I work crazy hours during the week. I can begin to see the weekend oasis about
the time that Saturday\'s NYRA entries come out on Wednesday.
Looking at Saturday\'s Saratoga card, I must congratulate PJ Campo. 11 races,
average field size 10 runners. I mean who really cares that 5 of the races are
for maidens and four of the other races are for bottom (20K) claimers?
The Camporegime has not just blurred the once clear distinction between upstate
and downstate racing, they have totally obliterated it
Worry not Mr. Bee, Saturday is going to be a complete wash out. TGAB will have his mud caulks on.
Look at tomorrows early pick 4; 3 maiden races none of which has a full 8 horse field and a bottom claimer, a pick 4 sequence generally with a 250,000 pool and 28 horses entered.
Miff is in town for a couple of days, I couldn\'t get up today with work and my Mom\'s 80th birthday but plan on being there tomorrow. I have to meet the man who makes me seem open minded!!!!
Apprentice Dylan Davis (son of Robbie) gets his first win tomorrow for Wesley Ward in the 2nd on Jacksalildevil.
Good luck,
Frank D.
I know I\'m sounding like a broken record around here, but just wanted to publicly concur w/richie\'s sentiments, because this is an utter embarrassment. How often have many of us said something like this sentence the past few years: \"this must be the worst Saratoga Saturday card I\'ve ever seen!
If the calendar read 1770 or so Campo would be getting tarred and feathered for this.
And by the way, their press release for their \"we\'re going to take policing the game seriously for the Travers, otherwise, carry on\" thingy has a glaring, stupid typo in it (\"Horses will be have out-of-competition blood testing taken August 22.)
Hopefully all the rumors of Cuomo\'s posse cleaning house after the meet are true and those who have helped run the NY game into the ground \"will be have\" out-of-employment forms to fill out.
On the brighter side, Keeneland\'s right around the corner.
Papa,
Being local like you I know many who work at the track and the melancholy attitude this year is atrocious. No one gives a F#$%, supervisors don\'t know if they have a job next month, stewards, track crew, etc... down the road.
The last week is going to be like Belmont for the past several big events lacking in food, beverage and ample staffing.
It\'s ugly to see in what we all thought would be a marquee racing meet with the addition of the short lived slot money.
FD
Frank,
My clean-house hopes are directed strictly at the upper management levels, not at the people who make the place go on a day to day basis. I\'ve heard second-hand from some friends who know people same thing you have about the attitude around the place.
I think a bad racing quality meet with an ugly ending like you describe is going to give Cuomo &co more ammo to take the slots money away, ASAP. Not even a diehard can look at a card like Saturday\'s and come up with a good answer to the question, what happened, I thought the VLT money was gonna turn things around? I\'m just thinking at this point, some version of starting from something like scratch couldn\'t be any worse...but as they say, be careful what you wish for...
Looks like Frank D. is back in the weather business. Good meeting him last Saturday where he correctly stated \"it will not rain today\" despite 90+ degree temperatures and high humidity that had Frank looking like a Popsicle in the Sahara! The sweat was running down so fast that Julian had his glasses fogged up! After his correct weather prediction for the Spa on Saturday, our morning line was 3/5 that he would nail what appeared to be a tougher forecast for Sunday\'s seminar and save us handicapping the turf races Saturday night for both turf and mud on Sunday. Alas, Frank was a now show? While as Indian Charlie says \"we never let the truth get in the way of a good story, rumor has it Frank was a vet scratch from the weather department after he was apparently spotted on Union Avenue selling well done pizza\'s from the pizza shack that burned across the street the night before after bleeding his bankroll dry on Saturday??
Needless to say, our handicapping seminar Saturday produced many opinions but very little success at the windows. However Julian did offer some great insight on sheet reading. He also highlighted the $25 winner of the first, and the $16 winner of the Whitney,and the $240 tri in the 7th.
Sunday he pointed the small group towards the FTS $8 winner of the 3rd, the $36 winner of the 7th, and in the 11th said \"any of these 7 could win-and it is probably the only reason I will stay all day so as to see what kind of odds there are - 1,4,5,6,10,11,14\" from the 13 that went to the post. While that did not necessarily narrow the field to a clear picture the 11,1,6 tri paid $11k, and the 11,1,6,4 super $74k! To his credit he made these comments in the aforementioned heat using sheets printed individually by Kinko\'s. The books did not arrive for him so the sheets were faxed to him and as a result he had about 200 sheets of paper to rifle through, trying to keep them in order, and beat the heat! That was a feat in and of itself. So, thanks for the thoughts presented Julian, and FrankD., good to see you are back in the saddle again! bb
Saturday (314 Views)
Posted by: FrankD. (IP Logged)
Date: August 04, 2012 08:54AM
90\'s and very humid today requiring a few trips to the beer garden.
I\'m hoping the T-storms hold off until after the races tomorrow.
Accuracy banditbeau, we strive for accuracy here!
If your not privy to a Gregorian calendar? Sunday August 5th was the tomorrow.
As far as the pizza; \" I don\'t know nutin\"
LMAO
Frank D.
Almont half way thru the meet and there\'s still no audible sound available in many locations of the plant including the clubhouse apron. The one exception is right behind Carolina BBQ just when you don\'t want sound, when the seminars take place.
There is money for a new sound system so there is no longer any excuse.Can\'t tell who will be in charge after the SPA meet but the rumors on what Cuomo\'s team wants to do with NY Racing is ugly.Talking about NYRA being run more like any other NYS Agency,seems unimaginable.
nyra\'s already run like a poorly-run state agency, so hard to see how it could get much worse. of course as a ny racing fan, cuomo\'s obvious hatred of the game does make me very nervous. not sure it\'s realistic option but best thing might be to put the franchise up for bid and hope magna or cd bites, though not sure who\'d be interested given slots money will soon be gone. and to think i used to be a frank-o-phobe...
No takers in the private sector for NYRA franchise without serious subsidies/tax breaks. Already been looked at.
Believe me, it can get much worse than NYRA. Watch.
And another viewpoint ... I think the extra weekend has zapped some of the energy from the place ...
http://espn.go.com/horse-racing/story/_/id/8243247/too-much-good-thing
A good article, but I was inclined to stop reading when, midway through, Moran
said \"The racing [at Saratoga] has been quite good and keenly competitive.\"
What is so \"good\" about four races for bottom claimers on a Saturday in the
middle of what is supposed to be the best month of racing in the US?
FrankD. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Worry not Mr. Bee, Saturday is going to be a
> complete wash out. TGAB will have his mud caulks
> on.
Frank:
Will never question your Eclipse nominated weather forcasts, but the amateurs at
Weather Channel are saying that Friday, not Saturday, will be the washout.
Would love an accurate update before I start my homework tonight for Saturday.
Seriously, and i\'m not kidding around, when i glanced at Saturday\'s SPA card i looked up to the top of the form to see if i was actually looking at Saratoga.
The drf SAID Saratoga, but how can we be sure, it certainly didnt look like a Saturday Saratoga card.
Pretty nasty storm in the area that looks like it will hit before the 9th race, a bit south of the track but rain for 9 & 10.
A very slow moving front with lot\'s of stuff in the area for Friday and Saturday. A matter of when it rains on Friday effecting that card, enough rain Friday, overnight and into to Saturday to wash out the Saturday card. Early prediction is all 5 early turf races off with only the stake staying on.
Good luck,
Frank D.
With the govenment takeover of Nyra fast approaching the word is PJ shows up at Gulfstream
If \"the word\" is he\'s headed to GP to replace the current GP racing secretary, I dunno, that one doesn\'t pass the smell test. GP had a great 2011-2012 meet in terms of handle and quality. A quick search of Teh Google doesn\'t turn up anything about Bork leaving or getting bumped up to a higher position. Can\'t see why GP would want to fix something that\'s not broken. Perhaps I\'ve misinterpreted your comment and Campo is headed for some other position there.
Guys who continue to misdirect their venom at PJ Campo are getting it wrong!Maybe he will come on here and explain that he NEVER goes with a full field of cheap claimers over a superior shorter field of better stock.
Re NYRA,
If you believe the stories,Gov Cuomo is looking at a nearly clean sweep of NYRA\'s management AND board team.A horrific name, that keeps cropping up, is ex jockey Jerry Bailey(banished by NYRA ex CEO Charlie Hayward for jumping on the anti-NYRA bandwagon when they were on the ropes during the NYC OTB Fiasco)
Exactly wtf a Jerry Bailey knows about the gambling side of the business of racing or any side of any business is beyond me.Makes him like 1/2 to get hired along with consultants(like Mc Kinsey) which has no knowledge of \"the belly of the beast\" or of its existence.Couple of their MBA\'s Google Thorougbred Racing and they bill for thousands.
JB noted that things could be worse than current NYRA,could not agree more.
If Cuomo wanted to show he\'s a mensch , he\'d call up Harvey Pack.
Haven\'t heard anything about Campo joining the Magna gang, but I wonder if there
is any truth to the rumor that the Claiming Crown people have been contemplating
holding their annual event at the Spa next year?
Speaking of Magna, the CC is at Gulfsteam this December, I believe.
PJ gets a bad rap! He does what all racing secretary\'s are supposed to do. He makes his cards based on the horses on the grounds
Racing in general has suffered from the declining foal crops, and quality is thin. I will take issue with the complaints about the claiming races, as even the \"cheap\" ones are loaded with 50% drop-downs because the purses are so rich. 38K and up for 20 claiming??? Mdn Clm for purses that are MdSpWts at most tracks??
Yes, too many state-bred and maidens, etc. but this is what is available to write the cards, and the handle is doing quite fine thanks to full fields. I hate playing 5-horse Alw races,and will take my chances with a nice full field of turf maidens.
Friday\'s card seems like it was just thrown together - it is a Pink Out day (every race for F&M) but the two stakes are done before 3pm and the maiden and NY Bred races are being thrown at customers at every opportunity.
In fact the early pick 4 Saturday is all maiden races and the 1st and 6 are both for $20k claimers.
fasteddie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> PJ gets a bad rap! He does what all racing
> secretary\'s are supposed to do. He makes his cards
> based on the horses on the grounds
PJ is not the \"Racing Secretary\". He is the \"Director of Racing\" As such
he is responsible for the horses on the grounds.
> Racing in general has suffered from the declining
> foal crops, and quality is thin. I will take issue
> with the complaints about the claiming races, as
> even the \"cheap\" ones are loaded with 50%
> drop-downs because the purses are so rich. 38K and
> up for 20 claiming??? Mdn Clm for purses that are
> MdSpWts at most tracks??
Agree about the dwindling foal crop. Add to the fact that horses
(though arguably faster, ahem) are not as sound as they once were,
thanks to a seriously diluted gene pool, and you have horses making less
starts per year, a situation exacerbated by the inflation of purses, which
means even a \"cheap\" horse can make a decent living for its connections by
starting only eight or nine times per year. But there are other factors
which should have driven quality horses to NY.
> Yes, too many state-bred and maidens, etc. but
> this is what is available to write the cards, and
> the handle is doing quite fine thanks to full
> fields. I hate playing 5-horse Alw races,and will
> take my chances with a nice full field of turf
> maidens.
All sources handle only up marginally halfway through, a 6.5
increase in wagering from all sources, which should be reduced
slightly for the fact that 9 more races were run this year than last
year.
As to twelve horse maiden races on the turf, you certainly are \"taking
your chances\": bad trips, placement of turf rails, and of course,
main track onlys. Of the 119 races carded for the turf halfway through,
26 ended up on the main track.
PJ Campo has done an awful job this summer. I may be the only one
who thinks so, and there is nothing that can happen in the last 3 weeks
of racing to change my mind.
Ugly report from NY State Comptroller Di Napoli re future justification for continued/increased subsidies for NY racing. Seems the report indicates that the subsidies paid via purses has done little to materially improve attendance or handle at NY tracks.
Not certain if Di Napoli is in the the powerful Menga camp.Menga Gov\'s right hand man who orchestrated the Govs takeover of NYRA.Menga a very high level Cuomo insider is an anti racing voice looking to pull the plug on racing subsidies in favor of redirecting those monies for better political capital for Cuomo.NY Thoroughbred/Harness groups speaking out against report claiming its bull.
This, yet a another indication of the uncertainty of the future of NY racing. Recent slot revenues from Aqueduct/Genting staggering,politicians drooling at prospects of monies that will flow to NY State in future from full blown casinos.NY racing in deep future trouble if it does not find a strong influential ally upstate.
I cant even begin to make excuses for what NYRA does and doesnt do. However, I am absolutely certain of one thing and that is they are faced with insurmountable rules as defined by NYS legislation. The racing business model in NYS will be a losing one unless it is changed. They are up against it. So while we shoot our venemous daggers at them (I do as well) this fact needs to be taken into consideration. I am confused by this report from DiNapoli. Having followed the VLT saga for years, I dont ever remember reading that anyone thought it would result in increased attendance and handle. I thought the purpose was to keep the game alive. Sure, for us fans but also for the many ancillary business\'s that depend on this games survival. But also to keep open space ... Can anyone begin to guess what the value of Belmont Park is? Yikes! Here is the mission staement of the NYS Breeders program ... \"To promote by monetary incentives the responsible breeding of quality(whoops)thoroughbred racehorses in keeping with the founding legislation to preserve New York\'s irreplaceable farmland.\" Its really so much more than math ... Then again, I guess that is his job. He is just another Cuomo puppet. This is Cuomo\'s revenge for the hiring of Kenny Noe ... Ahhhhh ... tough to be a fan these days ...
1-- Re Campo, worth keeping in mind that if he didn\'t create big fields, which increases handle, lack of handle would be used to beat NYRA\'s brains out.
2- One check on Cuomo re this stuff is that he\'ll be pushing against some very powerful, very rich people. In today\'s politics, if you have national ambitions, that\'s dangerous.
Speaking of politics , I hear Corzine is looking for work, he\'d be an interesting candidate for something in racing. He likes to gamble and doesn\'t mind losing, both traits of many horseplayers.