Jerry Bailey will ride Funny Cide in his next start, the July 2 Suburban Handicap at Belmont. Longtime jockey Jose Santos was replaced with Bailey after the June 11 Brooklyn Handicap by trainer Barclay Tagg, who said of his decision, “I just think now and then a change of hands is good on a horse.” (Daily Racing Form)
Recently read …
“Horseplayers: Life at the Track” is a delightful memoir of the year Chicago writer and aspiring professional handicapper Ted McClelland spent playing the horses, and a funny, honest account of what it means to devote one’s life to beating the races. McClelland details his transformation from casual fan to obsessed racing geek with humor, as when he tells the story of calling his father to let him know he’d be visiting Dubai World Cup weekend — “That’s also Easter weekend,” says his father. “Is it? I didn’t see anything about that in the Racing Form,” replies McClelland — and captures the handicapper’s daily grind with equal parts wit and exasperation. Very little comes easily to McClelland or most of the other players he meets during the year — none have the preternatural discipline of one of the author’s mentors, the handicapper Scott McMannis — but among the losses, there’s an occasional big score, and eventually, an epiphany:
That’s one of the most useful statements anyone has ever made about the game, even if it is a little bleak.
Racegoers who want to know more about predicting equine behavior though and profiting off of it would do well to pick up a copy of “Insider’s Guide to Horseracing,” by New York trainer T.A. Landers. This highly readable racing primer is reminiscent of “Ainslie’s Complete Guide to Thoroughbred Racing” with its clear, concise, and intelligent approach to giving curious fans information on everything from equipment, shoes, and bandages, to training principles, track conditions, and reading past performances. Landers fills in the gaps left by many handicapping books, making this one an essential for the reference shelf.
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And coming out soon …
Suffolk Downs is the focus of a new book featuring more than 200 images of the track compiled by Suffolk director of public relations Christian Teja. “Suffolk Downs” is part of the Arcadia “Images of Sports” series and will be published on June 29. Teja talks to Boston Globe racing writer Ron Indrisano about the photos he chose and putting the book together.
New York governor George Pataki is pushing a proposal to speed up the bidding process for NYRA. “In the final hours of the New York legislature’s 2005 session, a whole series of racing bills are being debated behind closed doors at the state Capitol, including a Pataki proposal to move to July 1 from Dec. 1 the date for the appointment of a nine-member panel charged with beginning the NYRA franchise bidding process.” Interesting. (Blood-Horse)
6/24 Addition: Pataki’s proposal passes. NYRA gets an oversight board, and the formation of the committee to handle the bidding process for the New York racing franchise has been moved up to July 1 from December 1.
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This opening sentence from a Los Angeles Times article says it all about Belmont’s persistent short field problem this spring:
Only 34 days to go until Saratoga opens …
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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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