After reading this website for some time it seemed the time was right to chime in. I spent a couple weeks at Saratoga this season and had an opportunity to utilize the Thorograph products of an associate. Travers Day was a zoo, but it was a memorable day. We did well throughout, but especially satisfying was the Travers Stakes. The favorites filled out the paying spots, but we made Colonel John and Mambo in Seattle head and shoulders above the others. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if Harlem Rocker could have gotten a better go round and finished third.
The critical factor for us was not placing Pyro above third. Having read this board through the runup to the Kentucky Derby it did appear Pyro was not going to be up to the Travers exacta horses and this proved once again to be the case. He wasn\'t a strong favorite, but he certainly was a good favorite to beat.
Having learned something about the Thorograph figures here and something from the knowledgeable posters here as well, it is appreciated.
On to bigger and better things!
Is you\'re name pronounced Jacque i Mo?
Welcome to the board, the product, and this tough crowd of experts....
NC Tony
Jacques Who?
richiebee Wrote:
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> Jacques Who?
Now that would have been an interesting sheet to see. He predated my use of the sheets, so i have no idea what his sheet looked like. He also predated thorograph as well as the fig form. Anybody here ever have a gander at his ragozin sheet? Was it unusual? Incidentally, I wonder if his offspring had a predilection to running second. Anybody know that?
SoCalMan:
Your memory is excellent, as JW was certainly one of the most \"camera shy\"
runners in NYRA history.
JW\'s owner, Jacques Wimpfheimer, was known through JW\'s exploits, but actually
had some more accomplished though probably less beloved runners such as Bounding Basque
and Purple Mountain.
Many of Jacques Wimpfheimer\'s good runners descended from the stakes winning
Shy Dawn, a very hard knocking filly/mare on the NYRA circuit, who may have
been claimed by Jacques Wimpfheimer (or purchased very inexpensively) as a 2YO.
Jacimo:
Welcome aboard, and congratulations on your success. I agree with your
assessment of Pyro, who I believe will run only second and third in a lot of big
races until (and if) he can develop the ability to be closer to the front in
the early stages of his races.
I kind of got a chuckle out of the title of your post-- \"Saratoga Memories\"--
because I expected to be reading some memories of yours going back through the
decades. Hopefully you are young enough that this is not possible, and that
most of your memories are yet to be made.
I unfortunately am what might be called a grizzled old horseplayer,and my
memories go back longer than I should be admitting.
I think my first trip to the Spa was in 1977. I remember telling my father
(a recovering compulsive gambler, if there is such a thing) and my mother
(Mom\'s dad was an old fashioned bookmaker who split his years between Miami and
Brooklyn) that I was going to Ithaca to visit friends.
I had been bitten by the racing bug in the mid 70s (maybe no surprise, given
my \"breeding\") and had only heard about the magnificent Spa. When I arrived I
was shocked to find a charming small upstate town which just happened to
have a 100+ year old racetrack on its outskirts. The track of course is still
there but the small charming town has pretty much disappeared.
I went to \"Ithaca\" 3 times that summer of 1977. Before I left on the third
voyage, my father handed me a Racing Form and told me that I might need
something to read up in Ithaca; apparently a friend of my dad\'s had spotted me
at the Spa and couldn\'t wait to get downstate to rat me out.
1979 was the year that Affirmed was saluted and given the key to the City. Some
of my memories regarding that year and event may become part of a separate post
in the interest of keeping this post shorter than a novella. But 1979 may also
be remembered as the year of a comical brawl of NHL like proportions.
The brawl took place on the night that Yankee catcher Thurman Munson tragically
failed to nail the landing in his private airplane. Two friends and I were
relatively innocently enjoying some beers; one of my two friends was wearing a
New York Met hat. A Yankee fan turned to my friend and asked something like
\"I bet you think this whole Munson thing is pretty funny.\" My friend shrugged
his shoulders and within seconds there was a huge pile up on the barroom floor;
the fight spilled out into the street, attracting the attention of the Ith, er
Saratoga Springs police department. Thankfully the bar staff correctly
identified the perpetrators/aggressors, and none of our bankroll was wasted on
something as foolish as bail money.
By 1982, the racing bug had consumed me and I was working on the backside. I was
working for Ronnie Warren, a stubborn, eccentric Kentucky based trainer who was
every bit as large as Larry Jones, and like Jones, insisted on galloping his
own horses. Ronnie trained for a young man who owned some decent stakes quality
horses and wanted to bring them to Saratoga for the Summer. NYRA only gave the
man a handful of stalls, so he bought a piece of property across from the
harness track and built his own barn, which I think H. James Bond might
currently occupy.
Warren liked to dress his horses up when they went to the races-- gaudy
blankets, braided manes and tails, pompoms, etc. The horses coming off a
Kentucky circuit which was nowhere as good then as it is today for the most
part got beaten pretty badly; the barn had maybe one on the board finish from
40 or so starters. Steve Crist, then writing for The New York Times,
wrote an article about Warren\'s runners called \"Beautiful Losers.\"
(Interesting lesson: many of Warren\'s horses, having been beaten badly at the
Spa, scored at huge odds at the Fall Churchill meet.)
1982 was a very memorable year for other reasons. Due to some severe winter/
spring weather downstate, it was decided to run 28 consecutive days up at
Saratoga; it was never considered to do it any other way because Saratoga was
billed as the \"August Place to Be\" and it would have been considered blasphemy
to conduct racing at the Spa in either July or September.
1982 also notable because all 3 Triple Crown race winners-- Gato Del Sol,
Aloma\'s Ruler and Conquistador Cielo faced off in the Travers-- all beaten by
Runaway Groom.
Today\'s trivia question:
Who rode Runaway Groom to victory that day?
First correct response wins an autographed picture of Dick Dutrow hugging Mike Iavarone.
Good Luck,
Joe B.
Jacques Who?
....from memory, it was Jacques Who that inspired me to blurt out the phrase \"New York bred slow rat\"
Mike
you win the picture....congratulations!!
The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission voted unanimously Aug. 25 to ban the use of anabolic steroids in racehorses, and the rules could be in place the first week of September should Gov. Steve Beshear sign an emergency regulation as expected.
The KHRC amended recommendations from the Kentucky Equine Drug Research Council, which voted Aug. 14 to regulate steroids. There was some discussion Aug. 25 about how the rules will impact claimed horses, but the racing commission didn't see fit to delay action.
"This (regulation) was circulated among all the horse groups in Kentucky," said trainer John Ward Jr., a member of the racing commission. "Everybody is on the same side. For once, Kentucky is in the lead on this issue."
The anabolic steroids in question—boldenone, nandrolone, and testosterone—will be considered Class B substances, positives for which carry more stringent penalties. Trainers who ship horses to Kentucky may follow reporting requirements or certify a horse hasn't been given steroids in the last 60 days. If a trainer doesn't know, he or she must accept responsibility for a positive test.
Sight,
Can you please comment on what you believe this will mean as far as recovery/ performance and any other related \"racing matter\"Thanks.
Regards,
Mike
Richiebee -- ever consider writing a book? Some of us were pretty high during the 70\'s, and are missing some info here and there. And there.
And most of us are intrigued by those who have worked on the backside, and their stories. OK, I am.
miff Wrote:
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> Jacques Who?
>
>
> ....from memory, it was Jacques Who that inspired
> me to blurt out the phrase \"New York bred slow
> rat\"
>
>
> Mike
He may have been a rat but not necessarily a slow one. I suspect he ran some pretty good figures. Again, i am only going by memory here, but I seem to recall he would be put in against winners and still run second and then go back to maiden races and run second some more. He may have even run second in a stakes race as a maiden (although i could be wrong). Sort of reminds me of the Atlanta Falcons from the Grits and Blitz days when every game would come down to the wire and be decided by a score somethng like 13-10 or 10-7. They could play any team close -- both the best and the worst.
- Reader Bank Check wrote: Highland Cat......the new Jacques Who????? As you may know, Jacques Who is a horse who raced in the early 70\'s and acquired a reputation for finishing second....to the point where his name has become a catch phrase for horses who display the same tendency. Actually, looking back at his career record of 117-6-24-18, maybe he should also be known for running out of the money a lot. However, in the fall of 1973, he had a winless streak of 30 races over two years, and had run second 13 times just that year.
.... a slow rat with character flaws to boot,indeed!
I guess I can add a pretty interesting experience during my first visit to Saratoga.
The year was 1984 and I was walking hots for Frank LaBoccetta Sr. Every day after the morning works, I would shower, change clothes, and go to the races. What a life. Anyway, one glorious day, I was walking with a groom (who also worked for Frank) leaving the Oaklahoma track and walking toward the racetrack. We look over to the left, about 40 yards, and we see a gray horse with a white bridle. This horse had an aristotle-like arched neck, was bucking and just plain \"on the muscle\". It took a groom on the left and another handler on the right side just trying to keep this horse from running off. We were certain this horse would get away from both of them. We were also certain that if this horse made it to the gate, he/she was ready. I look over and about ten yards behind them is Jeff Lukas. Naturaly, we continued on behind them and right to the betting windows. I made the biggest bet of my young sixteen years. $200 to win on this two year old, first-time starter by Secretariat. Her name was Lady\'s Secret. She won by a pole and paid $4.
The irony of the story was, I later found out that Lady\'s Secret\'s dam, Great Lady M was trained by Frank LaBoccetta.
Richiebee,
I am thinking we should collaborate on a book something like the history of Tbred racing (NYRA circuit) as we remember it. I am sure with the Bykster we can gather up loads of info, data, and Characters. it\'s the Characters that used to make the race track what it is. Now you have Living Room Downs... Many of those folks are long gone....
NCT
What a great story!
Thank you, Sight. That is a time which I will always remember. I can even remember what Jeff Lukas was wearing. WOW. I also lost my virginity that summer but that\'s not for this board :-)
How about another one.
I was friendly with a night watchman for Richard Dutrow Sr. He was telling me about this two year old filly they had in the barn and that she was a rocket. I remember going to see him at the Dutrow barn at night and the mosquitos were the size of horseflies. He would tell me old time stories about Laz Barrera, Angel Cordero, Angel Penna, Frank Martin, etc. Anyway, one day this filly was in. I went to bet $80 to win on her and she was 16-1. She was owned by Happy Valley Farm and ridden by I forget who. Anyway, she won easy and paid $30something dollars.
The irony of THIS story was she obviously went on to win the Test the following year, however, she later was bred to Broad Brush and produced a horse named Concern.
NCT--
Great point about Living Room Downs. Things have changed so much at the
racetrack. It used to be that the only thing you could do with a dime was to
make a phone call-- as long as you did so an hour prior to post time for the
first race, before they locked the phone booths.
Now you can bet a dime super and win $76,000.
My favorite book about NYRA racing: \"The Kid\" (Pete Axthelm profiling Steve
Cauthen, Laz`Barerra and Affirmed).
The comprehensive NYRA book really can not be written until someone can explain
exactly what was going on among the Holy Trinity of NY racing in the 80s and
90s: The Pistol, Oscar and the Holy Gas.
Gotta go now. No one has taken the folks at TG up on the offer to do a Race of
the Week-- I\'m working on the first at the Spa tomorrow.
Richie:
As an ex-Staten Islander I would love to add my comments re: Oscar (got the true inside on exactly what he was using [and how they found it] from one of the state vets about 10 years ago )...once notified, OSB went 1 for 142...however, don\'t want to get sued!!!
Trackjohn
The Holy Gasman just sent me a nice letter offering to reveal all his secrets in a book for only $30 inflation ravaged dollars.
Based on the hype in the letter, it appears all his edge came from reading the Form in a special way.
Nothing else.
I believe.