Friday, June 29, 2007
Not By a Longshot Author T.D. Thornton Q&A
T.D. Thornton, author of the best horse racing book to be published since Seabiscuit, participated in The Blood-Horse's Talkin' Horses series yesterday. It is not to be missed.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Senator Yee introduces CHRB reform bill
Legislation that would change the current membership of the commission that oversees horse racing in California and require other "ethics reform" was introduced by State Senator Leland Yee June 26. [Blood-Horse]
Movement to be tested in Pleasanton
The filly drew into a five and one half furlong 25k maiden claimer [past performances - pdf warning] to be run Saturday June 30th at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton. Superjock Barrington Harvey will be aboard for her second off the layoff outing. I couldn't be happier to have him in the irons.
Pleasanton is known as a speed favoring track, but on opening day horse were also successful coming from just off the pace, although no deep closers prevailed. Movement has displayed versatility and has some tactical speed. She can come from off the pace or set it. I'm inclined to believe she prefers to make one run, although she is flexible as to when you press the button.
Pleasanton is known as a speed favoring track, but on opening day horse were also successful coming from just off the pace, although no deep closers prevailed. Movement has displayed versatility and has some tactical speed. She can come from off the pace or set it. I'm inclined to believe she prefers to make one run, although she is flexible as to when you press the button.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Stockton final joceky standings
[scroll down....blogspot is buggy when it comes to html tables]
| Leading Jockeys at Stockton | Races/Wins/2nds/3rds | Earnings |
|---|---|---|
| Carlos Ignacio Silva | 44 11 9 9 | $131,172 |
| Juan Ochoa | 44 8 9 6 | $97,247 |
| Pedro Flores | 33 8 6 8 | $73,441 |
| Luis Contreras | 28 7 4 3 | $87,314 |
| Catalino Martinez | 16 6 2 2 | $63,468 |
| Francisco Duran | 35 5 4 6 | $53,451 |
| Modesto Linares | 31 5 3 2 | $48,649 |
| Joe M. Castro | 25 3 7 1 | $65,300 |
| Barrington Harvey | 47 3 5 3 | $46,056 |
| Luis V. Martinez | 32 3 4 4 | $41,009 |
| Juan Avila | 15 3 3 1 | $21,810 |
| Kyle Kaenel | 16 2 6 2 | $31,542 |
Friday, June 22, 2007
Stockton Stewards' Highly Controversial "No Change"
You be the judge: incompetence, criminal negligence, or the right call.
In the seventh race at Stockton today (June 22nd) a horse appeared to break through the gate before the starter sent the field on its way. You can see replay at CalRacing.com with a free subscription.
On track, a number of spectators and bettors were livid at the failure to declare the 4 horse, Classic Delini, a non-starter. The pan view shows Classic Delini popped out of the gate at least a length ahead of all other starters. When this was played on the jumbo-tron in the infield the Stockton crowd groaned in disgust, as it would be improbable that a horse could be that far ahead of the rest of the field without breaking through the gate. Conspiracy theories began circulating immediately.
After watching the replay many times, while the pan view does look suspicious, the head on view is also telling. It appears that all the gates spring at the same time, and that Classic Delini was merely lunging at exactly the moment the gates opened. It does not appear that the horse forced the gate open at all, and the stewards made the right call. Nonetheless, do make your own judgement.
In the seventh race at Stockton today (June 22nd) a horse appeared to break through the gate before the starter sent the field on its way. You can see replay at CalRacing.com with a free subscription.
On track, a number of spectators and bettors were livid at the failure to declare the 4 horse, Classic Delini, a non-starter. The pan view shows Classic Delini popped out of the gate at least a length ahead of all other starters. When this was played on the jumbo-tron in the infield the Stockton crowd groaned in disgust, as it would be improbable that a horse could be that far ahead of the rest of the field without breaking through the gate. Conspiracy theories began circulating immediately.
After watching the replay many times, while the pan view does look suspicious, the head on view is also telling. It appears that all the gates spring at the same time, and that Classic Delini was merely lunging at exactly the moment the gates opened. It does not appear that the horse forced the gate open at all, and the stewards made the right call. Nonetheless, do make your own judgement.
Da Goat Displays Bad Judgement
racing website proprietor books hapless blogger Tote Board Brad as weekly guest, bringing shame to his once proud online destination
That's right folks, Da Goat is slumming it by interviewing yours truly this week. Check out this weeks Goat, and if you can stomach it have a listen to the weekly interview found on the right hand side of the Goat homepage in which I spout off about NorCal racing, the California fair circuit, and my filly.
That's right folks, Da Goat is slumming it by interviewing yours truly this week. Check out this weeks Goat, and if you can stomach it have a listen to the weekly interview found on the right hand side of the Goat homepage in which I spout off about NorCal racing, the California fair circuit, and my filly.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
CDI's New CEO Contunes to Make Mark
Since taking over the Churchill Downs, Inc. helm, CEO Robert Evans has implemented a solid strategy of vertical integration. Recently CDI bought a 50% interest in HRTV from competitor Manga Entertainment, then launched their own wagering platform, twinspires.com. Now they have made perhaps the best acquisition of all, a provider of past performances data.
It was only a matter of time before the industry realized that the real money is in handle, not in selling data. As the price of data moves toward zero, handle will increase by a factor that will far outweigh the lost revenue.
How many times have you come home in the evening and wanted to play maybe one or two races for a couple of bucks, but weren't going to shell out $4.50 for a paper form, or $3.50 for online pps from drf.com? CDI appears to have seen the light and I would watch for a drastic decrease in the price of their data on their signals in the near term.
It was only a matter of time before the industry realized that the real money is in handle, not in selling data. As the price of data moves toward zero, handle will increase by a factor that will far outweigh the lost revenue.
How many times have you come home in the evening and wanted to play maybe one or two races for a couple of bucks, but weren't going to shell out $4.50 for a paper form, or $3.50 for online pps from drf.com? CDI appears to have seen the light and I would watch for a drastic decrease in the price of their data on their signals in the near term.
Friday, June 08, 2007
Movement 4th in Comebacker
Movement ran a credible fourth [chart - pdf warning] Thursday against solid company. Billy Mac's Forestry filly just nosed us out of third pace money, which cost me $900. This is a game of inches.
She broke sharply, then settled. In fact, she settled so much, I though she just wasn't going to pick up her feet, that she was horrible outclassed, or completely off her game. Then she came with quite a bit in the lane to make up a lot of ground. My initial reaction was that our jockey, Pedro Flores, waited too long to press the button. After watching the replay, he did get after her at the top of the stretch and rode hard through the lane. Perhaps he should have kept her slightly closer to the pace, but upon watching the race several times now, it was not the offensive ride I initially thought.
Initial reports are that she came out of the race great. The folks at the barn said she was not tired and scarcely drank any water. She was coming like a house afire at the wire, and was difficult to pull up. If the race really didn't take much out of her we might run her back sooner than we have in the past. We might even see her at Stockton.
Given the way she ran many folks at the paddock bar suggusted she may want to go long. And, she might, but she might be just as apt as a sprinter. She did everything the jock asked of her from taking back to changing leads to changing lanes in traffic to having a pretty strong answer when he finally asked the question. These are the trappings of a professional racehorse.
She broke sharply, then settled. In fact, she settled so much, I though she just wasn't going to pick up her feet, that she was horrible outclassed, or completely off her game. Then she came with quite a bit in the lane to make up a lot of ground. My initial reaction was that our jockey, Pedro Flores, waited too long to press the button. After watching the replay, he did get after her at the top of the stretch and rode hard through the lane. Perhaps he should have kept her slightly closer to the pace, but upon watching the race several times now, it was not the offensive ride I initially thought.
Initial reports are that she came out of the race great. The folks at the barn said she was not tired and scarcely drank any water. She was coming like a house afire at the wire, and was difficult to pull up. If the race really didn't take much out of her we might run her back sooner than we have in the past. We might even see her at Stockton.
Given the way she ran many folks at the paddock bar suggusted she may want to go long. And, she might, but she might be just as apt as a sprinter. She did everything the jock asked of her from taking back to changing leads to changing lanes in traffic to having a pretty strong answer when he finally asked the question. These are the trappings of a professional racehorse.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Today is the Day
Movement is running today at Golden gate fields against 20k claimers, and it's a tough set. She's going to have to step it up a good piece just to bring home a check much less win. If I want to be hopeful, i'd say she's coming in off a long layoff and could show marked improvement, but several of these horses stand the same chance. I'm hoping for the best, but feel free to offer your own opinion as you peruse the past performances. [her name is Movement and you can learn how to read the past performances at The Daily Racing Form.
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