‘Monmouth’
Friday, December 4th, 2009
December brings the American graded stakes racing schedule into the homestretch. This weekend there will be a pair of graded stakes for juveniles at Delta Downs, in Vinton, Louisiana, and a pair at Hollywood Park.
Friday night racing at Delta Downs offers $1.6 million in purse money and is capped off by the Grade 3 Delta Jackpot, the final leg (race 9) of a $100,000-guaranteed pick four, which includes the G3 Delta Princess (race 7) and two other stakes races.
The Jackpot’s generous $750,000 purse has attracted runners from such high-profile barns as Steve Asmussen (Grand Slam Andre), Rick Violette (Litigation Risk) and Todd Pletcher. Pletcher has one of the top contenders in this race with Rule, who will be ridden by John Velazquez. Rule, a son of Roman Ruler, broke his maiden at Belmont and scored by a handy nine lengths over the Delta Downs strip in the Jean Lafitte. Shipping in from Southern California is Gallant Gent, whose 7th-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile merits him consideration here, especially with Kent Desormeaux aboard. Also entered in the 1 1/16-mile affair is Uh Oh Bango, a close second in the G3 Iroquois at Churchill Downs in his last out.
The counterpart to the Jackpot is the one-mile Delta Princess for fillies. Installed as the 5-2 morning line favorite is Truth and Justice, a winner in her last three starts. The daughter of Is It True won the Sorority at Monmouth and the Presque Isle Downs Debutante, both in September, and most recently, the My Trusty Cat at Delta Downs. Second- and third-place finishers in the My Trusty Cat are also entered here—Bella Diamante and Best Reward, respectively. At 3-1 is Joanie’s Catch, who posted a win and two runner-up finishes in her last three starts, all stakes races at Calder. Another possibility is Quiet Temper; though a maiden, she’s finished second in her three outings, all in open company in New York.
Saturday’s Hollywood Park feature is the G2 Bayakoa Handicap, for fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles on the Cushion Track surface. Life is Sweet, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic, was slated to run here, but her connections have decided to rest her in anticipation of a 2010 campaign. Instead, John Shirreffs, who knows a little about training horses, has entered Zardana, who last ran in the G2 Las Palmas, the race that immediately followed that electrifying run of the Ladies’ Classic. Zardana was never a factor in that race and now returns to a synthetic surface after ten turf starts. Briecat won the Bayakoa last year in a 13-1 upset. Since then, the only win she has posted was in the Adoration at Del Mar. In her last out, the G1 Lady’s Secret, she was crushed by Horse of the Year candidate Zenyatta after setting a leisurely pace throughout. Also in the field of 11 are two others coming out of the Las Palmas, Cat by the Tale (3rd) and Teamgeist (6th), a multiple Group 2 winner in her native Argentina.
On Sunday at Hollywood Park, sprinters will be in the spotlight in the G3 Vernon O. Underwood and it may be a John Sadler exacta. He trains both Machismo, who appears to be the dominant speed in this 6-furlong contest, and Noble Court, the probable favorite. Noble Court was last seen in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint where he broke last in the field of 14 but made up ground in the late stages to finish 4 ¼ lengths behind wire-to-wire winner California Flag. Look for Noble Court to be flying in the stretch, dueling with his stablemate to the wire.
Tags: Adoration, Bayakoa Handicap, Bella Diamante, Best Reward, Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic, Briecat, California Flag, Cat by the Tale, Del Mar, Delta Downs, Delta Jackpot, Delta Princess, Gallant Gent, Hollywood Park, Iroquois, is it true, john sadler, john shirreffs, john velazquez, KBC Horse Supplies, kent desormeaux, lady's secret, Las Palmas, Life is Sweet, Machismo, Monmouth, My Trusty Cat, Noble Court, Quiet Temper, Rick Violette, Roman Ruler, steve asmussen, todd pletcher, Uh Oh Bango, Vernon O. Underwood, Weekend Stakes: Where to Watch, Zardana, zenyatta
Posted in Weekend Stakes: Where to Watch | Comments Off
Monday, November 9th, 2009
By Ray Paulick
Horse of the Year won’t be the only racing subject being debated in the coming weeks in the wake of the 26th Breeders’ Cup championships from Santa Anita Park Nov. 6-7. For what it’s worth, if I had a vote in the Eclipse Awards (and I don’t), it would go to Zenyatta as Horse of the Year. I can’t blame anyone for supporting Rachel Alexandra, but I am a believer in the Breeders’ Cup being a key factor in determining year-end championships, including Horse of the Year. Zenyatta showed up and turned in a performance for the ages. Rachel Alexandra remained in her stall, resting on her own historic achievements from earlier in the year.
Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra make up the greatest unfulfilled rivalry since…well…Curlin and Big Brown in 2008. If you’re like me, I’ll bet you’re getting tired of these rivalries, the ones that only play out in the mind. I prefer the type settled on the racetrack: Affirmed and Alydar…Sunday Silence and Easy Goer.
The other subject worthy of discussion and debate is the Breeders’ Cup itself. This is year three of the two-day version of this event, one that began in 1984 as an audacious seven-race, $10-million day of racing. It’s now a 14-race smorgasbord that includes more “championship” races than we have championships (as measured by the Eclipse Awards).
The expansion in large part was based, not surprisingly, on money. In 2005, then-Breeders’ Cup president D.G. Van Clief Jr., who was serving in the dual role as commissioner of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, set a goal of $200 million in handle for the event by 2010. Total handle that year (when the event was at Belmont Park) was $124.0 million, and it rose to $140.3 million in 2006 (Churchill Downs was the host site), the last time the Breeders’ Cup was conducted on one day.
The expansion to two days and more races was also designed in part to be more attractive to an international audience of horseplayers. The downside is the dilution effect it has on the entire event. Has victory in a Breeders’ Cup race lost some significance?
The first two-day Breeders’ Cup, held at a very wet Monmouth Park in 2007, yielded a total of $147.2 million in handle, and $155.7 million was bet at the 2008 Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita’s Oak Tree Racing Association meeting. Handle dropped in 2009 to $150.2 million, despite the availability of common-pool wagering for the first time to Betfair’s two-million-plus customers.
Barring some sort of a miracle, the 2010 Breeders’ Cup will fall well short of Van Clief’s stated goal. In fact, it could be argued the event is less successful today from a wagering standpoint than it was 10 years ago in 1999, when it hit $100 million in handle for the first time and was still conducted on a single day.
But should handle (or television ratings, which also are lower today than they were 10 years ago) be the yardstick for success? The expansion from eight to 14 Breeders’ Cup races has broadened participation in the event from a horse owner’s standpoint, and it’s given the breeders who support the program through nominations more chances to recoup the fees they’ve paid over the years.
I wouldn’t pretend to compare the Breeders’ Cup Marathon or Juvenile Fillies Turf or some of the other new races with the Turf or Classic in terms of importance or prestige. Those races aren’t going to produce as much betting turnover, either. But they are races that should attract the best of their division from around the world, and they are interesting betting races for fans (compared to the standard fare of five- or six-horse fields that plague so many top races nowadays). In addition, though the new races have increased the total prize money to $25.5 million, roughly one-third of those new purses are paid for by pre-entry and entry fees. So in my mind these new races do serve some purpose.
Have Breeders’ Cup officials hit on the perfect formula on how to present the two days? Probably not. There are many who feel stacking all the filly and mare races on Friday (along with the Marathon) is insulting and sexist. There are other options, including putting the newest and least compelling races on Friday and keeping Saturday with the traditional Cup races. They could also consider making Friday all turf racing and Saturday the main track races.
But the real problem with the Breeders’ Cup is not the event itself, or the order in which the races are run. It’s the absence of an understandable, easy-to-follow ranking or eligibility system in the weeks and months leading up to the Cup.
The Win and You’re In qualifying races are a start, but not the end game solution. It also doesn’t help that so many other tracks are hosting live races on the same day as the Breeders’ Cup and, in effect, competing with the championships for wagering dollars. Our industry should take a look at another racing sport that has its biggest event early in the season and has still managed to create an exciting and engaging championship Cup. NASCAR has the Daytona 500, as big an event for NASCAR as the Kentucky Derby is for horse racing, and has managed to create a build up after its early climax with its Chase For The Sprint Cup. In order for horse racing to build itself back to national prominence outside of the first Saturday in May, a similar invention must be instituted with the Breeders’ Cup as the final act.
It’s a challenge to organize a sport that lacks structure and organization, but that’s the challenge the Breeders’ Cup was given through a long-term strategic plan presented to the board of directors earlier this year. For this plan to be fully developed and implemented, it will require the cooperation of not just horsemen, but of racetracks that in years past have been reluctant to work with the Breeders’ Cup. Those tracks have to understand that a healthy and prosperous Breeders’ Cup is in their best interest, just as the Breeders’ Cup has to realize that tracks must be viewed as partners in developing the strategic plan.
Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report
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Tags: belmont park, betfair, Big Brown, Breeders' Cup, Chase for the Sprint Cup, churchill downs, Curlin, D. G. Van Clief Jr., Daytona 500, juvenile fillies turf, kentucky derby, Monmouth, nascar, Paulick Report, Rachel Alexandra, Ray Paulick, santa anita park, zenyatta
Posted in Breeders' Cup | 54 Comments »
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