Who is John Galt?

If it's good for the NBA...

The S&P closed at 1996 prices. Here are winners from 1996:

Fountain of Youth-Built for Pleasure
Sham Stakes-Started in 2001
Santa Anita Derby-Cavonnier
San Vicente Stakes-Afleetaffair
Louisiana Derby-Grindstone
Blue Grass Stakes-Skip Away
Arkansas Derby-Zarb's Magic

The Tao of multivariate distribution

Pullthepocket has an excellent post up, on the drama involved in drug related, racing offenses. I encourage all six of you to read it.

At the basal plain, the cure is transparency; education is the proverbial, silver bullet.

The Energizer bill

Illinois House committee just advanced a horse slaughter bill.

Some ideas are just too stupid to be voiced. To wit:

"Sacia's veterinarian, Dr. Tim Strathman, testified before the committee in favor of repealing the ban. To appease animal rights groups, Strathman proposed adding a tax on horses at slaughter plants to Sacia's measure. He said a $25 fee on horses payable to the state could then be turned over to horse organizations to fund non-slaughter alternatives."

Or...one could not pass the bill, which would, I think, solve that pesky issue. Of course, this is an equal opportunity blog and we allow stupid people from both sides to voice their half-witted opinions.

"I just don't understand how we can tell these pets who have served and worked for us, 'We're going to slaughter you so Europeans can eat you,'" Molaro said.

Uh...the horses don't actually understand you, Dr. Doolittle; besides, do you think they're o.k. with slaughter but balk at consumption? I mean, at that point, they probably wouldn't give less than two shits for what the hell you do with them. I think the slaughter is what they might find objectionable.

Where is Alex Brown? He needs to kick somebody in the crotch.

It is, after all, my blog

For those of you, kind with your comments and well wishes, I have harassed the partnership manager, until he succumbed and posted a video of Imalexus's race.

Actually he did this on his own. Scroll down to the results section for the video link.

Policy bleg

Does anyone know if tracks purchase hay, bedding, whatever else in bulk and then sell it to the trainers or do the trainers buy up their own stuff, independently?

Comments to ponder

The only sucker investor, I could find to buy into Blackwatch Stables' shares of Imalexus, is my wife's, best friend's, husband. (whole lotta' sentence structure issues there).

He is not a horse racing insider. In fact, he knows almost nothing about the game but he enjoys watching the Derby and thought this would be a good experience.

I sent him the DRF chart for the race and I forward all the updates I receive from the partnership manager-which are frequent and thorough; Rebate Stable is a quality operation.

Here is an excerpt of my friend's response:

"I did not expect them to be running during the week, that early in the day. I do not know how working people can be expected to be there for the races. Seems pretty dumb to me."

If tracks are worried about handle, as a result of falling attendance, perhaps holding the bulk of your racing days during working hours, is not the best plan.

I'm just saying.

We have ourselves a racehorse

Sometimes events conspire to bury you and then confederate to lift your face out of the mud.

I have my own economy index, the number of charter bookings on our aircraft. The entire month of February found me sitting in south Florida, the Greyhound station of the contiguous forty-eight, without a damn thing to do. Not a single flight; it works out great for my tanning and handicapping yen, but not so good as an indicator of the economy as a whole. South Florida is one of the leading charter hubs in the U.S., right there with the NY area and SoCal. That not a single flight was booked on our aircraft in the last thirty days, is telling.

I, foolishly, figured my three weeks of duty would pass without event and I would have the opportunity to stop over in the DC area, on my way home, and watch Imalexus run.

As the philosopher, Mick Jagger, wrote: 'You can't always get what you want but if you try, sometimes, you get what you need.'

Apparently, scheduling skipped my recent post and decided to book a flight on this very day. Of all the insensitive and inconvenient bookings. Don't these people know we are in a recession and it is unseemly to flit around in multi-million dollar aircraft? Come on!!

I get the call last night, a booking for tomorrow, West Palm to Dulles, drop one and go to Teterboro. Then you can go home.

Fascisti!!!!!

Resigned to miss the debut of my very first ownership interest, I moped around the entire morning, scanning the clear blue Florida sky, for a hint of an excuse to keep the flight from going.

Twisting the proverbial knife into my side even further, the couple booking the flight, proved to be two of the nicest people I have ever met; I couldn't even hold a grudge against them. Oh, the humanity.

Of the two of us, my partner is the chatty one and in the course of his conversation with our clients, he informed them I had a horse running in the third at Laurel. The husband, soft spoken and blithe, with a tenor sax for a voice, immediately turns to me, reaches for my hand and shakes it. The grip, a promise inviolate; the bond of a man whose word is the only collateral real men need.

"Good luck. Here's hoping she gives you a good run."

He owns horses and has a few runners in NY and Florida.

"Enough to keep me from retiring." He chuckles.

We land at Dulles, at ten to one. The plan called for a quick drop off of his wife-we would actually stop the plane to do this-and then on to Teterboro. When we pull in to the ramp, this man offers to hang out until the race is run.

"I'm always looking to claim a good one." the wink frames the fillip.

Imalexus, buried in the one hole, loads like a thirty race veteran and then stands there, as cool as porcelain; the (5) R and A Valay, perhaps expressing her feelings about her name, holds up the show for a good two minutes. The favorite, (10) Lionheartisflippin, comfortably detached from the proceedings, loads last.

Imalexus, bet down to second favorite at 7/2, breaks well and presses the pace from the inside, to the half pole; then starts to fade on the turn, dropping back to fourth last. I am happy she showed speed and am just looking for her to get home without incident, take care of her for the next race. Maybe she needed the race to figure this all out. Maybe she dozed off in the gate and is just hoping to go back to the stall and snooze. This will make it tight trying to get the graded monies to enter the Derby but she only ran a quarter, maybe we can wheel her back in ten days or so and then make the Derby trial.

Maybe...

Coming out of the turn Imalexus switches leads on cue, in that moment I couldn't have been prouder of her if I had foaled her; I have no idea if she is talented but nobody can say my girl doesn't have manners. Elias Peltrouche, the jock who has been on her in the mornings, uncocks the whip and gives her a smack on the left side. Imalexus perks up. She seems somewhat indignant but appears to get the hint and rebreaks.

Lionheartisflippin has pulled away and has five lengths on Imalexus. She is running sixth when Elias reminds her again. By now they are inside the eighth pole and I think maybe we'll beat half the field.

"Come on, get up." a quiet appeal from my new best friend.

And then, as if it all clicked, Imalexus charges down in the final sixteenth, to take place money by a widening length, making up four lengths on the winner.

I feel a hand on my shoulder, "Looks like you have yourself a racehorse."

Lounges, catering to millionaires, don't stay in business long when their facilities are dirty and threadbare, so I am suddenly forced to track down the sirocco that just deposited a giant dust mote in my eye.

I would post the video of the race but I am unable to find it.

My gratitude to Rebate Stable and trainer Linda Albert; I am happy to be along for the ride.

Release the hounds

For those looking to add a dark horse to your Derby Watch, Imalexus runs today in the third race at Laurel.

Godspeed; safe journey for all.

An offer they can't refuse

It seems the downturn is not impacting all families with equal misfortune. The mob in Italy is doing quite well, thank you very much. Don't they control NYRA? Can't they increase purses?

Here is a marginally related story.

Maybe Turfway needs some remedial courses in statistical analysis (or at least the reporter does). Citing the number of breakdowns or lack thereof, in a limited time frame, renders any information meaningless. Maybe horses are breaking down because they are cheap and running in frigid conditions? Maybe it has nothing to do with anything.

Turfway saw eight breakdowns on its Polytrack surface during its 21-day holiday meeting, which ended on December 31. But from January 10 to February 10, there was not a breakdown during racing.

What the hell is wrong with people, when they report how this is the first breakdown since the last one? No shit. Statistical outliers are just that. They don't gather into orderly patterns to make a smooth line.

No horse has won the Derby, since Apollo, without having started as a two year old. So what exactly does that tell me? How many horses have tried to win the Derby without having started as a two year old? Out of those, how many had a legitimate shot at winning anything, let alone the Derby? What were the fair odds on all those horses running against all the other horses, in all those years? If a coin comes up heads ten times in a row, it means absolutely Jack Squat when you need to figure the odds on the next flip.

The statistic might have merit but just saying it means nothing. Put the damn thing in context. In the 127 years since Apollo, 500 horses have attempted to win the Kentucky Derby, without having a single start as a two year old. That might mean something. If the number is more like 20, then go spit.

Musical interlude

With sincere apologies to Warren Zevon.

Well, I juiced the Mullins entry
Punters do what they do
How was I to know
The stewards would DQ

I was gambling down in Gulfstream
I took a little risk
Send lawyers, guns and money
Waldrop, get me out of this

I'm the innocent track vet
Somehow I got stuck
Between the rock and the hard place
And I'm down on my luck
And I'm down on my luck
And I'm down on my luck

Now I'm hiding in Lexington
A syringe to keep 'em fit
Send lawyers, guns and money
Cannon's snapping bit by bit

Send lawyers, guns and money...

Magna's Gambit

HT to CalculatedRisk

Houston, we are go.

Imalexus received her gate card yesterday. Tomorrow, entries open for the 25th at Laurel; there is a MC$10k that we are hoping to make.

We (I'm along for the ride) figured this would make for a good story on May 2_nd, when Tom Hammond and Charlsie Cantey talk about how this filly was running in claiming races as late as February and is now the prohibitive favorite to win the Derby.

Don't say we didn't warn you.

Variegated vincula

1. This must be the model the AGSC uses to award graded status.
2. It's all over but the crying.
3. Plenty of ad space on a horse's ass.
4. Have purses actually increased anywhere as a result of Betfair? I'm asking.
   

Question of the day

Desert Party looked impressive in his Dubai win the other night and looks poised to progress in the UAE Derby.

If Sheikh Mo owned all twenty starters on the first Saturday in May, what are the fair odds he would still not win the Derby?

Game on

It seems everyone is getting into the horse racing video game craze. Except, of course, the fans.

The AAEP issued a white paper, I assume the paper itself was white-hence the clever name, with recommendations for the improvement of the game. One recommendation I found intriguing was the notion, in claiming races, for the original owner of the horse to keep the horse, if, it in fact, breaks down during the race. This, in theory, would keep unsavory trainers from dumping horses just to get rid of them.

I am interested in your thoughts on this. Especially from those who know the claiming game.

Perhaps...

...all is not lost

This is an interesting article from the 2008 AAEP convention. Some excerpts:

• One attendee noted that pharmaceutical companies know which veterinarians or clients might be ordering too many equine medications, just as they track abuse of human pharmaceutical prescriptions. "We can say we don't know who the abusers are, but really we do," she said amid applause.
• "I think the changes you're making are very good thing, but regulations have to be severe and uniform. Most of our trainers train very well without medications; all they're asking for is a level playing field. They don't want people winning because they have the best vet, not the best horse."
• The interesting thing, he noted, is that the more people know about racing, the less they believe it to be a sport of integrity. When asked how serious the issue of performance-enhancing drugs is in horse racing, nearly one-quarter of casual fans rated it a 10 out of 10 (very serious). Nearly 42% of core fans rated it a 10, while more than half (52%) of industry stakeholders scored it a 10.

Academic Earth

Academic Earth compiles university lectures on a variety of subjects; from scholars and industry leaders, including: Elon Musk, Thomas Friedman and Eric Schmidt.

The service is free. Here is their mission statement.

Granting everyone, access to a world class education, free.

That's almost as noble as the ADW v. host signal v. horsemen v. state racing board, takeout debate.

Voorhee's Ballad

A guy I know-I'll call him Juan, since that is what reads on his birth certificate-agreed to come with me to Gulfstream today.

Juan and I grew up together. His mother was our boy scout, pack person, thing; my dad was an assistant coach on our little league baseball team. We played varsity soccer and volleyball; we had to carry our Principal out of the jungle, after she sprained her ankle during a class camping trip we took in the Amazon; we have been shot at; we did our first sky dive; and we learned to fly together.

Juan is a people person; he is outgoing and wily. At any moment, he can tell you the spread on the USD/EUR contract as well as who to talk to, in certain South American countries, if you don't want that crate of iPods you're shipping, to draw the attention of the customs officer.

Juan used to work for Smith Barney and was one of those bankers, Congress is all in a huff about now. He made and lost more money than any 20 people I know will ever make in their lifetime. He rode the wave of chance, through swells and into reefs; I have seen him lose tens of thousands of dollars on a trade and make it all back with equanimity.

He gave up trading a few years back, the lifestyle took its toll on his marriage. His wife couldn't handle the violent swings in their fortune. Juan took every blow as a learning experience and is the most humble man I know. He is the one who drove me to jump into the game, when I had every ready made excuse for why I needed to hold off a bit longer.

Juan is my oldest and closest friend. Juan decided to bring his daughter to the track today.

Juan doesn't care about horse racing and what he knows of it, is what I have told him. With that handicap, he cares about it because I care about it. We pulled into the Gulfstream parking lot, two hours before first post, because I like to get there early-hell, I would live there if I could. I bought the Form and the Gulfstream Handicapper, and we sat in the paddock area to go over the card.

I showed his daughter how to read the Form and gave her some Handicapping 101 tips. A better case of the blind leading the blind, I can't imagine.

Race 2, a nondescript $10kClaimer N3L at seven furlongs. Juan's daughter likes the (10) Stirrup Excitement, who goes off at 1-2 (sharp kid). Juan likes the (9) B L's Papa Coo Coo (I am not making that up). I suggest they play an exacta with the 10 on top of 9&7 and a separate win bet on the 9; I am not betting, they don't ask. For whatever reason, they listen to me and even more surprising, the nine wins by an increasing length. Juan's daughter goes to cash the ticket and is jumping up and down. They just collected $12.80 on their $2 bet.

The machine eats the ticket. Gone. Never happened. The teller pays her anyway.

Race 4, the GII Richter Scale. Tale of Ekati makes his four year old debut.




























Team Diamond




























Andy Beyer, just because I can.














Call to post.
















Looking over the race, Juan notices I have crossed out the (6) How's your Halo, my way of eliminating it from consideration. Knowing me as long as he does and aware of my handicapping prowess, Juan saunters over to the window and places a $2 bet to win on the aforementioned (6).

Juan is not a student of the game. Juan is obviously out of his depth and I, in parental tones, try to make him understand the mistake in money management that this is. I try to show him, in terms he understands; percentages and probabilities; why this is a bed bet. After all, this is the man, who, at my Derby party last year, kept referring to Tale of Ekati as Tracki Etaki, because he couldn't remember the name of the horse he bet on.

"You'll never build your bank roll like this." I say, with Socratic wisdom. "Bets like this are what kill a handicapper. The takeout alone will ensure your failure." As if I were one of these mythical beings. When I talk out of my ass, it is a sight to see, I mean a sight to see.

How's Your Halo, after prompting a wicked early pace, edges away in the final 1/16_th; and this man, who has won and lost millions in the market with aplomb is yelling like a fool, the entire length of the stretch. His veins are bulging in his neck and he is a nice shade of vermilion from the effort.

How's your Halo pays $94.20. A nice hit. Juan walks away from the window with $13.20. When he bet $2 on the (6) to win and $2 on the (5) to show, the teller must have heard 6&5 to show. Juan never checked his ticket before walking away. He shrugs, that balance wrangled back in, like Desormeaux on Big Brown in the Belmont.

"Easy come, easy go." he smiles. "You hungry? I'm buying; this was fun..."

But it didn't start out that way.

Race one, 1 mile $40kClaiming, ten runners went to post. Juan liked the (3) Mr. Unstoppable and his daughter liked the (9) Voorhee's Ballad, I indicated I liked him a little too. A good break and we had ourselves a race. Down the backstretch, Brother Joey led them to the half mile pole; Alan Garcia looked to be moving on Voorhee's Ballad, five wide on the turn, when everything went wrong.

Voorhee's Ballad took a bad step and Garcia was thrown. Everybody else kept running, including, improbably, Voorhee's Ballad. Soul wrenchingly distanced, the dark bay or brown son of Mecke, out of a Saint Ballado mare, ran on.

His foreleg shattered, this claiming horse stumbled down the lane; at the top speed his broken body could manage; hugging the rail as he had surely been taught; straighter than many GI horses I have seen. His head, bobbing to the grim cadence of what was surely his death march; this poor son-of-a-bitch, ran on for three quarters of a mile; a self-orchestrated funeral procession for public testimony; beyond the mile pole, before a track attendant could collar him and put a merciful end to this tragic paean.

And I, standing at the finish line; watching the most noble thing I think I have ever seen; cursed and loved this damn game in the same, choked breath. I have seen horses break down before but it was always on the turn, or on the backstretch, mercifully removed from the gruesome truth revealed in proximity. The grisly procession of this gallant beast; chasing after his mates; running because that is all he knows how to do when the pain and fear set in; broke me inside, in a way I never conceived.

I don't know the owners. I may have heard of the trainer but I wouldn't sign an affidavit. Voorhee's Ballad was running for a tag, for only the second time in his career and maybe didn't mean much to anybody. He didn't win any black type but he was in the money in 50% of his starts. His career numbers, after today, read 38-4-9-6 and he banked $164,109. His last win, if you don't count the moral one he had today, came on May 3, 2008 at Calder; the same day Big Brown won the Derby.

A month from now, how many will remember this horse?

Ask me in thirty years and I will tell you of Voorhee's Ballad's last race.

Where does the money come from?

Thoroughbred Brief has a great post, regarding the NTRA and the problems it faces, trying to implement some much needed change.

Apparently, the problem revolves around money; and how the multi-millionaires that control this game, don't have enough of it.

Everything would be much better, if only the money were there. So I ask the question: where does the money come from?

I would suggest, sponsors.

Post Parade had a post, back in October-when the Dow was way up at 9300, regarding this very issue. Now, nobody in their right mind is going to jump into the cesspool of horse racing and attach their name to a diseased product. The corruption, the drugs, the mob, the infighting-and that is just IEAH. Bessemer Trust has jumped ship and the NFL is yanking its members out.

So what to do? What about a back loaded sponsorship agreement. Get Home Depot or VISA or whoever you want and guarantee them free advertising for, say, two years, with the understanding that the game cleans up its act and eliminates the drugs and the cheaters.

If at the end of those two years, the game has progressed enough, to the satisfaction of the sponsors, they sign a short term contract to continue advertising, for a fee, in order to give them the opportunity to assure themselves that this is not just a one off. Give them track naming rights. Home Depot at Churchill Downs or whatever the hell else you want. Get rid of the Churchill Downs if you want. In the merry-go-round of stadium names, nobody is going to care if in three years the track changes names four times.

The point being, if the sponsors get a chance to advertise, at no cost; while holding the carrot of future, lucrative advertising deals in front of track execs; those in control might feel more comfortable taking on some radical initiatives and implementing some much needed change.

CDI obviously does not want to be in the track management business, instead they are shifting their efforts to the ADW; so why not sell the track to the NTRA or group of owners; functioning as a 501(c)(6), much like the NFL. Maybe each major track can undergo this type of transition.

These tracks would or could function as host sites for coordinated meets, scheduled within the context of a progressive season, without the scheduling cannibalism prevalent today. The tracks, if they function as one, could negotiate lucrative ADW contracts for their horsemen, with revenues going to the NTRA, after track expenses are taken out.

The game needs an image to sell and what it has going now is ugly. Backstop yourself with some giveaways, it costs you nothing and could return a tidy sum.

They sold the naming rights to the Kentucky Derby, they shouldn't appear to stand on principle now.

On Cassandra and wishful thinking

What is left?

All the arguments made, slowly enervated, we limp along, aware of the imminent demise. How do we break through the cloistered cathedral at the Jockey Club and track management headquarters? Has the Alliance failed? In normal times, this would be a ludicrous question; these are not those times.

What is the cost of deferment? If the respective parties cannot agree that the greater good is more important than individual concerns, then there is nothing to be salvaged. If, however, the crisis is accepted and confronted, these days will mark the reversal of a flagging standard bearer and marshal a new day for this game.

What is needed? Convergence and relentlessness. No longer can we accept the platitudes and prevarication of those looking to buy time. If change is to come, it must come. It cannot be hoped for or wished upon, like a child with a recently lost tooth.

It appears as if two contrasting views have been held on what ails this game. The first is that this is essentially a reflection of the global circumstances and that if we can just patch together a temporary solution, we can ride this out until the markets recover, liquidity starts flowing and we can all return to the heady days of N3L horses, fetching millions at auction. The second, this is a margin call on business as usual.

There is no mystery regarding what needs to be done. The fundamental dysfunction is easy to solve, it might not be simple or pleasant; but it is easy. The changes on the margin, while nice, are not necessary, right now. Actionable efforts must be implemented. There needs to be a standard of account and a dispensation of obfuscation. The moral turpitude, suffusing this industry, is redolent with special interests and the mephitis of indulgence.

What are the discussions among the elite, sequestered within their walls? Are they ignorant of the sea change? These are not the good old days and the game is mired in legacy costs, too burdensome for this era.

Why then does it appear the leadership is making a gross miscalculation? It may be that it is hoping for the best but I would suggest it is asking the wrong questions. It has not asked what needs to be done to assure a resolution. It has asked itself, instead, what is the best it can do given three supercilious, self-imposed constraints: no nationalization; no losses for management; and no compression of product. But why does this group of so called stewards, confronting a gargantuan crisis, not attempt to alter the framework of the debate? The pusillanimity is worrisome and their attempts to impose captious solutions on bloated institutions is misguided and, ultimately, destructive.

We are entering a time when the focus shifts to the Derby and the distraction it engenders is a siren song. The prep races and the expectations, the attraction of the future pools and the preparations, for the one day the rest of the world turns a half-lidded eye to the game, make it easy to succumb to the hype. Like a teardrop in the ocean, we forget the precious fragility of that unbridled spirit we need to keep this game alive.

We are running on stolen horses and borrowed time.

"Against the run of the mill, static as it seems,
we break the surface tension with our wild kinetic dreams."
-Neil Peart

Break out the Champagne

Is it me, or is there something wrong with your image when a good news cycle highlights, how few of your athletes have died?

Interesting sentences

There’s a logical gap between PETA’s evidence and its conclusions. Any student of statistics knows the perils of mislabeling correlation as causation. But that’s not the problem here, as PETA is simply claiming a correlation between vegetarianism and better sex. Here is the full article.

Does anybody, really, ever take PETA seriously? Doesn't one lose credibility the moment they whip out their member card?

Inmates running the asylum

There is an excellent post at BH(READ IT, please). Being relevant and polemic, the Bloodhorse, of course, has it buried in the opinion section. Everyone should spam this until a legitimate publication picks it up. Be the ball...Nananananananana.

How hard would it be to at least have odd days at the track clockwise and even days, counterclockwise?

Bueller...anyone?
HT to Handride.

You gotta want it

This could be the next NTRA website.
Ht to MR

Horse slaughter...Have your say

Alex Brown is holding a video contest. First prize is $1000.

It's not a naked picture of Chantal Sutherland (yeah, I just did it) but it's for a good cause.

Americans don't read anymore

But will they handicap?

Could the DRF sign an agreement with Amazon or whoever does their ebook things, in order to develop a format for the Form on the Kindle? Use the Formulator format and some interactivity on the screen to mark up the form as you want-can one "write" on the kindle?

Don't like the DRF? Have the Jockey Club release the death grip they have on some of that money they throw at Marzelli and his NetJets account, and use their Equibase platform.

Web 2.0 people. (I still have no idea what that means)

The wheels of justice...

...move slowly but there is progress.

Can we get somebody to lay the smackdown on Mullins and Gill?

I want to root for I Want Revenge.

What if airlines cut back on maintenance?

I ran across this on TheHorse.com.

"...not all jurisdictions require pre-race veterinary inspections. The primary constraint on this practice is, understandably, financial. Racetracks are cutting purses, and state agencies have been forced to undergo significant personnel and budget cuts. Everybody is being asked to do more with less, and this trend can only be expected to continue. But at the same time, state governments are considering expanding or tapping further into the proceeds from gambling as a way to increase their revenues."

Who is the imbecile that thought cutting back on safety was the way to go? I can do without paper towels in the bathroom; some cutbacks are just asinine.

The NTRA should make a list of all tracks that are not in compliance with all safety procedure recommendations and post them on their website. Enough is enough.

The tip of the spear

Something has been bothering me in recent weeks and I have tried to come to terms with it. I don't know when it happened, whether it was a pronounced shift in mindset or a calibrated leak in confidence but I think we are living in a time of minimal expectations. Maybe it has always been like this and I am just getting a clue. This might be a departure from the traditional thoroughbred fare but it ties together at the end.

I think it's fair to say the current global situation has us in a shit sandwich in the devil's picnic basket. It is only dumb luck that we are facing this global crisis as a singular event; there is no reason this could not have happened during Katrina or the NY blackout or any other crisis.

Today, Mayor Bloomberg gave Captain Chesley Sullenberger the key to the city. What this key does for you, I don't know but I am sure it is nice to get your face in the paper and have the good wishes of the many people you saved, until the papparazzi get a hold of you.

Captain Sullenberger's actions, while noteworthy and admirable in every way, deserving of accolades and gratitude, are just the inevitable conclusion of a job well done.

This is what pilots get paid to do.

Any imbecile (I speak from experience) can get a plane from point A to point B when nothing goes wrong. The automation on these things is ridiculous and somebody who can handle an XBOX could get this thing around when it's all good but the measure of a leader, is the craft and command with which one handles a crisis.

Intransigence, waste, incompetence and greed are easy to overlook when things are just moving along but as soon as the engines go quiet and your glide ratio is marginally better than a brick's, one damn well better have a clue.

Myriad racing jurisdictions, ADW disputes, medication and drugs, dysfunctional leadership, predatory racing schedules, usurious takeout rates, disparate surfaces, risible enforcement policies, incestuous sales and grading practices and a sly wink to the Cosa Nostra have insidiously conspired to hobble this game.

And still the horses run.

Mr. Waldrop, you wanted the controls, well you have them; you are the tip of the spear.

You had best be sharp.

Roses in February miscellany

The TBA has started a 2009 Run for the Roses League. Tell your friends.

BrooklynBackstretch is soon to start her own league, where the proceeds go to charity. Watch that space.

Gallopfrance made an astute observation in a recent comment and just like that, the news supports it.

In an exercise, sure to open me to lampooning and derision, I will start a Derby Top Ten list and post it on the margin.

Where's the love? She couldn't even say goodbye? I'll miss her.

Is Waldrop running this?

Ideas to shoot down

Why not say all stud fees above a baseline amount-say, $30,000-have to be transacted on, based on a coefficient index of all earnings from all runners in a given year?

So, if the baseline is $30,000, and all horses standing for less than that have average earnings of $25k while all horses standing for more than $30k have average earnings of $37k, everyone who bred to stallions standing for more than $30k would owe the stud $12k on top of the posted stud fee.

If the under beats the over, all studs would owe their breeders the difference. Or use your own metrics, I am sure there are better ones to be found.

What if all graded stakes were charged with fielding a baseline number-say, seven? If the race fails to meet that bar(vet scratches would preclude the penalty from being enforced), the AGSC has to supplement the purse by a progressive scale based on actual grade of race and the race loses graded status for that year.

To wit, a GIII race would force the AGSC to supplement the minimum required purse for a GIII ($100,000), $150,000 for a GII and $300,000 for a GI.

Maybe the ridiculous number of graded races might drop off and winning one might actually mean something for the breed.

Hat tip to The Baseline Scenario

How you like me now?

I just did a Google Image search for Iavarone, that dorkey picture of his, the one everyone uses, is nowhere to be found. It used to be 1-2-3 on the results.

Anyway...

Is it possible that this could be the man that brings some actual buzz to horse racing, for other than impersonating George Hamilton and facing a margin call on the pink sheets?

Stardom Bound romped yesterday in the Las Virgenes Stakes GI, getting only a desultory tap and a cross from Mike Smith, and she now looks poised to take on the boys.

"That's what the racing fans want," he said. "I see no reason why she can't do it."
-from Bloodhorse

How poetic would that be? The game, mired in incompetence and puerile squabbling, publicly damaged by the headlines and cheated of a Triple Crown candidate people could feel good about backing, saved by the connections everyone loved to hate last year.

I make it 8-5, Mr. Waldrop has Iavarone on speed dial and is giving him carte blanche for the next year, if IEAH will run Stardom Bound in the Triple Crown.

• 'Need me to waive all drug tests on your horses? Done.'
• 'Need a race or two carded for some of your runners? Done.'
• Need to get that goofy ass picture of yours off of Google? Double done.'

You can't buy a story like this...unless you have $5.7 million. Congratulations to the connections, try not to screw the pooch on this one.

Note to Mr. Waldrop, here is a positive story, for once, you should be able to push into the mainstream. It is honest, redeeming and full of the titillating gender questions, so appealing to the insipid cohort that watches American Idol.

The road to the Derby is a long one and littered with casualties. It is luck as well as ability that gets one to the first Saturday in May. A lot can happen between now and then.

It's just not too early to start banging that drum.

Transparency...who knew? Bleg

Does any racing jurisdiction in the U.S. do anything like this? (HT to Dubairacenight)

The Eagle has landed

Somebody in payroll must have contacted somebody in scheduling and informed them that since I was still receiving my salary, the only decent thing to do would be to make me, you know, actually earn it.

I tried to fly under the radar as long as I could but The Man managed to find me. After Living the life of Riley, since November, I now find myself in the state, obtained through the Adams-Onis Treaty, for states to be named later.

I paid my first visit to the track of the Eclipse and Financial Restructuring. I made it 6-1 I would see no earth tones and odds-on somebody would be wearing linen pants and loafers sans socks. One out of two aint bad...

I was surprised to find I liked the track. I have no idea what it looked like before but the set up seems friendly enough. I came early, to watch the morning workouts, so I had great parking and just walked up the side walkway, by the little beach thing they have going there. Probably very nice in the spring. I stayed outside the whole day so I did not see a single slot machine.

The feature today was the first running of the Tallahassee, one mile on the turf for Florida breds, and the attraction was Smooth Air. I loved the way this horse was coming up to the Derby and had he not come down with that cold, a week out, he would have figured somewhere in my picks. This was his first race back, after the BC Classic and it looked like an easy spot for him.

The day was on the cool side and breezy but Smooth Air was washing out pretty good during the post parade.










I also got a picture of Babe. He's pretending not to know who I am.




I know he reads my blog. He's a fan.




I stood right next to Bennie Stutts during the post parade and the race; I of course did not engage him in conversation.

I did, however, eavesdrop on his conversations with his family and friends and learned that the trip out to Santa Anita took a lot out of the horse. He was dehydrated and lost weight. Mr. Stutts talked about this year's Breeders' Cup and how he would go if the owner wanted to but his idea was to let the horse mature, since he(GASP) is only a four year old, and take on the Classic next year when he is five and in his prime.

I took some Eclipse worthy pictures of the race. Enjoy.









Smooth Air, left to do all the dirty work, reeled in the leader inside the eighth pole only to get jumped on the wire by this unknown Alan Garcia kid, on Vanquisher. Similar to the dirty loss suffered by Papa Clem in the Robert B. Lewis.

That sucked.