Sunday, September 11, 2011

Infamy

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY, September 11--Family, immediate and extended, good friends, and my word processor notwithstanding, horses and racing are the most important thing in my life. But not today.

You might have noticed that the dateline didn’t not include the year. That’s because on this day 10 years ago, everyone’s world changed forever. And not for the better.

Today was, and still remains, a happy day for our family. Nana, my wife’s mom, is celebrating her 96th birthday today. And we‘ll help her do that.

Here’s another factoid about the former Aida Codraro, who landed on these shores 83 years ago, December 7, 1928, long before anyone even heard of a small harbor on the island of Oahu, way out there in the Pacific Ocean.

Another coincidence and without giving it a second thought, I turned on my television this morning at precisely 8:46 a.m.

At that time a decade ago, I was inputting thoughts into a word processor. Simultaneously, a friend sent an instant message; a plane had just flown into the World Trade Center.

At first blush, I didn’t think beyond the possibility that it was a terrible accident, the pilot of some small plane somehow lost control. Maybe he had suffered a heart attack, or stroked out. But that was not the case, of course. Instead, it was American Airlines Flight 11 bound for LAX from Boston.

Rather, it was a big plane, full of my countryman and a handful of terrorists, and it was no accident that the jumbo jet crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

Several minutes later, I turned on the television. Matt Lauer and Katie Couric were piecing together driblets of news, trying to make sense out of what we were all seeing from a remote camera perched on top of the Empire State Building.

My oldest daughter called, wondering frantically if anyone had heard from her baby sister, who was job hunting downtown early that morning. It turned out she was fine, thank God, after we had lost cell contact for about five hours. Like all of us, she cannot forget what she saw that day.

On her way to her first job interview, she exited the subway station on forever congested 14th Street. But for some other sad coincidence, not so on that morning, eerily unpopulated.

She, and a countless number of other New Yorkers, stood in an intersection and watched in horror as the South Tower, the second of the twins to be struck, crumbled to the ground.

She walked back to her dorm room in one of the School of Visual Arts apartment buildings on East 23rd Street. When at last I was able to hear her voice, she told me about the National Guard troops stationed across the street on 3rd Avenue below. They carried assault rifles, she said.

I can’t recall if that was the first time I cried during that insufferably long weekend, for those countless then nameless countrymen, and for my daughter’s, and for the future of all the children in all the world, a planet that would never be the same again.

At 12:35 p.m. this afternoon, Sam Grossman, a.k.a. Sam the Bugler, will perform a rendition of “Taps,” surrounded in the Belmont Park winner’s circle by Nassau County Police Department officers.

The New York Racing Association then will hold a moment of silence in honor of the victims and heroes who never made it home that night 10 years ago today. Grossman will play the “Star Spangled Banner” and all eyes at Belmont Park will fix on a new 10th anniversary memorial flag that was unveiled earlier this week by Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Ten years ago, this racetrack was closed for several days, racing suspended, the plant serving as a staging area for emergency personnel and their vehicles in the days following 9/11.

Seven weeks later, on October 27th, I parked my car in the lot and walked from the grandstand entrance around to Belmont Park’s clubhouse.

It was Breeders’ Cup day and the fences outside the building were lined with national guard troops carrying assault rifles. Snipers were stationed on the roof at the press box level of the mammoth racetrack.

The National Anthem had special meaning that day for myself and many of my colleagues who were covering their first “event” following 9/11. A racetrack press box never was so quiet, never before did so many tears flow before the running of a race.

Later that afternoon, Tiznow came again with a game and stirring stretch performance to become the first ever repeat winner of the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Wanting to stand with the fans, I watched the race from the grandstand apron. And Belmont Park shook.

The American horse, a champion, won, making history in the process. For that brief moment in time, suspended from memory were the utterly horrible events that transpired seven weeks earlier.

I promised myself that I wouldn’t watch the televised memorial ceremonies early this Sunday morning, on 9/11/11. I lived it once and that was enough. But watch the ceremonies I did, of course. And I was bucking up quite well.

Then, Sweet Baby James Taylor sang an acoustic version of “Close Your Eyes.” There was no chance I could close my eyes, nor stop occasionally to wipe away the tears.

Later, it was Paul Simon, another great American troubadour, and his acoustic version of “Sounds of Silence.” It was difficult for this boy from Queens to get through the song he wrote without his voice cracking, the pitch of his voice lowered to navigate the lump in his throat.

At that moment, a frame of a member of the New York Fire Department, eyes closed, head bowed, as were many in the crowd, the cameras panning the crowd of families and friends of the 9/11 victims, came up on the screen.

We memorialize, and the lost live on forever. God rest all those souls, and bring peace to those who remember them.


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Friday, September 09, 2011

Wait Until Next Year

SARATOGA SPRNGS, NY, September 9, 2011--Well, HRI regular “Easy Goer,” and some others out there in handicapping land, here are the results of “Team Cugini” at the recently concluded Saratoga race meet.

According to the race results tabulated by my handicapping partner, Mark Cusano, Team Cugini finished in a dead heat for fifth of 25 published handicappers at the recently concluded Saratoga race meet.

Cusano, producer and host of the popular magazine program “Down The Stretch” each Saturday on the Capital OTB Television Network for the past 17 years, enjoys a reputation that is above reproach.

Meaning that if there errors in these tabulations, it would be the result of a missed scratch here or there, a Main-Track-Only selection that fell between the cracks; in short, an honest mistake.

If you asked anyone on this list who knows Cusano, they would testify similarly.

Like the Saratoga riding title, handicappers point for this meeting. As such, it’s a very big deal. When I was at Newsday, at the end of each meet, the newspaper would publish the results on how members of the Newsday consensus box fared.

Back in the day, the New York Post would give its leading consensus-box handicapper a small bonus. As I recall, however, Newsday was the only metropolitan area newspaper at the time to publish a handicapper’s Return On Investment.

But unlike the Capital District, where top class Thoroughbred Racing is the sports franchise, metropolitan area dailies just never paid that much attention to it, News and Post intramurals notwithstanding.

That’s not the case here, where racing is woven into the fabric of the community.

This is the only town I’ve ever lived in where I didn’t feel compelled to apologize for being a horseplayer. Not in a town that supports two racetracks--located down the block from one another; “the flat track” and “the harness track,” as they are known. These people get it.

The following is a copy of the e-mail sent by Cusano to representatives of those newspapers which were tabulated. Other handicappers of public record not tabulated here are invited to amend these results in the comments section for all to see.

[That would include me, where I select the feature race of the day for WNYT, an NBC-TV affiliate, and WOFX radio, a member of the Clear Channel group of stations in Albany, NY. After scratches and a cancellation, my across the board slate read (33) 12-6-8, the same stats reflecting the selections made on this site during that period].

“Here are the final totals for the 25 newspaper handicappers I have. Other than Nick Kling’s total--which he verified--the Saratogian’s other number are [subject to verification].

1. Bill Taylor – Saratogian 135
2. Tom Cavanaugh – NY Daily News 128
3. Jerry Bossert – NY Daily News 120
4. Dave Litfin – Daily Racing Form 115
5. Mark Cusano/John Pricci – Schenectady Gazette 114
5. Matt Graves – Albany Times Union 114
5. Nick Kling – Troy Record 114
8. Deb Little – NY Post 113
9. Mike Jarboe – Albany Times Union 111
10. Liam Durbin – Saratogian 109
11. Bill Heller – Schenectady Gazette 108
11. Dave Little – NY Daily News 108
13 Kyle Brownell – Glens Falls Post Star 106
14 Tom Law – Saratogian 104
15 Tim Wilkin – Albany Times Union 102
15 Ed Fountaine – NY Post 102
17 Mark Hoffman – Recorder 101
18 John DaSilva – NY Post 100
19 Capital OTB – Albany Times Union 99
20 Trackman – Daily News 98
21 Vic Cangialosi – Post 97
22 Dan Lauletta – Daily News 95
23 Daniel Feiss – Saratogian 86
24 Anthony Affrunti – Post 83
25 Mike Lipack – Daily News 75

If there is anything here that is inaccurate, please let me know.”

On balance, it was a difficult meeting for everyone not named Bill Taylor, Jerry Bossert or Tom Cavanaugh, the top three finishers. Favorites won at a rate of 1 out of 3, about average.

As a member of Team Cugini, I selected only the dirt races. Mark Cusano got the worst of that deal. The sprints were relatively predictable day after day, having a fair share of “automatic” short-priced favorites.

The turf races, on balance, were a lot more unpredictable, given the usually larger field size and where having a good trip plays an inordinate role in determining any outcome. To do well on turf, handicappers have to be good and lucky.

Taylor and I were colleagues at the Saratogian where I made selections for seven years. He is now and was then a formidable adversary, the Russ Harris of the Capital District. His current colleague, Nick Kling of the Troy Record, refers to him as “The Machine.”

Taylor, whose day job is running a trading desk for a bank, sees similarities between the two. “It’s kind of the same thing,” he said in the Saratogian Tuesday. It’s all numbers, watching trends. It’s very much like [handicapping races].”

If he makes trades on Wall Street like he selects horses, he should be retired by now. Going 135 for 395 is otherworldly, trust me.

“When I’m picking for the Saratogian, I’m always looking for the most probable winner. I’m looking to get as many wins as I can. That doesn’t mean that if a horse is 2-5 I’m going to bet that horse even though I put him on top.”

Saratoga 143; 315 days and counting…


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Thursday, September 08, 2011

Voting Your Conscience Can Get Complicated

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY, September 7, 2011--I always feel badly when friendship makes me guilty about voting my conscience. And, unfortunately, when those are friendships are ones made at the racetrack, honesty can sometimes be misinterpreted as disloyalty.

In 1996, I took a buy-out offered by Newsday and went to Gulfstream Park that winter looking for work. During my stay, I became close to a trainer whom I had interviewed many times, one I’ve known since he was a groom.

We broke bread often that winter. I stopped by the barn several times a week to say hey, things like that. I never found work, nor did I make money through the windows, but it was a good learning experience nonetheless.

That summer, I got a freelance job as a handicapper with the Saratogian for that season’s race meet, and my South Florida buddy had a strong contender for the storied Travers.

The trainer decided to prep his horse in the Jim Dandy, an event that looked like a two-horse race on paper. I picked the other horse in the newspaper to win, my buddy’s horse second.

On the afternoon of the race, my wife and I went down to the paddock to get a closer look at the entrants and wish my friend luck. As we approached and made eye contact, the trainer literally turned his back, then began to walk away. My wife and I looked at each other; we were stunned.

I thought of that incident when I sat down Tuesday morning with a list of contenders for this week’s NTRA National poll. After I typed out and sent my top 10 choices off to Joan Lawrence, I hoped the scenario above wouldn’t play itself out again.

I’ve known H. James Bond since he came downstate from Finger Lakes. I like him a lot, he and his wife, Tina, both. I don’t visit his private barn over on Gridley as much as I used to, but that doesn’t mean I don’t root for the guy to do good.

Bond’s a terrific horseman who blends an old school work ethic with new age technology, always eager to embrace one cutting edge approach or another. He’s not the kind of person who waits for you to say hello first; he never “big-times” you the way some horsemen do.

Last week, I voted Bond’s Tizway #1 in the NTRA Poll. This week, I moved Harve De Grace up from third, over Blind Luck, who beat Harve de Grace in their most recent meeting, and over Bond’s Met Mile and Whitney winner.

Turf writers are asked to rank their top 10 horses, with 10 points going to the top choice, 9 to the second choice, then 8, etc., etc. I felt even worse when I learned that the filly got eight first-place votes to Tizway’s seven this week.

Harve de Grace and Tizway was a winning quinella combination for most voters, Harve de Grace amassing 180 total point to Tizway’s 173.

Parenthetically, 42% of responders in a Paulick Report poll this week “voted” for Harve De Grace “at this point in the year.” In second with 23% was Blind Luck; Tizway attracted 12% of the “Horse of the Year” vote.

Back in third came Blind Luck with 159 points and three first-place votes in what amounted to a three-horse race for the top spot.

A distant fourth was Pacific Classic winner Acclamation with 113.

Friendship notwithstanding, this still was a difficult call. In the press box moments after the Woodward field passed the finish line, I said to no one in particular, “guess there’ll be a new number one in next week’s poll.”

To that one colleague responded “what would you rather have, a Met Mile-Whitney winner, or an Apple Blossom-Woodward winner?”

This was a good point. Both horses own two G1 victories, and each finished ahead of Flat Out in both Saratoga Grade 1s for older horses this past meet.

In the final analysis I split hairs by acknowledging that a filly beat males, something I hold in esteem, since it’s not usually done in American dirt racing.

And that I thought, too, that owner Rick Porter needed to be acknowledged for stepping up out of restricted company to put his filly smack into the middle of the 2011 Horse of the Year conversation.

What’s most interesting is that I believe Blind Luck is several inches better than Harve De Grace, and I’ll worry about whether either one can defeat Tizway at scaleweights at some later date.

My gut, at this moment in time, says no. But as Wayne Lukas has said, “people have opinions, horses have the facts.” Hopefully this all will be settled on the racetrack.

Tizway runs next in the Jockey Club Gold Cup as a bridge to the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Harve De Grace runs next in the Beldame; Blind Luck in the Lady’s Secret. After that, who knows where each filly will land.

All upcoming races are a bridge to somewhere, a direction that will not become clear until after the results of the JCGC, Beldame, and Lady’s Secret are made official.

These are the Big Three right now. But Stay Thirsty and Acclamation are waiting in the wings, so all of it is subject to change. It’s why they run the races.

So, may the best horse win. I’m sure I’ll get no argument from “007” on that.


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