JC / Railbird

News Archive

Noted: January 31

– Funny Cide will try to regain his winning form in an allowance race at Gulfstream on Thursday. The gelding finished seventh in his last start, the Mr. Prospector Handicap on January 7, but worked a sharp half mile on Sunday (workouts, however, have never been Funny Cide’s problem). Other possible starters in Thursday’s race include Pennsylvania Derby winner Sun King.
– Suffolk Downs announcer Larry Collmus, at Aqueduct for the winter, is taking questions from fans. And not just on racing: “John Q. Public: ‘Brokeback Mountain;classic or catastrophy?’ Larry Collmus: ‘I thought it was ok, not as good as I expected though. I really liked King Kong and the Woody Allen movie Match Point. Brokeback would be in my top five of the last few months.'”
– Trainer Todd Pletcher is asking a judge to toss out the $3,000 fine and 45-day suspension he received after one of his horses tested positive for mepivacaine following a race at Saratoga.
– Don’t forget to include a horse’s appearance in your handicapping. Here’s what to look for in the paddock and post parade.

Posted in News on January 31, 2006

Noted: January 26

– Andrew Beyer has seen the future of racing. So has Bob Roberts: “It’s my couch, my debit card, a laptop computer, and two pari-mutuel networks bounced off the satellite dish atop my garage and onto the screen of my television set.”
Both Beyer and Roberts are right that racing’s future is online, but I can’t help but to point out that some of the sites they praise, like Youbet.com, are unusable for Mac OS visitors. Youbet doesn’t even let Mac users get past the first page without throwing up an error message. And while the solution could be that Mac users just have to buy a PC and chalk up the expense as a necessary one to fully enjoy racing online, it really shouldn’t have to be that way — I can think of no other multimedia content or security-conscious financial services site that shows the same disregard for potential users. In some corners of the racing industry, though, customer service and making your product accessible just don’t matter.
Tote Board Brad isn’t ready to concede the future yet: “The track offers real value to me in a few ways.”
– A thoroughbred named for the Boston Red Sox 2004 World Series victory is set to make his career debut at Gulfstream Park in the next couple of weeks. Curse Reversed, a son of Grand Slam, was purchased by Boston-based racing outfit Centennial Farms for $180,000 at the 2003 Keeneland September yearling sale and is trained by Jimmy Jerkens. He probably won’t be the only horse with a Red Sox-inspired name to hit the track this year either: The Jockey Club reported in November 2004 a flurry of such names registered, including Red Sox Parade, Sweep the Series, and Bambino’s Curse.
– Maryland racing is suffering this winter. Short fields caused by the quarantine at Pimlico and restrictions on shippers into the track have made Laurel a bleak place to be these days. At Pimlico, a third horse was killed by the equine herpes virus this week.

Posted in News, Web/Technology on January 26, 2006

Noted: January 20

– Sunshine Millions draws 140 pre-entries. The Classic drew 26 pre-entries, including Malibu winner Proud Tower Too, Lava Man, and Buzzards Bay.
– French apprentice Julien Leparoux leads Turfway standings. The protegé of trainer Patrick Biancone has won 23 of 78 races so far this meet.
– Officials meet on possible plan to save Atlantic City Race Course. The talks are centered around a plan to renovate the 1940s era facility and add racing days.
– Equine herpes outbreak might force Pimlico closure.

Posted in News on January 20, 2006