Barbaro is the 8-5 morning line favorite for tomorrow’s Florida Derby, but his post-time odds will almost certainly be more like even money. The wagering public loves undefeated horses, and there are no obvious standouts among the rest of the field. There are three knocks against Barbaro though: He’s making his first start on a fast dirt track, off an eight-week layoff, and breaking from post 10. The first two aren’t that serious: The colt trains on dirt and is a half-brother to stakes winner Holy Ground, after all, and trainer Michael Matz knows a little something about keeping horses fit. As Alan points out on Left at the Gate, Matz has had “four winners and a second with ten [starters in the 55-60 day range] over the last 12 months. So he certainly is capable of keeping his horses sharp without racing.” But the post position will be hard to overcome, considering the short run to the first turn at Gulfstream.
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Posted by JC in Racing on 03/31/2006 @ 3:00 pm / Tagged Kentucky Derby / Follow @railbird on Twitter
– The Skip Away could be a two-horse race between 2005 Kentucky Derby veterans Bandini and Noble Causeway. Both are returning to graded stakes competition for the first time this year off of good (and in Bandini’s case, record-setting) allowance wins earlier in the winter.
– The kid can ride: Apprentice Julien Leparoux broke the Turfway record for most wins in a single meet on Wednesday. The record-breaking win was Leparoux’s 151st out of 481 since January 1.
– Bill Christine remembers the “so-called golden age of horse racing” and can’t help comparing it to the sad state of racing today.
– Paul Moran pokes holes in NYRA’s new cash rewards program. “This is a case of much ado about very little in terms of real money.”
Posted by JC in News on 03/30/2006 @ 9:30 pm / Follow @railbird on Twitter
With April 5 set as the date for the Massachusetts House to debate a slots bill passed by the Senate last fall, both sides are advocating their positions with increasing vigor. The New England HBPA and the track employees’ union took out a quarter-page ad on the Boston Globe editorial page this morning (click the image to view the ad in full) that iterates the argument that gambling money leaving the Commonwealth now could be recaptured, while House speaker Sal DiMasi has officially come out as a slots opponent. The Boston Herald reports that the speaker’s “top lieutenants” are pressuring individual lawmakers to vote no on the bill: “The fix is in. It’s just like the old days,” said one Beacon Hill insider. “The word has gone out. He doesn’t want it.”
Speaking to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce today, DiMasis said, “I look at what has been going on in the racing industry, and it seems to be a dying industry,” and predicted that the slots bill would be defeated in the House. “I don’t think the support’s there that people think there is.”
That DiMasi has broken the silence he’s maintained on the slots issue for the last 18 months with such strong statements this week has deflated slots supporters who thought there was a strong chance for the bill to pass this year:
”If this is a vote that’s free and clear, we do have the votes to win it on the floor,” said Representative Kathi-Anne Reinstein, a Revere Democrat whose district includes Wonderland. ”If there is influence, of course, we lose.”
Supporters estimate that 90 out of 160 legislators in the House may vote yes on the bill, which falls short of the 106 that’s needed to override governor Mitt Romney’s expected veto. But it’s likely overriding a veto won’t be a concern after April 5. If the influential speaker of the House predicts that a bill won’t pass, “you can pretty much well … bet on it not passing.”
More: Slots legislation archive
Posted by JC in State Issues on 03/29/2006 @ 9:30 am / Follow @railbird on Twitter
