A dual maiden breaker: the Big A and Sunshine Millions

January 27, 2012 by Teresa

Aqueduct entrance in the old days

Seven years ago this weekend, I went to Aqueduct for the first time. I had spent more of the previous summer at the races in Saratoga than ever before, and having made my maiden voyage to Belmont in the fall of 2003, it was time to venture to Ozone Park.

My friend Jonathan, who had covered racing for the Post-Star in Glens Falls before joining academia, and I scanned the calendar for a day that might add a frisson of excitement to a dull winter day; my first day at Belmont had been on the day of Mineshaft’s Jockey Club Gold Cup. In the absence of any comparable stakes races in a New York January, we landed on the day of the Sunshine Millions.

Parking ourselves at a table in the Man o’War Room, we watched and bet Aqueduct and Gulfstream; we didn’t pay that much attention to California, and while I remember cashing a few tickets, it wasn’t what I’d call a fantastic wagering day.

But no matter. We had a blast.

We loved taking the subway to the track. We loved hanging out and drinking beer and betting horses. It was a little rough finding my vegetarian friend something to eat; he might have had potato chips for lunch.

I remember a lot about that day. I remember a hunch bet I made on an Aqueduct race with zero minutes to post, and I remember winning. I put that horse in my stable mail and seven years later, I’m going to visit him this weekend. It’s why I won’t mark my Sunshine Millions/Aqueduct anniversary at the Big A.  You’ll hear his story sometime soon.

I remember Jonathan telling me about some undefeated hotshot speedball that was shipping in from the west to run in the Ocala Stud Dash, and I remember watching Lost in the Fog dust his competitors, winning at odds-on by more than four lengths.

I don’t remember that Catmeifyoucan finished fifth or that Twice the Cat finished seventh, and I don’t remember that the Big Top Cat/Surf Cat exacta in a maiden race paid at Santa Anita paid $50.90, and I’ll bet Jonathan doesn’t, either, though he’s the person who coined the term “catzacta.”

I remember that I lost money on Moscow Burning in the Filly & Mare Turf, and I remember kicking myself for not betting Zakocity, who had won twice at Saratoga the previous summer and whose name charmed me, when he finished second in the Sunshine Millions Classic at 28-1.  I rued that this Francophone Francophile let Musique Toujours go at 70-1, and I wished that I’d had that $850.40 exacta.

I don’t remember that Lava Man finished seventh in that race.

I do remember freezing—FREEZING—as I stood on the subway platform waiting for the A train to take me home, and I do remember planning with Jonathan when we’d come back. Despite our best intentions, I think it was a year later, for Sunshine Millions 2006. We sat at a table in Equestris that day. The vegetarian food there was not much more varied than it had been in the Man o’War Room, though I think that Jonathan ate something other than potato chips.

I do remember pledging to be at Gulfstream for the Sunshine Millions one day.  It hasn’t happened yet, and I look at the entries this year with no little bit of envy, at old and new favorites racing.  I’d like to be there to see Atoned and Solitaire in an allowance, Atoned whom I’ve followed ever since his Remsen, always hoping that the gutsiness I loved in that race would emerge again. Atoned, the son of Repent. That alone was enough to make him a favorite.

Pomeroys Pistol and Cornelio Velasquez

I’d like to see Awesome Feather try to make it 9 for 9 in the Sunshine Millions Distaff, and  I’d like to see Pomeroys Pistol in the Filly and Mare Sprint; I’ve been a fan since her Prioress at Belmont last summer, though I do wish that she had an apostrophe in her name.  I’d like to see Terri Pompay’s Zero Rate Policy in the Sunshine Millions Sprint.

I won’t make to the Sunshine Millions this year, in person or remotely; I’ll be at a farm upstate, and that’s not too bad, either. But maybe next year…

For more on the Sunshine Millions, check out Hello Race Fans! and Kevin Martin’s 10 Things.

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Visiting Purim

January 18, 2012 by Teresa

In late December of 2010, on a frigid, glittery, ice-inflected Kentucky morning, I pulled into Richland Hills Farm. Ed DeRosa and I were on a winter farm tour mission, and our host, Leanna Packard, graciously welcomed us, though I can imagine that there were many things she’d have rather done that morning than walk us between frozen paddocks.

Our first stop was to see Sightseeing, the son of Pulpit standing his second season at stud. He won the Peter Pan in 2007 and finished third in the Dwyer and the Jim Dandy, fourth in the Travers. He was a 3-year-old with Street Sense and Hard Spun and Any Given Saturday; he finished just half a length behind NoBiz like Shobiz, 3 ½ lengths ahead of Any Given Saturday, in the Wood Memorial that year.

Known as much for his temperament as for his racing, Sightseeing was something of a head case. In the early days of this site, I wrote,

And what’s up with Sightseeing? Two major duds in a row, after a series of races that made you think he could be a major competitor at the end of his three-year-old season. He was “excused” from the post parade and rumor has it that he’s sort of a head case. Blinkers on for the Travers: he finished fourth of seven by eleven lengths. Blinkers off for the Brooklyn: he finished last in a field of five. Shug must be scratching his head about this colt.

Leanna acknowledged that life as a stallion had not entirely eliminated Sightseeing’s quirkiness, but on that December morning, it seemed to have had softened. Sightseeing came right to the fence, eager to visit with the humans, gratefully accepting treats and nose rubs. He reminded me that day a little bit of a puppy, eager and goofy and friendly. He seemed disappointed when we walked away.

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Oversight

January 14, 2012 by Teresa

I’ve long loved words that have two definitions that contradict each other. “Enjoin,” for instance. If you are enjoined to do something, it’s obligatory. If you are enjoined from doing something, it’s forbidden.

“Peruse” is another. If you peruse something, you are either reading it carefully, or skimming it casually.

(Note: that which delights me drives my students batty.)

Some clever person coined the word “antagonym” to identify these words, words whose meanings are, in effect, antagonistic to one another.

And antagonism is not, it seems, an inconsiderable factor in recent uses of another favorite antagonym, “oversight,” as in Franchise Oversight Board.

“Oversight”:  watchful and responsible care.

Or: inadvertent omission or error.

How great is that?

The Franchise Oversight Board was established in 2008 when the New York Racing Association was awarded a 25-year franchise to run Aqueduct, Belmont, and Saratoga. Paul Post wrote then in Thoroughbred Times that the board’s mandate was to “monitor the business practices of the New York Racing Association.”

Last month, the Franchise Oversight Board came out with guns blazing when it was disclosed that NYRA had been imposing a higher-than-allowed takeout on a number of wagers. Robert Megna, chair of the Franchise Oversight Board, sent a scathing letter to Charles Hayward, president and COO of NYRA, suggesting that Hayward and others at NYRA were doing little to earn their “high compensation” in light of the organization’s “failure to manage a most basic accounting task.”

The letter did not mention Mr. Megna’s own organization, whose job is to oversee NYRA’s business practices. An oversight?

Two days ago, James Odato in the Times Union wrote about a new investigation, this one into whether NYRA’s ADW (full disclosure: a long and prominent advertiser on this site) has been improperly allowing wagering on credit. The investigation by the State Racing and Board was prompted by a letter from Megna, of the Franchise Oversight Board. He seems to enjoy writing letters. And overseeing.

Yesterday, it was NYRA who let go with both barrels, vociferously defending its practices in a press release, saying that the funding practices of NYRA Rewards are “in compliance with the law and pursuant to the procedures approved by the New York State Racing and Wagering Board.”

Matt Hegarty in the Daily Racing Form notes that those funding practices are “identical to those used by other account-wagering companies.”

Is it possible that Mr. Megna didn’t know that the funding practices were approved by the State Racing and Wagering Board? Or that they are in compliance with the law? Was there, perhaps, some oversight in his inquiry?

Or do his questions suggest that NYRA is conducting business in a way other than it stipulates openly on its website?  Is he acting as his position requires, with oversight?

In either case, in a world in which government agencies are often given euphemistic and obfuscatory names, New York State government seems, unusually to have gotten it right with the Franchise Oversight Board.

“Oversight,” indeed.

 

 

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Spring at Aqueduct

January 9, 2012 by Teresa

January 7 at Aqueduct felt more like April. It wasn’t just the weather, though I have never  been warmer at the Big A, not on any Wood Memorial day, not ever, than I was there on Saturday; “balmy” would be an understatement.

But it wasn’t just the weather. It was the faces. It was the people. Yep, that was Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Graham Motion in the paddock in the middle of the card; up in the press box and out taking photographs, faces normally seen only for Grade 1 races appeared to cover the first Saturday of racing in New York in 2012.

What brought them all out? Why, the ungraded Count Fleet, of course. Of course.

Last year, when the race was won by Sagamore Farm’s Monzon, it was worth $65,000, $39,000 to the winner. This year? $150,000, $90,000 of which went to Godolphin Racing, owner of Alpha, winner of the 2012 Count Fleet.

The Busanda, the feature for the fillies Saturday, was worth $65,000 last year, when Dance Quietly, owned by the Estate of Edward Evans, won it. Yesterday, its value was boosted to $100,000, with $60,000 going to the pockets of Darley Stable, owner of winner Captivating Lass.

Thanks, Genting.

Or maybe it’s Kiaran McLaughlin that should be thanking Genting, because it was his horses that swept the Busanda/Count Fleet double yesterday, earning nearly double what last year’s winners of the two races did.

McLaughlin was watching the race from his home in Florida; stable business kept him there this weekend while his wife Letty and daughter Erin and assistant Art Magnuson did the honors in Ozone Park.

Alpha and Captivating Lass took similar paths to the Aqueduct winner’s circle. Both started their racing careers relatively late in the year; both won first out; both turned in clunkers in their biggest races to date.

Débuting in Saratoga at the beginning of September, Alpha broke his maiden with a 6-length win before finishing a distant second to Union Rags in the Champagne. A month later, he was 19 lengths behind Hansen and Union Rags in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

Captivating Lass won by two in her first start, at Parx in October, then finished seventh in the Demoiselle at the end of November.

“She’s an improving filly,” said Magnuson. “It was a much tougher race in the Demoiselle, but we were disappointed. We thought she’d run better.”

Characterizing her as a “late bloomer,” Magnuson also noted the filly’s size, nearly 17 hands, as a contributing factor to her late début. Said jockey Mike Luzzi, “She seems like a grinder and it took a while to get her going. She’s a big, rangy thing, by A.P. Indy, and it took the whole stretch to get her going.”

The similarities between Alpha and Captivating Lass don’t end in the paths they took to Saturday’s races.  Since last summer, McLaughlin and Darley/Godolphin have been experimenting with not running first-time starters on Lasix, with mixed results. Alpha and Captivating Lass both won first out without it, but both ran with it on Saturday.

“We scope them all,” said McLaughlin, “and if they need it, we put them on it. We saw a little bit of bleeding, and it’s got to be a preventive situation. We don’t want to risk running them one more time without it and having them bleed.”

At several recent conferences on Lasix, research has been presented to indicate that repeated episodes of bleeding have deleterious effects on equine health, causing thickening of pulmonary vein walls that leads to reduced blood flow, making it difficult for horses to breathe. Last June at the NTRA Lasix summit at Belmont, trainer Graham Motion said that he races all of his 2-year-olds on Lasix in order to prevent such damage.

While Alpha’s racing road for the first part of 2012 appears to be set, next starts for Captivating Lass are up in the air.

“New York has a great program for 3-year-old colts,” said McLaughlin, noting the upcoming Grade 3 Withers, Grade 3 Gotham, and Grade 1 Wood Memorial, worth $200,00, $400,000, and $1 million respectively, and indicating that Alpha would be pointed to either the Withers or the Gotham.

By comparison, the 3-year-old filly program in New York comprises the ungraded Busher ($75,000), Grade 3 Cicada ($150,000), and Grade 3 Comely ($250,000). McLaughlin said that those races are under consideration for Captivating Lass, as are stakes races at Fair Grounds and Gulfstream Park.

The Grade 3 Rachel Alexandra ($200,000) is at Fair Grounds on February 25, followed by the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks ($500,000) on March 31.

At Gulfstream, the Grade 2 Davona Dale ($250,000) will be run on February 25, the Grade 2 Gulfstream Oaks ($300,000) on March 31.

Regardless of where his horses run next, McLaughlin is certain of one thing.

“Next time,” he said by phone from Florida, “I’ll definitely be there.”

Alpha and Ramon Dominguez after winning the Count Fleet

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News and notes and Eclipse votes

January 4, 2012 by Teresa

Happy new year and welcome to the new Brooklyn Backstretch! I hope that you find a cleaner site that’s a little easier to navigate, a little easier on the eyes; I miss the Brooklyn Bridge at the top (and may well have to find another spot for it, somewhere on here), but a shot of a Saratoga morning isn’t a bad replacement. Many thanks to the web designer at Elance whose expertise and ideas made it happen, and to Kevin Martin at Colin’s Ghost for the suggestion to use Elance.

I submitted my Eclipse votes on Monday night and offer them here.  Some of the categories were easy; many were not. As I deliberated, I found myself wavering among choices, shifting the criteria I was using, questioning how different variables measured up against each other.  I realized that for me, showing up for races meant a lot, even if the horse didn’t win, and that I was not inclined to reward one big performance in the Breeders’ Cup with a vote. I’m confident about a lot of votes, still uncertain about others. While frustrating at time, processing all those past performances was a fun, challenging, and intellectually rewarding process…at least until I get skewered for my choices.

2-year old male:  Hansen, Union Rags, Creative Cause

2-year-old female:  My Miss Aurelia, Stephanie’s Kitten, Grace Hall

3-year-old male:  Caleb’s Posse, Shackleford, Animal Kingdom

3-year-old female:  Royal Delta, It’s Tricky, Zazu

Turf male:  Cape Blanco, Acclamation, Get Stormy

Turf female:  Dubawi Heights, Stacelita, Never Retreat

Older male: Acclamation, Game On Dude, Tizway

Older female: Havre de Grace, Blind Luck, Awesome Maria

Female sprinter: Hilda’s Passion, Sassy Image, Musical Romance

Male sprinter: Amazombie, Caleb’s Posse, The Factor

Jockey:  Javier Castellano, Ramon Dominguez, John Velazquez

Trainer:  Bill Mott, Todd Pletcher, Bob Baffert

Steeplechase:  Abstain. I rather regret abstaining in this category; there did seem a clear-cut choice for the top spot (Tax Ruling), though I went back and forth between Black Jack Blues and Decoy Daddy in the other two spots. Ultimately, I didn’t think that I should vote in a category that I follow for only six weeks a year.

Apprentice: Abstain.

Breeders:  Ken and Sarah Ramsey, Adena Springs, Brereton Jones

Owners:  Ken and Sarah Ramsey, Midwest Thoroughbreds, Repole Stable

Horse of the Year:  Havre de Grace, Acclamation, Cape Blanco

It’s been quieter than usual in this space for a while, and that’s going to continue, unfortunately. I’m finishing up a couple of big projects, and I’ve been fortunate to pick up a couple of regular gigs: a weekly post at Forbes.com (scroll for all the posts in the series) and a monthly feature for New York Breeder magazine (skip to page 20).   Later this month at Hello Race Fans!, I’ll have horse profiles on Mineshaft and Silverbulletday and a track guide to Gulfstream Park; I’m also working on an article about Three Chimneys Farm for Thoroughbred Times.  At the top of the column on the right, you’ll find a list of my most recent work elsewhere; that list is updated regularly.

So: the good news is that I’ve got plenty of fun projects to work on; the bad news is that when that happens, Brooklyn Backstretch suffers. But I hope to get back to regular posting here soon, with stories about a visit to Ramsey Farm in Lexington, historical stories on some of the races here in New York this winter, and profiles of humans and horses that make racing so interesting.

I hope that you all had great holidays and very best wishes for the new year –

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My Year in Racing

December 29, 2011 by Teresa

A racing refrain this year is that 2011 has been somewhat lackluster. No big emerging star, no clear choice in many Eclipse categories, few breathtaking performances.

For many of us, though, the transcendent times in racing come on small stages, in quiet moments; memories are made when we don’t expect them to be, and not when the whole world (such as it is, when it comes to racing) is watching.

Here are my 2011 memorable moments, the joyful, the exhilarating, the sad, the highly personal, on the track and off, with photos and videos and links where appropriate, presented in largely chronological order:

Learning last February that I’d been invited to join the voting committee for the Hall of Fame was among the most humbling and exciting things that’s happened to me since I started writing about racing. An honor on its own, it was made all the more meaningful by my family’s erstwhile connection to the Museum.

Bad news came later that month when we learned that Giant Moon had died unexpectedly from laminitis during a winter freshening at the farm. He was always fun to watch on the track, always game, and a favorite to visit on the backstretch. What a blow to his connections, who adored him.

Last March I wrote about Tom Fool, trained by Hall of Famer John Gaver; what a treat it was when his grandson left a comment. Gaver III is a trainer himself, and someone that I am now pleased to call a friend. Racing history is indeed alive and well and in good hands.

A few weeks later, I was wandering a Gulfstream shedrow one Sunday morning when I came across an imposing, genial, and curious face. Later than afternoon, he nearly stole the Florida Derby, settling instead for second before going on to win the Preakness.  Watching Shackleford show up on every big race day was one of the joys of 2011.

Anyone who reads here regularly knows that I think that the Kentucky Derby is pretty much an over-hyped affair that gets way too much significance given its results; nonetheless, it was pretty cool to attend my first one.  And while Uncle Mo dominated the pre-race narrative, it was his jockey, John Velazquez, who got to carry the blanket of roses a day after learning that his scheduled mount would be scratched. That’s the Derby story I’ll remember.

My attachment to Winter Memories began last year, in the Miss Grillo at Belmont, October 2010, but she dominated my racing life in 2011, getting to the winner’s circle in four of six starts, most memorably in the Garden City in September. Talking to her connections – owner/breeder John Phillips of Darby Dan and Phillips Racing, trainer Jimmy Toner – was always an unqualified pleasure, as was recognizing her pedigree, going back five generations in the Darby Dan family.

Her breathtaking – literally, for me – win in the Garden City is one of five races on which you can vote for NYRA Race of the Year.

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Merry Christmas

December 24, 2011 by Teresa

From the Backstretch family to yours, best wishes for a Merry Christmas — and happy holidays to all.

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Dear Racing Santa…

December 22, 2011 by Teresa

It is, I recognize, a little late for a Christmas list…but I hope not too late for racing Santa take a look and maybe, just maybe, make my Christmas wishes come true.

I think that I’ve been a pretty good girl this year; oh, yes, there have been some naughty moments, but surely, far more nice ones?  Surely, Santa won’t see fit to put coal in my racing stocking this year.

So, Santa, if you’re not too busy packing your sleigh and if you’ve got room in there for a few more packages, here’s what I’d like for Christmas this year:

– For every racehorse to be guaranteed a safe, productive life when its racing days are over.

– For every backstretch worker to have access to adequate housing, pay, and medical care.

– For all of the parties interested in making policy about Lasix – the Jockey Club, the American Graded Stakes Committee, the Breeders’ Cup, trainers, owners, and breeders – to sit down and talk TO each other, instead of AT each other, and to work together to create thoughtful, humane policy, instead of strident, self-interested declarations.

– For racing to figure out how to be profitable without relying on slot machines for revenue.

– For more people to realize what a great game racing is and to come to the track to see for themselves.

– For the great stories of racing’s past to continue to be told.

– For all of them, humans and horses, to come home safely, every time.

It’s not too much to ask, is it, Racing Santa?

And what would you like to find under your racing tree this Christmas?

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Partying with Anna House children and the ghost of August Belmont

December 20, 2011 by Teresa

On May 8, 1907, August Belmont gave a dance and cotillion in the Turf and Field Club at Belmont Park prior to that season’s racing. Supper was served at midnight; trains to bring guests home departed at 3 a.m.

Belmont’s guests, I think it’s safe to say, enjoyed themselves, entertained as they were by a live orchestra playing some of the host’s favorites, hobnobbing with the social elite in the inspiring setting of Belmont Park.

I doubt, though, that they had as much fun as the nearly 400 children who came to the Turf and Field Club on Saturday, December 10, to choose gifts to give to their family members for Christmas.

For the 10th year, the Belmont Child Care Association hosted a holiday party for the children of the backstretch workers; thanks to generous donations from BCCA supporters and the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots program, the children could browse among thousands of gifts, picking out presents to put under their Christmas trees, before being permitted to choose one gift for themselves.

Dozens of volunteers acted as Christmas elves, escorting students through the room and wrapping and labeling packages; as children waited to come inside, they were entertained by a balloon sculptor and ate donated cookies and Christmas treats.

The little ones clutched lists with the names, ages, and sizes of family members; as I escorted Kelly into the room, her eyes widened at the display, and when I asked for whom she wanted to shop first, “Mommy!” was her decisive and exultant response.

Siblings shopped as their parents waited outside in the lobby, darting around tables and hiding their selections from each other so that the gifts would be a surprise on Christmas morning.  ­They deliberated over options: would Papa like a watch or a sweatshirt? Would my sister like this sweater or that necklace? I didn’t hear a single child ask to choose her own gift before shopping for her family.

Thanks to everyone who contributed generously to make this event such a success, and especially to the New York Racing Association for contributing the space, the ornateness of which made a special event even more festive, as we looked out from the fourth floor onto beautiful Belmont Park, as August Belmont’s guests did.

We didn’t have an orchestra, or a special supper, or a train just for us.  But I’ll bet that August Belmont would have smiled to see the children glowing with holiday spirit, no less merry than his guests were more than a hundred years ago.

The good photos here are courtesy of Lili Holzer-Glier; the mediocre ones are courtesy of yours truly.

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Still shopping?

December 16, 2011 by Teresa

OK, nine days until Christmas. Eight shopping days. I hope, for your sake, that you’re a little further along in your holiday shopping than I am.

But in case you’re not, and still in search of the perfect gift for the racing lover in your life, here are a few items you can pick up without battling last-minute-shopping hell.

Two calendars offer the chance both to contribute to good causes while providing an upgrade in your domestic scenery.

Horses and Hope is the product of photographer Sarah K. Andrew’s trips to the Camelot horse auction every week, where she works with a team of volunteer to ensure that unsold horses don’t end up headed to slaughter. All proceeds of this calendar beyond its printing costs go to charity, and so far, Andrew has raised nearly $25,000.  The story of the calendar is here; you can purchase it from Hoofprints.

You can help the humans in the sport this year, too, by purchasing a calendar, this one Barbara Livingston’s jockey calendar that benefits the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. Livingston apparently had little problem persuading some of the nation’s job jocks to take their shirts off for her; you’ll see John Velazquez, Ramon Dominguez, Garrett Gomez, and Kent Desormeaux, among others, as you’ve never seen them. The story the calendar is here; you can purchase it from Exclusively Equine.

The racing historian in your life will be thrilled to find the brand new, updated Champions from the Daily Racing Form under the tree.  Current until 2010, this version contains the stories and past performances of Zenyatta, Rachel Alexandra, and Proud Spell, among others; the newest chapter, written by the Form’s Jay Privman, is called “Ladies First.” Other chapters are written by Glenye Cain Oakford, David Grening, David Litfin, Jay Hovdey, and Joe Hirsch, and you can get past performances back to the 19th century. Available on the DRF website, and while you’ve missed the discounted price, you can still get free shipping and a free 2012 racing calendar.

Need a few more ornaments for the Christmas tree? Get this starting gate in exchange for a donation to the Belmont Child Care Association. You can invoke your favorite sport during the holidays while helping to provide low-cost childcare and education to the children of backstretch workers.

And no fan will be upset by a donation made in their name to one of racing’s numerous charities. Help the horses with a donation to Akindale Thoroughbred Rescue, Old Friends, CANTER, ReRun, or the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation; help the humans with a contribution to the BCCA, Backstretch Employee Service Team, the Race Track Chaplaincy, or the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. Help preserve racing history by donating to the Keeneland Library’s Daily Racing Form Preservation project.

Throughout 2011, interviews and discussions of new racing books appeared here; you can find them here, for the book lover in your life. For Thoroughbred Times, I talked to Jaimy Gordon about Lord of Misrule, which would mean both the National Book Award and the Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award, joining the literary and the racing worlds.

Anyone who loves racing and history will revel in Maryjean Wall’s How Kentucky Became Southern, the story of how Kentucky became the center of the racing world.

Add your own gift ideas below, and happy shopping…and happy giving!

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