Barn Notes:  Friday, June 14, 2013 on Horserace Insider

http://www.horseraceinsider.com/Press-Release/article/061413-barn-notes-friday-june-14-2013

No matter one’s spiritual, religious or otherwise transcendent beliefs, there is often something to be said for the intangible and seemingly divine power of perspective. For Voodoomon Stable owner Vanessa Nye, her experience as part of the racing industry has given her the kind of bittersweet-glazed smile and outlook one can only gain through facing the extremes of high and low within such a passion-filled field.

The story of Nye’s Voodoomon Stable is an answer within itself. The stable’s namesake is a horse Nye cared for dearly named Voodoomon who suffered a fatal injury during a race on May 28, 2009. Absolutely devastated, the owner had a grueling time making proverbial heads or tails about the situation of her grief. Ultimately, she decided to saddle up and keep riding as an owner of racehorses – this time channeling her anguish into activism.

Since Voodoomon’s passing, Nye has renamed her stable in his memory, as well as spent the last four years giving back to the breed which has, despite all the distress of an adverse episode, brought her sheer delight. “I rescue and retire horses in his name because I want to keep his legacy going in a positive way. I want people to know that they can do good by helping horses. Every (owner) should be doing this and giving back. Every horse deserves a second chance (after their careers are over). We’ve done so much good work in the last four years for other racehorses since this happened,” Nye explained.

“I believe, and always have, that retiring these horses properly, transitioning them into other careers and supporting the aftercare of these great animals is paramount for the racing industry’s future. I do a lot of work in Florida for the rescue and retirement of thoroughbreds and I am on the board of the thoroughbred retirement of Tampa,” she continued.

Nye, who keeps her local horses with trainer Jim McMullen, lives in Tampa, Florida, where she races her horses in the winter at Tampa Bay Downs. At Arlington International Racecourse, she flies up to Chicago to be on hand for an annual race she has sponsored in the memory of Voodoomon and to bring awareness to others.

On Sunday, June 9, in a very special turn of events, Nye had one of her own horses enter and win the memorial race. Afterward, the owner was emotionally ecstatic and visibly jubilant. “Four years ago, it was the worst day of my life, so to win the race we named in his honor means so much to me. (Voodoomon) was definitely looking down on us today. We’ve been very successful on the track since then, but never in a million years did I imagine we’d win this race. How great is that! I’m just so excited,” she exclaimed.

With the help of the Arlington racing department, Nye was able to enjoy such an exuberant experience. “What is nice about Arlington (management) is they know I fly back and forth from Tampa, so they said to me, ‘Why don’t you do the race when one of your horses is going to run so you can make it a happy experience,’” Nye explained. “And, then this horse is named Doimakeyahappy won! He is just a 4-year-old and this was only his second start on a synthetic. I think he loves the Polytrack.”

Nye is also dedicated to keeping the good “juju” flowing in Voodoomon’s honor. “I want Voodoomon’s name to live on. I want other owners and patrons to know what I have been doing and what they too can do to help support,” the affable owner elucidated. “I feel so passionate about the rescue and retirement of thoroughbreds that for my last couple birthdays and Christmases every year, I have asked family and friends to make donations to thoroughbred retirements and rescues in lieu of gifts.

“My intention is to bring about awareness and ‘doing right’ by your horses. Every year since Voodoomon passed I have claimed a racehorse off the track in need of retirement, and I have done that for the past three years. All three horses are doing wonderfully,” she reported. “I’m going to be writing a check to Galloping Out in honor of Voodoomon and the win here in his memorial race.”

Galloping Out is a cooperative effort between the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, Arlington International Racecourse and Hawthorne Race Course whose mission statement is “Providing funding for the rescue, care, rehabilitation and retraining of off-the-track thoroughbreds.”

In the end, it is the worst of interventions that has produced the best of intentions for altruistic Nye. Her sensible perspective remains sensitive out of necessity, and her imagination and initiative are the kind of magic that should be cast and spread in an industry of such charm and glamour.

By JOE DRAPE
Published: May 3, 2013

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/04/sports/conor-murphys-big-bet-bankrolls-horse-training-career.html?_r=1&

GOSHEN, Ky. — Last spring, Conor Murphy was a hired hand who spent his days galloping racehorses, combing knotted
manes and shoveling manure in a stable in Berkshire, England.

Mr. Murphy, 29, knew his horses well. He was able to tell which ones were on their toes and which ones needed a little more care. He also knew his way around a betting window. On a hunch, he bet $75 on five of his favorites. It was the sort of desperate stab that only a man who loves horses would make.

But he won — big. His $75 bet paid more than $1.5 million, enough for him to put down the shovel and become his own boss.

Now Mr. Murphy lives in Kentucky, training horses for some of the most prominent figures in racing. On Saturday, he will be at the Kentucky Derby, rooting for Lines of Battle, a horse owned by one of his clients.

“Pure luck,” Mr. Murphy said of his life-changing wager. His past year reads like something out of a movie script, and his bet has become the stuff of lore for gamblers from the backsides of American racetracks to the training yards of England and Ireland.

When he moved to Kentucky, Mr. Murphy paid cash for a house in an affluent suburb of Louisville. He then leased a barn here at the Skylight Training Center, hanging out his shingle to train horses for other owners. Now he has 25 to train, mostly 2-year-olds just starting their racing careers.

Some things have not changed: he still rises before dawn, still mucks stalls and still walks his horses for hours on end. He also bathes them himself.

It is much the same routine from his days in England and Ireland. But it feels very different, he said.

“This is mine — my business and my dream,” he said. “I have worked for this since I was a lad.”

It was Mr. Murphy’s father who turned him into a horseman; he had trained and raced horses at the small meetings around his home in Cork, Ireland. Conor Murphy said he wanted to be a jockey but was forced to reconsider after shooting past six feet as a teenager.

He focused on the care and conditioning of racehorses instead and pursued his craft with a single-minded focus. He worked in Ireland’s and England’s yards, as the training centers are called, first with steeplechase horses on the National Hunt circuit. In his 20s he came to Kentucky to work on thoroughbreds with Niall O’Callaghan and then David Carroll, fellow Irishmen who had flourished in American racing.

Mr. Murphy said he fell hard for Louisville, and even harder for a woman from Ohio named Julia Hawley. “I knew I wanted this to be my home,” he said.

But when he was offered a job with Nicky Henderson, one of England’s most renowned National Hunt trainers, Mr. Murphy returned to Britain to work at Mr. Henderson’s training center near Lambourn, due west of London in Berkshire. But four years in Mr. Henderson’s stables went by faster than the money in his bank account was accumulating.

Mr. Murphy says that he does not bet often but that he can recognize opportunity when it comes. In December 2011, he thought that five horses he had been working with in Mr. Henderson’s stable were training well. Each was scheduled to run in March at the Cheltenham Festival in Gloucestershire.

Trying not to let his fondness for the horses cloud his judgment, he played a five-horse accumulator through his online betting account.

Then he forgot about it.

The odds at the time of the bet were long on each horse: Sprinter Sacre (10-1), Simonsig (14-1), Bobs Worth (10-1), Finian’s Rainbow (8-1) and Riverside Theatre (9-1). That all five would win was, well, nearly impossible — about 163,350 to 1, said a spokesman for Paddy Power, an Irish bookmaking firm.

When the Cheltenham Festival arrived, Mr. Murphy was especially focused on the prospects of Finian’s Rainbow. He had been with the horse throughout his jumping career and had ridden him every day. Twice before, Mr. Murphy had gone to Cheltenham with Finian’s Rainbow. Twice, they had lost.

“I’d been involved with the horse for four years and always believed that he was a great horse,” Mr. Murphy said.

This time Finian’s Rainbow cleared all 12 jumps and won the two-mile race. It was not until late into a night of celebrating that Mr. Murphy realized that Sprinter Sacre, Simonsig and Bobs Worth had won, too.

There was still one race to go, involving Riverside Theatre. More than a year later, Mr. Murphy shivers when he sees the replay of Riverside Theatre starting slowly, looking hopelessly beaten.

“He had jumped a couple of fences, and I thought he’d probably pull up,” Mr. Murphy said.

Instead, Riverside Theatre lumbered along, working into contention by the final jump and then passing two rivals in a long and desperate stretch run to win by a head. Just like that, Mr. Murphy had the money to quit his job and return to Kentucky.

Before he moved last summer, however, he bought three modestly priced horses in England: Dimension, Bronterre and Mon Ami Jolie.

They are most likely not going to make him a millionaire — for the second time — but they are the foundation on which he is building his career as a trainer.

So far he has a victory, a second-place finish and a third-place showing in 10 starts. “I knew I had to show people what I could do first to attract clients,” Mr. Murphy said.

Mr. Murphy’s days have not gotten any shorter, but he says he smiles more, as he drives back and forth between the house he owns and the business he has started. This year he treated his brother in Ireland and some cousins from Boston to Kentucky Derby tickets.

On a recent afternoon, he pointed to a horse he had worked with briefly, a muscled Malibu Moon colt with a shimmering coat that was testament to his strength. The colt belongs to Sheik Fahad bin Abdullah al-Thani of Qatar’s royal family, and he will be trained by Graham Motion, who prepared the 2011 Kentucky Derby winner, Animal Kingdom.

“Someday,” Mr. Murphy said, “I’ll saddle my own Kentucky Derby winner.”

By:  Mary Cage

http://pastthegrandstand.blogspot.com/2013/06/palace-malice-heartwarming-belmont.html

Racing enthusiasts spend months awaiting the Triple Crown, scouting talented young Thoroughbreds as they embark upon the search for the horse that can finally quench our thirst for a Triple Crown winner. And within a matter of five weeks – weeks that seem to pass within the blink of an eye – it is over.
Yet another year has passed without the capture of the coveted Triple Crown. For the sixth time in the past ten years, three different horses won each leg of the prestigious series, not only eliminating the dream of a Triple Crown triumph being achieved for the first time in thirty-five years, but discombobulating the three-year-old scene.
But one theme was recurrent throughout the 2013 Triple Crown: old-school. Beginning with Orb’s victory in the Kentucky Derby (GI) for the classic connections of Shug McGaughey and the Phipps and Janney families, the throwback feeling continued when Oxbow– ridden by Gary Stevens, trained by D. Wayne Lukas, and owned by Calumet Farm – upset the Preakness Stakes (GI).
The final leg of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes (GI), was promoted as a rematch between the Derby and Preakness victors, but twelve additional Thoroughbreds aligned to contest against that pair to form the largest Belmont field since 1996. Among those fourteen starters, only three – Orb, Oxbow, and Will Take Charge – had contested in each jewel, but only four horses in the field had not contested in a single Triple Crown race. In fact, half of the field was directly exiting the Kentucky Derby.
Amid those horses was Palace Malice, the eccentric pacesetter of the Kentucky Derby. Equipped with blinkers for the first time in the Run for the Roses, the bay son of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin had essentially taken off with Hall of Fame rider Mike Smith, and after setting a blistering pace, he weakened to finish twelfth.

It was immediately decided that the blinkers would be taken off the Blue Grass Stakes (GI) runner-up. The colt departed the Derby in good order, working very well as he prepared for the Belmont Stakes, posting a trifecta of noteworthy breezes at Belmont Park as trainer Todd Pletcher looked on.
Palace Malice entered the Belmont under morning line odds of 15-1. Of Pletcher’s record five Belmont starters, the colt was the second-longest shot on the morning line. To the roar of more than 47,000 people gathered at the New York track, Palace Malice loaded into the twelfth stall alongside his rivals over a track that had dried enough to be labeled fast – a day after it had been an oval of slop.
Palace Malice broke well and Mike Smith immediately guided him to the vanguard, angling his mount closer to the inside as Preakness winner Oxbow also galloped to the front. Meanwhile, along the inside, Frac Daddy and Freedom Child also charged to the lead.
Racing wide around the wide clubhouse turn, Palace Malice was only a small matter of lengths behind the early leader, Frac Daddy. As a brisk initial quarter-mile of 23.11 was set, Palace Malice remained comfortable in a stalking position, edging closer to the front midway through the first curve. As Frac Daddy, Freedom Child, and Oxbow formed a cluster at the front of the pack, Palace Malice sat just behind them, inching closer as a half-mile clocking of 46.66 – the fastest since Secretariat’s record-breaking victory in 1973 – was recorded.
As Frac Daddy began to drop back, Oxbow seized the lead over Freedom Child, allowing Palace Malice to advance to the third position. Less than two lengths separated Palace Malice and Oxbow as the backstretch began to transform into the far turn. Threatening the Preakness victor on the outside, Palace Malice began to rally beneath a stationary Mike Smith, drawing even with Oxbow in the early stages of the final curve.
Palace Malice established a narrow advantage over Oxbow near the end of the far turn as the pair abandoned their remaining rivals by more than three lengths. Leading his thirteen opponents into the long, grueling stretch of Big Sandy, Palace Malice began to kick clear, opening up on Oxbow and the closers that were gradually gaining ground on the frontrunners.
This moment of drawing away proved crucial for Palace Malice, as he staggered home. However, the rest of the field did the same, allowing the bay colt to maintain his wide lead as he captured the 145^th installment of the classic by 3 ¼ lengths. As trainer Todd Pletcher celebrated gleefully in the grandstand, Mike Smith galloped Palace Malice out with a euphoric grin upon his face, gazing up at the heavens as he pumped his fists victoriously. Meanwhile, Cot Campbell – president of Dogwood Stable, which owns Palace Malice – relished the victory, his first Triple Crown race win since Summer Squall carried the Dogwood green and yellow silks to victory in the 1990 Preakness.
The 2013 Triple Crown was over, but not without style. Old-school had reigned again, treating racing fans with a glimpse into the past.

While Pletcher may not appear to fit with the theme of old-school, it must not be forgotten that he is a former assistant to D. Wayne Lukas, having worked under “The Coach” for seven years. During this time, Pletcher was associated with the likes of Derby and Belmont winner Thunder Gulch, Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (GI) champion Flanders, and champion filly and winner of thirteen grade ones, Serena’s Song.
And although Mike Smith has graced many headlines in recent years – especially during his years of riding the popular Zenyatta– the 47-year-old jockey has made his name be known in racing since the early 1990s. Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2003, Mike Smith had won one edition of each Triple Crown race prior to this year’s Belmont.
But the true old-school story that Palace Malice carried into the winner’s circle with the garland of carnations was that of Dogwood Stable. Founded in Aiken, South Carolina in 1973, Campbell’s Dogwood Stable has sent a plethora of high-caliber Thoroughbreds to the racetrack, including not only Summer Squall, but the Champion Two-Year-Old Filly of 1996, Storm Song. For 23 years, a Triple Crown race win had eluded the storied stable, but with two of the most recognizable faces in racing in Pletcher and Smith, Campbell was finally able to attain yet another victory in one of the sought-after spring classics.
After the race, 85-year-old Campbell, who had led his horse into the winner’s enclosure with a heartwarming smile upon his face, summed it up best: “This is the mother of all great moments, I’ll tell you that. I’m proud for Dogwood and for my great partners. . . And I’m proud for Aiken, South Carolina; they’ll be dancing in the streets. . . And I’m proud of Todd, one of the great trainers of all-time and Mike Smith, one of the great riders. And, for the horse, the horse, the horse! I’m so proud of him.”
While Palace Malice’s connections carry an old-school story, Palace Malice carries a story of fate. The dam of Palace Malice, Palace Rumor, was trained by small-time trainer Burl McBride, who sent the daughter of Royal Anthem to Hal Wiggins’ barn at Churchill Downs for a start beneath the twin spires in 2005 while the remainder of his small stable remained at Ellis Park. Although he planned to send Palace Rumor – two years old at the time – back to Ellis Park after her race, he decided to keep her overnight at Churchill following a taxing effort.
Early the next morning, a tornado ripped through Ellis Park, killing three of the seven horses McBride had stabled there. Palace Rumor – who, by the intervention of fate, had remained safe at Churchill Downs – was the only horse he had left. She would go on to be a black-type winner, accumulating career earnings of $271,135 before being sold for $140,000 to William S. Farish of Lane’s End Farm at the 2008 Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale while in foal to Tiznow.
One year later, Palace Rumor was bred to Curlin. The result was Palace Malice, who McBride attempted to purchase but was never able to, although he has eagerly followed the colt.
And so now, the colt who exists by the intervention of fate has won one of the greatest races in the United States for the trainer who learned the ropes from a Hall of Famer, for the Hall of Fame rider that had searched for redemption, and for the owner who truly loves the game and the animals that make the game what it is: the horses.

By MELISSA HOPPERT

http://therail.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/08/live-updates-and-analysis-the-145th-belmont-stakes/

Palace Malice cruised to the lead turning for home and beat both the Preakness winner Oxbow and the Derby winner Orb to capture the 145th running of the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park on Saturday.

Oxbow finished second, three and a quarter lengths back, and Orb was third. Palace Malice, who completed the mile and a half distance in 2 minutes 30.70 seconds on a track that was upgraded to fast, paid $29.60 on a $2 bet to win.

“The whole time he was just enjoying the trip,” the Hall of Fame rider Mike Smith told NBC. “He was full of run turning for home.”

There was no chance of a Triple Crown; the last to accomplish the feat was Affirmed in 1978. However, there were plenty of story lines, including the trainer Todd Pletcher having five horses in the race, including Palace Malice.

Pletcher, who is well known for his lack of emotion, said Palace Malice trained extremely well ahead of the race. “We were quietly confident coming in,” he acknowledged afterward.

But Smith made sure he and his horse were among them. Smith and Palace Malice finished 12th in the Kentucky Derby, then rested up for the Belmont.

“I was moving better than him at the three-eighths pole and like a big brother talking to a little brother he said, ‘You go on with it,’” Smith, 47, said of his fellow Hall of Famer Gary Stevens, 50, who was aboard Oxbow.

The victory was Smith’s second in the Belmont; he guided Drosselmeyer across the finish line first in 2010.

By Chris Fallica | ESPN.com

http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/66574/5-stats-to-know-the-belmont-stakes

For the eighth time in the last nine years, the Belmont Stakes will be run without a Triple Crown at stake. Last year I’ll Have Another won both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, but was scratched the day prior to the race.

But even without a Triple Crown at stake, there are still plenty of reasons to watch the Belmont, on this the 40th anniversary of Secretariat’s 31-length win.

2 out of 3 ain’t bad
Orb is attempting to do what Thunder Gulch last did in 1995 -– win the Belmont Stakes and Kentucky Derby with a defeat in the Preakness Stakes sandwiched in between.

Eleven horses have won the Derby, lost the Preakness and then rebounded to win the Belmont Stakes.

However only six Derby winners have finished off the board in the Preakness (outside of top-3) and then won the Belmont, with the last being Swale in 1984. Oxbow (6th in the Kentucky Derby) can become the 19th horse to lose the Derby, and then win the Preakness and Belmont.

Since 1950 it has happened nine times, and four times it was by a beaten Derby favorite (which Oxbow was not).

Advantage, Oxbow?
In the last 25 years, the Derby and Preakness winner have gone head-to-head in the Belmont Stakes seven times. And all six times the Preakness winner finished the Belmont, he finished in front of the Derby winner, winning the Belmont five of those instances. In 1993, Preakness winner Prairie Bayou did not finish the race. Derby winner Sea Hero finished seventh.

Rosie rides the filly
Rosie Napravnik will ride Todd Pletcher’s filly Unlimited Budget 20 years after Julie Krone became the first female jockey to win a Triple Crown race (aboard Colonial Affair in the 1993 Belmont Stakes). Coincidentally, Pletcher’s first Triple Crown win came in the 2007 Belmont Stakes with the filly Rags to Riches. Twenty three fillies have run in the Belmont and they have a record of three wins, one second and six third-place finishes.

Favorite Flops
Being the favorite hardly means a guaranteed victory. Only three times in the last 18 years has the favorite won the Belmont, with Afleet Alex being the last in 2005. In that same span, the Belmont favorite has finished eighth or worse six times. In the last three years, the favorite has been completely off the board, finishing seventh, sixth, and ninth in that span. Four of the last five Belmont winners have been at least 11-1. In fact, since 2004, only two winners have been shorter than 4-1.

Nine different horses?
In the Derby, Orb, Golden Soul and Revolutionary completed the trifecta. In the Preakness, Oxbow, Itsmyluckyday and Mylute ran 1-2-3. If none of Orb, Oxbow, Golden Soul and Revolutionary finish in the top-3, nine different horses will have finished in the money in this year’s Triple Crown. The last time all nine “in-the-money” spots went to different horses was 1926.

By Benjamin Klein (Featured Columnist) on June 2, 2013

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1659123-belmont-stakes-2013-bold-predictions-for-final-leg-of-triple-crown

The 2013 Belmont Stakes is bound to be full of surprises.

The Kentucky Derby was won by one of the favorites, but the Preakness victor certainly wasn’t considered a contender before the race started. Several other horses that were thought to be in good shape going into both races struggled when the doors sprung open.

So what should we expect to see this year at the Belmont Stakes? Will Orb or Oxbow win their second Triple Crown race this year? Will a non-contender break through and win the entire thing? Which owner and jockey will be successful?

Only one horse will win the final leg of the Triple Crown on June 8, but several unlikely things will certainly come into play. Let’s take a look at what’s going to happen at the 145th running of the Belmont Stakes.

Unlimited Budget Wins It All

One of the biggest storylines this year surrounds the lone filly in the race, Unlimited Budget. There have only been three fillies in the history of the Belmont Stakes to come out on top, the last being Rags to Riches back in 2007.

But that wouldn’t be the only history made if Unlimited Budget were to win the third leg of the Triple Crown. Rosie Napravnik will be the jockey attempting to get Unlimited Budget across the finish line before any other opponent, and she would be the second female jockey to ever win.

Unlimited Budget and Napravnik currently have 10-1 odds to win at the Belmont States, which are tied for the fifth best, according Watchmaker. As trainer Todd Pletcher told Steve Haskin of ESPN:

If you look at Unlimited Budget’s speed figures, they match up against these colts. The key is getting the mile and half. She’s won at the mile and a sixteenth twice this year and won going a mile and an eighth as a 2-year-old, so that’s encouraging and suggest she can compete in here.

Napravnik has been very successful this year already. She finished fifth at the Kentucky Derby and third at the Preakness with Mylute, who won’t be racing next Saturday. Napravnik has yet to win it all this year in a Triple Crown race, but will finally do so at the Belmont Stakes, riding Unlimited Budget to victory.

There won’t be a Triple Crown winner this year and it seems unlikely that Kentucky Derby champion Orb or Preakness winner Oxbow will win their second of three legs in 2013. Both are heavily favored, with Watchmaker giving Orb 3-1 odds and Oxbow 6-1 odds.

While Orb and Oxbow have each shown what they’re capable of, they’re the horses with the targets on their backs this time around. All of the competition will be aiming to knock off two of the most successful horses this year. That won’t be easy to do, but it’s certainly possible.

Orb’s trainer, Shug McGaughey, told Richard Rosenblatt of the Associated Press, via The Miami Herald, that the horse’s fourth-place finish at the Preakness was in part due to his inability to get on the outside and find running room.

While Oxbow managed to top Orb at the Kentucky Derby, he now will also attempt to find room to run while other horses and jockeys try to prevent that from happening. Only 11 horses have won the Triple Crown, and winning two of the three races isn’t a walk in the park either.

Next Saturday, don’t expect to see Orb or Oxbow finish toward the front of the pack. The competition will be successful in making sure that neither breaks through and takes a large lead to get a victory or a top-three finish.

Horse With 30-1 Odds Finishes Top 3

There are currently three horses with 30-1 odds to win at the Belmont Stakes, according to Watchmaker: Giant Finish, Incognito and Midnight Taboo. I’ve already told you that Unlimited Budget is going to win it all, but one of those three will be joining the filly in the top three.

While each horse has had its fair share of success this year, only Giant Finish has run in a Triple Crown race. Giant Finish came in 10th place at the Kentucky Derby, who entered the race late.

As Giant Finish’s trainer, Tony Dutrow, told David Grening of Daily Racing Form, “I was happily surprised that he beat half the field. I’m not making any predictions, but I do think the mile and a half [at the Belmont Stakes] will be good for our horse.”

Incognito and Midnight Taboo will both be looking to have similar success, but the lack of experience doesn’t help their cases. Yet while experience is usually important in the Triple Crown, the unpredictability of these races gives these horses a chance to finish in the top three and potentially even come out on top.

Let’s not forget that Oxbow wasn’t close to being favored to win the Preakness and he still did. These three horses will each attempt to be the second horse this year to overcome the odds at a Triple Crown race.

Posted on the Horseracingnation.com on May 29th, 2013

http://www.horseracingnation.com/news/Penn_Mile_Attracts_Top_Turf_Horses_to_Penn_National_123

Posted by: Teresa Genaro

http://www.belmontstakes.com/blog/teresa-genaro/2013/05/24/welcome-to-the-cabin-by-the-sea/

“’We bid you welcome to our cabin by the sea.’”

With these words, the Coney Island Jockey Club announced its existence in September, 1879.  Headed by Leonard Jerome, the club was formed to build a new racetrack in Brooklyn; “the sea” was Sheepshead Bay, in the southwest corner of the borough, and the racetrack that took its name opened in June, 1880.

The track took full advantage of its shorefront location, building, according to an 1880 article in the New York Times, a clubhouse that afforded a “full and commanding view of the ocean, [with] a broad piazza extending along the ocean front of the building.”  Ferries transported customers from the Battery, at the southern tip of Manhattan, and from a dock at East 23rd Street directly to the entrance of the track.

On opening day, June 19, 1880, praise for the track’s convenience and appearance were unequivocal, the grandstand said to be “without equal” in the country. The racing was pretty good, too:  five races were held on that first card, two stakes and a steeplechase.

The names of the two stakes, the Tidal and the Foam, invoked the track’s location, and the stature of the winners indicated the quality of the racing. For three-year-old colts, the Tidal was won by Luke Blackburn, whose Brooklyn connections went deep; he was owned by Brooklyn’s own Dwyer brothers, and both his trainer, James Rowe, and his jockey, James McLaughlin, also lived in Brooklyn.  In fact, all three lived on a block in Park Slope known as Sportsmen’s Row.

Luke Blackburn’s victory, wrote the Times, “was a very popular one, especially with the Brooklyn people, many of whom shouted excitedly as he came up the stretch in the lead.” The horse would win 22 of 24 races that year; decades later, Rowe and McLaughlin would be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Between them, the two men won eight Belmont Stakes as jockeys: Rowe in 1872 and 1873, and McLaughlin set the record with six wins between 1882 and 1888.  Eddie Arcaro tied that record in 1955.

The Foam Stakes for two-year-olds was won by Spinaway, owned by George Lorillard, and according to William H.P. Robertson, she won seven of nine races and was the champion juvenile filly of her year. Her legacy lives on in the stakes race that’s been run at Saratoga since 1881, the year after she made her debut.

That first Sheepshead Bay meeting ended on June 26. In the 80 races that were run, Lorillard was the leading owner by money earned, with the Dwyer brothers second.  Spinaway’s jockey Hughes (no first name given) took the jockey title, followed by McLaughlin.

But it was more than a striking environment and good racing that put Sheepshead Bay on the sporting map:  in 1886, the track introduced turf racing to the United States. The steeplechase course was eliminated to make room for a one-mile turf course, and among the races run over it that year was the fittingly, if not originally, named Green Grass Stakes, won by Dry Monopole.

Given the current popularity of turf racing and its historical significance overseas, the reaction of the Times writer at the end of that Sheepshead Bay meeting may come as something of a surprise:

The grass track at Sheepshead Bay has been a failure…Training horses on a dirt track and running them on turf could not have been expected to succeed and was not popular as a novelty.  In a couple of years…the attempt may be made to convince American horsemen not afflicted with Anglomania that it can be used with safety, but the Jockey Club will be obliged to make “moors and downs” to train upon in the meantime.”  (“Turf Notes”)

He may have had a point, but he didn’t get it exactly right: 127 years later, the turf racing at Sheepshead Bay is commemorated in a stakes race—on the grass, of course—at Belmont Park, the track to which some of the Coney Island Jockey Club’s most prominent fixtures, the Futurity and the Suburban, were moved after the demise of the pretty, and prestigious, “cabin by the sea” at Sheepshead Bay.

Consulted and quoted

Coney Island Jockey Club program, Coney Island Jockey Club Collection, Brooklyn Historical Society.

“Good Racing Near The Sea,” New York Times, June 20, 1880.

“Hark, ‘Tis The Troubadour,” New York Times, June 11, 1886.

“Miscellaneous City News,” New York Times, June 19, 1880.

“Racing at the Sea-Shore,” New York Times, June 27, 1880.

Robertson, William H.P. The History of Thoroughbred Racing in America.  Bonanza Books, 1964.

“The Coney Island Jockey Club: An Organization Which Was Needed On Long Island,” New York Times, September 5, 1879.

“The Coney Island Jockey Club: The New Race-Course And Its New Club-House,” New York Times, March 28, 1880.

“The Futurity at Sheepshead Bay, Sept. 03, 1888, value $50,000 won by Proctor Knott.” Library of Congress, Popular Graphic Arts Collection, LC-DIG-pga-00720

“Turf Notes,” New York Times, June 28, 1886.

“View of the racecourse of the Coney Island Jockey Club situate at Sheepshead Bay Long Island,” Library of Congress, Popular Graphic Arts Collection, LC-DIG-pga-01519.

Author: Gerard Apadula

http://isportsweb.com/2013/05/26/horse-racing-preview-of-the-met-mile-at-belmont-park-on-memorial-day/

For this (long) weekend’s Horse Racing Race of the Week, we go to Belmont Park in Elmont, NY for 2013 Metropolitan Mile on Monday where Flat Out has been installed as the 5/2 morning line favorite.

The Met Mile, as it’s been affectionately nicknamed, is one of my favorite races of the year. To me, this race marks the beginning of the summer and perennially draws strong and competitive fields.

The Mile distance is another thing I like about the storied race. The distance of one mile is not a sprint, yet it’s not a route race either and it takes a special horse to win it.

The first Met Mile was run way back in 1891, but just over the past 70 years or so the impressive list of winners include super filly Gallorette, Stymie, Tom Fool, Native Dancer, the great Kelso, Carry Back, the stretch running monster Buckpasser, the mighty Forego (twice), Fappiano, the gorgeous and speedy Conquistador Cielo, Holy Bull, the wickedly fast Ghostzapper (for which yours truly was in attendance for and took the 3/5 odds and cashed in) and Quality Road.

The Met Mile is not the only good race on Monday’s card at Belmont. In fact several key races are set to be run including The Acorn Stakes, which will feature the fleet Kauai Katie lining up against Midnight Lucky, Close Hatches, and three others in the one mile Grade: 1 race.

Kauai Katie comes into the Acorn off three blowout wins in a row and has won six of her first seven starts. (Her only loss was a fourth place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies last year).

The speedy Midnight Lucky set the pace in the Kentucky Oaks but tired to finished fifth in her last start, but before that she won the Sunland Park Oaks by eight lengths on March 24.

Close Hatches was undefeated in three starts going into the Kentucky Oaks, but just didn’t run a step in that race and finished seventh. I do except her to bounce back and run well on Monday afternoon.

Also on the Met Mile under-card is the Sands Point Stakes, a $200,000 Grade: 2 race at one and one sixteenth miles on the turf for three year old fillies. I like Watsdachances, who was second in the Breeders Cup Juvenile Filly Turf last year, in that race.

In the very next race on the card (Race:8), trainer Larry Jones has a pretty serious 1-2 punch in Joyful Victory and Believe You Can in the $400,000 Grade: 1 Ogden Phipps Handicap at one and one sixteenths miles.

Joyful Victory, who is 2 for 2 in 2013, comes into the Ogden Phipps off a brief rest after her (March 16) Santa Margarita Stakes win at Santa Anita, while 2012 Kentucky Oaks winner Believe You Can, who has a won total of eight of 13 career starts, is 2 for 3 this year.

“There’s just really not a lot of spots, and both horses deserve to run after the big pot,” Jones said. “We couldn’t play favorites, both owners wanted to run, so here we are.”

“They’re good to go in posts 1 and 6, so at least they won’t be looking at each other the whole way,” Jones said. “A lot will depend on the break and the post positions, both for us and for everyone else,” Jones added. “I think I have two of the best riders in the country (Rosie Napravnik is on Joyful Victory and John Velasquez is on Believe You Can). They’ll have to do their jobs, and I’ll let them do their jobs.”

Belmont Park – Monday, May 27, 2013

Race 10 – 5:49 PM

Metropolitan Mile Handicap (Grade I)

Purse $750,000.

For Three Year Olds and Upward

One Mile

P#PP   Horse             A/S  Med    Jockey            Wght                    Trainer                  M/L

11         Cross Traffic  4/C L J R Velazquez           117                      T A Fletcher          3/1

2 2       Discreet Dancer 4/C L J Castellano         117                      T A Pletcher          6/1

3 3       Mark Valeski      4/C L R Napravnik        117                      J L Jones               5/1

4 4      Fort Loudon        4/C L J Lezcano            117                      N P Zito                  10/1

5 5      Swagger Jack       5/H L I Ortiz, Jr.          118                      M D Wolfson         12/1

6 6      Flat Out                7/H L J Alvarado          120                     W I Mott                  5/2

7 7       Sahara Sky          5/H L J Rosario            120                      J Hollendorfer        6/1

8 8      Handsome Mike 4/C L M Gutierrez        116                      D F O’Neill              30/1

9 9      Fed Biz                 4/C L M E Smith           117                       B Baffert                  15/1

Analysis:

1) Flat Out- is obviously a BelmontPark monster as he is 4 for 4 at “Big Sandy” and just 3 for 19 everywhere else.

I’ll tell you, every time I write him off, this now seven year old seems to come back stronger.

His last race (The Westchester Mile at Belmont on opening day) was a sight to behold. He ran down Cross Traffic in the final yards to win by a head in an eye popping 1:32.4 and score a remarkable 115 Speed Figure in the process.

I am somewhat concerned about him “bouncing” but after listen to trainer Bill Mott, those fears dissipated somewhat.

Mott said he’s seen “all positive signs” since the Westchester. I think he was talking about the back to back bullet works (May 14- 4F- :47.4 and May 21- 4F- :48.1) at Oklahoma (The Saratoga Training Track in upstate NY).

“You wouldn’t think he could be doing any better,” Mott added.

Slight edge in one of the more wide open races we’ve looked at all year long.

2) Cross Traffic- should be Flat Out’s main rival once again based the fact he set a nuclear pace (:45.2, 1:08.4) in the aforementioned Westchester and was beaten just a head.

If he goes just one or two ticks slower early this Monday afternoon….. he could be long gone late.

You have to be impressed with that Westchester race also. I mean he runs Flat Out to a life and death struggled (and also registered a 115 Speed Figure) in just his third career start? That, readers, doesn’t happen very often.

Since he will be on or close to the early lead, the key for him (and this entire race for that matter) will be how fast (or slow) the early pace will be. Then again, you can’t get a much faster pace than the one in the Westchester and he was still right there at the end….an obviously dangerous foe.

3) Sahara Sky- has had a hell of a 2013 thus far. He started the year with a beautiful come from behind win in the Palos Verdes at Santa Anita and stopped the clock in very quick 1:07.3 for six furlongs.

He basically did the exact sane thing in his next race as he came from well back to win the seven furlong San Carlos (also at Santa Anita) with another extremely fast time of 1:21.1.

This dark bay by Pleasant Tap was then shipped east and entered in the Grade:1 Carter Handicap where he, once again, came from far back early but this time he missed by less than a length after experiencing some traffic issues in the upper stretch.

6-1 on the morning line is more than fair and he should be coming down the lane in this race as well….the only thing I don’t like is that he is 0 for 2 at the one mile distance and in fact, he’s never even hit the board at eight furlongs. So, if seven furlongs his ceiling?…guess we’ll find out on Monday.

Honorable Mentions: (and there are several, always will be in wide open races)

Mark Valeski shows eight of nine career races either first or second (the one time he was off the board was in his debut race, so it’s ok to excuse him for that.) and its not like he’s been running against slow pokes either. He’s run in several Grade: 2 and Grade: 3 races and has more than held his own….could be a menace in this race too. Discreet Dancer is four for six in his career including a huge blow-out score in the Gulfstream Park Handicap back in March. He makes just his second start outside Gulfstream Park (his first was a “hung late” third in the Carter Handicap April 6). …all in all, I won’t be surprised if this son of the gorgeous Discreet Cat runs well here. Swagger Jack has really turned the corner in his career since right around the beginning of the year as he’s never been worse than second in his past five races topped off by 15-1 upset win in the Grade:1 Carter Handicap. His works are ordinary but with the way he’s going lately, he must be respected. Fed Biz, if this were a beauty contest, this well bred (Giant’s Causeway-Spunoutofcontrol) colt wins this race. But since its not, and he’s been a bit of a disappointment lately, (he’s only won once in the last seven races…spanning seven months) we have to look at him differently. He is kind of tough to figure out, he has the looks and has been burning up the Santa Anita racetrack in the mornings (he went six furlongs in 1:10.4 on May 20) yet hasn’t run back to those works. He leaves the state of California for the first time for trainer Bob Baffert and if he takes the east coast tracks, he’ll be a force to be reckoned with.

Record: 9-26 = 35%

2012: 24-74 = 32%

Applying the Lessons Learned from the Kentucky Derby to the Preakness

By Consensus Choice

Before we get caught up in the hype and hoopla of the Preakness in 2 weeks, let’s take a look back at the 2013 Kentucky Derby to see if we can get some useful pointers to help us not just pick the winner but hit the exotics which sometimes are so easy in retrospect but which we make so difficult by overthinking them. The clues are right under our nose but can we take off our blinders and see clearly into the crystal ball that is handicapping the horses.

Richard Dutrow, when asked about his horse, Big Brown’s chances in the 2008 Kentucky Derby, was quoted as saying “It’s just another horse race”. Of course he was right but we attach a special importance to the Triple Crown races and some of us spend day and night trying to figure them out and are so proud of ourselves when we get it right and so disappointed when we don’t. While it is ultimately about the money, it is also about bragging rights and a proof of our handicapping ability.

What do the Derby results tell us to expect in the Preakness. First, Orb is obviously the horse to beat, just as he was in the Kentucky Derby. He is hot, has won 5 races in a row, and seems to have the right style to not be disadvantaged by any pace scenario and doesn’t seem to have any distance limitations.

The Derby winner should always be considered the horse to beat in the Preakness. I don’t know the exact percentage from the beginning of time, but the Derby winner has an incredible win percentage in the Preakness. Surprisingly, the Derby winner is quite often not the Preakness favorite. The most recent glaring example in my memory of the value available in just making the Derby winner one of your automatic selections was 1999 when Charismatic repeated his Derby win in the Preakness and paid 8-1.

In recent times take a look at how many Derby winners repeated in the Preakness: Silver Charm, Real Quiet, Charismatic, War Emblem, Funny Cide, Smarty Jones, Big Brown, and I’ll Have Another. That is 8 winners out of 17 runners since 1996 or a tidy 47%. There were 4 others during this stretch that were unlucky to not win and finished 2^nd.

As of today there are 7 likely returnees from the Derby that want to try it again and 4 “new shooters”. The challenge may be more about getting the exotics right than in picking the winner. Interestingly, while it doesn’t often appear to be the case, the Preakness always seems to offer value, not as much as the Derby, but it always seems to pay more than you would expect even if the winner is obvious. In 2002, War Emblem repeated his Derby win, and Proud Citizen who ran 2^nd in the Derby finished 3^rd in the Preakness. However a 45-1 shot split them and the Trifecta paid approximately $1,100 for a dollar. Truly amazing value!

So besides scouring the past performances, what other tools do we have available to us in order to narrow down the likely contenders and price plays. Where I start is with the experts that make a living handicapping the horses. In the Kentucky Derby we have experts on the Kentucky Derby website who are quite good and who I highly recommend you pay close attention to. In 2012 one of them had the Kentucky Oaks winner Believe You Can on top at $29. This year Princess of Sylmar was third on one list and she won paying $78. The same handicapper also had Orb in his top 4 so that juicy $621 Daily Double was within reach.

In last year’s Kentucky Derby two of these handicappers had I’ll Have Another on top. This is better than the Daily Racing Form has done in that same period. In fact this year these experts made the Derby a virtual match race between Orb and Revolutionary which would have made you a nice score in the exotics if you remembered to use ALL in 2^nd or 3^rd. Revolutionary was conspicuously missing in action from the Daily Racing Form expert opinions. Another great source is the Daily Racing Form’s Derby Watch that does a great job at narrowing the choices. Of course another excellent source of information is e-ponies.com.

One of the best handicapping devices doesn’t become available until the day before the Derby. It by far one of the best predictors of results I have followed in recent years. The reason for this is that talk is cheap but money talks. Also betting is a reflection of all the great expert advice that is being processed and shows up at the betting windows. You should focus like a laser beam on the early betting on Friday and the Daily Double probable payoffs from the Kentucky Oaks and the Kentucky Derby.  Listed below is what that looked like this year.

6-1  Orb                                   621.40

8-1  Normandy Invasion          742.00

5-1  Revolutionary                   790.00

11-1  Verrazano                       804.60

5-1  Goldencents                    953.60

11-1  Itsmyluckyday                  983.00

14-1  Overanalyze                  1246.80

42-1  Vyjack                            1313.80

14-1  Mylute                            1508.20

26-1  Palace Malice                 1547.60

22-1  Java’s War                     1685.60

25-1  Oxbow                           2133.40

42-1  Lines of Battle                2337.20

30-1  Will Take Charge            3088.00

31-1  Golden Soul                   3599.20

32-1  Charming Kitten              3617.80

15-1  Frac Daddy                    3943.80

44-1  Giant Finish                    5844.00

48-1  Falling Sky                      6241.40

The top 3 in the DD probable payoffs and the Top 4 in the early win betting finished 1st, 3rd and 4th.  It didn’t take a genius to win this Derby. All you had to do was pay attention to the betting and use ALL in at least one underneath spot on your ticket. Almost no one picked Golden Soul, but you didn’t need to. Every big Trifecta or Superfecta that I have won was because we caught a bomb by using ALL in one slot on the ticket. Also see that Verrazano and Goldencents were well behind Orb when comparing the Morning Line choices.

Just so you don’t think this was a fluke that is only supported by this year’s results, go back to 2010. Super Saver opened 7-1 on day one from a 15-1 Morning Line and stayed 8-1. He proved a handy winner at $18.00. In 2008 the only reason I hit the Trifecta when Big Brown won is because I threw in Eight Belles as a reacher because she opened up 8-1 from a 20-1 Morning Line on Friday. Prior to that betting, I hadn’t even considered her. She ran huge to finish 2^nd.

Even Animal Kingdom in 2011 got funny money. He was 30-1 on the Morning Line but held 20-1 throughout the betting. This was impressive as other 30-1’s did not do likewise. Last year’s winner I’ll Have Another held his 12-1 Morning Line. Hard Spun was bet from 12-1 to 6-1 in 2007 and Lion Heart from 10-1 down to 5-1 in 2004. Both ran strong seconds. The main reason I invested much more money in Barbaro than the other contenders in 2006 was because he opened 6-1 on Friday while Lawyer Ron and Colonel John, the other two Morning Line favorites both opened above 10-1.

I don’t have years of empirical data to present here, but observing this phenomenon over several years it doesn’t always produce the winner but these horses run well enough to get into the exotics. Take Revolutionary and Normandy Invasion this year. They were 10-1 and 12-1 on the Morning Line and yet opened well-bet in both pools. In fact, Revolutionary held favoritism deep into the betting. Orb only pulled even with him in the last hour of betting. This betting is most significant when it is unexpected. As positive as it is to get bet it is just as negative to not get bet. In 2010 Looking at Lucky was 3-1 on the Morning Line but opened at 9-1. Verrazano was 4-1 on the Morning Line this year but opened 11-1. This is never a positive sign.

So how does that help us this year? Isn’t the horse already out of the barn? Well they run a race on Friday 5/17 called The Black Eyed Susan that has a Daily Double connected to the Preakness. They also have early Friday betting on the Preakness. Belmont Park runs the Brooklyn Handicap on Friday 6/7 before the Belmont Stakes which is connected in a Daily Double with published probable payoffs.

While I do not believe that the Preakness or Belmont Stakes have expert handicapper picks on their websites, pay close attention to who is getting the buzz and who isn’t. Read as much as you can about all the entrants. Of course if you are a brilliant handicapper you can just read the   past performances and ignore expert opinions and early betting odds and probable Daily Double payoffs. But if you are smart, you will do well to do both and pay attention closely to betting that exceeds and/or underwhelms your expectations.

While this concept isn’t foolproof, you will do your wallet and your ego a favor if you let yourself be swayed even just a little by spreading a little more on your exotic tickets to include these well-bet and well-intentioned horses. Likewise, beware of those that fail to get bet like you expected. That doesn’t mean you should throw them out, but it should make you think twice and maybe lead you to lighten the load on what you are investing.

Good Luck next week!