before or after the alabama?

So, what are the odds that Rags to Riches even makes it to the Alabama before announcement of her retirement? DRF reports on the filly checking out okay with the Irish vet that came in for Tabor to give her the once over. I'd put it at even money that they pull the plug before the race and, say, about 3-1 that Tabor and Co. announce the reason for her recent form is that she's mysteriously developed male reproductive organs. Well, at least we'll have her standing for $150,000 a session next year at Coolmore - just a little something to help take some of the sting out of the loss for her fans, they'll say. I'm telling you, don't be surprised if it plays out like this....

beyer silliness

As difficult as it may be to fathom, Ginger Punch, the winner of the Go For Wand on Saturday at Saratoga, ran a 95 beyer speed figure, not the 103 that many would have you believe. And, yes, Lawyer Ron ran a legit 116 by sitting a perfect outside trip off of a moderate pace and taking a step forward on the day. Wanderin Boy ran back to his top (111), which we know he can do when he's on his game (Note the number of Zito's horses are firing at the Spa - CP West rang big today and he won with a firster on Saturday.). Diamond Stripes moved forward off of his Churchill Down races to run a 108.

Ginger Punch just isn't as good going two turns and a route of ground. It's no big deal, just the reality of things. Sure, she can fire a 105 beyer going a one-turn mile or 7/8ths, but she's just going to s-l-o-w down with the added distance. Heaven forbid they should have a Grade One winner at the Spa with a 95 speed figure. Anyone that follows the fillies and mares out west is all too familiar with graded stakes winners running in the low to mid 90s. On Saturday, Ginger Punch did just that and picked up style points by finishing in front of a field where not a single other runner fired. For those that stick with the 103, please feel free. I'll be happy to take a stand against it at the windows down the road.

Oh, and this Win and You're In for the Breeders' Cup idea has to be one of the more ridiculous ones we've had from the higher-ups. Like Lawyer Ron/Ginger Punch/Diabolical/My Typhoon aren't pointing for the Breeders' Cup? I'm sure the connections are sleeping so much easier tonight. How about ABC/NTRA focusing on the 12 horses in Whitney and one of the best betting races in some time? The $500,000 pick 4 (c'mon, make it a cool $1m)? These puff pieces and canned 'let's get excited' stories foisted upon audiences are just so lame. It's the gambling aspect that drives the bus, nothing else.

Play the pick 4 at Ellis Park. Gear up for the reduced takeout at Laurel this August. Maybe that will help get the message home.

deja vu all over again

It was an oddly similar effort from Nautical Agent tonight in her race at Colonial Downs. She sat well off of a quick pace, moved up on the turn and finished with a bit of a run to finish fourth in the field of thirteen. Our jock could have made more of an effort to have her closer early on, especially given her lack of interest in attending the pace. If he was willing to let her just lope along, she was more than happy to do it. I'm not sure it would have made a difference as it relates to the winner, but she could have been there for second or third (she was beaten 3/4s of a length for third money). We'll do the usual drill and see how she comes out of this before mapping out a plan.

Fortuna worked a half in 49 seconds this morning at Fair Hill. They missed her on the tab, but she did it and came back in good order. She should be set to have another go once the proper spot pops up at Delaware.

Dutrow's horse, Diamond Stripes, is the one in the Whitney. I remember chatting with a friend after the Pegasus last year and noting that the horse is just a freak. He'll be better now with that race in Kentucky under his belt.

friday night lights

We'll see how Nautical Agent handles a 7:20pm EST post tonight, her first time racing in the evening. Usually, she's two martinis deep at that hour, so it's anyone's guess as to how she'll take it. It's a full field, 12 or 13, but a decent lot of them have no chance and it's really more like 4 or 5 that are logical players. She's one of 'em, so we're in with a shot.

Down at Fair Hill, Fortuna is galloping, galloping, galloping along. The timing was too quick to come back at Delaware in the spot we want for her, so we'll just sit tight and wait for it to cycle back in another week. They wound up splitting it this week, so at least we'll have knocked off two fillies likely to target the same race. I only spotted one dropper that would have been super tough.

Mass Romantic, also in the barn at Fair Hill, is logging on the miles before doing some more serious work in preparation for a return. She's taking everything in stride as she always does and seems happy with the program. That works for me.

Finally, Veiled Reference is set to have her final work down in Ocala today or tomorrow. Bo Yates will breeze her from the gate (maybe a half mile) just to remind her of the program (she was schooled at the gate earlier in the year). That move should have her nicely set-up to ship north, work a few times at Fair Hill and then target a race to get things rolling. I'll catch Bo in the next few days to touch base.

Big day at Saratoga tomorrow. A truck-load of Graded races and some guaranteed pools. Catch it on ABC at 4pm EST. I'll have a look and share any inspiration. Depending on how things go at Colonial with Nautical Agent, it might be me that's a few martinis deep later on, so keep that in mind.

it's the sssspa

The Saratoga racing season is upon us. While I'm not as excited about this particular meet as I am, say, the Laurel summer meet in August (11% blended takeout - yummy) or the Hambo coming up at the Meadowlands (okay, that's a lie), the Spa usually brings enough to the table to make it worth following. Our favorite moment last year, of course, was a delicious little score on Christophe Clement's Meribel on top of Darley's Calla Lily in an x1 allowance race on the turf. That's Kate showing off her winning tickets after the race, which was the last on the day and a nice way to start off some proper, bubbly, celebration in the parking lot.

One can find the standard coverage of the meet at bloodhorse.com and drf.com. I like to check out Steve Crist's writings at DRF during the course of the season. He's starting a blog this year (I officially caused blogging to "jump the shark"), but he's worth scanning to see what's up on the scene. His touts I can take or leave, but he's usually spot on as it relates to the business of racing. You can link to his site here.

hit me, baby

One more time for Nautical Agent. She's back in at Colonial Downs on Friday, 7/27 in the day's sixth race. Tim was down to saddle another one of his horses, Gator Nation, on Friday and said that she's doing well. No need for her to do more than jog between starts, as she's as fit as she'll be and the weather can get rather hot this time of year. She's eating well and has clearly taken to the new venue, so let's hope that the additional class relief on Friday and few weeks at the racetrack have her set to fire.

The Fasig-Tipton NY-bred yearling sale from Saratoga is in a few weeks, so it's time to study up. I'll head up for the preferred session and scope out the scene. The game plan is to identify things that are appealing in certain pedigrees, nix the pedigrees that are just of no interest and then travel up to look for real athletes, regardless of where they are in their development. It's an art of matching up balance and lines with pedigrees and requires a certain amount of creativity and projection. (It's that last part of the equation that's the trickiest.) If you can spot the ones that stand to bloom coming out of the sale and get them at a fair price relative to their potential, you can do fairly well for yourself. The ones that can be spotted as good looking horses with little effort are the ones where the bidding just gets silly. Usually, I'll grab a sandwich when those lots come through the ring.

ocala happenings

Veiled Reference is scheduled to work another half mile this weekend down in Ocala. I chatted with Bo Yates this afternoon and we've left it that the filly will stay down there for a few more weeks before shipping up to Tim Woolley at Fair Hill. She'll work an easy half mile next out and then do a little something from the gate the following week. Those two works should have her fairly on top of a race, maybe something like 3-4 weeks off depending on how she takes the ship north. The filly is doing well and taking her work in stride. It will be good to check her out once she does arrive on the scene.

Be sure to tune into the Colonial Turf Cup on Saturday from Colonial Downs. It's a fairly wide open spot and a good opportunity to play against a colt, Circular Quay, that will take more money than he really should. I'll shop around and see what the tote board looks like. With NYRA running all of these turf sprints these days, it's nice to get an afternoon with a number of route races on the grass. The Colonial and Arlington cards are worth having a look at on Saturday.

Nautical Agent seems set to run back next week. We'll enter over the weekend and see how the races shape up. Race would go later next week.

mark your calendar

Laurel Park will slash the takeout rates for its upcoming Summer meet. Now that is reason enough to study up on the circuit. The meet will run from August 10-23. Hopefully, they do well and take steps to reduce takeout throughout the year. If one has to choose between 10% coming off the table, or, say, 25%, it's really not rocket science to deduce that the investor will speculate where her or she is getting more return on the dollar. I'll certainly look to get involved.

On the racing side, Preque Isle is to offer up some serious cash during its meeting this September. Never heard of Presque Isle? Don't worry, you're not alone. The new track is located near Erie, PA and will conduct its boutique meeting over a Tapeta surface - the same material down at Fair Hill Training Center in MD. I don't know if we'll have occasion to ship one of our runners out there this September, but given the figures involved, we'll certainly keep the option in play. I'll have to check the Erie Visitor's Bureau to see what they've got cooking.

As for activity at Fair Hill, Tim passed on that Mass Romantic is galloping away nicely. She's slowly getting into the program since shipping in a few weeks back. All is well physically and she's eating her Wheaties, as instructed. I'll get down there for a visit in the next few weeks.

makes too much sense

The Fasig-Tipton July yearling sale is taking place in Kentucky these days. One of the stories recapping day one of the sale, from bloodhorse.com, details a different approach that one outfit intends to take with its yearling stock purchased to pinhook at the 2yo sales early next year. Read the story yourself, of course, but the basic idea is that the horses won't be cranked to produce their best speed in the undertack shows. The owner, an advertising executive, Dayman Rayman, plans to breeze them easy 1/8th miles in company, as opposed to solo charging down the lane. The reason, which makes all the sense in the world, is to avoid the added stress of the fast work and prevent typical injuries that horses coming out of these sales often develop.

Let's hope he has some success, as I think that's the ideal way to develop young horses. Instead of drilling down on them so early and then being forced to stop due to injury or, more likely, the fact that 2yo races aren't carded in February, horses will be able to come along at a more sensible rate. It's for this reason that I've always liked the Adena Springs 2yo sale, where the approach is similar. It's unlikely that the concept will catch on, given the industry's obsession with early speed, but one can hold out hope.

road trip

Surprisingly, Nautical Agent did draw into that race at Colonial Downs over the weekend. She canceled plans to shampoo her hair that afternoon, made it to the paddock on time and turned in an improved effort from her last two, finishing fourth in a field of thirteen. She sat off of a pretty sharp pace and made a grinding 3/8ths run to finish up. Nautical did encounter some traffic from a number of the pace-setters backing up in her face, but the slight pause likely only caused her third place, if that. It wasn't anything brilliant, but it was good to see her enjoy some measure of success after the two flat efforts to kick off her season. We'll try to build on the effort running back at Colonial in a few weeks. Meanwhile, she'll see if she can re-book the hair appointment. I'm not getting involved in that one.

summer reading

Whether you're an old pro in the business or recently new to racing, there are a few books that I would suggest as must-haves for anyone interested in learning its ups, downs and nuances.

Bill Nack's Secretariat: The Making of a Champion is not only on THE book on Secretariat, but also represents some of the finest writing ever on racing. It takes you through his entire career, pedigree and the humans lucky enough to have had him in their lives. Originally published in 1975, it remains an absolute treat and I fully expect that my public praise will be detailed on the jacket of the next edition.

Horsetrader, written by Patrick Robinson and a bit tricky to find (I think you can put an order request in through Amazon), tells the story of British owner Robert Sangster and his run with the Boys of Ballydoyle (including Vincent O'Brien, perhaps the greatest trainer of all time). It details their rise and fall, exploits at the sales and thrilling days at the track with greats like Sadler's Wells, Golden Fleece, The Minstrel, Royal Academy and others. The research put in is impressive and it reads really well. You'll never look at a sweet-talking Irish guy or cowboy from Kentucky the same way again.

Bill Surface's The Track takes the reader on a behind the scenes tour of the backside, expertly detailing the ins and outs of the industry's heartbeat through a look at the day in the life on the backside of Belmont Park. He sheds light on the good, bad and sometimes ugly that goes down and shares well-crafted anecdotes highlighted by characters that one could only find at the track. It's from back in the 1970s, but time tends to stand still on the backside, so it reads as true as ever today. Allen Jerkens, who is in the book, was considered old even back then, which is pretty funny.

thanks for the kindling

Fortuna was back on the scene today at Delaware Park. Perhaps it was the storm moving in, or, more likely, her flighty nature (not like a fast flighty, unfortunately), but she put in a pretty disappointing effort. The race came up soft, money was down on her from across the country and she ran like a filly that needs to have everything her way to have any kind of impact. Well, things did not play out that way today, so she was rank through 3/4s racing just off the lead before packing it in and dropping back through the field. Thanks for coming. We'll see how she comes back and look to spot her where things might play more in her favor. We're like the Bush advance team now, seeking out that obscure little college where she'll be perfect for the commencement address. Alabama here we come.

For better or worse, Nautical Agent did wind up drawing into that race on Saturday at Colonial Downs. It came up tough for the level, but we'll send her out and see if she perks up after having been at the track for a few days. She shipped in well enough.

and i'll be coming around any day now, just you wait

Horses, just like kids, develop at different rates. Without fail, the kids that dominate sixth grade dodge ball find themselves soon surpassed physically (and usually mentally, too) by many of their peers come high school. The alpha kids peak and the rest of the pack slowly but surely matures and muscles up, leaving Ricky's parents wondering what in the heck went wrong. Sad stuff, really, but Ricky's folks will always have the middle school years to look back on.

With horses, you'll see certain precocious ones dominate their peers quite convincingly this time of year and even deep into the 2yo season, much like Ready's Pleasure did so in the Tremont last week at Belmont. I mean, there was no doubt that this guy was a man among boys on the day. He'll probably have many other days like that, too, running up at Saratoga this summer. Rest assured, though, that as the weeks and months roll by, his peers will catch up physically and mentally and prove much tougher competition. For $410,000 as a yearling he's a nice 2yo, sure, but you'll be hard-pressed to see him have an impact next season when the classics roll around.

Check out this article on his dam from the Form. She was purchased for a pittance off the racetrack, which goes to show that a bit of pedigree can go a long way in today's commercial market.

back to work

We're lighting it up in the entries. Fortuna is on the AEs at Delaware on Wednesday in the sixth. Her friend, Nautical Agent, is on the AEs at Colonial Downs on Friday in the nightcap.

Fortuna has drawn in to the race, which is nice given how the race came together. It will be a good spot to get her started back. Nautical might not be so lucky, but we should be able to find another spot fairly readily. She'll ship down to Colonial Downs in Virginia tomorrow.

picking up the pace

Veiled Reference, T Street's 2yo filly down in Ocala, is legging up nicely. She breezed an easy 3/8ths in 39 seconds while working in company with a Snuck In gelding 2yo the other morning. The filly kept pace in good order while traveling on the inside and didn't mind the company on her shoulder. This was her first work back off of a 30-day break in the spring; she had been galloping w/ the occasional two-minute lick thrown in since starting back in training.

Much of the work now is about getting a good foundation into her before sharpening up her speed once she heads north to Fair Hill. There's no real sense in doing any serious speed work now - either she's got some gas, or she doesn't. It's not the kind of thing you can teach. Her body suggests that she'll have some pace to throw down, but that will be a question for us to sort out a few months from now. There will be tears one way or the other, that's the only guarantee.

That's a picture of the Oakridge Training Center in Ocala where she's stabled with Michael "Bo" Yates. The turf course had only just been planted when I took this photo earlier in the year, so it would have to be in fairly good shape now. The barns are located in and around the trees you can see in the background. A nice place.

like mother, like daughter?

A feature piece from a few months back in the Mid Atlantic Journal on Chris Grove. He's a solid trainer on the northeast circuit, but I point it out mainly because he used to gallop G. O'Keefe, the dam of Mass Romantic, for trainer Don Barr. Apparently, the mother required a bit of extra attention, much like her daughter seems to appreciate now at Fair Hill. She gets to hack around in the fields every so often these days and enjoys a more varied training program than she would get day in and day out at the racetrack.

She's just started back from her recovery time down in Ocala and should get into the program in earnest in another few weeks. We'll see how she progresses through the summer. That's her from earlier in the year at Gulfstream Park. She's very nicely developed up front, though her back end is still on the light side. Her sire's (Not For Love) offspring typically balance out later in the 3yo season (the ones with her body type, anyway). We'll keep our fingers crossed that she comes along true to form.

missed opportunity

Clearly, I should have pulled the trigger and entered Fortuna in the UN at Monmouth on Saturday. The $750,000 race attracted 5 in the entries. Oh, by the way, the Breeders' Cup will be held on the same course in four months. I'm pretty sure I could have worked out a deal on the entrance fee just to get the track that sixth betting interest. We could have gunned Fortuna to the front and had a laugh watching a rank English Channel look to sit the trip. Ummm, how many do you think they could have gotten with a $250,000 purse? Yeah, somewhere around 5 sounds about right. Ouch.

just say no to family fun

Check out Andy Beyer's column in the Washington Post. Beyer does a nice job reminding what it is that attracts customers to the racing business. Hint: it's not free pony rides and face-painting.

These exotic wagers, whether pick 4s, 5s or 6s are becoming the logical way to approach wagering day in and day out. Usually, I'm more of a win bet and exacta type speculator, but opportunities are now so few and far between, that I find myself transitioning to the multi-race wagers. Looking at the pick 3s and 4s is a good place to start. The key is to identify at least the one race where you're willing to take a stand and then be open-minded and creative in your approach to the other legs. It's more about money management than handicapping per se (after all, you're typically conceding losing tickets each time you invest in a multi-race wager, unless, of course, you're punching in cold tickets). Calculated chaos in the right race or two can lead to some healthy scores.

"no, no, it's too scary"

Two-year olds are touchy enough as it is, particularly this early in the year, so it was a bit curious to see Garret Gomez try to gun Dubit through on the rail in the Astoria on Sunday. Clearly, he had a ton of horse throughout and the more sensical move would have been to angle outside of the speed and produce his filly for a run. Nah, he went with option b: taking dirt all the way around and trying to squeeze through a tiny, tiny opening that few grizzled veteran horses would gun through. My guess is that Dubit will need some quality time with a therapist after that one.

"can i help you?"

Nautical Agent was back at it today, returning to the track coming out of her last at Delaware Park. Her apparent indifference in these first few starts back has been cause of a fair bit of head-scratching, but she doesn't seem too bothered. Maybe if I send her the feed bill next month it will heighten her sense of urgency next out. She's a smaller filly that's always given 110% each time out, so for her to run one-paced as she has is unlike her. I've kicked it around with Tim and we have a few tricks to try yet, so once she's still to the good physically, we should be back in the hunt with her soon. She really is a doll of a filly - a sweet girl that really enjoys herself win, lose or draw. We had a nice year with her last year, so fingers are crossed that we can get her back in form. It's always tricky with horses limited to turf, as the season is all too short.

We'll probably get her down to Colonial Downs in Virginia for her next start if all is well. That's her galloping at Monmouth Park last summer. She gallops with the best of 'em these days. She'll drop her head so low sometimes you'd think she was looking for something in the dirt. She probably is, too, that one.

fun with babies

T Street's Veiled Reference, a 2yo filly by Louis Quatorze out of the mare Bocamis, is moving along steadily in her preparation for a racing career. She's put on a good deal of body mass over these past few months and seems to be taking her training nicely. While just a medium sized filly, she's developed well on both ends, carries good flesh and muscle tone and still shows the great balance and lines that attracted us to her as a yearling. She's a West Virgina-bred filly, so we'll hope to have reason to ship in for some Rocky Mountain fun down the road (they have a pretty nice WVA state-bred program, plus good golf, hiking and whitewater rafting from what I've heard). For now, though, the goal is that she keeps up her good work in Ocala before shipping up to Fair Hill for her final preparation. That's her pictured from earlier this year.

Another good move from Fortuna this past weekend. She went 5/8ths in company (1.03) and did it well. We'll likely shop around for a spot sometime in the next few weeks. She'll be happy to be back on the turf.