JC / Railbird - Thoroughbred racing news and notes

I met Marc Subia today and he told me the story of his amazing autograph jacket. "It's my most prized possession." Marc started coming to Del Mar with his dad in the 1970s. It's his home track. And he's been collecting jockey autographs for decades ...

Grand Jete keeping an eye on me as I take a picture of Rushing Fall's #BC17 garland. #thoroughbred #horseracing #delmar

Another #treasurefromthearchive — this UPI collage for Secretariat vs. Sham. #inthearchives #thoroughbred #horseracing

Thanks, Arlington. Let's do this again next year. #Million35

That's a helmet. #BC16 #thoroughbred #horseracing #jockeys

Lady Eli on the muscle. #BC16 @santaanitapark #breederscup #thoroughbred #horseracing

Odds Improve for Mass. Slots

So say some state legislators (Boston Herald):

A small group of House lawmakers, including state Rep. Brian Wallace (D-South Boston), has been quietly lobbying colleagues and meeting with racetrack executives and union officials for more than a year. Buoyed by the state Senate’s 26-9 vote to legalize thousands of slots at the state’s struggling racetracks, Wallace and other pro-slots lawmakers plan to start pushing for a vote as soon as next week.

Posted by JC in State Issues on 10/09/2005 @ 9:45 pm / Follow @railbird on Twitter

Sunday Notes

Stylish Sultana, in her first start off a nine-week layoff, won the Louise Kimball Stakes for fillies and mares at Suffolk Downs on Saturday by a neck after making a big move coming out of the far turn and splitting horses in mid-stretch. It was her third victory of the year. Stylish Sultana’s last win came in the African Prince Stakes in June.
—
Turfway, with its new Polytrack surface, might be the safest racetrack in America: “Comparative entries in the equine ambulance response log show a 100 percent improvement in September over entries for the 2002 and 2004 September meets” (Lexington Herald-Leader). Over the course of the month, only 11 horses had to be vanned off the track, compared to 16 the year previously. None had to be euthanized. More praise for Polytrack: “It’s no overstatement that Polytrack could revolutionize thoroughbred racing” (Courier-Journal).
—
Saved from slaughter, a mare makes her second career start at the Meadowlands (Philadelphia Inquirer).

Posted by JC in News on 10/09/2005 @ 9:40 pm / Follow @railbird on Twitter

Four Furlongs in :46

Wow: Afleet Alex worked four furlongs handily in :46 at Belmont this morning (Blood-Horse). “This work was to get some air in his lungs,” [rider Jeremy] Rose said afterward. “We ran to the pole a lot more than last time just to make sure it was a consistent work. This was a lot stronger than his last work. I let him run the last half-mile and he seemed to enjoy it. He was really picking it up in the stretch.” Next for Alex: A prep race.

Posted by JC in Horses on 10/07/2005 @ 8:30 am / Follow @railbird on Twitter

← Before After →