Posts Tagged ‘Washington Post’

Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge Ronald Silkworth has ruled against a public referendum to block slots at Anne Arundel Mall. As a result of this ruling, Cordish Cos. can continue to pursue slots at their Hanover shopping center.

Alan Rifkin, the attorney for two groups opposed to slots at the mall, said he plans to appeal the decision.

Read it at the Washington Post

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

- Bradford Cummings

By Ray Paulick and Brad Cummings
It’s Preakness Saturday, and the Paulick Report will be getting its Preak On all day at Pimlico race course. Well, at least we’ll be on the scene at Old Hilltop, and throughout the day will be providing reports and observations on some of the goings on at Maryland horse racing’s biggest annual party and the sport’s middle jewel of the Triple Crown.

The early betting in the Preakness had Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver and beaten betting choice Lookin At Lucky battling for favoritism. Are all those who put their money on the Bob Baffert-trained Lookin At Lucky following Ray Paulick’s advice? Doubtful. More likely it’s the Andy Beyer influence, which has been a Preakness phenomenon for a number of years. The old sage from the Washington Post and the creator of Beyer Speed Figures has had an unmistakable impact on the betting public’s decisions at the Preakness before, and his selection of Lookin At Lucky is probably the reason for the early money.

Count on blue skies, a fast track, and lots of trouble brewing in the infield, thanks to the Maryland Jockey Club’s all-the-beer-you-can-drink-for-a-double-sawbuck promotion. I hope there’s 10,000 or so designated drivers out there, because when this party is over, it’s going to be a mess.

1:00 p.m. …. Preakness Day Charts. Five races on the Preakness card are in the books, and the main track, while playing a bit on the slow side, has been friendly to horses racing on or near the lead. Primary Witness, a Hennessy colt trained by Mark Hennig, took the day’s opener (optional claiming/$25,000 claimers) under Javier Castellano, rallying wide from midpack. to beat favored Kurbat, the pacesetter, by  a half-length. Fractions were :24.02 and :47.57 for the opening quarter and half-mile, 1:12.89 for six furlongs, 1:38.35 for the mile. The final time of 1:44.89 was four seconds off the track record set in 1984 by Deputed Testamony.

The second race, on turf, was won wire to wire by Virsito (by Dynaformer) and Ramon Dominguez. Alan Goldberg trains for Richard Santulli.

Elvis Trujillo took favored Convoy Ahead wire to wire, hugging the rail, to win the third race, an entry-level allowance race. The 3-year-old son of Wildcat Heir (trained by Wesley Ward) set splits of :23.58, :46.63, :58:68 and completed six furlongs in 1:11.62 (track record is 1:09). Castellano scored an early double while leading a starter allowance stakes field all the way in the fourth aboard favored Northpoint Costas. The Maryland-bred by Bowman’s Band trained by Dale Capuano hung up fractions of :23.93, :48.46, 1:13.23, 1:39.65 and the final time for 1 1/16 miles was 1:46.44.

The fifth, an allowance race on turf, was won by Lighthouse Sound, a Michael Trombetta-trained gelding by Langfuhr.

Current odds as of 1 pm below:

3:30 p.m. … Was a little disappointed that I didn’t spot any Hollywood glamour in my tour of the Pimlico grandstand but I did see a "power couple" enjoying the afternoon sun from the finish line box seats: New York Racing Association president and CEO Charlie Hayward and Santa Anita’s top executive, Ron Charles. No telling what these two were discussing when I interrupted their conversation to say hello.

Heavens knows there’s plenty for Hayward and Charles to talk about right now. It could have been the problems NYRA is having getting slot machines at Aqueduct–or at least getting a carryover loan to keep the once-bankrupt organization in business until they do get slot machines. Or it could have been the news that came out late Friday afternoon that Santa Anita’s new parent company MI Developments ("meet the new parent, same as the old parent") told the Oak Tree Racing Association to take a hike, thus jeopardizing the Breeders’ Cup plan to hold the annual championships at Santa Anita during the Oak Tree meeting for five consecutive years, beginning in 2011. Charlie, I’m sure, would have been happy with the news that Frank Stronach lobbed a grenade at Oak Tree and the Breeders’ Cup. Ron, probably not so happy.

Anyways, can’t wait until Stronach explains his plans for a deregulation-free zone next month to the California Horse Racing Board. They should consider selling tickets to that meeting for the entertainment value.

Maybe, just maybe Charlie and Ron were talking about a potential new venture involving several racing associations and the Jockey Club to purchase a tote company and ADW property so they could go into those businesses and compete with TwinSpires, the Churchill Downs-owned ADW that will control roughly half of the account wagering market once its purchase of YouBet is approved.

Nah, I’m sure Charlie and Ron were putting together a pick six ticket or they were just getting their Preak On. — Ray Paulick

4:12 … By now, you’ve heard enough about ‘Getting Your Preak On’ from the estimable Ray Paulick. But you can’t truly get that not-so-fresh feeling without making a pilgrimage to the infield during Preakness day at Pimlico. As your humble correspondent, I’ve done the dirty work and wrestled through the mud to bring you the skinny on what’s going on in this pit of humanity.

That’s probably an overstatement. Okay, it’s way overstated. What I found was actually a nice combination of the old and the new. There were certainly some Grade A drunks out there (some you will see in video form later tonight or tomorrow morning). But there were no fights, no nudity, no beer cans being thrown. After all, when you tie someone’s drinking future to their receptacle, they are far less likely to wind up and watch it fly. (The all you can drink promotion allows the over 21 set to buy a mug for $20 and have it refilled all they want.)

There were professional beach volleyball players, a band playing in the bandstand, cornhole tournaments, video games and a whole lot of beer. No one in the crowd seemed overly concerned about standing in line. It seems that after the first hour, the flow has been consistent but not overwhelming.

While most of the attendees I spoke with preferred the debauchery of a couple years ago, it seems that the Maryland Jockey Club has found the happy medium between the BYOB years and last year’s attendance let down.

To paraphrase Marie Antoinette, let them drink beer. Just don’t concuse them in the process. — Brad Cummings

5:00  p.m. … It’s mostly been a day for chalk players, with six of the first 10 races won by post-time favorites. Races six, seven, eight and nine were all taken by favorites. Comedero (pictured, left) and Robby Albarado won the Grade 3 Chick Lang, a six-furlong sprint formerly run as the Hirsch Jacobs. The Mike Stidham-trained Posse gelding went wire to wire, winning by 3 3/4 lengths in 1:10.16 after fractions of :23.51, :46.00 and :57.76. Beau Choix held off a fast-closing Manhattan Fox in the seventh, the James W. Murphy at a mile on turf. It was win No. 3 on the day for Javier Castellano. Barclay Tagg trains the Elusive Quality colt, owned by Belle Meadows Farm and Lael Stable.

Blame and Garrett Gomez teamed up to win the Grade 3 William Donald Schaefer over longshot No Advantage. The victory was the third consecutive in a graded stakes for the Arch colt trained by Al Stall and owned by Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider. Blame covered the distance in 1:43.40.

Rainbow View kept the chalk parade going when she won the ninth race, the Gallorette Handicap, for the longtime partnership of trainer Jonathan Sheppard and owner-breeder George Strawbridge’s Augustin Stable. The 4-year-old daughter of Dynaformer won the Grade 3 evenf for fillies and mares on turf in 1:41.04 on firm turf under Julien Leparoux.

The favorite’s streak snapped in the 10th race, the Grade 3 Maryland Sprint Handicap, when Taqarub went wire to wire to win at 13-1 odds under Eibar Coa. Javiar Castellano made a bid for his fourth win of the day on Roaring Lion, trying to squeeze through a tight hole on the rail in midstretch but had to steady and lost momentum, losing by a length. Taqarub, racing for Shadwell Stables, is trained by Kiaran McLaughlin.

5:15 p.m. .. Strike a Deal scored a front-running victory in the Grade 2 Dixie under Ramon Dominguez, giving the owner-trainer combo of Richard Santulli and Alan Goldberg a Preakness Day double. The six-year-old son of Smart Strike  was winning for the sixth time in 20 career starts. He had not been out since finishing seventh last July in the U.N. Handicap at Monmouth Park.  Just As Well finished second.

Next race…the Preakness. With an hour to post time, Super Saver is the 9-5 favorite, with Lookin At Lucky second choice at 5-2, Paddo O’Prado third choice at 8-1, followed by Dublin 9-1; Jackson Bend 11-1; Schoolyard Dreams 13-1; Yawanna Twist and Caracortado 15-1 each; Pleasant Prince 22-1; First Dude and Northern Giant 25-1 each; and Aikenite 35-1.

Good luck and safe journeys to all.

By Ray Paulick
Word that the position of Blood-Horse magazine editor in chief Dan Liebman had been eliminated earlier this week came just one day before the Washington Post announced it was putting Newsweek up for sale because management “did not see a path to sustained profitability” for the weekly newsmagazine.

No other reason was given to employees for Liebman’s departure, so the assumption is he is just another economic victim of the weekly publication owned by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, hard hit by the economic recession, difficult times in the horse industry, and changing readership habits.

Whether you are writing about world events or horse racing and breeding news, weekly magazines face a serious challenge in the era of the Internet, cable news (or cable horse racing channels), and social networking.

Newsweek, according to a report by the Associated Press, has lost about 25% of its staff over the last two years due to buyouts and early retirements. It still had 427 full-time employees at the end of 2009, when it lost $29.3 million.

Through terminations and early retirements, Blood-Horse magazine has reduced its staff by roughly 40%, from 114 to 68, over the last 30 months. Unlike Newsweek, a division of the publicly traded Washington Post Co., Blood-Horse’s financial records are not available, but anyone who’s read the magazine over a period of time has seen the number of advertising pages reduced dramatically. The magazine is so thin, it can no longer print the date and page numbers on its spine. It’s been redesigned and freshened up with more commentary and analysis, but that hasn’t brought advertisers back. Its parent company, TOBA, does not have the resources to subsidize it through prolonged financial losses.

Thoroughbred Times, the other horse industry newsweekly, also has suffered from a reduction in advertising dollars spent in printed publications. Its staff has been cut by approximately 30%, from 63 to 44 full-time employees over the same time frame. Unlike Blood-Horse, Thoroughbred Times is part of a large conglomerate owned by Norman Ridker, a successful California-based publisher of consumer niche magazines like Cat Fancy, Dog Fancy and Horse Illustrated, among others.

Jessica Chapel, writing in her Railbird blog, speculated the elimination of Liebman’s position “seems a strong hint that Blood-Horse, which already leads the Thoroughbred Times and Daily Racing Form in such areas as web design and the use of RSS and the Twitter API — will be putting more emphasis on developing their online presence and digital products.”

But can a robust digital strategy financially carry a flagging print product? That doesn’t seem likely, according to Frank Ahrens and Howard Kurtz, writing in the Washington Post about the efforts to sell Newsweek. “Many newsweeklies have racked up similar losses (to Newsweek) as readers and advertisers abandon the magazines for the Internet’s frequently updated news offerings,” Ahrens and Kurtz wrote. “But even with the shift to the Web, online advertising revenue still represents pennies on the dollar compared with print advertising. Newsweek brought in only $8 million in online ad revenue last year, (Washington Post Publisher Donald) Graham said.”

Does this spell the end for an icon like Newsweek magazine? And if Newsweek goes out of business as a print product, what does that say about the future of the Blood-Horse and Thoroughbred Times?

Read about the plight of Newsweek here.

Then return to the Paulick Report to let us know what you think.

The Washington Post's Andy Beyer, who created Beyer speed figures, does not have the most distinguished record for picking winners in the Derby but that doesn't stop him from making his picks. He makes the case that Lookin at Lucky and Ice Box are the two horses most likely to come up on top in this year's Kentucky Derby. This is based on the assumption that all the speed horses will collapse at the end.

What do you think of this prediction? Furthermore, let's use this as an open thread to discuss your Derby picks. We would love to hear where your money is going on Saturday and why.

Read it at the Washington Post

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

- Bradford Cummings

The Washington Post's Andy Beyer has a beef with trainers who enter their horses in the Kentucky Derby whether they are ready for the challenge or not.

"The cardinal rules for training thoroughbreds have changed little over the decades: Manage horses with patience. Don't ask them to do anything for which they're not fully prepared. Don't run them where they are overmatched."

Read it at the Washington Post

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

- Bradford Cummings

There’s no doubt that Kirk Ziadie had unprecedented success in his time at Calder. He won leading trainer four times and produced great results for his horses. So great that he was suspected of drug violations and eventually racked up 13 instances altogether regarding illegal enhancements for his stable and he was eventually forced to leave Calder.

Andy Beyer shows great concern as Ziadie takes his troubled show on the road to Laurel Park. As if the struggling race track didn’t have enough problems, they now have a poster boy for all that’s wrong with racing vying to be one of their top trainers.

Read it at The Washington Post

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

- Bradford Cummings

While Ray is traveling back from Osaka (hopefully we won’t have to hear too much about jet lag once he returns to the United States), he wanted to reignite the debate over Horse of the Year. The following piece was submitted by Jeff Shapes, a marketing communications consultant, freelance writer and horse racing enthusiast, not necessarily in that order.

By Jeff Shapes
There’s one overriding reason Zenyatta should win the Eclipse Award as Horse of the Year over Rachel Alexandra, and it has nothing to do with their comparative records on the racetrack. No, Zenyatta has earned the honor because her electrifying performance in the Breeders’ Cup Classic flew in the face of the general negative assessment of her chances to win the event, while at the same time capping off a brilliant, undefeated career that put her into the discussion of who is history’s greatest female race horse. Now, if that doesn’t make her Horse of the Year, they might as well retire the award.
 
Yes there had been speculation that if Zenyatta ran in the Classic and won, there’d be a Horse of the Year debate. But in their heart of hearts, not to mention their racing opinions, those speculators, whether in public or not, didn’t believe Zenyatta had what it took to beat the “big” boys in the big race. Indeed, there were some who said she shouldn’t even run in the Classic, since there wasn’t really anything to gain. Better to protect her legacy as an undefeated champion with another romp in the Ladies’ Classic, than to go out with a loss chasing an unattainable goal.
 
Need some proof of how little regard the experts had for Zenyatta in the run up to the Classic? Despite being tabbed the pre-race wagering favorite, not one of the 11 media members whose selections were published by USA Today in its Breeders’ Cup preview picked Zenyatta to win. And east coast bias wasn’t in play. Joining writers from the New York Daily News, New York Post, Lexington Herald-Leader and Albany Times-Union in giving Zenyatta the thumbs down were the national correspondent of the Daily Racing Form, horse racing writers from the Associated Press and USA Today, an editor of the Thoroughbred Times, an on-air personality from HRTV and racing writers from the Los Angeles Daily News and San Diego Union-Tribune, in whose backyard Zenyatta ran all except one of her career races.
 
Want to bring in some more exulted names? Joe Drape of the New York Times did not pick Zenyatta, and neither did Steven Crist of the Daily Racing Form. The Washington Post’s Andy Beyer, inventor of the Beyer Speed Figure, the acknowledged statistical method for comparing racetrack performances under different race conditions? He labeled Zenyatta a throw out.

Luckily, Zenyatta’s connections had much greater faith in their magnificent mare than the experts.  Questioned for not shipping Zenyatta to a traditional dirt track to take on Rachel Alexandra head-to-head, team Zenyatta stuck to their guns of getting her ready for the Breeders’ Cup the best way they thought how. If that meant staying in Southern California and competing exclusively on synthetic surfaces, well that’s how it would be done. And though they never stated it, the guess here is that winning the Classic as a finishing touch on a Hall of Fame career, not to mention the historical achievement such a win would represent, was probably the long-range goal of those who guided Zenyatta’s career.
 
Of course, Rachel Alexandra’s connections, like most others in the racing world, assumed their filly had a stranglehold on Horse of the Year when she concluded her 2009 season with a win in the Woodward Stakes at Saratoga in early September. It was Rachel’s eighth victory in eight races, accomplished at seven racetracks in six states, with three coming over male competitors. Her campaign encompassed eye popping performances in such keystone events as the Kentucky Oaks, Preakness Stakes, Mother Goose Stakes, Haskell Invitational and the aforementioned Woodward, and was highlighted by either record breaking victory margins or historical firsts just about every time she left the starting gate.
 
With such a resumé, who could blame Jess Jackson for putting Rachel away for the winter, especially since she probably needed a rest after an exhausting year (visible in the Woodward). But, had the Breeders’ Cup Classic not been held on a synthetic surface, there’s little doubt Rachel would have continued her season and run at least one more race to conclude a campaign for the ages. After all, it was Jackson himself who announced his intention to run Rachel in next year’s Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs at the same time he said he would not run her this year on Santa Anita’s Pro-Ride because of his distaste for synthetic surfaces (or plastic as he labeled them).
 
Can we know how a Zenyatta-Rachel Alexandra showdown in the Breeders’ Cup Classic would have played out? Is there a certainty that had Rachel been entered in the race, Team Zenyatta would have taken her on? Would Rachel have performed as poorly on the synthetics as last year’s Horse of the Year, Curlin, and as other “dirt” horses seem to? These questions can never be answered. But what is fact is that Zenyatta showed up on Championship Saturday and won the most important North American race that’s open to all Thoroughbreds regardless of age or sex. This was no Raven’s Pass swooping in and leaving nothing behind but a few footprints.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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