Atrocious Ride Costs Leave To Appeal

Initially I had titled this post Leave to Appeal Falters as Favorite but then I watched the race on Cal Racing. Russell Baze nearly tore the poor mare's head off, giving the girl the triple hammerlock while the pace setters dawdled up front. Had he not fought with her so much, wearing her out early, we would have gotten the place money, and might have won. I'm absolutely livid. Honestly, I've never been so mad at a jockey in all my life, and I've lost a lot of wagers due to decisions jockeys made that turned out to cost me. That's the difference, though. I can't blame a jock making a split second decision to duct inside to save ground and then getting bottled up, or going outside and being hung 6-wide. This is out of hand, though. Perhaps I can be a bit more objective after I cool out a bit. I need a stiff drink.

Leave to Appeal Entered Tomorrow

The race we've been pointing for finally filled and will go as the 7th on Thursday's card at Bay Meadows. With the weather we've been having, there's a good chance it will be washed off the turf. Last time that happened she romped in the slop at 8-1. That was for a tag of 16k, and this time it's an open $25k affair, though. Even so, we've got the world's winningest active jockey in the irons. That should guarantee a good ride and a short price.

Reno's Soft Underbelly, Continued

After checking in to our hotel and playing a few quick hands of blackjack, my brother Bryan and I wanted to have a drink or two at a regular bar--not in a casino. We had a cold frosty at my old standby Doc Holiday's across from Harrah's, then walked about looking for another spot. There was a decent billiards bar, a Reno chic lounge with a DJ spinning chill jams and then there was the Riviera Lounge.

Bryan saw the neon Bud sign from a block away. I discounted it, as we would be getting farther yet from the casinos and the cold was wearing on me, but Bryan wanted to check it out. As we closed in, the establishment revealed itself to be a seedy motel bar set back in a parking lot which etched images of rooms by the week or hour and their likely patrons. I was guessing this dive hotel and bar was the last step before homelessness or the first step afterward. We walked in, sat down, ordered our drinks, and looked up at the flickering screens behind the bar flashing hard core porno. And I mean hard fucking core, eager home movie stars, sloppy and rough, fingers and thumbs and tongues. Women with jailhouse tattoos and gap toothed white dudes with afros.

My gin and tonic was enroute as I took inventory: two cowboy hat wearing, leather faced baby boomers, one younger Latin cat in all black, and our very standoffish young female bartender. The place had two stripper poles and four tables which were "reserved for couples", the signage alerted us. There was also a "couples room" in the back, where another patron, a women I believe, emerged as we were leaving. We were already putting our drinks down pretty quickly when we were notified it was last call. At 11pm. They were probably just getting rid of us, but we were ready to go.

RIP - Reno Turf Club

Only the most hardened horseplayers will likely remember the Turf Club which was recently demolished to make room for the train depot and sat near the Cal-Neva. The joint was poorly run and more dilapidated than the Fairmount Park simulcast lounge, but was heavy on steel eyed characters, which was the real draw.

Again thanks to Ruben at Your Average Horseplayer, I found I'm not the only one that appreciated the soft underbelly of Reno, of which The Turf Club was a key component. The Portland band Richmond Fontaine pays homage to the bottom feeder's emporium in a couple of their songs, not to mention other low rent destinations such as The Fitzgerald, a block away, and Winner's Casino in Winnemucca, NV. I've been to all three, and I'll be staying at the Winners again in June for the Humboldt County Fair (not to be confused with the Humboldt County Fair in Ferndale, CA) which features mule racing and mixed breeds.

I own a filly in partnership with Ruby Thomas, who also trains mules. As I've mentioned before, and will continue to plug, she will have one of the Taz clones for their unveiling at the Winnemucca meet. I cannot find any web presence for the fair or the meet, but it's been going on for ages--this is some real cowboy business.

Reno In Review

I spent the weekend in Reno's fine and not-so-fine race books, most of which I had been to before, but on the advice of the most affable Dave Tuley of DRF, I made a stop at the Reno Hilton, which is my new favorite book. Also, a shout out to Birthday Boy Ruben over at Your Average Horseplayer for referring me to the fine sports scribe.

Silver Legacy's book has an outstanding atmosphere--dark stained wood, well appointed and generally classy, although a little light on the tellers, and the set up of the screens was a little better at Harrah's.

Reno Hilton was tops. I hadn't been there before, but it was worth the drive. Also, it seems they're the only book in town that has derby futures this early and they take pick six bets. All the corrals have their own monitors, as well. The only thing I would change is to separate the race book from the sports book so we can hear all the race calls over the games.

Harrah's has the best big screen set up. They have one enormous screen which shows whatever race is going off now on it, six giant screens which carry the six most popular signals, and something like 15 or more smaller screens that carry everything else and duplicates of the bigger tracks. You can see every track very well from every seat in the house. At times they needed an extra teller, and some of the tellers were not as proficient at operating the tote machine, though. Also, the atmosphere is a step below the Silver Legacy.

John Ascuaga's Nugget has a cozy, higher-end atmosphere, and is separate from the sports book. When I was there, they only had one teller most of the time, and sometimes two, which meant some people were shut out. The room really had a good feeling aesthetically, though, and that made up for a lot of the other short comings.

Cal-Neva is known for their race and sports book operation, as their book is the operational back office for many of the Reno books such as the Nugget, Boomtown and the El Dorado. Even though they may run an outstanding book, in the strictest statistical use of the term, their facility and customer service in their downtown casino is among the worst of full service books I've seen. The facility is ugly, uncomfortable, has no large screens, and some of the tellers are downright surly. At one point I placed a $10 win bet about two minutes before post. The teller printed the ticket, while my ten spot lay on the counter. I looked at the ticket and it was the wrong horse. I told him so, and asked him to void it and put it on the horse I asked for. He said NO, snatched my bill and said no refunds. I argued briefly, and pointed out that I had not left the window yet and had the right to inspect my tickets. There was maybe two other people in the book and no other tellers, so I was out of luck. Neither the horse I intended to wager on, nor my errant ticket won, but that was little consolation. I won't go back.

TBA Announces Saint Liam Horse of the Year

The Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance has announced Saint Liam as 2005 Horse of the Year. The TBA uses an algorithm which rewards activity in concert with impressive performances in big races. I believe this method of crowning champions is better for the sport and the breed than the current prom queen voting method of turf writers.

Viewers' Choice Awards for HRTV & TVG Personalities

In today's column, Richard Eng reveals his Eclipse ballot. He is also asking for viewer input for the best talent on HRTV & TVG. I put my ballot together but want to plug one of them individually. I think she is the best between both networks:

Hands down, the winner is Christina Olivares. Remember her from last year's Santa Anita meet? Ok, she's smokin' in a sun dress when interviewing connections in the winners circle. I won't deny that her, a'hem, assets, got my attention. But jeeze louise, she's just incredibly knowledgeable. She's a goddamn expert on the sport. Furthermore, the organic knowledge she has from growing up on the backstretch and familiarity with the connections makes her tops in my book. She always asks the right questions. She is disarming, a substantive asset that yields real answers, and her delivery is so casual it's like she's interviewing her favorite uncle. Contrast that with the floozy at TVG who knows nothing of the sport and acts like a caricature of a ditzy blond when conducting an interview.

"Movement" Approved

Now it's official. The filly's name has been registered in good order with the Jockey Club as Movement.

Although strictly administrative, logging into my Jockey Club account and seeing the following is one of the immeasurable joys of being a neophyte horse owner. I wonder if clocker, and regular commenter at LATG, Walter has noticed her on the 2007 Kentucky Oaks futures board in Vegas yet.

-------------------------------------------------------
Detailed Naming Information
Movement 2004 out of Delamere

Entered Type Name Selected Status

12/13/05 Name Claim Movement Approved
12/13/05 Name Claim Grand Complication Not Checked
12/13/05 Name Claim Verge and Foliot Not Checked

Hanger-On To Attend Hollywood Futurity

I'm southbound Friday to visit my gutair picking buddy and occasional Lucinda Williams sidekick Dick Deluxe, and to take in Saturday's Grade 1, $250,000 Hollywood Futurity with another buddy, trainer Grant Forster.

Grant's backstretch outfit also plies their trade for Eoin Harty trainer of A.P. Warrior when Eoin has an entry at Hollywood Park.



Stan Fulton, founder and former President of Anchor Gaming, which was aquired by slot machine giant and Wall Street darling IGT, counts A.P. Warrior among his stable's well bred stock. Mr. Fulton also happens to own Sunland Park, known for the WinStar Derby and their slots infused purses. He is every bit as much a part of horse racing royalty as names such as Phipps, Lewis, and Stronach. Even so, I'm much more keen to get my picture taken with Grant & Eion in some contrived yet seemingly unscripted pose to put forth the false image of myself as a member of racing's elite. This hanger-on will be making the most of it.

MOVEMENT

I submitted the name application to the Jockey Club Registry yesterday with my first three choices for our Exploit filly: Movement; Grand Complication; Verge and Foliot. I fully expect to be awarded Movement. So much so, I've already ordered my "MOVEMENT" HOODIE. For those in the know, you can see I'm working with a mechanical watch theme, my other passion.

Delta Slam Still Seeks Maiden Win

The $145k colt and half brother to our filly is still seeking an elusive first win. The rough start may have cost him a bit in his last, and he managed to bring home a small check after flattening out in the stretch, but this guy seems to have been a bit overpriced as a 2yo in training this past spring.

Indian Racing

Akshay in India made it to a nearby track for the first time recently and shares some sharp images with us. Whenever I travel, I'm sure to hit the local horse track, whether in Rio De Janeiro, Saigon, England, or Sallisaw, Oklahoma, for that matter. Horse racing doesn't have the popularity of futbol or many other sports, but so many even far flung destinations have a track. When I show up at one of these emporiums of horse racing, devoid of tourists and sporting a substantial language barrier, I'm always welcomed with the universal horseplayers zeal when discovering another appreciating soul of their personal hidden gem--the track.

This Mumbai track looks plenty grand and I'd love to play punter in their grandstand one day. Their website puts most American tracks to shame. I wonder how they ever found a web developer in India though.

Racing is one gift the English left the subcontinent I hope is not begrudged. Regardless, India is likely to be a better steward of the sport in the coming century than that other little known set of colonies in America. I hope Akshay makes it back to the track to uncover more of racing's delights.

Fragile Breed Begs for Rankings

I diverge briefly today from my narrow focus on small time horse ownership. I feel fellow bloggers like Alan, Patrick, Jessica, Ruben & Jonathan do a much better job of analysis than I can, yet since Patrick and the Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance have overcome my initial skepticism over rankings, I wanted to pile on a bit.

Bill Finley offers up some rather ill-informed writing on racing yesterday, and yet I agree with his key premise: the breed is too fragile. I'll leave the "ill informed" portion of my critique, particularly with regard to his analogy between the horse and the NFL running back, for another post.

But make no mistake, the breed is fragile. How this happened and what to do about it is another matter. I believe it has much less to do with the trainers and more to do with breeding. My position is that, at the margin, a trainer can likely get slightly more from a lightly raced horse on key race days. Given that this game is one of inches, there is incentive to do so.

Breeders have lit the path to fragility by the traits they seek....Longevity, not among them. This leads trainers to run even less as experience with the evolved (read: more fragile) breed reinforces this notion as more fragile horses are more likely to be injured training and racing.

Why do they breed more fragile horses, then? For a flash in the pan, these horses perform at a higher level, even if the chance of a horse so bred competing in many races for many years is quite low. There are also exceptions, of course. The Poisson distribution has shifted, not to say that a few horses can't still fall somewhere in the "spectacular" range of the z-scale. [someone with actual knowledge of statistics should correct my likely incorrect nomenclature, here]

Another aspect of the fragile breed issue that is often ignored is the role of science and equine medicine. We are far more able to detect minute problems in todays horses than those of 20, 50 and 100 years ago. The value of breeding rights today dictate that little risk be taken, when in years past owners and trainers might be oblivious to risks such as Afleet Alex's avascular necrosis problem, that was "almost impossible to see."

What's the solution? I don't know precisely, but one can not dictate to owners and trainers to run their horses more. Nor can breeders be ordered to value stamina and longevity. What seems to be the best solution is one developed and sponsored by Patrick over at Pulling Hair. Awarding Horse of the Year honors based on a system that rewards activity and not just a couple of big wins would go a long way. If Patrick's system was subscribed to rather than the current writer based regime, the owners, trainers, and breeder's would eventually come along. If the incentive is there, breeders will breed for those traits and owners and trainers will run accordingly.

New Acquisition

I bought 10% of a filly for a song this morning from Ruby Thomas, my trainers mom. I told her about some of the partnerships I'm in and she thought dishing off small percentages to hacks like me sounded like a good idea. It's not often that you can get a small percentage of a horse with no mark-up and without the partnership management taking a big cut of the winnings.

I couldn't say no. Plus, Ruby is super sweet, and I love watching her mules on the summer fair circuit. As I've mentioned before, she will have Idaho Gem, one of the cloned Taz mules next summer. I'm headed to Winnemucca in June so I can see two mules with the identical genetic makeup race one another.

If anyone wants a piece, I'll give you her number.

Leave to Appeal - CHA-CHING!

A tad delayed in getting this up, but this li'l filly is like the energizer bunny. We claimed her for $6,250 and now she's won for $12,500 and $16,000. This last race was a delight the way she charged up the lane to nip the chalk at the wire. And with the SoCal turf suplements the purse rang in at $24,000. If only all claims worked out so well.

Results and Entries

Delta Slam finished in mid pack last Wednesday with an uninspiring run. I didn't see the race, but the chart didn't offer much promise. We'll keep watching in hopes he turns it around.

Leave to Appeal is being stepped up in class yet again and is entered in the 7th at Golden Gate on Black Friday. You can keep the shopping malls, I'll be at the track.

A partner in my Exploit filly, Irving, alerted me to a couple of broken maidens by Exploit progeny. One, in a 2yo Maiden Special Weight at Zia Park at the new track in Hobbs, NM, and another MSW winner at Hawthorne for 3yos. Both brought home nice checks, but I'd rather not have to wait until November of our horses three year old campaign to get our picture taken. Unless there are some extinuating circumstances, we'll drop her to a level where she can win before then. I have no illusions--we probably have a claiming horse here, but we'll let her opinion rule, of course.

Delta Slam Tries Turf

Half brother to our yearling, Delta Slam drew the six hole in a one mile maiden special weight over the Matt Winn Turf Course tomorrow at Churchill. He's got enough turf pedigree, in my opinion, and has every right to take to the surface. This is a solid field, though, and he'll have to improve to make an impact. We're hoping for the best.

Hard Day at the Track

I spent no less than 14 hours indulged in nothing but horse racing Sunday. From 6a works to TVG & HRTV supplied night racing. I dropped the little lady off at SFO at 5:30am and hotfooted it to Golden Gate for morning works--homemade bloody mary mix in tow.

Sunday was Cal Cup day with an early post so I had no down time, even utilizing the renovation break to make a few picks. It was lackadaisical handicapping, loads of fun, and as it turns out profitable.

About mid-card I ran into one of my favorite jocks, Barrington Harvey. He's not setting the world on fire, but he's a decent rider and I cleaned up with him at last year's Golden Gate fall meet when he logged a fourbagger and I had three of 'em.

Last Wednesday Barrington had tipped me off to an Ellen Jackson mount he had the following day--longest shot on the ML. He'd worked'em and said this was a ton of horse. I don't bet on Barrington's tips, but not because his tips are no good. They usually have some merit, but he tells EVERYBODY and when he's got a live one they'll get crushed.

At any rate, the horse ran well for second. The long and the short of the story is "Baze cried to the stewards" lodging an objection and Barrington got DQ'd and days. I didn't see the race and one jockey's account of events is less than reliable, but I always root for Barrington. He's headed to New York this weekend to see his kids and was hoping to get a win or two so he could throw some cash around. He had two mounts today, both up the track. I hope he gets a winner tomorrow. Tough gig, being a jock.

Leave to Appeal Upsets at 14-1

Leave to Appeal scored her third win in a row on Wednesday despite being hung five wide in the far turn and lugging out in the stretch.

The real headline is that this is the very first time I did not place at least a token win bet on a horse in which I had an ownership interest*. I was despondent after being shut out at the windows on the 6th at Santa Anita when I loved the 2 horse Stormin' Away at a very generous 10-1. The race went off with 1 MTP still showing on the in house feed and with my voucher still in the terminal. He wired the field, I sulked, then watched with mixed emotions as my horse took the honors at an even bigger price. The fact that I did not bet my horse tempered the joy I took from the win. This does not seem rational, but there is no denying the mixed emotions I felt as she stuck her nose in front at the wire. It probably speaks volumes about me. Deep down I'm still far more of a horse player than a horse owner.

*It seems somehow pretentious or misleading to say "a horse I own" or "my horse" when I only own between 2% and 20%, as is the case in most of these partnerships. I suppose it's time I get over that, for the sake of readability and avoiding wordiness, if nothing else. The yearling, on the other hand, I feel truely is My Horse, even if I have dished off some to a coupla partners.

Leave to Appeal entered Wednesday

Leave to Appeal is the most recent claim from a partnership I've been in for about a year. There are nearly 40 partners which makes it a bit impersonal, in that you don't get the access you would as an outright owner, or in a small self directed partnership. The advantage is someone else handles all the bills, you can get in for a very small investment--just a few hundred dollars--and this one is structured such that all fees are paid out of the initial investment and the assets, if any, are liquidated after the term of the partnership elapses.

We claimed her for $6,250 so we're stepping up quite a bit, but Armando's pretty high on her and she has some back class.