JC / Railbird

One of the many things wrong with the NYRA coverage of races is the lack of info on mishaps. Take for instance the fall of two horses on Friday. Two jockeys went down. Was there any update on the horses or riders’ condition?
Jason Blewitt will occasionally talk about who he wagered on. Why is he, presumably as a NYRA employee, allowed to bet? He also mentions “they” on occasion. Who is “they” he refers to? “‘They’ took it down……” It’s certainly not the general public who is “they.”
What we need to see from an outfit like ESPN on bigger racing days is cameras focusing on individual horses and each of those images taken at once on the screen. We could do without the nonsense from Kenny Mayne, who is about as bad as it gets, and Hank Goldberg. Does anyone really care about the porcine one’s piggy bank? Randy Moss and Jerry Bailey have a penchant for ‘really liking’ a horse as it enters the gate, not in say the time the post parade commences.
Tomorrow’s Travers Day coverage will be filled with some drivel, like in the past, and it would not be surprising to hear some more garbage about IEAH, Dutrow and Big Brown.
Here’s a reminder about what happened on last year’s Travers card. Starforaday, trained by Donna Wormser, (who?) won the race after the Midsummer Derby. The horse was tested as positive and that news finally reached DRF print in the twilight of 2007. The horse has since changed hands, raced earlier in the Spa meet, finishing third. What do you read in the form for this? “Disqualified from purse money…” How about publishing the results of the test? “Tested positive for overage and presence of clenbuterol” or “Tested positive for overage and presence of lidocaine.”

Posted by J on August 22, 2008 @ 6:50 pm

Bridge jumpers were not out in force for Ginger Punch. A little over $50,000 on her in a pool of $111,000+.
What has happened to Mott and Motion? These two famous grass trainers have gone dormant. The rains from the first half of the meet may have hampered their ability to get horses run (or entered), but they are mighty cold. Look for Mott’s Prussian to wake up on Saturday, but Motion’s Burnished Copper is not likely to get a win on the sod.

Posted by J on August 22, 2008 @ 6:58 pm

“They” (the “general public”) wins every race in the pari-mutuel system. They also lose.
Starforaday is my worst beat ever. I had the second-place horse (also a bomb) in an otherwise relatively chalky pick six on a double carryover day. The consos came up far short of my investment. That’s poker! I mean, racing.

Posted by EJXD2 on August 22, 2008 @ 8:54 pm

Starforaday, now in Contessa’s barn, got loose on the main track during training the first week of the meet. Without anyone (!) seeing the loose horse, he made it off the main track, across Union Avenue, and back to his stall in Contessa’s barn near the Oklahoma. He found his way home, all by himself.
Yeah, right. Dying to hear the real story on that one…

Posted by Teresa on August 22, 2008 @ 10:33 pm

Good news about the bad spill in the seventh — Sebastian Morales was unconscious and taken to the hospital for observation, but is now doing well, and Rudy Rodriguez and both horses escaped injury.

Posted by Jessica on August 22, 2008 @ 10:51 pm