Immediately after winning her third straight Melbourne Cup, Australian champion Makybe Diva was retired to broodmare duty. “The queen of the track is to endure the fate of female aristocrats throughout history: arranged unions and dynastic pressures to continue her line.” A breeding expert estimates that a Makybe Diva foal by Storm Cat could fetch up to $8 million as a yearling.
– Frank Deford wants Afleet Alex named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year: “Afleet Alex is the true people’s choice –Â small, not well-bred, and dead game. Apart from all his victories, what he did in the Preakness was the single most amazing feat in athletics this year. Knocked down to his knees at the top of the stretch, he pulls himself up and roars to victory. Then comes back and runs away with the Belmont. This is the stuff of legend.” Right on.
– Churchill Downs is carding an entire day of races for two-year-olds. The special program is scheduled for this Saturday, November 5, and will include two graded stakes.
– Hollywood Park announced on Tuesday that turf racing was cancelled for the entire fall meet, owing to problems with the course. Horsemen are a little upset: “What am I supposed to do, go on vacation? … Not counting the 2-year-olds, about 80% of my stable is grass horses,” said trainer Bobby Frankel, who has divisions in California and New York and was planning to run Australian turf specialist Alinghi at the track.
With little more than two weeks remaining in the 2005 Massachusetts state legislative session, no vote has been scheduled in the House on the slots bill passed by the Senate in early October. Supporters of the bill say more than 90 House lawmakers are ready to vote yes on the measure, but House leaders, including gambling opponent representative Dan Bosley, have left them guessing when the matter might be taken up, and House speaker Sal DiMasi is still mum on where he stands on the issue. A spokeswoman for the speaker told the Boston Herald that, “At this point, I don’t think he has made up his mind … And I don’t think we have a timetable.” The bill could be introduced next January. There’s just one problem with that — the slots measure has been tied to a simulcasting bill that must be passed this fall for the state’s four racetracks to remain open.
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Jessica Chapel writes and edits in Massachusetts. Railbird is a Thoroughbred horse racing blog published from June 2004 to July 2019. More / Contact
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