The weekend is coming up fast and that means more Breeders’ Cup prep races. This Saturday is a big one for juveniles, with the Champagne and Frizette at Belmont and the Futurity at Keeneland, which begins its fall meet Friday with seven graded stakes scheduled for opening weekend (Courier-Journal).
First Samurai and Henny Hughes headline the Champagne. The two colts last met in the Hopeful, which First Samurai won by four and a half lengths over Henny Hughes despite a green tendency to lug in. Trainer Frank Brothers changed bits on the two-year-old for his last workout, and the different equipment seems to brought some improvement (Blood-Horse):
“We gave him the chance to lug in, and he never thought about it,” Brothers said. “We put him behind two horses and brought him around. It took him a little bit to get by them, he had his chance to (lug in) but he didn’t do it.”
Trainer Patrick Biancone said that Saratoga Special winner Henny Hughes has trained well in the past few weeks (Daily Racing Form):
“Read the works before the Hopeful and before this race — I have twist a little bit more the screw,” Biancone said. “He’s working well. Everything is in good form.”
Six others are entered in the Champagne, including the Tim Ritchey-trained Menacing, making only his second career start (Times-Union):
“Running in a Grade 1 in his second race is not ideally what you want to do, but Menacing showed me a lot off the first race,” Ritchey said. “When you see him on the racetrack, he definitely has a presence to him. So I think it’s worth trying, and if nothing else he’ll get a little battle-tested and a little more experienced. He’ll either regress or go forward to bigger and better things.”
Ritchey also has a starter in the Futurity: Kid Lemonade, who ran second to Nick Zito’s Champagne starter Superfly at Delaware on September 17.
—
Spinaway winner Adieu is the morning line favorite for the Frizette (NYRA). She’ll face the unbeaten Keeneland Kat, who’s demonstrated a pretty strong late kick in both her starts, and Mykindasaint, who comes into the race 3-for-3. The Frizette will be a test for the filly. “I don’t fool myself about horses, and I don’t think she’s beaten a good filly yet,” [trainer Bubba] Cascio said about Mykindasaint. “But she’s beaten everything she’s run against easy. So we’ll just see” (Star-Telegram).
—
Volponi used the Meadowland Breeders’ Cup as a springboard into the 2002 Breeders’ Cup Classic. One of this year’s starters may do the same. The six-year-old Alumni Hall is the early favorite, coming off a seven-length win at Saratoga on August 25. Purge, Royal Assault, and Tap Day are also entered, as is Ice Wynnd Fire, winner of two straight at Saratoga. Longshot Itsawonderfulife ships in from Suffolk Downs for a shot at the $500,000 purse.
Posted by JC in Breeders' Cup on 10/06/2005 @ 11:45 pm / Follow @railbird on Twitter
Update: The bill passed the Senate by 26-9 (Boston Globe). That’s two to three votes more than internal polling in the State House suggested last week and enough to override a likely veto by the governor (two senators have recused themselves from considering any slots legislation because of potential conflicts of interest, bringing the 2/3 majority required from 27 to 26 votes). Before going to the House for the a vote, the bill will be debated at a committee hearing on October 18.
—
The Massachusetts State Senate is set to vote on a combination slots and simulcasting bill today (Boston Herald). The proposal, which would allow each of the state’s four racetracks to install 2,000 slot machines, was introduced by Senate president Robert Travaglini yesterday. There are enough votes in the Senate to pass the bill, but getting it past the House and the governor will be tougher. Travaglini, whose district includes the Suffolk Downs and Wonderland tracks, is ready to deal with the opposition:
Travaglini said he is prepared to “compromise” and negotiate with House lawmakers in what he acknowledged could amount to some dealmaking. As far as [governor Mitt] Romney goes, Travaglini questioned how staunch the governor’s current anti-gambling sentiments are. Romney, during the recent state budget crisis, floated his own gambling plan. “The governor has changed his mind on that. Maybe he will do it again,” Travaglini said.
That’s a big maybe — Romney was quite clear a couple of weeks ago in saying that he’d veto any expanded gaming legislation. And representative Dan Bosley, a staunch gambling foe and co-chair of a pivotal committee, is speaking out strongly against Travaglini’s move:
—
I’m not so much disturbed by the anti-slots position of this Cambridge Chronicle editorial as I am by its view of the sport:
Horse racing — along with its poor cousin, dog racing — are decades past their prime. The days when an underdog horse like Seabiscuit could capture the country’s imagination are history. For all its tradition, the Kentucky Derby is a once-a-year TV show. The sport of kings still has its charms and its fans, but they are growing older and fewer by the year.
If that’s your context, then yes, the slots bill looks like a handout and a bad idea. Why prop up an archaism? But I can’t fault the writer — it’s racing that’s fallen down in its marketing responsibilities. The industry-wide push for slots sometimes seems to have crowded out other initiatives that might attract people to racing, or removed the incentives tracks have to entice customers. Why revamp facilities or get creative with promotions or wagering options if slots are the magic answer to all problems? I do sometimes fear that if slots spread this attitude will only grow worse. Every racetrack will become a casino first, with the horses tucked away in the back, watched by a tiny crowd, present only as a technicality.
Posted by JC in State Issues on 10/06/2005 @ 10:00 am / Follow @railbird on Twitter
Trainer Tim Ritchey told reporters on Tuesday that Afleet Alex is “50-50” for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, depending on how well he does in a workout scheduled for Friday morning and whether he can get a suitable prep race in the following week (Blood-Horse). Ritchey is considering four or five options, including the seven-furlong Perryville Stakes at Keeneland on October 14. I’m trying to contain my excitement, but it would be amazing to have Afleet Alex meeting the likes of Rock Hard Ten and Saint Liam in the biggest race of the year. How would the three-year-old dual classic winner fare against older horses? How would jockey Jeremy Rose handle the competition? If he won, Horse of the Year honors would seem certain. But what if there was an upset winner and Alex ran second or third — off one prep and two workouts after an injury? The debate would be an interesting one for the end of the year.
Posted by JC in Breeders' Cup on 10/05/2005 @ 2:30 pm / Follow @railbird on Twitter
