Jessica Chapel / Railbird v2

Links for 2010-02-23

• New Dubai track a closer's special (DRF+)
  Of the 38 races run over Meydan's Tapeta track, only three have been won by front-runners, four by pressers, nine by trackers, etc. Add it up and, "… 58 percent of this season's Meydan synthetic winners — 22 of 38 — have been closers." Quite different from what one jockey expected prior to Meydan's opening: "Horses coming up from behind will find it very difficult so it’s going to suit horses that like racing up in the first five."
  (tags: horseracing dubai meydan track-trends dubai-world-cup)
• Introducing thoroMotion at thorobase
  Very interesting app for visualizing chart data (API to come).
  (tags: horseracing data info-viz information)
• Paul Corio at 210 Gallery
  Exhibit review: “As are many of Corio’s paintings, this one is named for a thoroughbred race horse, and according to gallery information the arrangement of colors is derived from the artist’s analysis of results at the Belmont and Aqueduct tracks. Whatever. All you really need to know is right before your eyes.” Racing rendered in geometric abstraction: View all the paintings on the artist’s site. The piece titled “Casino Drive” draws the gaze as much as the horse himself did during the 2008 Triple Crown season.
  (tags: horseracing painting abstract-art)

Posted by Delicious in Miscellany on 02/23/2010 @ 10:01 am / 1 comment

Links for 2010-02-20

• Has Gold Cup bout lost vital punch?
  On Denman and Kauto Star at Cheltenham. "As with all seductions, however, the more pulsating the anticipation, the greater the potential for disillusion. It's no good for racing to hitch up its skirts so provocatively, if it turns out that a couple of oranges have been tucked into its bra."
  (tags: horseracing british jump-racing cheltenham)
• The NYT’s blogs are set to be paywalled
  Bright side: Less competition from the Rail during the Triple Crown season.
  (tags: media blogging paywalls business-media new-york-times)
• Twitter Spectrum
  Compare any two terms used on Twitter, such as Zenyatta (legendary, beautiful), Rachel Alexandra (fast, perfect). [View spectrum graphic.]
  (tags: social-media research tools twitter)

Posted by Delicious in Miscellany on 02/20/2010 @ 10:01 am / 2 comments

Links for 2010-02-13

• Zeljko Ranogajec believed to be Australia's biggest punter
  "Once the overseas betting turnover of his 24-hour, seven-day operation is taken into account, his total annual betting spend globally is believed to be well over $1 billion." More from a related article on Ranogajec: "Advantages like the sophisticated information and rebates stack the deck in favour of professionals like Mr. Ranogajec and other internationally renowned punters like American Bill Benter, over average punters."
  (tags: horseracing wagering australia)
• Computerised attack on horseracing
  Article from 2000 about bettor Bill Benter, an early adopter of computer wagering. "If we do make money, the money has to come from somewhere. Well, yes, the general public loses a somewhat higher ratio." See also: This 2003 Wired piece on Hong Kong computer teams. "Working from mathematical models that are calculated to deliver a 24 percent return on investments, Hong Kong's most sophisticated computer-assisted bettors operate with long-term certainty of what their profits should be."
  (tags: horseracing wagering hong-kong)
• What's the one skill journos need right now?
  Hustle. Passion. Subject knowledge.
  (tags: journalism entrepreneurship)

Posted by Delicious in Miscellany on 02/13/2010 @ 10:00 am / Tagged Bill Benter, Handle, Technology, Wagering, Whales, Zelijko Ranogajec / Comments Off

Reading Palmer

On the Second Pass, John Williams resurrects Joe Palmer for a new audience:

I don’t want to give the impression that an interest in the sport, or a knowledge of its history, is entirely unnecessary to an enjoyment of This Was Racing. But it’s easy enough to skim any confounding details and focus on the more universal sentiments. Like many great writers and conversationalists, Palmer mostly circled his ostensible subject, rarely landing on it. The most memorable stretches of the book aren’t about racing at all. They’re about recipes for jellied whiskey or the Australian hobby of “kangaroo chasing” or listening to a band torture “My Old Kentucky Home.” (”I could have played it better on a comb.”)

More than half a century removed from his work, it is good to be reminded of what a master turf writer Palmer was. Read the complete review (and then, if you haven’t, “This Was Racing”).

From the archives: An excerpt from “This Was Racing” about trainers Duval and Hal Price Headley, Menow, and the 1938 MassCap.

See also: One of Palmer’s most recognized pieces is “Common Folks,” a near-perfect report of the recently-retired Stymie’s appearance at Jamaica.

Posted by Jessica in Readings on 02/04/2010 @ 2:30 pm / Tagged Joe Palmer, Racing History, This Was Racing, Turf Writers, Turf Writing / Comments Off

That’s Not a Mint Julep

… Mad Men character Peggy Olsen is holding in the video still below, found on the official Churchill Downs’ “Plan Your Derby Party” page:

At least it’s not Roger Sterling in blackface singing “My Old Kentucky Home.” That really could have been embarrassing.

From the Twitterverse: Says o_crunk, “@EJXD2 solid marketing. Ganja goes down better than a mint julep. Untapped potential in couch potato potheads waiting to get hooked on TVG.” Of course! Churchill is wisely reaching out.

2/8/10 Update: So, it wasn’t subversive marketing, after all. The Derby Party page is now free of all mentions of Mad Men and the episode three video clip.

Posted by Jessica in Miscellany on 02/04/2010 @ 10:26 am / Tagged Churchill Downs, Derby Parties, Funny, Kentucky Derby, Mad Men / Comments Off