For Some, a Super Weekend

HALLANDALE BEACH, FLA., February 7, 2016—In New York, the weekend past was super for men wearing blue uniforms andblue silks.

The silks were worn by Ramon Dominguez as he guided the mighty Alpha to his next step on the road to Louisville, or Boynton Beach, whichever comes first. He will visit either location, or both, via last Saturday's completely professional and dominating victory in the Grade 3 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct.

His 3-1/4 length victory in 1:44.23 for the mile and a sixteenth wasn't particularly fast nor was the manner of it particularly flashy. But it didn’t need to be.

The only ones needed impressing, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin and jockey Dominguez, were happy with what they got it and, at this point, isn't that all that matters?

Dominguez wanted to see a forward move from his Count Fleet win and he got it. McLaughlin, also wanting to remove the bad taste left by Consortium’s mud-bath in the Holy Bull, got that and a little more. He wanted to see further development and shipped into Gotham to saddle the Bernardini colt himself.

He will continue to prep in New York and It would be folly to move him off a surface he clearly loves. And they won’t move him providing he runs in both the Gotham and Wood Memorial. If he runs in just the Wood, McLaughlin would have the colt shipped to Palm Meadows for some up close and personal training.

Given the success of Palm Meadows-prepared colts in recent years, that tack would make sense. But Alpha will need to keep moving forward. He’s not near the top of the class yet but is banging loudly on that door. The problem is much of the competition is likely will keep moving forward as well.

Triple Crown Nominees Post Gains in 2012

PLANTATION, FLA., February 4, 2012—Led by co Experimental highweights, champion Hansen and Breeders’ Cup runnerup Union Rags and despite a smaller foal, 397 three year olds, including six fillies, were nominated to the 2012 Triple Crown series.

This represents the foals of 2009 that were nominated at the first deadline. A second round of nominees, at 10 times the $600 early nomination deadline, closes on March 24. The series’ first leg, the Kentucky Derby, will be renewed at May 5.

Trainer Todd Pletcher has nominated 32 runners with Bob Baffert next at 21. Ahmed Zayat heads the owners list with 13 nominees with Robert LaPenta second on this list at 10.

BETTER LEFT TO BOARDWALK EMPIRE

In case this little news item slipped by unnoticed during the past week, the owner of the Steel Pier in Atlantic City plans to bring back the almost century-old horse diving sideshow where real horses walk up the steps of a 40 foot tower, are mounted by a bathing beauty and then dive into a 12 foot pool below.

Seriously. I am not kidding. Not even a little.

“It’s iconic, it’s historical and it’s very popular”, Steel Pier President Anthony Catanoso told the NBC-TV affiliate in Philadelphia.

In the opinion of the local president of the American Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA): not so much. “I think it’s disgusting and I think it’s cruelty to animals,” said Nancy Beall.

I come down squarely on the side of the Atlantic City SPCA, and anyone else who cares about the humane treatment of animals. It’s a pretty safe bet that some of the intended horses will have at one time been racehorses. How anyone can think that this so-called attraction, which lasted into the 1970s, is a good idea or an acceptable sort of family entertainment is beyond me. And it’s beyond the pale.

Hail To the King of Chicago

Mark Guidry is about to become a Hall of Famer. It’s about damn time.

The man, one of only 22 jockeys to ride more than 5,000 winners, will be inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame on June 23 and take his rightful place alongside the stars from professional and college football, baseball, basketball and all sorts of other sports who grace the facility. When the committee evaluated a record 142 nominees from 24 different sports and poured over a 25-page ballot, they surely came up with the right guy.

“Gid” is a talented, tough and terrific rider. Those 5,044 trips to the winner’s circle came from 31,321 mounts who brought home over $100 million in purses. Guidry’s other nickname is “The King of Chicago”, earned from 18 riding titles on the circuit: two at Arlington Park, seven at Hawthorne Park, and nine more at the old Sportsman’s Park. His most high profile win came in 2006 aboard Lemons Forever in the Kentucky Oaks, but he rode plenty of mighty fine horses for a lot of good horsemen for a very long time.

Horses and the Screen

I’m heading to Wellsboro, Pennsylvania today to write a story for Mountain Home Magazine about a horse, a horse bought by a Civil War general, Wellsboro’s own war horse. Naturally, I had to go see “War Horse,” before Regal Cinemas sent it out to pasture.

One showing, 9:20, Friday night. That’s 20 minutes past my bed time. Oh, boy.

Alex Brown wrote a great review through the eyes of a horseman. Also, he did some classic reporting, finding out the real name of Joey, the leading horse of the movie, and what his racing career was like.

All I can do is write a review through the eyes of a story teller. A couple things struck me: why doesn’t the popularity of a racehorse or war horse on the big screen translate to the racetrack or literature? With the exception of “Seabiscuit” (because of Laura Hillenbrand’s talent) and “Secretariat” (because it was Secretariat), no book on racing has had any type of success. My feeling is that the horse is a visual creature.

Un-Like Mother, Like Daughter

At first I had an idea about writing about the exclusionary tone Mike Watchmaker took in this column about the presumption that turf writers with an Eclipse ballot didn’t take it seriously, by Watchmaker’s standards. So what if some folks wanted Rapid Redux to be Horse of the Year? That’s their choice and just because he’s not a stakes-caliber horse shouldn’t demerit the few who chose to vote for him. I’m sure they’d make an educated case. It’s that type of voice from the older guard of turf writers and handicappers I’ve found disheartening. I guess this means I'm not "reasonable." I like to think I am, but to each his own.

What should happen on January 22, 2012 at 2:40 p.m.? Rachel Alexandra delivered a 125 pound (!) colt at Stonestreet Farm in Lexington, KY. According to a press release he climbed to his feet about 90 minutes after birth and Rachel Alexandra kindly took to him.

Unlike her own mother.

“If Wishes Were Horses”

PLANTATION, Fla., February 2, 2012— I finally caught up with Episode 2 of the HBO horse racing drama series Luck and once again was amazed how it struck just the right racetrack tone, in harmony with a good old-fashioned who-did-what-and-who-will-do-what-to-whom storyline.

It’s the sort of the dark comedy that’s a fact of life on both the front- and the backsides of America’s racetracks; the sort of thing that David Milch did so well in Deadwood only this time incorporating humor along with the darkness.

Critics might not have been unanimous in their praise with “only” about nine out of 10 loving it. The best news, however, is that the series has been renewed for a second season. There have been nine episodes to date and now 10 more will be added beginning January, 2013.

According to an HBO press release, the series will go back into production by the end of this month.

Of all the reviews we’ve seen, the best entered my inbox earlier this week courtesy of my daughter Linda, who admitted she probably spends too much time on Vulture, the entertainment blog of New York Magazine.

Linda also explained that it was rare when a Vulture recap accentuated the film making aspect of a piece over plot line considerations.

The following excerpt isn’t as much a review as it is a paean to racetrack life, which begs the question: How can it be that a non-racing medium gets what it means to be a racetracker when the industry, including its media, never have figured a way to describe that sensation in order to attract more people to it?

We Are Fam-i-ly

PLANTATION, Fla., January 17, 2012—If you’ve ever tried to explain this game to someone untethered to the race horse, I’m sure you found it difficult to reconcile the fact that despite the intense and often manic competition, Thoroughbred racing is capable of rendering itself down to some equine version of Love Boat.

That was the sense one got while watching the 41st annual Eclipse Award presentation on cable TV Monday night, an evening that in my den would see Dr. Gregory House finish a very distant second to a real life Jeannine Edwards.

I confess that in my four decades of immersion into this passionate pastime, I’ve sat through my share of awards dinners, even hosted a few as a past President of the New York Turf Writers Association back in the day when the NYTWA actually honored those who toiled right in front of our press box eyes. Sadly, that’s a story for another day.

The point is that awards presentations, even those hosted by Ricky Gervais, can be tedious--speaking of which, I was very proud of the fact that on my imaginary Golden Globes ballot for actor in a television series drama appeared the name of Kelsey Grammar who, like George Clooney, found his role of a lifetime. But, I digress.

Edwards, easier on the eyes than either Gervais or Hugh Laurie, did fine work, getting out from behind a podium and helping to deflate some of the formal stuffiness of the occasion. I’m not sure everyone understood the sight-gag Tebow homage, and there might have been one too many without-further-ados, but that picks at nits. Edwards’ effort certainly was worthy of an encore performance at the 42nd annual.

The winners from three finalists in every category, except that for Horse of the Year, bore not a single major surprise, and it’s always good when the best, or most accomplished, horse wins. No one looks for value at Eclipse Award time, not even John Doyle, the 2011 Handicapper of the Year. Form has its place.