Comic strip of the day (dorf/miyadi edition)

Hollendorfer wins Bay Meadows training title again

Here it is. This is the difference. Steve Miyadi finished exactly one winner behind perennial leading trainer Jerry Hollendofer for the trainer title at the penultimate Bay Meadows meet. And this is the difference.

He finished exactly one win behind. This was just the nightcap at Bay Meadows Friday night. He had five other 2nds friday night. On an eight race card. I saw him the following day and i can attest, he did not slit his wrists, or so much as acknowledge a tough beat.

Like most every trainer that wins more than his fair share, whether Sherman or Dorf or R L Martin(readers of Laughing in the Hills will know), the response was a common: "yesterday? we gotta win TODAY."

Bay Meadows trainer title coming down to the wire

With three racing days remaining in the meet, there is not yet a presumptive winner of the trainer's title. Perennial leading trainer Jerry Hollendorfer is ahead with 51 wins, however Steve Miyadi is only two back with 49 wins.

Miyadi has been stuffing the entry box in the waning days of the meet, entering two horses in many races. In less than a week he has closed the gap from eight to two.

It appeared Hollendorfer may have been caught off guard by the late charge by an insurgent Miyadi. However, when this weekends entries were taken, a strong Hollendorfer presence emerged. Dorf entered four on tonight's card and Miyadi entered nine, before scratches. On Saturday and Sunday, Dorf has entered horses in aggressive spots. While running horses where they will hold odds-on favoritism is his modus operandi year round, retaining his crown may also be an element of his drop-and-pop approach this weekend.

Pick a Derby horse, already (Nerd Edition)

I don't care how let down you feel after seeing Sn4tchbuckl3r's Second Chance #1. If you had any hope that ironic use of leet in a webisode title would yield hilarity, you deserve your fate. It's time to put Mario Kart aside (you know the Wii Wheel sux) and pick a fucking derby horse before you're consumed by GTA IV tomorrow. WHAT!?! No. You're not. Right now? Sweet mother of WoW, you demented nerdling, you've got GameStop line passes to buy it at midnight? God help you.

Good luck, bad luck

Lost photos, DQ'd cinches, and bad beat stories are a dima dozen in this game. Occasionally one is worth repeating.

My dear friend, horse racing enthusiast, music junkee, and all around wonder-girl Kes is in New York while on military leave. She's busy going to every indie concert she can at night, and spending a few of her days at the track. On one of these she nailed an impossible pick 3. With a small ticket she singled a horse at 17-1 that resulted in a payoff well into four digits.

She knew immediately what to do with the windfall. A band, She & Him, Kes's been touting to me since long before their first album came out in March were playing a small venue. She blew her mutuel take to be within panty flinging distance from the performers.

The show is tonight. Was tonight. It's postponed due to illness, but she has been assured her tickets will be honored at a later date. Chances are she'll be back in Iraq by then.

Local protests, Bay Meadows jockey colony notes

In San Francisco today we did not see the chaos and instability seen in Paris and London when the Olympic torch passed through those cities. No, here we are professionals. We protest like no others.

As Bay Meadows kicks off another race week, we may yet hear protests from trainers unable to secure the services of their favored jockeys. There are several regular jocks that will not be riding on upcoming days for various reasons.

Last Friday morning Pedro Flores and the bug boy Rojas head north to Emerald Downs, following Leslie Mawing who left the previous week. Luis Martinez and David Lopez have not yet returned to riding after spills. Beginning on Sunday April 13 three more jockeys will be unavailable, each serving a three day suspension. Bobby Gonzalez, Omar Figueroa, and Inoel Beato were each given days by the stewards. In the event of a full field, you may see some names that don't often grace the form.

photo courtesy of racehorse owner Alex

Quote of the day

You have no passion for the game. None. I have 10 times more passion than you could ever hope to.

--Tom "Bomber" Doutrich
Bay Meadows Racing Secretary addressing yours truly
4/7/2008 10:48 am PDT

Pic of the day (LOLcats edition)

Everyone's favorite internet meme, save rickrolling (old people: google it), has finally come to the tote board brad blog. Gitch yer lolcats on.

Sex Scandal Rocks Racetrack

Now that I have your attention, BUY THIS BOOK. While the world's early adopters are busy creating muxtapes (here's mine), let us not forget the analog joys of a good read. T.D. Thornton's Not by a Longshot: A Season at a Hard-Luck Horse Track is out in paperback and plenty affordable for you to pick up a few copies.

As a fan of racing, and presumably someone that would appreciate more quality racing books, racing coverage, and generally for racing to command a greater degree of mindshare, we need to support work that serves this end.

Birthdays, Mother's Day, Fathers Day, May Day--whatever the occasion--find an excuse to give this book to both the racing fans AND the reading fans in your life. They'll love it, and you'll be proselytizing for the great sport of thoroughbred horse racing.

But make no mistake, this book is not propaganda. This is a dead honest look at racing at a second tier track. The struggle, the sacrifice, and the characters that feel they must choose between what works and what's right, makes this book as much a study in cognitive dissonance as a true racetrack yarn. The huge ups and spectacular successes are in there too. Despite odds against and the constant uphill battle of racetrackery, all beautifully illustrated by Thornton's masterful pen, the reader is not denied redemption. Not by a Longshot is the total package.

Time Out!

This scribe is headed to Fairgrounds for a brief respite and some NOLA revelry. It can take some time to recuperate after a bayou venture, so I'll leave you with this MIA track with which to occupy yourself. All the cool indie kids were listening to Paper Planes a coupla years back, but as far as I know the vid has only been around a few months, and it looks like they made it on a budget of a buck eighty five. Enjoy.

Bay Meadows - News and notes

Old gelding disappoints
Motel Staff returned to the races over the weekend and pretty much stunk up the joint in a 25k optional claimer contested at one mile over the lawn. The eleven year old stood in the gate at the start, spotting the field at least five lengths, and never really got into the race. The gelding was not claimed out of the race by former owner GCCI or anyone else for that matter.

In contrast, there was a flurry of claiming activity [drf - free subscription required] in the the first leg of the triple play series, in which claiming horses will ultimately run for a purse of $60,000.

Trainers title race remains tight
Through the end of the race week Monday March 17th, the top spot in the trainer standings remains deadlocked. Steve Sherman, Jerry Hollendorfer and Steve Miyadi again share leading trainer honors, each sporting 23 wins.

Hollendorfer and Miyadi are mainstays in the trainer standings. Both have big personalities and can be abrasive both naturally and for show. Sherman can clearly hold his own with these two backstretch hobgoblins, but unlike his co-leaders, Sherman is not terribly cartoonish. I have for some time wanted to feature him in my periodic series of horsemen looking ridiculous, but he has thus far been an elusive target.

While Steve Sherman has effectively run the NorCal contingency of the family training empire for some time, he only took over as trainer of record on January 1st of this year. This allowed patriarch Art Sherman to concentrate more heavily on SoCal operations. Despite much success on the SoCal circuit in prior years, Art has had a very rough start to 2008. His win percent hovered in the low single digits, last I checked. No word on whether sonny boy Steve will be summoned southward with his 30% winning percentage to right the ship.

Intrepid blogger Tote Board Brad noted in industry publication that no one reads
Lastly, this blog received some wee mention in a broadcast industry rag this morning. The article highlights the career of Christina Olivares, on air talent at TVG, and formerly of HRTV. If you count up 13 paragraphs or so from the bottom, there you'll find a brief passage which reads Horse-racing blogs with names like “Brad Buys a Yearling” and “Left at the Gate” chronicle her on-air exploits.

While mention in any publication, save the police blotter, is a lovely ego boost, being mentioned in the same sentence as the world's best horse racing blog is a true honor.

I wouldn't say I've chronicled her on-air exploits, but I'll link to the totality of posts--both of them--about her and let you, the reader, decide. One I penned in 2005 and the other in May of 2006. With that said, I am stalker enough that I accosted her recently while she was at Bay Meadows to get my picture taken with her. In my eloquence I believe I said something along the lines of "uh...uh... bub... bub..bub, uh, picture... uhh.... bub bub bub..." before thrusting my camera into some passer's by hand and mugging for all I was worth. I'll spare you the pic of my sorry self star struck and mouth agape, but here is the popular broadcaster standing trackside at Bay Meadows last month.

Racial tensions heighten in trainer standings battle

Going into the NorCal race week, Steve Sherman, Jerry Hollendorfer and Steve Miyadi are locked in a tight battle for leading trainer at the Bay Meadows meet, each with 19 wins. Miyadi, a southern California native of Japanese decent, is listed atop the Equibase standings since he has reached the mark with the fewest starters, as is their practice. His winning percentage stands at a robust 40%.

Recently Geraldine Ferraro, a Hollendorfer surrogate and ardent supporter, made comments that Miyadi was only able to challenge Hollendorfer in the standings due to his race. "If Miyadi was a white man, he would not be in this position," she said. "And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the racetrack is caught up in the concept."

In response to the accusation of race playing a part in his success, Miyadi responded "The notion that it is a great advantage to me to be a Japanese American named Miyadi and pursue the trainer's title, I think, is not a view that has been commonly shared by the general public."

The Hollendorfer camp subsequently accused Miyadi of playing the race card.

Miyadi has two horses on today's Bay Meadows card, Sexy Soldier in the 5th, and Runaway Wagon in the 6th. Each is making their first start for the Miyadi barn, previously being trained by John Sadler and Jorge Periban, respectively. Both are expected to attract some attention at the windows due to the popular bettor's angle "first time soy sauce."

Racetracker Zen

Among the sect of racetrackers, there are those full of zen. Few trainers, and even fewer management types fall into this group, but a number of the guys and gals that make the card happen each day do. They may be recent immigrants that groom and walk hots by day and claim a tack room as castle by night, or some third generation tracker that works the stable gate at hours obscene to most taxpayers. When I first spent substantial time on the backstretch, I mistook their easy-going-ness for the resignation I've always seen among financial district ladder climbers toiling for the man, for the mortgage, for the next office over. It's different, though. Most of these folks have a decent work ethic despite little to no opportunity for ladder climbing. Many of them could have higher paying jobs in secular society, but each day the return to the track. I wont assign them motivations, but I can attest there are intangibles to spending one's days at the track.

Blog may resume mediocrity soon

This blog has offered far less content recently due to a labor dispute, but it now appears that the writers strike may be settled very soon. Stay tuned.

Baze cracks 10k win mark (pic)

We're not unreasonable, say stewards

They only want to eat your brains

Long time readers know this blog has often highlighted the CHRB's incompetence and lack of leadership. On Saturday the CHRB, as represented by the NorCal stewards, offered one more very small example of their inability to think critically.

If you recall, by Saturday Santa Anita had already cancelled racing on Monday the following week but had not officially cancelled Sunday yet. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE knew there was no way they could run on Sunday given the rain.

Many of those trainers with horses entered for Sunday at Santa Anita wished to enter those horses at Golden Gate Fields. The stewards would not allow them to do so because Santa Anita had not yet officially cancelled their racing program. Several horses that would have run at Golden Gate were thus turned away and may sit on the sidelines up to a month waiting for their condition to return, or worse yet, some will be shipped out of state for a spot in which to run.

This song reminds me of the stewards' only one way approach. Here are the Lyrics.

11 year old gelding claimed

While Heath Ledger has passed on, 11yo gelding Motel Staff, only slightly Heath's junior, is alive and kicking. In fact, he's turning a new page in his career after being taken out of a 16k claiming race from owner GCCI and trainer Cliff Delima by Steve Miyadi for CM Racing.

When asked why it was worth risking sixteen grand on a horse that is nearing the end of his career, Miyadi responds curtly. "He's finally learned how to run. He's really coming around now."

The stakes winning old timer has plenty of back class and can still perform at this level, evidenced by his second place finish Sunday. When pressed, Miyadi offers a more believable, albeit nefarious angle behind the claim. "Look, I kidnapped him. He's a member of the [DeLima/GCCI] family." Miyadi does not plan to drop Motel Staff into softer company to pick up a short priced win, as is often the approach with his claims. "They'll pay the ransom, so why should I give them a discount? They'll pay it, and in the mean time, he'll win."

Pic of the day

Horse racing commands a much greater mindshare in Japan. This translates even to top tier arcade games with spectacular intricacies and commensurate development costs every horseplayer stateside with an xBox or Wii can only envy.

Monty Meier, latest victim of the blog

In the continuing series of horsemen looking ridiculous, here is Monty Meier in the Golden Gate Fields racing office. Monty is one of the nicest fellows on the backstretch and has a horseman's resume a mile long, working with many legends of the game. By all accounts he is an exceptional horseman. Many readers will know his brother Randy Meier, a mainstay on the Chicago racing circuit and member of the 4000 win club.

As for Monty's broken glasses, he blamed the rigors of life on the backstretch, but rumors are circulating that Monty is the victim of domestic violence. Anyone who knows his longtime sweetheart Turtle, who also gallops for the Meier barn and is quite a horseman in her own right, would not quickly dismiss such a theory.

Super Likit 2nd

Super Likit finished an impressive 2nd this past Friday in a race so tough that three entrants were claimed. The winner, Kona Town Girlies, was very impressive and is now two for two, as she also won her debut in the maiden $8k ranks. That horse was claimed from the Sherman barn by Sue Gilmour. I would expect the filly to be stepped up, and I would rather not face that one again, even though Super Likit was closing ground on the winner. The filly came out of the race fine, and will be pointed for one more race over the Golden Gate surface she favors before the NorCal circuit shifts back to Bay Meadows in early February. There are no races in the condition book for straight four year olds that she fits, but we would hope to see such a race on the overnights. If not, she will have to take on older in open company. After Fridays impressive run, she just may be able to handle them.