Thursday, July 22, 2010
Haskell v Travers: Present, Past and Future
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY, July 21--Any regular reader of this space would know how I feel about Monmouth Park, both as an aesthetic racing experience and this year as a bold business experiment.
Whether the current meeting turns out to be a complete success at the bottom line or not--it only need prove to the state of New Jersey that thoroughbred racing remains a viable and important industry--the track deserves props for not accepting the status quo.
For the racing industry as a whole, their less-is-more model could prove a template for success in the years to come. Virtually all in the sport already agree that some form of contraction is the only way the sport can survive.
I’m rooting for Monmouth Park to live long and prosper. The industry has been, and will be, better for its existence.
I also had no issue with their doing everything possible to attract last year’s Haskell winner and reigning Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra back to the Jersey Shore, which they did.
Saturday’s Lady’s Secret--the only remaining and ungraded version now that Santa Anita has relegated its Lady’s Secret to the scrapheap of quaint antiquities--is unrecognizable from the original condition book version.
No longer to be run on Haskell weekend, the Lady’s Secret will be run the day after tomorrow--in competition with Saratoga’s first Saratoga, a headline equalizer, at least--at a new distance, and for a lot more money. Rachel is already sunning herself at the Shore, having arrived Tuesday without incident, and scheduled for a paddock stroll tomorrow.
Apparently, Rachel’s camp wanted an easy race to underscore what the Fleur de Lis seemed to indicate; that Rachel is Rachel again. That, and to insure a foundation for the tougher challenges to come. Besides, competition among tracks for box office attractions has long been part of racing’s fabric.
Hopefully, however, when general manager Bob Kulina recently referred to the Haskell Invitational as the premier three-year-old race after the Triple Crown, after the Derby, he was only having a little fun.
We trust that Kulina was, a) referencing its place on the racing calendar and/or, b) that this year’s renewal will feature a meeting between the Derby and Preakness winners, both absent from this year’s Belmont Stakes.
Throw in Ice Box, the fast finishing Derby runner-up, and some talented new shooters and it’s the best renewal in decades.
Assuming that the division’s best can remain healthy, it is hoped they will continue to meet for the remainder of the season. But for all its recent history, the Haskell never has been confused with the “Midsummer Derby,” not even with its purse of $1.25 million exceeding the Travers’ by a cool quarter-mil.
There have been 42 renewals of the Haskell, first run in 1968, as opposed to the Travers, which will have its 141st running on August 28th. In this decade, the Haskell has attracted its share of stars with Rachel, Big Brown, and 2010 Hall of Fame inductee Point Given heading the winning roster.
In terms of brilliance, the Travers since 2001 counters with the aforementioned, Point Given, Medaglia d’Oro, and Bernardini, adding classics winners Summer Bird, Street Sense and Birdstone just for good measure.
The prior decade was first rate, too, with Holy Bull, Serena’s Song and Skip Away lending their prestige to Monmouth’s signature event. Travers history in the ‘90s countered with another repeater from the Haskell, Holy Bull, along with the brilliant Coronado’s Quest and the redoubtable Lemon Drop Kid.
The only way the Haskell Invitational can hope to match the prestige of the Travers--which it need not do to be considered a great event--would be to extend the distance to 10 furlongs. As presently constructed, however, and given its place on the calendar, that would never happen.
But if, say, Monmouth really wanted to match Saratoga, signature for signature, what if they extended the distance another furlong, up the purse again, and schedule the Haskell a week later in the season, a too-close three weeks from the Travers?
Saratoga then might counter by rescheduling the Travers at a later date, to Labor Day weekend, but that could backfire given the realities of the traditional vacation calendar.
This is all a bit fanciful, of course, but Monmouth never has not backed away from making audacious moves. It also always seems to act as if it resents its perceived roll as New York’s red-headed stepchild. But as events become curiouser and curiouser, who knows what the future could bring?
Written by John Pricci
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Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Saratoga 142: Que Sera Sera
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY, July 20, 2010--The FAQ of the week--after who should I bet on opening day--is what do you expect to happen at this meet in terms of quality? Would it be, as Vic Zast phrased it, Saratoga Racing, or Racing at Saratoga?
I can say without equivocation it probably will be easier to divine a winner on Friday’s opening day card than to know what the following 39 days would bring. I haven’t the slightest idea how this meeting will turn out.
With Saratoga 142 looming, the phone has been ringing right out of is holder. Some friends and colleagues ask; others tell me how it will be. Of those doing the telling, the majority has been negative.
Even NYRA President Charlie Hayward admitted in a TV interview last weekend that the first few weeks of racing here might not be up to Saratoga standards. The question, however, is compared to what?
Compared to last year it has the potential to be quite favorable, perhaps even an improvement over 2009. Compared to yesteryear, of course, do you even need to ask? Nothing is as it has been. Name your category; today’s model is odds-on to be a tawdry imitation.
Saratogian turf writer Jeff Scott did some interesting research for Tuesday’s editions, yielding a few inescapable conclusions: That longer races, on both dirt and turf, are becoming fewer with each passing year, and that the trend does not augur very well for the breed’s improvement.
There either are no reliable programs for horses at graduating distances within the classes, or the population is lacking, or both. Either it’s because pedigrees are overwhelmingly short, or the significance of the condition book is declining since designing a program for races that don’t go is like drinking downstream from the herd.
Or simply does the modern practice of giving horses fewer races and more time between starts exacerbate all of the above? It’s a problem that’s prevalent everywhere, only it takes on an added dimension when the subject is Saratoga racing.
The most dramatic changes in racing at Saratoga have occurred on turf, as everyone surely realizes by now, beginning with the increased number of races run on that surface and the burgeoning use of turf sprinters to fill the programs.
In the last five years, according to Scott’s research, the number of turf races has increased by approximately 67 percent. That’s significant. But the preponderance of those races have been sprints.
In 2004, no turf sprints were run. Last year there were 44, up nearly 20 percent from 2008. Conversely, there were 21 races run at 9.5 furlongs or greater in 2004, attracting fields averaging a tad more than nine starters. Last year, there were only 11 such routes.
Today’s tracks would drool over fields of nine or more, both aesthetically and at the bottom line. But there are trends even more alarming than field size per se, such as the increase in claiming and maiden claiming events, up almost 25 percent from 2004.
Dirt racing has fared no better in this regard. The number of dirt routes at nine furlongs or greater went from 67 in 2004 to 39 last year. But nowhere has the quality of racing suffered more than in the dearth of conditioned allowance events.
In 1999, there were 72 conditioned races for “non-winners of 1, or non-winners of 2 races other than maiden or claiming.” Five years later, there were 54. Last year there were only 34. Racing “through your conditions” is a rarity in today‘s game.
With so many stakes races available throughout the country, allowance horses unable to find a suitable conditioned spot move right into stakes class. Consequently, horses race less often but are trained harder, made to develop at an accelerated pace. With respect to class, racing has become a choice between famine or feast.
The economy, politics, and the perception that racing is a lesser attraction than it was back in the day, all share some of the blame in the causal effects in the decline of quality racing everywhere. Foal crops being what they are, there are fewer good horses to go around. Of course, quality has suffered.
But hopefully the outfits that have shipped into New York to race at Saratoga have brought their best stock to the dance. Deep pocketed owners still want to win here, as do the game’s elite horsemen.
There’s not a stall to be had anywhere near the course on Union Avenue, and perhaps all have come here for a reason and not just for the season. So let’s all take a deep breath and see what happens, shall we?
Written by John Pricci
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Wednesday, July 14, 2010
The Boss Would Know What To Do
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY, July 13, 2010--Maybe it’s because George Steinbrenner; owner, breeder, philanthropist, died today, but when I put his passing and the above-the-fold lead story in the Saratogian in perspective, the first thing that came to mind were Casey’s words: “Can’t anybody here play this game?” It’s a question that’s remarkably apt when describing the state of New York racing.
On Monday, an audit from New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office warned that unless VLT revenue or some derivative thereof, such as upfront money tended by the eventual winning franchise bidder that might provide a bridge for the immediate future, the road that the New York Racing Association must traverse without it would be a bridge that leads to nowhere.
Further complicating the issue--and a very real concern given how glacially wheels of justice turn and a track record of complete and total failure by state government to govern and problem solve--is a galling court injunction brought by the disqualified Aqueduct Entertainment Group, a suit that could delay or even derail the selection process which is down to a single remaining bidder.
There’s free money in the form of VLT revenue out there for the taking but precious few willing to become embroiled in New York State politics, no matter how potentially lucrative the project. All the gaming giants who wanted in since the process began nine years ago are on the sidelines now, wanting no part of the capricious and cavalier nature of how business is conducted in this state.
Clearly, AEG, which won the bid but was disqualified because the taint of back-room dealing wreaked of cronyism, wants back in the game. At this point they apparently figure they’ve got nothing left to lose but time and court costs for another shot at a brass ring, especially since the lone remaining bidder, Genting New York LLC, isn’t exactly floating anybody’s boat over at the State Lottery division.
According to the Saratogian story, the NYRA, which lost $9-million in 2009 is on track to more than double those losses this year. DiNapoli, to his credit, lays much of the blame where it belongs; on the state. The association is owed $30 million by New York State for failure to award a franchisee in a timely manner, this according to the terms of its own franchise renewal agreement that turned the deed to its three tracks over to the state, among other considerations.
Bankrupt New York City-Off Track Betting Corporation, now a ward of the state, also owes the NYRA $20 million. The NYRA might not be a model of efficiency and accountability, and also showed bad taste by rewarding its top executives with raises during difficult times, but math shows that $50 million minus $19 million worth of real and projected dollars more than balances NYRA’s books.
So the $25 million loan floated it by the state, enabling the NYRA to, among other things, open the gates of Saratoga Race Course July 23, is little more than a down payment on what they are owed. The NYRA, which had refused to open its books, later complied to a DiNapoli subpoena and received the loan that’s enabling them to operate.
But DiNapoli also painted NYRA with the same brush. He believes that the association should have restructured, cutting costs more aggressively, pointing out that payroll was up nearly $2 million, much of that from union contracts. But the more disturbing figure, however, was $6 million termed personal and miscellaneous services, whatever that is.
Included in that figure should be $125,000 a month it pays the firm of Getnick & Getnick for providing security services for NYRA’s three highly controversial detention barns. Those barns have proven bad for business by discouraging those who would ship in to race, and the real possibility that it wreaks havoc with form. It’s so unpopular with local horsemen (HRI archives: “
Horsemen Term Detention Barn a Failure,” Pricci June 11 column) they are threatening to boycott the entry box for Sunday's races, the final day of the Belmont summer meet.
The Comptroller has instituted an on-site audit beginning with Saratoga meet for an indefinite period. The auditors are to monitor cash flow and note a willingness from NYRA to follow recommended audit procedures. Then DiNapoli overstepped by showing his lack of racing expertise, questioning the $900,000 NYRA spends annually to shuttle horses between racetracks. DiNapoli recommends that NYRA charge a fee or discontinue the service. Considering 90 percent of owners lose money, this would be, at best, extremely counterproductive.
The entire mess could have been completely avoided, but nothing goes right in the Roman Empire State. The state could be devoting its efforts on straightening out their other massive problems and the citizens of New York already would be benefiting from VLT revenues for a few years now.
In November of 2006, the Ad Hoc Committee on the Future of Racing in New York voted overwhelmingly to award Excelsior Racing Associates the franchise to run racing in New York. But a few months later newly-elected Governor Eliot Spitzer gave the franchise back to NYRA for 25 years, forgiving NYRA’s debt to the state, but taking title to its three racetrack properties. This is part of what Excelsior brought to the table:
* A pledge of $175 million for badly needed capital improvements, including $75 million in the first year.
* $35 million in capital improvements for the backstretch alone in the first three years.
* The pledge to create backstretch villages at all three racetracks, including new groom's quarters, apartments for trainers, medical and dental clinics, commissary services for backstretch workers with hours of operation that met their needs.
* New, state-of-the-art television infield screens and monitors that can be viewed no matter where fans would be seated.
* All racing to be broadcast in Hi-Definition.
* The construction of all-weather broadcast studios in the paddock area of each racetrack.
* Sixty percent additional VLT revenue for the NY State Breeding Fund.
* Three $1 million New York-Bred showcase days at all three tracks.
After NYRA won back the franchise, the troubled organization was given an opportunity to partner with the Excelsior group by Richard Rifkin, special counsel to Gov. Spitzer.
Rifkin asked Excelsior if they could work with NYRA. They not only said yes but offered to absorb 100 percent of NYRA’s workforce. The NYRA said no. Now it’s fighting for its life with a potential VLT operator with warts, while another threatens to blow up the whole process. No need to worry about playing the game if there’s no game left to play.
Written by John Pricci
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