The Internet has been abuzz with mostly negative comments about Jess Jackson's purchase of Rachel Alexandra and the announcement that she is under consideration for the Preakness Stakes (G1).
Admittedly, it did not take a lot of imagination to buy the 20-length winner of the Kentucky Oaks (G1), after the race. It took a lot of money.
And no one liked to see trainer like Hal Wiggins lose the star filly he trained for the first ten races of her career. So the backlash was predictable, perhaps warranted on some level.
But Rachel Alexandra's sale could be very good for a sport struggling to regain its place in the national conscience.
Clashes between great competitors are celebrated in all sports. In racing they are too few and far between.
With the exception of the Triple Crown, the Breeders' Cup, and a handful of other races, many of our best horses spend the year avoiding each other while preserving their value upon retirement, which comes too soon for too many.
Rachel Alexandra's breeder and previous owner Dolphus Morrison was going to point her to the Acorn Stakes (G1), a one-turn mile for three-year-old fillies on the Belmont Stakes (G1) undercard. The Acorn is a nice race and a conservative, logical spot, but it likely would have featured no more drama than the marvelous filly's morning workouts. Rachel Alexandra would have been 1-to-9 to crush the handful of rivals who showed up.
Not only was Morrison avoiding a matchup with colts under the admittedly less-than-ideal conditions the Triple Crown presents, he said he was looking out for the breeding value of those future stallions he did not want to chance trouncing!
"The Triple Crown races are for future stallions," said Morrison, definitely not quoting the condition book.
Jackson took the best dirt horse in the world -- two-time Horse of the Year Curlin -- and ran him on the grass because he wanted to find out if Curlin could make a historic run at the world's best grass race the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (Fr-G1). Jackson also ran Curlin on Santa Anita's experimental, synthetic Pro-Ride surface in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) instead of keeping him on the dirt tracks he excelled on.
Jackson will not limit Rachel Alexandra's campaign based on a regard for his competitors' breeding values. Nor will he keep her in races restricted to females because "fillies should run against fillies," as Morrison suggested.
It was the filly Rags to Riches who upset Curlin in the 2007 Belmont in what is likely to go down as one of the best races of the era, perhaps ever.
The Triple Crown is racing's greatest stage. If this year's Preakness features a matchup between one of the fastest fillies of modern times, an improbable 50-1 longshot who made the cover of Sports Illustrated, and the three colts who finished behind him in a blanket finish in the Derby slop, sports fans and racing will be the winners.
Succeed or fail, that kind of competitive spirit should be saluted.
Showing posts with label Curlin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Curlin. Show all posts
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Thursday, December 4, 2008
OTB’s voice in the sky
Meet Steve Perry, the voice of Illinois racing nobody knows.
Perry is a lifelong racetracker who answered an ad for a “satellite disc jockey” about eight years ago, as he remembers it.
Born in Texas but raised in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, Perry, 55, has worked on the gate crews in California and Arkansas. He pretty much grew up in the horse business but eventually tired of the transient life.
Now, Perry works at the Oak Brook, Illinois, off-track betting parlor, in a small room full of monitors, decoders, and an online switching system that allows him to govern ‘the action channel.’
The action channel is beamed out to more than a dozen betting parlors in Illinois, and it is usually the only channel accompanied by sound – an honor amongst the dozen or more signals featured on the banks of TV screens at the local OTB. Perry controls the action, choosing the most important race in the country at any given moment.
He also has a live microphone to give a heads-up for upcoming races and make comments on horses, trainers, jockeys, and anything else he wants to contribute. Perry is a voice in the sky, the simulcast players’ guide to a day at the OTB.
Considering that more money is wagered at the OTBs in Illinois than at the tracks, Perry plays a significant role in how racing’s customers view the product.
When 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin was paraded between races at Churchill Downs last Saturday, Perry called attention to the chestnut horse that might have escaped many weekend warriors’ notice.
“I had a lot of people who said thanks for doing that. They told me they didn’t even know [the Curlin ceremony] was going on,” Perry said. “I always try to put the award ceremonies up when they honor a great, such as Laffit Pincay...”
Oak Brook is Illinois’ most popular OTB, handling $71.8-million in 2007. About 75% of that action was on out-of-state simulcasts.
Oak Brook’s handle has been stagnant the last five years, hovering between $71 and $73-million. No doubt Oak Brook has been affected by over-expansion of the OTB network at the same time the ADW revolution is encouraging people to play along from the couch.
“When I started working here, we had probably six parlors. Now we have 15, and it’s diluted our strength quite a bit,” Perry said. “We have a lot of people who make their bets online, but they’ll still come in here to watch the races. Or they’ll come in and make their bets and then go home and watch TVG.”
So how has the OTB crowd changed over the last eight years?
“With our business now, it’s mostly the die-hards,” Perry said. “There’s not as many of what I call newbies – the first-timers – except on the big race days.”
I was curious how Perry handles racing’s bad habit of sending two or three races off at the same time.
“On Friday or Saturday there’s usually three tracks going off within a minute of each other. If they’ve got a $4,000 claimer at Hawthorne and there’s a stakes race at Aqueduct or Hollywood, I’ll always put up the better race,” Perry said. “It doesn’t bother me personally, but it happens all the time. A lot of people come up to me and ask why don’t more tracks stagger their post times? It seems the only time there’s a concerted effort to stagger races is on the big days like Breeders’ Cup.”
Like me, Perry is not a fan of slot machines as racing’s savior.
“Slots jack the purses up, but just because $5,000 claimers are running for $20,000, it doesn’t make them better horses,” Perry said. “I’m trying to get the better races and the better horses out to the public.”
Despite some depressing trends, Perry’s love of racing continues to transmit over ‘the action channel.’
Minutes before Beethoven wins the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, Perry touts him as a horse to watch for on the road to the Kentucky Derby. He mentions a first-time starter that he heard “can run a little bit.” He jokes about Julien Leparoux and Mike Maker dominating the Churchill fall meeting.
“Ho-hum, another winner for Maker and Leparoux.”
Perry reminds the customers that it is closing day at Churchill. He tells them what meets are coming up. He mentions Friday night’s Delta Jackpot Stakes.
“Most of our customers don’t even know Delta will be running Friday night, but when I tell them about it, they say, ‘Oh, these are Derby horses?’”
Perry believes simulcast locations need to do a better job of marketing and presenting racing at its best. He also believes there are too many tracks, running too many dates.
“If racing would just do what I say, we’d be fine,” Perry joked.
Keep up the good work Steve.
Perry is a lifelong racetracker who answered an ad for a “satellite disc jockey” about eight years ago, as he remembers it.
Born in Texas but raised in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, Perry, 55, has worked on the gate crews in California and Arkansas. He pretty much grew up in the horse business but eventually tired of the transient life.
Now, Perry works at the Oak Brook, Illinois, off-track betting parlor, in a small room full of monitors, decoders, and an online switching system that allows him to govern ‘the action channel.’
The action channel is beamed out to more than a dozen betting parlors in Illinois, and it is usually the only channel accompanied by sound – an honor amongst the dozen or more signals featured on the banks of TV screens at the local OTB. Perry controls the action, choosing the most important race in the country at any given moment.
He also has a live microphone to give a heads-up for upcoming races and make comments on horses, trainers, jockeys, and anything else he wants to contribute. Perry is a voice in the sky, the simulcast players’ guide to a day at the OTB.
Considering that more money is wagered at the OTBs in Illinois than at the tracks, Perry plays a significant role in how racing’s customers view the product.
When 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin was paraded between races at Churchill Downs last Saturday, Perry called attention to the chestnut horse that might have escaped many weekend warriors’ notice.
“I had a lot of people who said thanks for doing that. They told me they didn’t even know [the Curlin ceremony] was going on,” Perry said. “I always try to put the award ceremonies up when they honor a great, such as Laffit Pincay...”
Oak Brook is Illinois’ most popular OTB, handling $71.8-million in 2007. About 75% of that action was on out-of-state simulcasts.
Oak Brook’s handle has been stagnant the last five years, hovering between $71 and $73-million. No doubt Oak Brook has been affected by over-expansion of the OTB network at the same time the ADW revolution is encouraging people to play along from the couch.
“When I started working here, we had probably six parlors. Now we have 15, and it’s diluted our strength quite a bit,” Perry said. “We have a lot of people who make their bets online, but they’ll still come in here to watch the races. Or they’ll come in and make their bets and then go home and watch TVG.”
So how has the OTB crowd changed over the last eight years?
“With our business now, it’s mostly the die-hards,” Perry said. “There’s not as many of what I call newbies – the first-timers – except on the big race days.”
I was curious how Perry handles racing’s bad habit of sending two or three races off at the same time.
“On Friday or Saturday there’s usually three tracks going off within a minute of each other. If they’ve got a $4,000 claimer at Hawthorne and there’s a stakes race at Aqueduct or Hollywood, I’ll always put up the better race,” Perry said. “It doesn’t bother me personally, but it happens all the time. A lot of people come up to me and ask why don’t more tracks stagger their post times? It seems the only time there’s a concerted effort to stagger races is on the big days like Breeders’ Cup.”
Like me, Perry is not a fan of slot machines as racing’s savior.
“Slots jack the purses up, but just because $5,000 claimers are running for $20,000, it doesn’t make them better horses,” Perry said. “I’m trying to get the better races and the better horses out to the public.”
Despite some depressing trends, Perry’s love of racing continues to transmit over ‘the action channel.’
Minutes before Beethoven wins the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, Perry touts him as a horse to watch for on the road to the Kentucky Derby. He mentions a first-time starter that he heard “can run a little bit.” He jokes about Julien Leparoux and Mike Maker dominating the Churchill fall meeting.
“Ho-hum, another winner for Maker and Leparoux.”
Perry reminds the customers that it is closing day at Churchill. He tells them what meets are coming up. He mentions Friday night’s Delta Jackpot Stakes.
“Most of our customers don’t even know Delta will be running Friday night, but when I tell them about it, they say, ‘Oh, these are Derby horses?’”
Perry believes simulcast locations need to do a better job of marketing and presenting racing at its best. He also believes there are too many tracks, running too many dates.
“If racing would just do what I say, we’d be fine,” Perry joked.
Keep up the good work Steve.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Synthetic Sentiments, chapter 1
As American racing's synthetic revolution is in a holding pattern, we have a unique opportunity to see what our star horses would look like in parallel universes -- if we stayed with dirt or went all-synthetic, as some are predicting.
There are a lot of factors that should go into a track's decision to go with dirt or synthetic. Overlooked in the current debate is the racing product and star horses the surface creates.
Horse of the Year Curlin's shocking demotion from best non-turf horse in the world to a neck behind Tiago (who is a very nice horse, but not in Curlin's league) in the synthetic Breeders' Cup Classic is the latest example of how a great dirt horse can look rather average on a synthetic track.
But with his only synthetic start coming at the end of a long, globe-trotting campaign, Curlin might not be the best case study.
Street Sense, on the other hand, is a great example of how track surface can completely change our view of a horse. On dirt, Street Sense was a champion two-year-old and historic Kentucky Derby winner, a gifted stretch runner with a quick turn of foot.
On synthetics, Street Sense was winless from three starts, unable to run by horses he left in his wake on a dirt track. In the 2006 Lane's End Breeders' Futurity, run on Keeneland's Polytrack, Street Sense finished third behind Great Hunter and Circular Quay, two horses he beat by 10 and 12 lengths respectively in his following dirt race, the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs.
In the 2007 Blue Grass Stakes, again on Keeneland's Polytrack, Street Sense was a nose worse than Dominican and a nose in front of Zanjero. In his next start on dirt, Street Sense won the Kentucky Derby. Dominican and Zanjero were a non-threatening 10th and 11th respectively.
Street Sense's final race on a synthetic surface came at Turfway Park in the Kentucky Cup Classic. Facing Hard Spun, the horse he trailed by double-digit lengths but easily ran by in the Derby and Preakness, Street Sense sat a length off his front-running rival but was unable to gain an inch in the lane.
So who was the real Street Sense? The dirt champion or the synthetic also-ran? And all things considered, which one would racing be better off with, at the track and in the breeding shed?
There are a lot of factors that should go into a track's decision to go with dirt or synthetic. Overlooked in the current debate is the racing product and star horses the surface creates.
Horse of the Year Curlin's shocking demotion from best non-turf horse in the world to a neck behind Tiago (who is a very nice horse, but not in Curlin's league) in the synthetic Breeders' Cup Classic is the latest example of how a great dirt horse can look rather average on a synthetic track.
But with his only synthetic start coming at the end of a long, globe-trotting campaign, Curlin might not be the best case study.
Street Sense, on the other hand, is a great example of how track surface can completely change our view of a horse. On dirt, Street Sense was a champion two-year-old and historic Kentucky Derby winner, a gifted stretch runner with a quick turn of foot.
On synthetics, Street Sense was winless from three starts, unable to run by horses he left in his wake on a dirt track. In the 2006 Lane's End Breeders' Futurity, run on Keeneland's Polytrack, Street Sense finished third behind Great Hunter and Circular Quay, two horses he beat by 10 and 12 lengths respectively in his following dirt race, the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs.
In the 2007 Blue Grass Stakes, again on Keeneland's Polytrack, Street Sense was a nose worse than Dominican and a nose in front of Zanjero. In his next start on dirt, Street Sense won the Kentucky Derby. Dominican and Zanjero were a non-threatening 10th and 11th respectively.
Street Sense's final race on a synthetic surface came at Turfway Park in the Kentucky Cup Classic. Facing Hard Spun, the horse he trailed by double-digit lengths but easily ran by in the Derby and Preakness, Street Sense sat a length off his front-running rival but was unable to gain an inch in the lane.
So who was the real Street Sense? The dirt champion or the synthetic also-ran? And all things considered, which one would racing be better off with, at the track and in the breeding shed?
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Debating Curlin’s place in history
If he has indeed run his last race, 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin retires a treasured horse, somewhat under appreciated by mainstream sports fans and a source of great debate within racing circles.
Certainly he will be elected to the Racing Hall of Fame, but is Curlin an all-time great? Will he win a second consecutive Horse of the Year award, like Cigar, the horse Curlin surpassed for North America’s all-time leading earnings record?
Had Curlin won the 2008 Breeders’ Cup Classic instead of taking the lead at the top of the stretch and fading to fourth, he would be a unanimous pick for Horse of the Year. Joining Tiznow as the only two-time Classic winner would have cemented his legacy.
Because Breeders Cup held this year’s event on a relatively untested synthetic track instead of old-fashioned dirt, we will never know with certainty if it was the surface that got Curlin beat or if, as some believe, he was a horse in decline over the second half of the year.
That is one of the main questions Eclipse Award voters will be asking themselves when they decide between Curlin and undefeated Zenyatta for Horse of the Year. Having just re-watched most of Curlin’s 16 career races, I lean toward the horse-in-decline argument.
Following Curlin’s second-place finish in the Man O’ War Stakes at 1 3/8 miles on the turf on July 12, he scored narrow, workmanlike victories in the Woodward Stakes and Jockey Club Gold Cup over weak fields at equal weight.
Had a top Grade 1 caliber horse come running at Curlin in either of those races – as the two excellent European three-year-olds Raven’s Pass and Henrythenavigator did in the Breeders’ Cup – he likely would have tasted defeat.
Saying that his late form did not approach his previous, considerable heights is not a slam – 99.9% of horses could not dream of doing what Curlin did. I would consider at least five of his races to be timeless, great efforts (replay links below). Included on the list is his gallant defeat to the filly Rags to Riches in the 2007 Belmont Stakes, when the two champions ran their final quarter in :23.80, an incredible split for a 12-furlong dirt race.
Note the determination Curlin shows in his ’07 Preakness and Jockey Club Gold Cup wins, resolutely running down fellow three-year-old Street Sense and then the excellent older horse Lawyer Ron. Note the amazing ability he shows as he runs away from the field in the ’07 Breeders Cup and ’08 Dubai World Cup.
I would love to see Curlin run one more time, but that appears more unlikely with each passing day. At least we have these great efforts to remember him by. So who am I voting for Horse of the Year? Eclipse ballots haven’t arrived in the mail yet, and this campaign isn’t quite over.
Certainly he will be elected to the Racing Hall of Fame, but is Curlin an all-time great? Will he win a second consecutive Horse of the Year award, like Cigar, the horse Curlin surpassed for North America’s all-time leading earnings record?
Had Curlin won the 2008 Breeders’ Cup Classic instead of taking the lead at the top of the stretch and fading to fourth, he would be a unanimous pick for Horse of the Year. Joining Tiznow as the only two-time Classic winner would have cemented his legacy.
Because Breeders Cup held this year’s event on a relatively untested synthetic track instead of old-fashioned dirt, we will never know with certainty if it was the surface that got Curlin beat or if, as some believe, he was a horse in decline over the second half of the year.
That is one of the main questions Eclipse Award voters will be asking themselves when they decide between Curlin and undefeated Zenyatta for Horse of the Year. Having just re-watched most of Curlin’s 16 career races, I lean toward the horse-in-decline argument.
Following Curlin’s second-place finish in the Man O’ War Stakes at 1 3/8 miles on the turf on July 12, he scored narrow, workmanlike victories in the Woodward Stakes and Jockey Club Gold Cup over weak fields at equal weight.
Had a top Grade 1 caliber horse come running at Curlin in either of those races – as the two excellent European three-year-olds Raven’s Pass and Henrythenavigator did in the Breeders’ Cup – he likely would have tasted defeat.
Saying that his late form did not approach his previous, considerable heights is not a slam – 99.9% of horses could not dream of doing what Curlin did. I would consider at least five of his races to be timeless, great efforts (replay links below). Included on the list is his gallant defeat to the filly Rags to Riches in the 2007 Belmont Stakes, when the two champions ran their final quarter in :23.80, an incredible split for a 12-furlong dirt race.
Note the determination Curlin shows in his ’07 Preakness and Jockey Club Gold Cup wins, resolutely running down fellow three-year-old Street Sense and then the excellent older horse Lawyer Ron. Note the amazing ability he shows as he runs away from the field in the ’07 Breeders Cup and ’08 Dubai World Cup.
I would love to see Curlin run one more time, but that appears more unlikely with each passing day. At least we have these great efforts to remember him by. So who am I voting for Horse of the Year? Eclipse ballots haven’t arrived in the mail yet, and this campaign isn’t quite over.
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