– The Happy Handicapper narrows his Kentucky Derby picks to 14 (BN) … Gary West notes that picking Triple Crown contenders has become a “Sisyphean puzzle.” (ST)
– Jockey Patti Barton remembers her appearance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. She earned a pencil flip for telling “the Cliff Thompson story.” (LAT)
– New York Governor George Pataki’s proposal that anyone bidding for NYRA should expect to pay a $250 million franchise fee “is a not-very-veiled way of telling NYRA it’s not being invited back in the game after its turn ends.” (CN)
– Jay Cronley thanks those who finance racing: the slot machine players. (ESPN)
– NBC is airing the Sunshine Millions today, with coverage starting at 4 p.m. (Eastern Time). (BH)
– Send links, comments to railbird at jessicachapel dot com
Posted by JC in Miscellany on 01/29/2005 @ 12:00 pm / Follow @railbird on Twitter
The British bookmaker Euro Off-Track claims to have acted as a whistle-blower in the race-fixing/betting scandal that broke two weeks ago. Apparently, the betting shop, which was among the four named in the indictments of January 13 and which has been cut off by NYRA, reported the transaction specified in the charges as a “suspicious transaction.” Intriguingly, Euro Off-Track’s manager says that Magna, which hasn’t cut it signal to any simulcasting sites in the indictments’ wake, sent Euro Off-Track a notice calling for increased transparency and a new protocol in order to keep its signal, to which the betting shop agreed. (Racing Post)
Aside: We really need a catchy name for this scandal. Any suggestions? Email me, and I’ll post the best next week.
Posted by JC in Misdeeds & Wrongdoing on 01/27/2005 @ 10:30 am / Follow @railbird on Twitter
Say, have they turned back the pages
Back to the past once more?
Back to the racin’ ages
An’ a Derby out of the yore?
Say, don’t tell me I’m daffy,
Ain’t that the same ol’ grin?
Why, it’s that handy
Guy named Sande,
Bootin’a winner in!
[Read more →]
Posted by JC in Readings on 01/27/2005 @ 10:25 am / Follow @railbird on Twitter
