Posts Tagged ‘Ray Paulick’

Pedigree consultant and author Edwin Anthony examines the bloodlines of Discreetly Mine, winner of the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds, in the second in a series of articles written exclusively for the Paulick Report. Click here to view last week’s article, looking at the pedigree of Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth winner Eskendereya.

DISCREETLY MINE (Mineshaft—Pretty Discreet, by Private Account)

By Edwin Anthony
There’s something to be said for the concept of sticking close to the most established and historically significant Thoroughbred families. The pedigree of Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra provides us with a good example of this, as her sire Medaglia d’Oro is a son of El Prado (closely related to the studs Drone and Notebook from the important Bend Or family), while Medaglia d’Oro is himself out of a mare by Bailjumper (Frizette family) and his second dam is inbred 3 x 4 to the important mare Sunday Evening (in direct female line and via champion Silent Screen) from the very productive Idle Fancy family (champions Cicada, Dark Mirage, First Landing, Hill Prince, Indian Skimmer, Speightstown, plus Dublin, Henrythenavigator, Java Gold, etc.).

On the dam side, Rachel Alexandra is out of a good racemare by Roar, who was not himself a particularly memorable racehorse (won the Grade 2 Jim Beam), but is out of a full sister to Hero’s Honor (damsire of Elusive Quality) and very closely related to Kentucky Derby winner Sea Hero from a very strong branch of the La Troienne family. This mare by Roar also carries inbreeding to the important mare Pocahontas (dam of Chieftain and Tom Rolfe), while her dam concentrates the genes of the Imperatrice family via Cure the Blues and Sir Gaylord (half-brother to Secretariat). Further back in her dam side, we find that Rachel Alexandra not only traces to a mare by the notable stud War Relic (3 x 3 in the pedigree of In Reality) but traces directly to War Relic’s full-sister as well.  This is also the family of Belmont winners Sword Dancer (sire of Damascus) and Hail to All, as well as Handicap Triple Crown winner Fit to Fight.

Thus, you can see what I’m getting at—a working knowledge of the best Thoroughbred families can pay real dividends. These families not only produce top racehorses, but genetic connections (via Bailjumper, El Prado, Roar, etc.) that can send a pedigree spinning off in a whole new direction (a very good direction), especially in combination and through inbreeding, which serves to reinforce genetic dominance in a pedigree. These genetic connections don’t necessarily come via the best or most high-profile stallions from these families, although the best stallions from these families do very often combine successfully in pedigrees with their close relatives.

A skeptic can raise the legitimate point that the most resources (in stud fees and overall investment) are spent on mares from these very specific families. I can hardly argue with this point, as there is a great deal of truth to it. But that’s like saying that people spend the most money on houses in the best neighborhoods and that the most investment in remodeling and landscaping is spent on these same houses. These neighborhoods are the safest place to invest your money, as long as you are spending that money on real estate.

With bloodstock, you see a similar trend, and as long as these families continue to produce results on the racetrack and in the breeding shed, breeders will continue to concentrate their assets in them and in their descendants.

Instead of fighting this trend and lamenting the fact that you can’t afford to purchase a $1-million mare, use these families to your advantage. Buy fillies and mares from the edges of these families or buy fillies and mares sired by stallions from these families. Build your own family. I’m not saying that you’ll be able to accomplish this task overnight, but there are too many success stories using this kind of strategy to list here. It’s like buying the cheapest house in a good neighborhood and slowly adding value to it through improvements.

Of course, you’re not likely to stumble across a mare like the dam of Rachel Alexandra with your first mare purchase, but you don’t want to spend a mint’s worth of cash to discover that your mares simply don’t have the genetic wiring to produce stakes horses in the first place. You want to invest where gold and silver was mined successfully before, or at least operate in the same part of the world. There are no extra points in the horse business for finding treasure where no one has found it before (that’s an uphill battle), and stallions with the most connections to these superior families are generally worth the most as breeding stock. This is where breeders will steer their best mares.

So, this background in Thoroughbred families leads us to our subject pedigree, belonging to recent Risen Star Stakes (G2) winner Discreetly Mine. He traces to the mare Risque (1928, by Stimulus), and another branch of the Risque family leads to Broodmare of the Year Key Bridge, whose sons include champion 3-year-old colt Key to the Mint (a successful sire and broodmare sire), co-Horse of the Year/champion turf horse Fort Marcy (a gelding), and Grade 1 turf winner Key to Content.

Discreetly Mine’s branch of the Risque family leads to the Northern Dancer mare Christmas Wishes, who had a full-sister named Cool Mood. Cool Mood had a Buckpasser daughter named Passing Mood, who produced Belmont (G1)/Haskell (G1) winner Touch Gold (a useful sire) and With Approval (Horse of the Year in Canada).

Christmas Wishes produced a Tom Rolfe daughter named Bury the Hatchet, who in turned produced the full-sisters Buryyourbelief (G1 Kentucky Oaks winner) and Pretty Persuasive. Pretty Persuasive is the dam of Pretty Discreet (G1 Alabama winner), she being the dam of Discreetly Mine.

A closer inspection of Pretty Discreet’s pedigree reveals that her sire, Private Account, carries inbreeding to La Troienne (2 crosses) and War Admiral (3 crosses) via his dam—champion 2-year-old filly Numbered Account (by Buckpasser). Buckpasser is also the damsire of Believe It (sire of Pretty Discreet’s dam), meaning that Pretty Discreet carries the tremendous broodmare sire Buckpasser 3 x 4 in her pedigree.

If all of this sounds vaguely familiar, it is because Pretty Discreet has been around for quite some time and has been a very good producer. Although her first three foals by Boundary (inbred closely to Damascus) were a combined 1 for 24, Pretty Discreet’s fourth foal, Pretty Wild (by Wild Again), was second in both the Hopeful (G1) and Futurity (G1) at 2. An unraced daughter of Awesome Again named Discreetly Awesome followed two foals later, and her daughter Awesome Maria (by Maria’s Mon) won the G2 Matron and placed second in the Frizette (G1) in 2009. Discreet Cat (by Forestry) was Pretty Discreet’s next foal, and his record is well documented, as he won his first six starts, including the Grade 1 Cigar Mile, in which he equaled Easy Goer’s one-mile track record at Aqueduct.

One might point to Discreet Cat’s brilliant speed over one mile and doubt the stamina of Discreetly Mine. But keep in mind that Discreet Cat is a son of Forestry (by Storm Cat) and although Forestry is out of a daughter of the stamina influence Pleasant Colony, he was a King’s Bishop (G1) winner over seven furlongs and his progeny seem to favor more of the Storm Cat prototype, prospering more in the sprinter/miler realm than in classic distance events. Pretty Discreet did win the Alabama (10 furlongs), so we are starting with a foundation of stamina in the dam.

Private Account (sire of Pretty Discreet) did sire his share of horses that enjoyed a distance of ground—the full-siblings Personal Ensign and Personal Flag (by Private Account) were certainly up to the classic distance standard, and Personal Ensign’s son Miner’s Mark (by Mr. Prospector) won the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1), while Our Emblem (a full-brother to Miner’s Mark) sired Kentucky Derby (G1)/Preakness (G1) winner and champion 3-year-old colt War Emblem.

Although Pretty Discreet’s damsire Believe It is a son of In Reality (not known as a classic line), he did win the Wood Memorial (G1) going two turns and was a respectable third in the Kentucky Derby to Affirmed and Alydar. The fact that Believe It was also the damsire of near-Triple Crown winner Real Quiet (lost the Belmont by a nose after winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness) shows that Believe It passes forward a great deal more stamina than the typical son of In Reality.

This takes us to Discreetly Mine’s sire, Mineshaft, who was American Horse of the Year at age 4 after spending the majority of his 3-year-old season racing on the turf in England and France with limited success. At 4, Mineshaft accounted for classic distance prestige events like the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1, 10 furlongs) and Suburban (G1, 10 furlongs), while also racking up wins in the Pimlico Special (G1, 9 1/2 furlongs) and Woodward (G1, 9 furlongs).

Considering that he started his career with a $100,000 stud fee and now stands for $20,000, one could rate Mineshaft a disappointment but not a flop (especially considering the wide-spread drop in stud fees the past two seasons). He is genetically loaded (by A.P. Indy/his Mr. Prospector dam was a G1 winner and all five of her foals were stakes winners), and his full sister Tomisue’s Delight was not only a multiple G1 winner in New York but is a G1 producer herself (dam of Mr. Sidney).

Very often it takes a crafty mating to unlock the potential of a stallion, and we could very well have a breakthrough runner for Mineshaft in the form of Discreetly Mine. I mentioned the Grade 1-winning full siblings Personal Ensign (undefeated champion) and Personal Flag (Suburban). They were out of a mare by Hoist the Flag, and Personal Ensign produced three top runners (Miner’s Mark, Our Emblem, and Traditionally) by Mr. Prospector. Mineshaft’s first two dams are by none other than Mr. Prospector and Hoist the Flag.

Given the fact that A.P. Indy (sire of Mineshaft) brings in the reinforcing genes of War Admiral, La Troienne, and Buckpasser, and the fact that Hoist the Flag is out of a mare by War Admiral, you can see that Discreetly Mine’s lineage replicates many of the Phipps/Claiborne pedigrees of the 1970s and ‘80s, stacking the genes of La Troienne, War Admiral, and their house stallions like Mr. Prospector, Hoist the Flag, Bold Ruler, Secretariat, and Believe It with remarkable success.

Discreetly Mine picks up balanced inbreeding to Tom Rolfe (through a son and a daughter) in the bargain, while Mineshaft also gets reinforcement of his inbreeding to the full sisters Glamour and So Chic (from the Baby League branch of the La Troienne family) via Private Account (a great-grandson of Glamour).

A mare like Pretty Discreet seems to have the genetic ability to make virtually any stallion look good, although this propensity for quality all begins with a good foundation in family and inbreeding to two daughters of Buckpasser, which reinforces the La Troienne/War Admiral inbreeding already found in the pedigrees of Private Account and Mineshaft.

Thus, we’ll continue to follow Discreetly Mine’s development as a racehorse and stallion prospect this spring with great interest. The genetic potential for achievement in distance events is obviously there, and a classic win or placing is within the realm of possibility.

Edwin Anthony was the staff pedigree consultant at Three Chimneys Farm for six years and has penned dozens of articles on pedigree research.  He also published The American Thoroughbred (Volume I) in 2008 which can be ordered via the ad link on this web page or through his website at www.thoroughbredadvisor.com.

By Ray Paulick
If anyone can explain the confusing situation in Maryland regarding slot machine revenue to horsemen and the future ownership of the Maryland Jockey Club racetracks—Pimlico and Laurel Park, owned by Frank Stronach’s bankrupt Magna Entertainment Corporation—I figure it’s Richard J. Hoffberger. A longtime owner/breeder and operator of the equine specialist Hoffberger Insurance Group, Hoffberger has been president of the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association since the group’s formation in 1987.

The Paulick Report caught up with Hoffberger on the road this week somewhere between Baltimore and Philadelphia Park to get an update on the challenging circumstances the Maryland racing and breeding industry is facing, with increasing competition from slots-rich states all around: Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

What is the general feeling of Maryland horsemen right now?
Certainly there is a feeling of why didn’t we do this a long time ago? Fifteen years ago I stood at a podium talking to the press and introducing the concept of slots at Maryland racetracks. We said we would send $100 million to $150 million in tax revenue to the state each year and help save the Maryland horse industry. Using the conservative figure of $100 million a year, that was $1.6 billion ago. The state needs the money and the horse industry is in dire straits.

It’s typical political wrangling and it’s happening in too many states on too many issues. I don’t think anybody in today’s world would argue health care doesn’t need reform, but how do you do it? Nobody has really argued that slots at the racetracks is a bad idea, but how to you do it? It’s not just us: Kentucky, New York and some other states are going through the same thing. There is definitely a feeling of frustration.

Does the Maryland THA have a preference among the six groups eligible to bid on the Maryland Jockey Club tracks in the bankruptcy auction that’s been delayed several times and is now scheduled for March 25?
We hope a scenario exists where there can be slots at Laurel. We’ve always wanted slots at the racetrack. Our philosophy and desires are unchanged. We want somebody who wants to run races. We are in the racing business and we want somebody who wants to run races. We never contemplated slots would not be at the racetrack (the Arundel County Council approved a plan putting slots at the Arundel Mills Mall and not at nearby Laurel Park). If slots are at the track, they would be required to run 220 days of live racing a year, or less with agreement of the horsemen. But if there are no slots at the track, that provision doesn’t apply.

What is happening with slot machines throughout the state, and in particular Anne Arundel County, where there’s a petition drive to overturn the council decision?
The way it works in Maryland, slots revenue to the horse industry is not location specific. Two locations, in Cecil County and Ocean Downs, will probably be the first of the five specific locations approved for slots to open. The split going to purses is the same irrespective of location. The problem is if the racetrack operator can’t make any money, we could have the scenario of cash available for purses but not have any place to run. That’s the big fear.

Theoretically, higher purses attract better horses and create better wagering opportunities, driving up handle. Could that apply in Maryland if the tracks don’t get slots?
Throughout the U.S. in the last 20 years we haven’t found a scenario where tracks can compete favorably with slot machines. The biggest example is what happened in Illinois when (Richard) Duchossois spent all that money to rebuild Arlington Park and is struggling because of the riverboat competition and actually closed down for a while.

So what’s up with the petition drive to overturn the county commission’s zoning approval for slots at the Arundel Mills Mall?
The law in Anne Arundel County not specific to slots says if the zoning board, the county commission, passes a zoning law, then the citizens have the right to overturn the zoning approval with a petition signed by 19,500 people within 40 days of the zoning regulation being signed into law. It then it goes to a public referendum. Approval of slot machines is predicated on zoning approval. When Arundel Mills got zoning approval, there was a move afoot to overturn the ruling. Enough signatures appear to have been gathered; approximately 40,000 have been submitted though not yet approved. Any referendum would be in November.

If the zoning decision is reversed in Anne Arundel County, the whole bid process starts again, and somebody else has to apply for zoning. It’s back to square one.

What impact does the Anne Arundel situation have on the value of the Maryland Jockey Club tracks and the potential auction?
Obviously if the potential for slots existed, assuming that Arundel Mills gets knocked out, then the possibility exists for them to go back to Laurel. You don’t have to be an economist to see the value of the property goes up. It’s a gamble. But every business is a gamble.

When horsemen do get benefits from slots revenue, how much of a difference could it make to purses?
Assuming the Baltimore City and Anne Arundel County locations are up, we could be looking, by the time the machines are mature, at $70 million to purses each year. That’s the maximum. We could be looking at $100 million a year in total purses in Maryland.

What do you think is going to happen to Pimlico and the Preakness?
I think they’ll stay. Pimlico and the Preakness is a money maker. If you won Pimlico in a poker game this afternoon, you’d be the happiest guy in the horse business.

Have the delays and uncertainty damaged Maryland’s breeding industry beyond repair, or can it bounce back?
Look at what happened in Pennsylvania. That came on pretty quick. Can we bounce back? Yeah. Have horse will travel. We tell politicians it’s very easy to put horses on a van. We talk about the Baltimore Colts packing up everything in a moving van and leaving in the middle of the night. The difference is, in the horse industry, you can ship five mares a day, and in 100 days you’ve lost 500 mares. Your breeding industry is dead.

The key in Maryland, everybody in the horse industry wants to see what happens with the auction of the tracks. Is it going to get delayed again? Magna, in bankruptcy, has been running races, which is good. We’ll see who buys the tracks. There’s six groups putting in proposals, which is kind of like nominating for a stakes. Even if you won the lottery this afternoon you couldn’t become a bidder. Penn Gaming is a potential bidder. Who knows what they want to do. Cordish (which won the Arundel Mills Mall zoning approval for slots) is a bidder, and MID (Stronach’s MI Developments, which struck a deal in bankruptcy court to keep Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park, and Golden Gate Fields) is in there. It’s anybody’s guess, and I don’t even think the people bidding know how it’s going to end up. All those players say they are in it to get the job done.

Copyright © 2010, The Paulick Report

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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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Investigators with the California Horse Racing Board said they will take no action at this time against owner Ahmed Zayat, who in documents related to his Zayat Stables’ Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing said he loaned more than $600,000 to convicted bookmakers Michael and Jeffrey Jelinsky and other family members. The New York Times first reported the loans last week. The Jelinsky brothers were convicted of felony bookmaking charges last year after a federal investigation uncovered an extensive illegal betting operation they ran out of Las Vegas.

Two other states, Kentucky and New York, are said to be investigating Zayat’s relationships with the Jelinskys.

The CHRB explained, somewhat curiously, that the loans were made before the Jelinskys were convicted of a felony. But the regulation that applies to CHRB licensees says nothing about “convicted” only “known” bookmakers.

Here is the language of CHRB Rule No. 1902, Conduct Detrimental to Horse Racing.

“No licensee shall engage in any conduct prohibited by this Division nor shall any licensee engage in any conduct which by its nature is detrimental to the best interests of horse racing including, but not limited to: (a) knowing association with any known bookmaker, known tout, or known felon, (b) indictment or arrest for a crime involving moral turpitude or which is punishable by imprisonment in the state or federal prison, when such indictment or arrest is the subject of notorious or widespread publicity in the news media, and when there is probable cause to believe the licensee committed the offenses charged, (c) solicitation of or aiding and abetting any other person to participate in any act or conduct prohibited by this Division.

Did the CHRB investigator read the CHRB’s own rules?

Read it at Bloodhorse.com

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

- Ray Paulick

There have been concerns all week about a possible storm hitting Southern California on Santa Anita Handicap day, but the current forecast calls for only light rain in late afternoon and on Saturday night, so the Big ‘Cap show will go on without the threat of cancellation due to drainage problems on the synthetic main track that have plagued the current meet.

Santa Anita’s 11-race card featuring four graded stakes gets off to an early start, with a noon local or 3 p.m. Eastern first post. The Santa Anita Handicap goes as the 10th race, with an approximate post time of 8:02 Eastern.
 
With high weight in this handicap assigned just 117 pounds, it’s clear there is no standout in the Big ‘Cap field, but it’s an outstanding betting race with 14 starters and many serious contenders. The 5-year-old mare St. Trinians was installed the 7-2 morning line favorite off the strength of four consecutive victories since coming to the United States from England and joining the barn of trainer Mike Mitchell, her last win coming in the Grade 1 Santa Maria Handicap. No filly or mare has ever won the Big ‘Cap.

French import Loup Breton, winner of the San Marcos in his third American start for trainer Julio Canani, is second choice on the morning line at 4-1. He’ll be making his first start on synthetics after racing on turf throughout his career.

Dakota Phone, beaten at head last out at 34-1 in the San Antonio Handicap by Richards Kid, gives trainer Jerry Hollendorfer a chance to sweep two Grade 1 races on the card. He’s 20-1 on the morning line in the Big ‘Cap but has to be considered off that last race, while the top-class 3-year-old filly Blind Luck looks to have her six rivals over a barrel in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks as the 1-2 morning favorite. The daughter of Pollard’s Vision was 1-5 when she won the Grade 1 Las Virgenes last time out by a nose, getting a favorable head bob at the wire to beat longshot Evening Jewel, who is not in the Oaks lineup.

The Oaks goes at 6:57 p.m. Eastern time.

The third Grade 1 of the card, the Frank E. Kilroe Mile Handicap, is topped by Ever a Friend, who gives the aforementioned Mitchell a chance for two Grade 1 victories on the day, heady stuff for the longtime claiming trainer. The Kilroe, scheduled on turf, goes at 7:30 p.m. Eastern.

The final graded stakes on the Big ‘Cap card is the rescheduled Sham Stakes for 3-year-olds, a Grade 3 event at 1 1/8 miles on the synthetic track. Nextdoorneighbor is the tepid 3-1 morning line choice but don’t overlook Eoin Harty-trained Kettle River. The son of Congaree comes off a hard-fought allowance win in his third career start. The Sham is schedule at 6:24 p.m. Eastern.

All the Santa Anita races will be shown on HRTV.

By Ray Paulick
I hate to rain on Equibase and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association’s bad news parade, but there was some good news in horse racing’s monthly economic indicators released on Thursday.

Average daily handle for the month of February increased by 4.80% in comparison to 2009 figures. Average daily purses were up by 4.29% in February. Year-to-date figures for average daily handle are virtually dead-even (down 0.14%), as is the number for average daily purses (plus 0.81%).

Those are signs, like the few glimmers of hope in the general economy, that our worst days may be behind us.

Why, then, did Equibase and NTRA only report the bad news, that gross wagering and purses were down double digits? The business figures compiled by Equibase make things look terribly bleak: gross handle down 13% in February and purses down 13.43% from 2010, and year-to-date figures down 12.51% and 11.67% in those respective categories.

They include the total number of racing days for February and for the year to date, which show drastic declines of 16.99% and 12.38%. We are not going to increase gross handle with we run nearly 17% fewer race days. Those gross numbers do not tell the complete picture, and an organization like the NTRA should be doing a better job of interpreting its own economic indicators.

The good news about February and handle comes on the heels of Fasig-Tipton’s successful sale of 2-year-olds in training at Calder race course in South Florida.

There has been severe weather this year in many parts of the country, reducing the number of race days because of cancellations. But some tracks are simply running fewer live dates, a trend that we’ll see more and more of going forward.

The days being dropped intentionally by racetracks are going to be weekdays when handle and purses are lower, so it’s logical to expect average daily numbers to increase when weekend cards represent 50% of the week’s action on a four-day racing week instead of 40% on a five-day week. Del Mar saw its average daily numbers increase last year when the Southern California track dropped its Monday programs.

So, part of this increase in average betting and purses for February is likely due to the loss of more weekday programs than weekends. The message here is that less can be more.

Call me a contrarian, since other publications focused on the negatives—the drop in gross purses and handle. However, I’m willing to take any scrap of good news I can find these days.

Copyright © 2010, The Paulick Report

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By Ray Paulick
Those who think all the “suits” in racing’s ivory towers know nothing about the people who put on the show at racetracks across the country should talk with Churchill Downs Inc.’s chief operating officer Bill Carstanjen. He had a crash course for 10 days last September working incognito alongside employees on the front and backside of Churchill Downs, Arlington Park and Calder, and the experience was enlightening if not life-changing.

Carstanjen played the starring role in the new CBS television series “Undercover Boss,” which puts executives at major companies alongside front-line workers.

“Each week a different executive will leave the comfort of their corner office for an undercover mission to examine the inner workings of their company,” the reality show’s website explains. “While working alongside their employees, they will see the effects their decisions have on others, where the problems lie within their organization and get an up-close look at both the good and the bad while discovering the unsung heroes who make their company run.”

Other companies profiled so far include Waste Management, 7-Eleven, White Castle, and Hooters.

The episode featuring Carstanjen and Churchill Downs Inc. employees is scheduled to air at 9 p.m. (eastern) March 14. Click here to see a preview.

Originally, CBS tried to get CDI’s chief executive officer Bob Evans to go undercover, but he was convinced too many employees would recognize him and his cover would be blown. Too bad: the Paulick Report has learned Evans has plenty of experience toiling in the trenches, reportedly helping pay his way through college by working as a janitor for the local school district.

Carstanjen disguised his look, replacing glasses with contact lenses and growing a scruffy beard on his jaw. Cameras followed him around through various jobs—as part of the clean-up crew on the front side, mucking stalls in the stable area, shadowing the track’s outrider, working with a jockey valet, and even the bugler for the call to the post.

Employees were told someone hoping to land an entry-level position was being documented by a film crew. “They thought he was an unemployed schmo trying out some entry-level jobs,” said Julie Koenig-Loignon, CDI’s vice president of brand development and marketing. “They were giving him a trial run as much as anything.”

Carstanjen didn’t just pose for the cameras. He was put to work alongside CDI employees.

“There are some very high pressure jobs in horse racing where you’ve got to keep up,” Koenig-Loignon said. “Bill definitely got put to the stress test. There was also some down time spent with employees. In some cases, he got to understand more about their families, along with personal and professional challenges.”

Carstanjen learned a lot more than how to much out a stall or clean a urinal.

“The best part of the 10-day voyage into the workings of the company was seeing and feeling the passion and dedication of the employees,” Carstanjen said. “Being undercover meant the people I was working side by side with, could speak frankly about their work.  They could freely speak about their personal sacrifice, health issues and time management, all while showing up every day for work with the same attitudes so many of us feel for this business—the passion, dedication and drive to get more fans to love the sport as much as we do. 

“For me, it was a lifetime experience.  There was a lot of enjoyment in experiencing the fun and passion without the corner office pressure, which focuses on the problems.”

Did he learn any lessons about how corporations like Churchill Downs can better connect with their employees?

“I could see all the things we’re doing right and all that we’re doing wrong and one takeaway and initiative will be to have a ‘Walk a mile in the other people’s shoes day’ at Churchill Downs Incorporated properties.  Not forgetting about safety or security, we plan to have people switch roles to really appreciate and teach everyone from the front side to the backside, what it takes to run a racetrack operation.”

The show’s preview indicates there are some emotional moments between Carstanjen and those he worked alongside.

“There are so many moments we worked and lived through,” he said. “I performed many different jobs and I don’t know what is in the final film; that is part of the arrangement with CBS.  I can tell you there are moments of joy, pride, and a whole lot of humble moments.  I truly did very few of the jobs very well.

“Probably the most raw, emotional moment was when we revealed who I was.  I really can’t say anymore, other than to tune in with us on March 14.”

Carstanjen plans to be with some of his family and Churchill Downs team members at the track on the night of March 14 “so we can all watch for the first time together and have a good laugh at my expense.”

Copyright © 2010, The Paulick Report

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By Ray Paulick
Every now and then you see a pedigree that brings back great memories, and that was the case for me when looking at the results of last Saturday’s Grade 3 Sabin Stakes on the main track at Gulfstream Park.

The winner, Aurora Lights, was winning her first American Graded Stakes in the Sabin, although she captured last year’s Canadian Grade 3 Selene Stakes as a 3-year-old. The daughter of Pulpit out of the Lord At War mare, Lady Lochinvar, races for the Chiefswood Stables of Canadian investment banker Robert Krembil and his son, Mark. They bought her for $800,000 during Tuesday’s select session of the 2007 Keeneland September yearling sale from Darby Dan Farm, agent for breeders Mr. and Mrs. Larry D. Williams.

Pulpit, a son of A.P. Indy who has gone on to be  a very successful sire at Claiborne Farm, was an exciting racehorse whose career was cut short by an injury while running fourth to Silver Charm in the 1997 Kentucky Derby. The Derby was his sixth and final career starts—all as a 3-year-old. He had earlier American Graded Stakes victories in the Fountain of Youth and Blue Grass Stakes.

But it’s the female side of Aurora Lights’ pedigree that really brings back the memories for me. Lady Lochinvar was bred by the Wimborne Farm of Diane  Perkins, who raced Lord At War and stood him to a very successful career at stud. Lady Winborne (spelled differently than Wimborne Farm), the dam of Lady Lochinvar, was an exceptional broodmare, producing 15 foals, 12 of which started and won. Among those foals are American Graded Stakes winners Al Mamoon, La Gueriere (herself an outstanding broodmare), and Lost Soldier, plus two other stakes winners.

Lady Winborne was sired by Triple Crown winner Secretariat out of Priceless Gem, who beat the great Buckpasser as a 2-year-old. Priceless Gem, by Hail to Reason, was produced by the Hall of Fame mare Searching. The female pedigree traces back to one of the most influential broodmares of all time, La Troienne.

It goes without saying that Aurora Lights has the pedigree and now the racing record to be a very valuable broodmare in the future.

I can’t say that I remember Priceless Gem’s defeat of Buckpasser, though I do remember as though it was yesterday when Lord At War won the 1985 Santa Anita Handicap for trainer Peter and Diane Perkins, trainer Charlie Whittingham, and jockey Bill Shoemaker.

Shoemaker had to choose between two horses for that year’s Big ‘Cap, Greinton, who was part-owned by Whittingham and trained by the Bald Eagle, and Lord At War, who was imported from his native Argentina the previous year and came into the race with four consecutive victories. Shoemaker made the right choice, going with Lord At War, giving the Hall of Fame jockey the 11th and last Big ‘Cap victory of his career. It was the sixth win in  Santa Anita’s big race for Whittingham, who would come back to win it the following year with Greinton and get his eighth and final Big ‘Cap with Sir Beaufort in 1993.

As great as it was to see Shoemaker and Whittingham carry the day in 1985, the amazing thing about that year’s Big ‘Cap was the crowd: an all-time Santa Anita record attendance of  85,527. It wasn’t Lord At War they came out to see, it was the race itself, which Santa Anita’s creative marketing director, Alan Balch, promoted heavily as THE day to come out to the races in Southern California.

This Saturday will mark the 73rd running of the Arcadia, Calif., track’s signature event. And while the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap may not be the race it once was, with the Dubai World Cup later this month taking away some of the best horses, it’s still a race that’s worth a lot more than just memories.

A field of 14 will go in this year’s $750,000 Big ‘Cap, and though the turnout will be south of 85,527, there will still be a roar from the crowd when the horses break from the starting gate at the top of the stretch for the mile and a quarter run, just as there was back in 1935, when Azucar won the first edition of this great race.

Copyright © 2010, The Paulick Report

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By Ray Paulick
In the 10 months since Dan Silver was named director of communications and media relations for the New York Racing Association, NYRA.com has become an innovator and leader in racing’s digital world. Part of the association’s  marketing department since January 2008, Silver and NYRA marketing director Neema Ghaza have become the sport’s dynamic duo when it comes to internet marketing, entertainment and promotions. The innovations they and their associates have developed at NYRA.com and on YouTube are setting the standard for the rest of the industry. If you haven’t checked out NYRA.com lately, you should.

Silver graduated from the first class of master’s degree students at the University of Arizona’s Race Track Industry Program in December 2007 (he also holds a master’s in journalism from Medill at Northwestern University and a B.A. from Haverford College). He had previous horse industry experience working for the Jockey Club, Reynolds Bell Thoroughbred Services and Philadelphia Park.

The Paulick Report spoke with Silver about how NYRA.com has evolved during his relatively short tenure there:

NYRA has clearly made a decision to use its NYRA.com website, along with Youtube, to inform, educate, and entertain racing fans and horsemen. How did your strategy evolve?
It’s very important to mention right away that all of the initiatives we have introduced wouldn’t be possible without support from the top, in our case NYRA president & CEO Charles Hayward and NYRA COO Hal Handel. They let me and Neema Ghazi, NYRA’s director of marketing, have pretty much free reign in exploring new ways to use the internet to benefit our fans. With the knowledge that they’re behind what we’re doing, it makes it much easier to launch new initiatives.

In terms of the strategy and how it evolved, I think it’s just trying to use our resources to the best of our abilities in reaching out to current and prospective racing fans. The internet is not just the future of marketing, it is the present, and it affords many opportunities to market your product and educate fans at a very low cost, certainly costing less than conventional methods of advertising like television spots, radio spots, and newspaper ads.

On The Lead, our monthly email newsletter, was the jumping-off point for our internet outreach initiatives. We launched it in April 2008, and now, two years later we are up to almost 100,000 subscribers.

The first group of video series that we launched were the jockey and trainer profiles and the Trips & Traps handicapping show. For the jockey and trainer profiles, we have always thought fans would have interest in that. If you go to a Yankees game, between innings there is always something on the video board, maybe a profile of Derek Jeter, and fans love that stuff. It seemed like a no-brainer to do similar things with the stars of our sport and put them on Youtube and the NYRA site. Trips & Traps was a brainchild of Andy Serling, who I can’t say enough about. He wanted to give fans something they don’t ordinarily get, and the type of in-depth trip analysis provided on Trips & Traps is unmatched in my opinion.

From those first three series it just ballooned to what it is now, and it will continue to expand.

How much investment has been made in the effort from a budget and personnel standpoint?
The great thing about expanding your presence on the internet is that it is very low cost. It costs nothing to create a Facebook page, Twitter pages, a Flickr page, racing blogs, etc. For shows like Trips & Traps we are just using existing studio space at a time that it isn’t normally used, so there is minimal extra cost there.

We are extremely fortunate at NYRA to not only have the support of top management but also to have some incredibly talented and passionate employees that work on all of these various internet initiatives. A lot of people see all of the different things that we have developed and assume we have consultants that handle everything. That couldn’t be further from the truth. These initiatives are all created and maintained by NYRA personnel.

Are you developing products for different audiences? Some things seem to be designed for casual fans and others for regular horseplayers and horsemen?
Absolutely, we try to have something for every type of racegoing constituency out there. Trips & Traps and the Andy Serling Twitter page are items that even the most advanced of bettors should be able to benefit from. The jockey and trainer interviews are for fans that want to learn more about the stars of the sport. The Backstretch Buzz and NYRA Spotlight videos are great educational tools for fans to learn about what goes on behind the scenes to allow a Thoroughbred track to operate. The NYRA Facebook page, Twitter pages, and NY Racing Insider Blog allow fans to stay up to date with all of the latest NYRA news, and also are great vehicles to try and attract new fans. The New York Watch website allows fans to identify the up-and-coming stars of racing.

For horsemen, we recently launched an email service, with help from Equibase, that allows owners to receive email notifications when their horses are entered to race. To illustrate the point that our top management is not only on board, but also enthusiastic about using the internet to reach out to people, the idea behind this service came from NYRA chairman Steven Duncker.

One initiative that horsemen, bettors, and most fans of the sport have enjoyed is the photo finish archive on the website. We post all of our photo finishes, win, place, and show, on NYRA.com shortly after the conclusion of each race.

What’s proven to be the most useful or successful addition to the web site?
The Friday Night Live Web Chats have been extremely well received by fans. Our terrific web designer, Nick Aquilino, put together a great live chat webpage that’s as professional as you will find anywhere. Andy Serling often does these chats, and gets in-depth handicapping the weekend cards, but we also have had chat guests like NYRA COO Hal Handel, trainer Gary Contessa, and jockey Richard Migliore. All of the chats are available in an archived format on the chat page, and I think you’d be surprised at how candid many of the answers are from our guests. The toughest thing about the chats are that we usually have 300 questions asked and the guest can only get to 60 or so during the hour- or two-hour chat period. But I am a really big fan of these chats and would urge any racing fans to check them out. Friday nights at 8:00 p.m.

Has anything surprised you? Something you thought would be popular that hasn’t or something that has been better received than expected?
While not surprising, the Andy Serling Twitter page has been a tremendous success. We launched it at the start of Saratoga meet last year and he is up to almost 1,800 followers. The great thing about this is that once someone starts following you on Twitter, they are usually there for good. So someone may not even be thinking about betting one day, receive a Tweet that Andy just gave out a $20 winner, and all of a sudden that person is thinking about NYRA and betting one of our races based on Andy’s advice. It’s an absolute no brainer. I think Twitter is more useful for things like that than an informational news page.

A recent initiative that has immediately taken off is the free text alert service. We introduced this about a month ago, and nearly 1,000 people have already signed up. Whenever there is a Pick 6 carryover or a weather related cancellation, we send text messages out to those folks that have signed up. This is a great way to spread the word to interested parties about carryovers without bombarding them with information.

Is it fair to say there isn’t a great deal of overlap in the demographics of typical web users and those of veteran racing fans?
I’m not sure that is a completely fair thing to say. By and large, yes, some of the younger generation are more apt to be utilizing Facebook and Twitter, for example, than some folks that are in an older demographic. That being said, I have been approached by some people that have been wagering on and attending the races for quite some time that do follow and appreciate what we are doing online. So I would say that one of the advantages of web-based initiatives is that they allow us to more easily reach a younger and more tech savvy demographic, but at the same time that certainly doesn’t exclude an older demographic from taking advantage of our internet platforms.

Is this viewed as an investment in racing’s future or something that you are getting tangible benefits from now?
I view it as both. Hopefully the new fans that discover some of our internet and video initiatives will continue to follow racing for a long time. I also am pretty sure that we are getting tangible benefits from it now. For example, people who follow Andy Serling on Twitter, probably wagered more on the Saratoga meet than they would have otherwise. And I don’t consider tangible results only in terms of wagering. The Friday Night Live Chats, the NYRA Spotlight videos, and similar initiatives are providing information and education to those that want to learn more about racing. If someone watches our Spotlight video on stewards, decides they want to pursue a job in racing, and goes on to help the industry, it’s a win for racing.

How do you quantify or benchmark the results? Is it having an impact on handle?
I think it’s very difficult to try and quantify the effects these initiatives have on handle. There are so many factors that effect handle, like field size, weather, the overall economy, that it is very hard to try and identify the effect that one specific factor has on handle. For me, when I get emails from industry leaders asking to use our NYRA Spotlight videos as teaching tools, or from racing fans thrilled they have a chance to chat with Richard Migliore, it means that they are having a positive effect on people.

What’s the most important thing you’ve learned through this process?
I think whenever you launch something new, it is imperative to consider what segment of your fan base you are launching it for, and then proceed with how best to connect with that group. You have to be careful not to take the approach of throwing everything at the wall and hoping some of it sticks. We carefully consider each new initiative that we launch, and will continue to do that.

As a closing thought, I’d also like to commend you, Ray, for what you have done with the Paulick Report website. It’s a great resource for racing fans to catch up on all of the latest racing news and also get to read some excellent original articles and viewpoints.

Copyright © 2010, The Paulick Report

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By Bradford Cummings
“Sometimes I think this is a PETA site.” These words written two days ago about the Paulick Report by a commenter known as Johnny Mack was perhaps the lowest moment I’ve had since June 16, 2008, when Ray and I launched this Thoroughbred industry news and commentary website. While my tongue is somewhat planted in my cheek, those who know me also feel my pain. I am no fan of this animal rights organization that does more harm than good. They continually show their ignorance, most recently by calling the $5-million Apple Blossom Invitational—intended to attract Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta but open to other fillies and mares–a “match race”. Anyone armed with a sixth-grade education would understand a purse that large will draw many more than two horses.

And this is sad as their overall philosophy I tend to agree with. Animals cannot protect themselves by-and-large and so it is our duty to take care of them…until of course we eat them. But I digress.

To Johnny Mack’s point, it seems with increasing veracity, the animal rights activists and horse industry haters are coming to our site in droves to turn any subject into a commentary on the horrors of horse slaughter, allegedly abusive whipping of some of our sport’s biggest stars, and a perceived (by them) cruelty to all Thoroughbreds. In an ideal world, every horse would live out his retirement years in a pastoral setting, munching contentedly on plush bluegrass. The adrenaline of racing down a track at 35 mph would not cause our athletes, both human and equine, to get carried away. Additionally, I’d like to live on a rainbow made of gummy bears and marshmallows and buy a 10,000 square foot mansion with hugs and pixie sticks. But we can’t have everything.

And this gets to my point. I know those of you completely sold out to the fight against real or perceived cruelty against animals mean well, but ultimately you hurt your message with this Johnny One-Note approach to advocacy. Ray and I are not alone in getting tired of the constant barrage of negativity. The real world tunes you out and therefore you weaken your voice.

I would hope everyone who frequents this site—many of you owners, breeders, or hands-on horsemen–abhor the mistreatment of horses. There are other industries to make much more money in than breeding or racing Thoroughbreds. Ultimately, the vast majority of horsemen do what they do because they have an absolute love affair with horses. They live and breathe the industry 24 hours a day and would never even think about becoming the next Ernie Paragallo. But the wingnuts who try to steer every conversation to fit their agenda treat everyone in the industry as if they have a death wish for these magnificent creatures.
 
Are there bad apples in the bunch? Of course. The aforementioned Paragallo and the much-maligned Michael Gill are the low hanging abuse fruit of the moment. But to even attempt to paint a broad brush on all horsemen or even something close to a majority is equally as sickening as the things that both Gill and Paragallo are accused of committing. I also heard about a schoolteacher who molested one of his students. Does that mean we should dedicate time to trashing all teachers? Of course not.

Okay, I feel better now. But before I’m through, I do want to give an explanation as to why we let so much vitriol on a site that quite frankly exists for the industry insider first and foremost. Outside of the obvious First Amendment reasoning (we do reserve the right to edit or delete comments we deem inappropriate—hey, it’s our site, not yours), it is important that horsemen and women of all stripes understand the image problems our industry faces. Those nasty comments don’t just come from one person who changes name to keep it fresh. They represent many people from all across the country and even the world who see this as a barbaric sport that preys on innocent animals. One of the hallmarks of the Paulick Report is taking on the 800-pound gorillas of this industry. We must do all that we can to make sure those who look for holes can find very few to poke.
 
Now I know I’m setting this up to be the all time greatest backlash in “horse hugger” commentary in the history of the internet and that’s fine by me. For once, I have a feeling your comments will be interesting. But I certainly hope we can all learn from each other. We welcome your presence on this site. We want your point of view. But please, just broaden your horizons a bit. Pick your battles and we can all work for a better industry.

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