JC / Railbird

International

This and That

NYRA’s video of Rachel Alexandra returning to Saratoga from Monmouth is full of mysteries. Well, two. What’s that face trainer Steve Asmussen makes at :59? And what’s the answer to the final question?

Yes! The Personal Ensign is possible, and maybe not only for Rachel Alexandra, reports Tim Wilkin in the Times-Union. “We’re trying to decide that. We have not confirmed anything yet. We’re looking at several options,” said Dottie Ingordo-Shirreffs, when asked if Zenyatta was being considered. Trainer Todd Pletcher has already said that Delaware Handicap winner Life At Ten is likely, an intriguing third to this much talked about match-up. (“There is no reason why this can’t happen,” Wilkin editorializes on his blog about just the big two, but no reason doesn’t mean some reason won’t be found …)

This year’s Arc winner? Breeders’ Cup Turf favorite? Harbinger demolished the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes field at Ascot on Saturday, setting a new course record of 2:26.78 with his 11-length win:

The following day:

… the boffins at Timeform, regarded as the “bible” of its field, put their necks on the line with a provisional rating of 142 for the colt. To put that in perspective, that is below only Sea-Bird, Brigadier Gerard and Tudor Minstrel since the firm’s first annual volume was published in 1948, and the equal of, or above, the likes of Ribot, Mill Reef, Dancing Brave, Dubai Millennium, Shergar, Vaguely Noble and last year’s celebrity, Sea The Stars.

Not all are convinced Harbinger deserves such an extraordinary rating: “… to have a horse go from 123 to 142 in six weeks would require remarkable improvement. It’s not impossible, but I’d like to see him do it again first.”

That may be a tall order: “Six of the last nine King George winners never won again while ten of the last 14 failed to ever repeat to the same level …“

Posted in Racing on July 26, 2010 / Tagged Ascot, Harbinger, International, Rachel Alexandra, Saratoga, Timeform Ratings

Get Used to It

Jay Hovdey:

Welcome to the bizarre, through-the-looking-glass world in which talented horses and their conflicted owners and trainers try to do business these days. As domestic prizes continue to contract, massive international purses still dangle on the distant horizons. Even the most timid practitioners of the Thoroughbred sport are tempted to fling inhibitions to the wind and fly to the far corners of the racing globe.

In five years, this trend won’t seem bizarre, but inevitable. We’re witnessing the emergence of an elite international racing circuit that runs from Royal Ascot to the Dubai World Cup, with stops in America, Australia, France, Hong Kong, and Japan on the schedule between.

Posted in Racing on June 26, 2010 / Tagged Breeders' Cup, Dubai World Cup, Frequent Flyers, International, Royal Ascot, Trends

A Perma-Site for the Breeders’ Cup

Kentucky Derby-winning owner-breeder Bill Casner is the latest to take up the argument advocating Santa Anita as a permanent site for the Breeders’ Cup. In a column for the Blood-Horse, he hits all the major points — weather, media market access, facilities, financial advantages, the global racing calendar — and concludes pragmatically:

The time is right to make Santa Anita the permanent venue. It is the correct business decision for the Breeder’s Cup event and the future of our industry.

I’ve refrained from commenting on the BC site debate so far, since it’s not one for which I can claim — or expect much assumption of — objectivity. I’ve done some work for the Breeders’ Cup, I welcome any reason to visit Santa Anita, and it’s probably fair to say I’m pro-synthetic surface. But there’s something about the tone of Casner’s piece that signals whatever the discussion among the BC board members, of which Casner is one, about whether to select a permanent site or establish a rotating site schedule, it’s over — all that’s left is coming to an agreement with the likely permanent host site.

So, what will it mean for American racing if the Breeders’ Cup settles at Santa Anita? The game will be more international (in wagering and participants), the event will attract more media attention (as it did this year in earning Emmy and SBJ award nominations). Forget talk of a “civil war,” especially if Santa Anita remains synthetic; there’s too much money and prestige at stake for the most recalcitrant owners and trainers to hold out for long. It will be a major change, but one with real potential for growing the game.

I don’t have much strong feeling about what the BC board seems on the verge of announcing, except on the matter of which track — and in that, they’ve made the right call, if Santa Anita is indeed their plan. There are many arguments for choosing Churchill, arguments not to be dismissed lightly. But, if Churchill Downs were to be named the permanent site, I’m certain that years from now we would look back in regret, pinpointing the decision as the moment the game became irrevocably marginalized, not only internationally, but within the US. Move the Breeders’ Cup to Louisville, and Churchill would become synecdoche for the two biggest events on the calendar, transforming racing from a national sport (niche as it may be) to a regional spectacle. No thanks, to that future. I’d rather see the Breeders’ Cup take a shot at global relevance and a mass audience in the glorious California sunshine.

Posted in Industry on May 12, 2010 / Tagged Bill Casner, Breeders' Cup, Business, International, Los Angeles, Santa Anita, Venues