JC / Railbird

News Archive

Del Mar, Secretariat, Delaware Park

Del Mar’s summer racing season begins this Wednesday (North County Times); the unveiling of a Secretariat statue is the highlight of Kentucky Horse Park’s SecretariatFest (AP); and Delaware Park officials say the Pennsylvania slots law is good for them (The News Journal).

Posted in News on July 18, 2004

Elliott, Dime Bets, Claiming Crown

From the NTRA Thoroughbred Notebook: Philadelphia Park jockey and Smarty Jones rider Stewart Elliott received a 2004 ESPY award for Best Jockey from ESPN, beating out Jerry Bailey, Edgar Prado, and Alex Solis for the honor.

The NTRA has teamed up with new association member Youbet.com to host a series of online handicapping contests, each of which will offer cash prizes along with spots in the DRF/NTRA National Handicapping Championship. The first contest will open on August 21.
Also in the news: The Cherokee Nation requested 12 racing dates from the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission on Thursday. The tribe would like to offer racing at Will Rogers Downs, which last hosted events three years ago (Native American Times).

A really good idea from Steven Crist: Thrills for a dime. “Ten cents a bet? The idea here is not to permit 10-cent show bets, but to offer multi-horse boxes and part-wheels in extremely low denominations. This could open up the world of super-exotic betting to many ordinary players who currently can’t afford to participate, or are forced into playing too small a number of combinations to collect more than once in a blue moon” (Daily Racing Form).

And Claiming Crown analysis from Jeremy Plonk: “Saturday’s six-pack of stakes races from Canterbury Park in Minnesota is a handicapper’s feast. Leave the wide-open clichés at the front door — all of these races will take heavy doses of speculation and time-honored methods of handicapping starter allowance races” (NTRA).

Posted in News on July 16, 2004

Winning and Losing

IMBY: Suffolk Downs’ very own Jill Jellison is “now the leading active female jockey in terms of wins” (Daily Racing Form).

All off for a good cause? Female jockeys in New Zealand posed nude for a calendar to raise funds for the Hunterville Trust, which aids injured jockeys. “Still two weeks away from the official launch … the 1000 copies on hand are as good as sold” (New Zealand Herald).

Posted in Jockeys, News on July 9, 2004

For Sale

Sotheby’s will auction a collection of sporting art from the estate of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Jeffords this October, including paintings from equine artists Sir Alfred Munnings and John Frederick Herring. Also up for sale: racing trophies from the 19th and 20th centuries. Why not buy one for your mantle? (Thoroughbred Times)

Posted in News on July 4, 2004