https://www.drf.com/news/illinois-racing-board-delays-assigning-2020-dates-puts-pressure-arlington-operate-casino?type=

Is there more to this than the tax rates and dollars committed to the Horsemens purse accounts?  Or is it simply $$$?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqOYtHbW8vg

At about 3:04 of the video, MM is stopping to turn around and trips/stumbles.  JOckey looks back like he\'s looking for a hole or something on the track. Could be a tired horse or could mean absolutely nothing.  Makes me a little uncomfortable, especially with the bearing out.  But I\'m certainly no expert.

Can\'t use Upstart on top in this race and probably not at all.  I think he backed up slightly in his last and reacted to a tough race by getting sick.  Can\'t see him getting the distance and wouldn\'t be surprised to see him throw a huge X in the Derby.

I proposed some simple questions that I thought would be interesting to know the answers to.  For me to think that I don\'t win because of cheating in racing is  as absurd as someone who think\'s it doesn\'t exist.

Does anyone know if the payouts on the rest of the field in the last leg of this PIK 3 were \"normal\"?
 
Were there any other PIK 3 possibles that were extremely low that didn\'t win?    Was this bettor making numerous $110 PIK 3 wagers or did he just happen to hit the one he really liked?

I would hope that Gulfstream would look at all of the wagers made on this day because of this situation. I think if the bettor hit the only big PIK 3 wager he made that day it would raise some suspicion, not only of past posting but what about good old fashioned race fixing?

I see zero value betting AK at 2/1 or 5/2.  Reportedly a tired horse coming out of the Preakness, not finishing his feed the next day.  While this is not completely unusual, it is never a good sign.  Motion says he wants the horse closer to the pace and I think the 47 and change workout was intended to do that.  Put a fork in him at the head of the stretch as he\'ll have nothing left for the drive.  Shak runs back to the Derby and tires late.  I like Nehro to run big and hope to get a price horse to run behind him.

If you believe that the first 1/8th or 1/4 of a mile cost her the race then you must believe Blame got a perfect trip.  I say Blame wins by 2 lengths if he doesn\'t run the first half of the race on a dead rail and then get pinched between horses in the stretch. Where does it end?

Do you make anything of Gomez riding Pluck instead of Banned, besides the Pletcher factor?

Also regarding this race...am I crazy in thinking Rough Sailing is sitting on an 0-2-X and might run huge today?

There\'s no question that the list of races won by this classic field is very impressive.  Zenyatta is a very, very, good race mare who beat a very good field of horses who had either never run on Pro Ride or had limited success on Pro Ride. I think it\'s been stated ad nauseum that synthetics are a third surface and should be treated as such.  Some horses love them, some hate them, and the rest fall somewhere in between.  It just seems (no numbers to prove) that there are more extreme swings-love or hate-when horses switch to these surfaces.  Of the 11 other horses besides Zen, how many Pro Ride wins did they have?  3 or 4?  I\"m not sure because I don\'t know how many of Colonel John wins were on Pro Ride.  If you think back to past Classics run on dirt, the winner defeated horses that had 20 or 30 or more cumulative wins on dirt. (Help me stat guys). One more question to chew on before I drop this:

If this race is run at Churchill in the slop and MTB runs by this field, are we giving him HOY and singing his praises like we are Zenyatta?

Okay, Zen is the greatest horse ever to race on Pro Ride.  14-14 is impressive, no matter what the competition, but was she really such a big surprise in the Classic?  Who, or what, did she really beat?  Were the best horses even running in this race?  

MTB-well documented dislike for the Pro Ride, won his big race in the slop.  Lots of horses have beaten this guy since the Derby.

CJ-big gaps in the PP's tell me this horse has issues.  Has run well on this surface but it's been awhile since he put 2 in a row together.  Last was one of those "looked better than it really was" races as the pace collapsed even more than usual on synth.  

SB-never tried this surface and everything I read said he didn't look near as efficient moving over the track as he did earlier this year on dirt.  Doubt if you'll see him on synthetic again.

TO-Never raced on anything but turf.  Zero all weather experience.

RK-won an optional claimer at Laurel to start the year, went West and flourished on the surface.  Looked over the top coming in and another out of the Goodwood; the winner of that didn't even run in the Classic.

GP-He's a very good turf horse.  Tried the poly once this year and ran fifth.

Einstein-Very versatile horse who was "shuffled back after steadying sharply and was never close thereafter"

Girolamo-3 year raced in an Aoc in September, no experience on synthetic and never tried any of the big 3 year olds.  Why was he even here?

RVW-turf horse, no all weather experience, and had a bad foot.  Shouldn't have even raced.

RR-tried this surface last year and stopped.  No chance on this track with his running style.

QR-disliked the track so much he wouldn't even get in the gate.

AG-won the Hawthorne GC in the mud and an allowance race at Hol on the turf.  1-12 on all weather and I'm not sure if he's ever raced on Pro Ride.  A real stretch.


I\'m just sayin...

Curlin-visually impressive last.  Have we seen his best? Could be sitting on a monster.
Zanjero-a win at CD and should fill out exotics
Street Sense-best horse in the field.  Needs the trip to prove it.
Hard Spun-1st time Derby trainer and big workout are scary.  
No Biz-rank in first turn, bumps rivals, moves backside, nothing left
Sam P.-blinkers off, could go forward, longshot
SD-bar shoes and breeding are a concern
CQ-Won once over a mile against weak field.  Eight weeks too much.
AGS-18 hole for a horse going off form.  Will be lucky to beat half the field.
Dominican-Poly expert.  Breeding says this is too far.
GH-Big win off shelf, small bounce on poly, may move forward but post is ridiculous.

Street Sense/Curlin/Hard Spun/Zanjero

Sam P/Great Hunter under in supers.

Actually, G. Gomez rode for a while at Fonner Park.  He was basically run off the track because he was winning too many races.

In regards to the Tampa 7, as soon as I saw the name of the new agent (Washburn) it became pretty clear.  Look for an investigation into some sort of race fixing.

www.chef-de-race.com
 

 I can\'t believe everyone is so down on Bo Derek.  Even though she may not be able to throw a 10 anymore, she\'s still hot for her age.

You can say what you want about Bris, but boxing their top three or four in every Breeders Cup race in ex/tris would have netted a person a very healthy ROI.