Monday, August 30, 2010

Double Day Downer

(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – August 30, 2010) It was such a disappointing weekend in Saratoga. Yes, disappointing. Horse racing needs long-running story lines, not one act dramas. The Travers and Personal Ensign Stakes shone brightly for the split seconds that ended them. But what happens next? That’s the issue.

The sport seems to be plagued by disappearances. It benefits the most when marquee events are won by horses of sustainable fame. In recent years, races such as the Kentucky Derby, which have the potential to launch long careers in the public spotlight, have been held without the best horses, thus granting the responsibility of stardom to pretenders like Giacomo and Mine That Bird. The Spa’s Double Day celebration, too, produced nothing in the way of future relevance. It’s too bad because that’s what’s required of the rare moments of great anticipation.

The Travers was hurt by two defections, that of Lookin at Lucky and the Belmont Stakes winner Drosselmeyer. Each year the prognosticators foretell of a Midsummer Derby that will serve as the epitome of three-year-old racing, and each year the race seems to develop in ways that are less than desired. With its earlier date, the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth seems to have had the better recent record for luring the division’s top performers. Summer often finds a way to reveal the strains of a Triple Crown campaign. By the time the last week of August rolls around, all that seems to be left are horses in search of identity.

Although it’s true that the Kentucky Derby champion Super Saver competed this past Saturday, the Travers field was a mish-mash of good horses in need of a great one. Lookin at Lucky had commandeered his generation’s top ranking. The Haskell winner would have added considerable luster – he is the best of his bunch, after all. Instead, NYRA was left with promoting the depth of the field instead of its brilliance. That’s like running a restaurant where the food isn’t good but there’s plenty. And, as should have been expected, the winner stuck to the ribs for an hour.

Afleet Express is a nice horse. He has started seven times and won on four occasions. But the Travers was his first grade 1 race and his trainer isn’t certain when the next one will come. More importantly, Jimmy Jerkens told the painful truth in the post-race interview – the colt is not headed for Louisville to run in the Breeders’ Cup Classic unless he runs so well the next time he surfaces that there’ll be unbearable pressure to have him there. Ambition like that is a sign of a hesitant mentor.

On the other hand, Fly Down, the horse that finished second, will seek to make amends no matter what happens between now and then. He’s trained by Nick Zito, who can’t stare a big trophy in the face and not to try to own it. But for a nostril, Fly Down would be the Travers winner, probably rising above the level of anonymity he now occupies. But, quick, can you tell me now which horse lost the 2007 Travers to Colonel John by a similar scant margin? Fly Down won’t add an iota to attendance at Churchill Downs.

Regarding Sunday’s development, the winner Persistently had been running in Optional Claiming races. She had tried graded competition before but the last time that was she ran fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies in October 2008. Before winning the Personal Ensign, she was three for 13 with earnings of less than 10 percent of the filly’s she beat. Rachel Alexandra‘s career may be over. The owner, as we know, isn’t prone to doing the same thing over and expecting a different conclusion.

At a mile and a quarter, Jess Jackson’s Horse of the Year was thoroughly whipped. She walked back to the barn past the crowd with her head drooped as if she was hit by a picador. Jockey Calvin Borel levied punishment to her behind as if it was a carpet in need of cleaning. The filly gave all that she could, but the distance was simply too long. Rachel Alexandra likes to set her own pace and her connections must realize that the pace is too fast for other animals at 1-1/8 miles and a set-up for closers at a mile and a quarter. That’s a furlong shorter than what she would have to run against Zenyatta. Alas, it won’t happen.

If the sport stands to lose her now, it will be losing a lovable heroine. The fans cheered her every move from the schooling she had in the walking ring several days prior to running to her exit from the scene once defeated. Once the Travers is done, the day after is usually a snoozer. But nearly 24,000 people showed up at the track because she was running and if 45,000 weren’t there the day before there’d be more.

When one views this past weekend’s races in retrospect, they were the epitome of theater. Saratoga came alive as a truly great race place. There was a buzz in the air for 48 hours. One feature ended in a finish so tight that even the jockeys couldn’t say what the photo would show. The other in a replay of last year’s epic Woodward, except with a different conclusion.

For those in attendance, the viewing was spectacular, the betting challenges optimal. But as precursors of what’s to come later in the calendar, the Travers and Personal Ensign were summer’s fruit – tasty going down but no longer available. They exist in the past, not the future. And that’s not what horse racing needs now.

Vic Zast writes a Saratoga Diary for bloodhorse.com. You’re invited to join him on Facebook.com and Twitter.com.

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Monday, August 23, 2010

Pack Men at the Round Table

(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – August 23, 2010) Back when he hosted the Daily Racing Form’s handicapping shows in the backyard of Siro’s, the legendary Harvey Pack had a standard set of stale jokes that he’d pull up at will when the occasion called for it. For example, he’d end each show by saying, “We’re on to the last race now, the one that will determine if you’re eating at Siro’s tonight or out at McDonald’s with me.”

Pack’s show was an entertainment on every level. His show featured a panel of eccentric regulars like Jack Parr used to have on the Tonight Show. The crusty old ringleader would set the agenda and then let the mayhem proceed. A rotation of horse racing experts provided uncanny insight on everything, with the exception of winners. Meanwhile, Pack’s fans sat intently listening to the collective wisdom on unsteady plastic chairs, shuffling their feet in the cinder dust and sipping a cup of hot Joe before heading out for another day like the day that they had the day before – a day closer to the end than a day that would lead to a better tomorrow.

Come the day of the Jockey Club Round Table, which, by the way, was held yesterday, Pack would say something to the effect of how the pillars of thoroughbred society would meet at the Gideon Putnam like King Arthur’s knights, oblivious to the grail that awaits them, and talk about the same things they talked about a year earlier, leaving Saratoga none the better for their blather. Pack, it’s presumed, thought he knew just as much, if not more, than the meeting's attendees. As a matter of fact, so might you.

There are many sources to which you can go to learn what was said by yesterday’s speakers. But, for the record, the presenters were Nick Nicholson of Keeneland, Stephen Duncker of NYRA, Dennis Robinson of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (Monmouth) and Nick Eaves of Woodbine Entertainment. At least three of the four racing luminaries are presiding over a thicket of catastrophes. To say that the movers and shakers in horse racing aren’t willing to bring change to the sport is inaccurate. The sport changes all right. But it changes because the people in charge don't bring change to it.

This is the state of the union: horse auction receipts are half what they were two years ago, the availability of horses fit to run is so inadequate that some racetracks have stopped racing on certain days and those that keep going full tilt are fielding cards of questionable quality; next year’s foal crop will be the smallest in decades; handle is down more than 15 percent and racecourse attendance…well, attendance, what’s that?

This does not imply that all was rosy several decades ago. There have always been challenges. Complaining is as natural to horse racing fans as picking losers. As a matter of fact, the two practices are synchronistic. Yet, a glance in the time machine reveals a much different sport than the one that’s pursued now.

Horses that race every three weeks are an anomaly. Forty years ago, handicapper Tom Ainslie used to warn players not to back runners that hadn’t raced in two weeks; a layoff of a fortnight was supposedly the sign of trouble. Moreover, if a race didn’t measure six furlongs, people thought it was February at Greenwood or an exhibition for quarter horses.

Purses were small in comparison. To make ends meet, trainers had to keep their stock active. Small tracks would hold stakes that were worth $20,000. The Arlington Million provided such an unthinkable prize it propelled Arlington Park on the map as a spendthrift. The fans grew to know all the horses. They would root for one or another because “it owes me money.”

Owners ran their best horses in the best races, no matter the competition. Fans could expect to see the stars show up for the fixtures; excuses were disallowed. Campaigning a Horse of the Year candidate required that you prove his mettle going long, going short, running on grass and running on dirt, and winning some Classics. One-dimensional horses were frowned upon. They were fine in their own place, but not at the head of a division.

Even today, the sport comes alive each time a filly like Blind Luck makes the effort to challenge her adversaries in a race like the Alabama despite having to travel the country or when a two-year-old like Wine Police pops up unexpectedly and stirs dreams of a Triple Crown future. The old values of community, debate and surprise that made horse racing intriguing in the first place haven’t lost their appeal. They’re not frequently experienced – that’s all. How to get back to those basic constructs is a topic that’s worthy of Jockey Club Round Tables.

Unfortunately, most memories of the 20th century are just that – memories. Coincidentally, the powers to be are so busy putting out fires that they can’t entertain the luxury of thinking ahead and, more importantly, devoting the resources to engineering progress. On point, at what gathering do horse racing leaders share common interests in 21st century possibilities? The sport’s convocations are gatherings for sharing survival tactics.

When the simplest suggestions for treating the fans to a better experience are met with indifference, how can anyone expect proactivity, much less 3-D technology and augmented reality apps? “Pick a Peck of Jokes” Pack would get the irony, but not Lancelot. “That’s all for tonight, folks. See you tomorrow,” Parr would say at the end of each show.

Vic Zast is writing a Saratoga Diary each day of the Saratoga meet for bloodhorse.com. He routinely contributes ideas to Facebook.com/viczast and Twitter.com/viczast that you can react to.

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Monday, August 16, 2010

Boutique Meets at the Crossroads

(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – August 16, 2010) The 40-day Saratoga race meeting is in its 22nd day. That leaves a little less than half the season remaining. Nothing will change some developing trends. Business at the country’s most historic course is down again.

Likewise, Monmouth Park has enough in its most recent past to warrant a thumb’s up or thumb’s down on the great experiment. Horse racing on the Jersey Shore will continue on after Labor Day, although the track’s “boutique meet” – if you dare call it that - concludes in three weeks.

How are the two tracks faring in competition? Well, the answer to that question depends on perspective. The officials responsible for both entities are saying they survived a tough summer, bucked a bad economic trend and gave horse racing fans the best they could under trying circumstances. Are you buying that?

Saratoga’s numbers are down in any which way you want to view them. The track’s most embarrassing news releases are those that try to distort them. It’s been a treat to open the email and find something of interest from NYRA. But on those days when numbers are released, it is painful.

After the first four days of racing, the spin was that the Spa performed better than Belmont. After ten days of racing, the spin was that NYRA was pleased to be down more than 10 percent because the slide compared favorably to projections. Neither NYRA release could be called spin, come to think of it. Both were so blatantly defensive and obviously manipulated, only someone who can’t read between lines would believe them.

“Wagering across the country on races run through the first two full weeks at Saratoga is nearly identical with 2009 figures,” reckoned Dan Silver, NYRA’s Director of Communications, in a release dated August 9, 2010 that had a headline that read “Handle Nearly Even With Races Run Through Two Full Weeks at Spa.”

Silver calculated that a 4.7 percent decline in all sources handle measured up well to the 3.3 percent fewer races run during the period. In addition, CEO Charles Hayward was quoted, “The 2010 meet is off to a roaring start with great performances and strong support from our on-track fans and simulcast customers.” On-track handle for the two weeks was down 11.7 percent for Days 5 through 16. Attendance was down 3.2 percent.

In comparison, Monmouth Park’s halfway numbers looked stronger. Using only the previous year’s Friday, Saturday, Sunday and holiday Monday cards in comparison, overall handle was up 118 percent. Daily attendance was up 13 percent and on-track handle jumped almost 43 percent.

“To say at the midway point that this meet has been a success is an understatement,” Dennis R. Robinson, president and CEO of the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority, remarked in a published release. Then the governor of the State said he’s selling the tracks and pulling back on the casino subsidy that made it all possible. Monmouth claims to pay $1 million in purses each day. In fact, on most days the purses are half that.

What’s amazing is that both Saratoga and Monmouth are filling their races with horses. Granted, neither track’s purses are what they should be for the quality of the horses that are running. But, that’s just a detail. When the added income from Aqueduct slots makes New York’s purses higher, the chance for horsemen to make money will sky-rocket. If horse racing in New Jersey survives, you can bet that whoever’s in charge won’t go back to a grinding calendar.

Despite these developments, the fans of each track, who have stuck by their sport, must be pleased. Monmouth’s Haskell Invitational Stakes was this summer’s true Midsummer Derby, bringing together a field of three-year-olds as deep in quality as any they’ll witness this year. Lookin at Lucky should earn Eclipse honors even if he doesn’t compete in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Saratoga’s a delight, despite dwindling crowds and a plate of daily claiming races. Even with maiden special weights purses nearly 40 percent lower than Monmouth, next year’s Triple Crown contenders are emerging there. The country’s biggest bettors converge at the Spa. The sport’s most important individuals gather under its elms. It’ll remain a rite of summer for as long as greed doesn't turn the meet into Belmont North or Finger Lakes East.

Had you been at Saratoga’s Paddock Bar when the eighth race took place yesterday, you’d know why the sport can find customers given the right circumstances. Two winners dead-heated and seven horses crossed the line within two lengths of each other. There was a buzz in the air that you don’t find at many sports. It mattered little to anyone whether he won or he lost. Sharing a feeling like that among a broader audience is what’s required. How does one go about doing that?

The problems in horse racing are such that racecourse operators live hand to mouth, day to day like some bums on the street. They take whatever they can at every opportunity, because if they don’t they may perish. Thoroughbred sport, being the licensed entity it is, has for too long depended on legislation and not enough on developing its product to make it more attractive. Is an infusion of marketing smarts even possible?

Changes will undoubtedly come to Monmouth and Saratoga next year. How they react to the challenge of being in a different place economically can determine the future for a long time. If they don’t invest wisely to let time work its effect, but spend foolishly to live high for a short time, there won’t be a tomorrow, only yesterday.

It seems foolish to think that these institutions could be threatened; they’ve been around for so long. Yet, the one that seems more viable now due to actual growth is the one that’s more likely to fall. The one that’s lost customers and income each year for the past several years has been given a lifeline. How fast things can change – that’s the problem.

Vic Zast writes the Saratoga Diary on bloodhorse.com. You can visit with him on Twitter.com/viczast and Facebook.com/viczast.

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