News and Notes - Halloween Edition

Movement galloped under regular exercise rider Jenny on Saturday and breezed 4 furlongs under jockey Jorge Bourdieu in 49:3 on Sunday. Video of the gallop will be up later this week. I didn't make it out for the breeze, but jockey and trainer were happy with it.

Honor in War, the American horse who was to contest the Cox Plate in Australia had been garnering some attention. Here's one quote from October 27th:

"I reckon the horse must feel like someone who has come through a serious detox after taking away all the additives they give them in the US on a daily basis," Birnsen said yesterday. "Seriously, I don't think this horse has had it so good since he went into quarantine for the trip to Melbourne and he's looked like a million dollars since he got here."

Birnsen's words were prophetic, as Honor in War was scratched due to trace amounts of a banned substance remaining in the horses blood after leaving the U.S. some 8 weeks ago.


Three Notes, a classmate of Movement from Triad Farms, worked 4 furlongs today in 50:2 at The Thoroughbred Center. (Get it, Three Notes, Triad Farms.) Steve and Kathy Watkins, Triad Farms proprietors, hope to debut the filly at Churchill in November. We'll be rooting for her.

Jenny's First Gate Drill

Regular readers will remember Jenny is often Movement's exercise rider. On Saturday she got her first chance to work a horse from the gate, as chronicled in this video.

The Jog, Part Two

Once again here is video of Movement before and during a jog on Friday. A couple folks have emailed that they really enjoy these, so I've put this one up--not that you could tell if I'd recycled one.

So, nothing remarkable here, as this is what happens hundreds of times per day on every track in the country, so track veterans will likely skip this one, unless you just want to get to this jog's blues soundtrack, which kicks in ~1:30 mark. Dave [exercise rider & assistant trainer] offers a few brief comments between the :35 & 1:30 mark.

Exercise Riders Compare Filly Notes

Jessica and Jenny are Movement's two most regular exercise riders other than Dave. Here they discuss their experience with the filly, along with some sassy innuendo and double entendres at the end.

The Jog, Part One

Movement was scheduled to jog on Friday. We had wanted exercise rider Jenny aboard, but after a wee bit of stable drama, Dave ended up taking her. Jenny didn't get back to the barn until after the final renovation break, and in the meantime had developed some soreness in her wrist while working a horse for another trainer that she slipped in before tending to Movement. See the video for a sampling of what went down.



Producer's note: This video was edited together for maximum entertainment value, not for fairness to the players. Most of this is fabricated drama spliced together in the spirit of a reality show and should not be used to form negative opinions of the players.

Movement's Gallop Earlier This Week

The filly continues her training toward her next start and is progressing well. Jamey is happy with her, and Dave thinks that she has woken up a bit since her last race when she exhibited speed and fade. She has been even more eager to train, and during a gallop earlier this week she got away a little bit from an exercise rider that hadn't been aboard before and really came flying down the lane. It was faster than Jamey wanted her to go, but she came out of it fine and no harm was done.

A Horse Racing Related Movie I've Never Heard Of

I found this trailer [above] for the movie The Way You Look to Me, but I've never heard of it before, and Netflix doesn't seem to carry it. It is supposedly an independent film, and from the looks of the trailer it is probably a pretty mediocre film. Still, I'll watch just about anything about horse racing and I'm surprised that I can't find it anywhere. Any of you LA media moguls know the story with this flick?

Update: The film was written, directed and produced by Bruce Romans, Dale Romans' brother. Below is the status per a 6/11/06 interview in the Louisville C-J. I also take back what I said about the film looking "mediocre". Given that it was made with a budget of half a million dollars, it looks like a blockbuster.

C-J: What is the status of the independent film you shot in Louisville in 2004, which stars yourself with Laura Allen ("Lost") and Frank Langella as a University of Louisville professor? The movie, originally titled "Sweet William" was renamed "How You Look to Me."

BR: It is being sold to foreign markets by a company called Shoreline Entertainment of Los Angeles, which often represents festival films. Before that, it was shown at four festivals (Newport, First Glance Philadelphia Film Festival, the Bluegrass Festival in Kentucky and the Ojai Film Festival in California). ... It's been a success artistically, and we will soon find out if it will be financially. ... It will be released in the U.S. on DVD sometime this year.

I'm optimistic that we will recoup our investment of $540,000 and get a 20 percent return for investors.

TBAer Jen Morrison Plugged on TVG's Blinkers Off

Friday on Blinkers Off Dan Illman sat in for Mike Watchmaker. As I've noted on Jen's blog (comments section), Ms. Morrison and Dan Illman will be hosting a handicapping seminar at Woodbine this weekend. The two have been featured prominently in full page ads and Matt Caruthers held one of the spots up which include head shots of both bloggers. It's great to see a TBAer get so much attention in the MS(HR)M. If Dan plays his cards right and is really sweet to Jen, she might even put in a good word for him and perhaps help him gain membership in the TBA. Of course there is the matter of the hazing rituals....

This Week's News and Notes

Movement came out of last week's race well, and after taking a day or two off she was back jogging the track. Then, on Tuesday or Wednesday (I don't remember which) she galloped. She's been jogging since and will probably have another gallop or work soon.

Night racing returns to Bay Meadows this evening. The weather is fantastic in the Bay Area, so I expect a big crowd.

Tomorrow is Russel Baze Bobblehead Day at Bay Meadows. He was scheduled to ride in Maryland aboard one of Harry Aleo's horses, but now that horse (Victorina? sorry, I don't have fact checkers or a copy editor) is looking at a couple other spots, so Baze is back in the mix on his big day.

Movement Finishes Up the Track

Movement set the pace and was tackled at the quarter pole. (chart - pdf warning) She fought on for a bit, but Jockey Jorge Bourdieu wrapped up on her once she was well beaten. She finished 6th. After the race Jorge said she just got tired out there. The fractions, although fair, certainly weren't sizzling. She did take to the turf quite nicely, though.

What we take out of it is that she probably doesn't want to go that far, but she's perfectly happy with turf. Even at a lower claiming price, it's unlikely the fractions would be so much slower as to make a difference in the lane. Whether she could handle this company in a turf sprint is also unclear, but we'd be willing to try. If she comes out well, we'd like to run her short again either on the grass or on the main, depending on what looks easier and what works with her schedule. You can see a replay of the race at CalRacing (free subscription required).

Friday's Race & The Form

The Closer Look section by Art Gropper in Friday's Form says the following about Movement:

Runnerup in a pair of dirt sprints and goes to turf, where her sire is 13-percent winners 1st grass; dam went 0-for-3 on the lawn (7K); the added distance is a concern, but she figures to be a factor from the gate; know her early.

This is misleading because it only includes her Dam's stateside form. She won at a mile and a quarter over the lawn as a three year old in Britain. Her total record was 10-1-1-3 banking $17,555 if you include her Euro ventures.

I also think she can handle the distance, and may even prefer routing. The bigger question is whether or not she's good enough to run with this company. Half the field has posted beyers higher than Movement and four are also dropping out of Maiden Special Weight company. Meanwhile, she's moving up the ladder. She'll need to take a step forward to beat these.

Movement's Work 10/07/06

Movement works 5 furlongs leading up to her first turf route.

Here's video from Movement's final work before her Friday start, when she'll try both grass & two turns for the first time.

As I mentioned before, she throws her head a little bit and fights the tongue tie during the work. She wears a figure eight when she races to combat this.

The players: Jamey Thomas, Trainer; Jorge Martin Bourdieu, Jockey

The Gallop

"She's a little thing, but she moves big."

-- Jennifer, Exercise Rider

This video [.wmv warning - google video below] is from Movement's gallop on October 1st. The players: Jennifer, exercise rider; Steve Miyadi, trainer of Lovely Cape, winner of Movement's last race. Voice only: Dave, exercise rider & assistant trainer; Jamey Thomas, trainer.



I was tempted to edit several of these in this series such to make Steve Miyadi the villain. He would play one well, given he has good horses and places them realistically, which yields a high win percentage. He's one of the wittyest folks on the backstretch and also one of the few that will tell it like it is. Steve Miyadi is one of the good guys.

Note: Google video is down, and I don't like youtube's interface as well, so until google gets it's youtube acquiring ass in line, you can watch it with the .wmv compliant media player of your choice. Google Video is back up, but I'll leave the .wmv up for a while so you can still watch the higher quality version if you like. Just click here.

I still owe you video of her work on Saturday. Hopefully I can get that up before she starts this Friday.

Movement on the Hotwalker

[Note: I've removed the YouTube embed and replaced with GoogleVideo.]

Here is video of Movement on the hotwalker before her October 1st gallop. There is nothing remarkable here, but a couple of folks asked about the hotwalker contraption, so here it is.

The players: Dave, as you remember from the prior video, is the assistant trainer. He's too big to gallop her, so Jennifer will take her. You'll also see Fernado, who is the barn foreman.

Portland Meadows Creates Superb Racing Experience

Opening day at Portland Meadows on Sunday showed me what a great product small and mid-level tracks are capable of. These guys are really doing it right. The facility looks great and the customer service is on the high end of the bell curve.

For one, the bank of enormous flat screens shocked me. Patrons of NorCal racing aren't afforded such luxuries. Second, they have table service in the bar area in the grandstand. We can't even get that in the clubhouse at Golden Gate or Bay Meadows. Also, the tables weren't those nasty rocking Formica units I'm used to. No, they spring for the table cloth and a little fake flower in a vase. It's not the Ritz, but these little things make a difference. Then the most important factor--the service. Fabulous. Service like you would expect at a restaurant, and not from someone that begruges having to jockey cokes and fried appetizers to your table. Then there's the turf club. I can't attest to the food as I didn't eat, but again the service is excellent.

Patrick Kerrison, who has worn many hats at Portland Meadows including assistant racing secretary and chief marketeer, practices hands on relationship building with customers. Not only did he take good care of myself and fellow TBAer Dave of Average Horseplayer, but he actually got to know many individual customers. I spied him repeatedly asking folks from the grandstand to the turf club what they thought of the product, the experience. He took a personal interest in their needs, whether that meant adjusting simulcast televisions, or finding seats best suited for them, all the while filing customers' feedback in his brain so to continually improve Portland Meadows.

He also put many groups into winners circle photos, including myself. As he met fans in the grandstand or on the apron he invited them to join for a photo. These folks were just tickled pink, and from the looks of the fun they were having, they'll be back. I know I will.

Lastly, Portland Meadows secured an up and coming announcer in Jason Beem. He has the refined technical skills of a seasoned pro and the delightful stylistic attributes some callers never attain. In a few years from now when Jason is calling a top tier track in New York, California, Florida, or Kentucky, the fans at Portland Meadows will get to say "I knew him when..."

Movement to Try Turf Route

Movement has been entered into a one mile maiden turf race over the turf for a tag of $32,000 on Friday October 13 at Golden Gate Fields. The purse is $17,000. Eight fillies were entered and Movement drew the 7 hole. She could be hung a little wide from there, but there's a decent amount of run up on to the clubhouse turn on the Lakeside Turf Course.

Also, she worked 5 furlongs in 1:02 & 2/5ths on Saturday morning. She got distracted a bit and fought with the tongue tie, but it was still a fine work. More on that tomorrow.

News and Notes 10/6

Movement will have her final work tomorrow morning before her next start.

We hope to run her long on the turf Friday October 10th. There isn't a race in the book, but it sounds like there's enough demand to for a maiden 32k to fill from the overnights.

I'm headed to Portland Meadows for opening weekend. Standby. More to come.

Baze Closing in on Pincay

Barring injury, Russell Baze will become the winningest jockey in history sometime during the upcoming Bay Meadows meet, which begins October 18th.

As of today, before Golden Gate's afternoon card return to live racing on Friday, Baze has 9,469 wins, 61 shy of Laffit Pincay's 9,530. I'm guessing he'll reel in the record some time in mid November.

Note: Golden Gate Fields is dark Wednesday and Thursday as Fresno opens. Both tracks will run over the weekend. Golden Gate will offer a special Monday card on Columbus Day.

Movement the Movie

This past week as Movement has returned to training, Jamey and his team began preparing her for the possibility of a route. (A route is a race longer than a sprint and denotes distances of one mile or longer.) They want her to relax on the track and learn to rate her speed, whether on the lead or not. She can be headstrong in the morning and tries to dictate to her rider what she'll do on the track, usually wanting to gallop off. This video chronicles her jog Saturday September 30th. She galloped on Sunday October 1st. In the next installment we'll see how that goes.

The players:
Jamey, trainer [pictured, left]
Dave, assistant trainer and exercise rider [pictured, right]

Producer's note: The production values are very low as I have no skills whatsoever when it comes to filming or editing video; the video was shot with a regular digital camera, not a camcorder; and all the editing was done with freeware.