Racing Maiden New York

[richiebee]

Wednesday will be a mandatory live appearance for Richiebee at Aqueduct. Twice a
year, Mrs Richiebee flies back to the old country. We go through the same routine
each time, with me graciously offering to sit with my wife in the terminal at
JFK for 3 hours awaiting boarding and my wife even more graciously allowing me
to leave right after she gets checked in.

Which should allow me to arrive at the Big A in time for race 4, the first of 3
CONSECUTIVE maiden races. The 4th is your basic MSW NYB for 2YOs. The 5th is an
open Maiden claimer for 2YO fillies which attracted a field of 11, which includes
6 NY breds and a Colorado bred.

The 6th race is an open MSW for 3 and up. Among the firsters in the field is
Ever Shifting, a Darley owned runner by Tale of the Cat. Ever Shifting was
purchased at a 2YO in training sale for 5.2 MILLION dollars, meaning that he was
probably able to \"breeze\" 1/8th of a mile in 10 or so seconds.

$5.2 MILLION for ONE animal. Consider, if you will, that the State of New York
recently extended the SS NYRAtanic a $30 million loan so that the 2000 or so
horses stabled at Aqueduct and Belmont can continue to have a roof over their
head and a place to race.

On Tuesday, the Navy will once again try to free the USS Intrepid from its muddy
berth in the Hudson River; the Navy will be assisted by the Army Corps of
Engineers, the Coast Guard, my pals at McAllister Towing and the highest tides
of the year.

New York racing is also stuck in the mud, sinking under the weight of two
obsolete facilities, an apathetic state government and the possibility that a
lot of issues will be tied up in federal courts for many years to come.

The key to Tuesday\'s attempt to free the Intrepid will be that all parties will
be pulling TOGETHER, trying to utilize favorable tidal conditions to free the
Intrepid from the muck.

The factions involved with NY racing have spent years pulling in different
directions; the resulting current state of New York racing is alarming and
shameful, and like the Titanic and the Intrepid and other huge ships, is not
capable of being turned around quickly.

[davidrex]

A compilation of your offerings theses past several weeks should be bounded and published.
I only hope the fate that hit Alan from \"Left at The Gate\"hasn\'t be-fallen you.
Keep this up and you will be \"a maiden no more\"

[marcus]

it all sounds good - though i\'m thinking more touch gold or open company stakes than maiden , i got the intrepid @ 2-5  to pull clear tuesday .  bad news indeed about ny racing - it\'s so far gone that implemting a good idea here and a good idea there won\'t really help .

since 1988 when i 1st started following racing and working at tg , ny racing has become less and less attractive each year to fans and bettors - and i get the impression this trend will continue for another indefinate amount of time .

the breeding industry will always have the upper hand in this era of racing but it can be brought to increase it\'s exposure to racing operating cost\'s - these days at 5.2 million , do you get a gate work  ?

last week a thread on the tg board discussed the need for more race\'s that are restricted to nyb\'s at bel + sar + aqu ( not aqi inner ) and why this hasn\'t already been done is another mystery ...  

[NoCarolinaTony]

Richie,

Another good piece from your future job as racing journalist. Your editorial and provocative writing is more thought provoking than \"some\" of those stale DRF writers, we read day in and day out.

But since you are going to the track, why not pick a few winners? I see you got a couple of races of professional maidens that remind me of a typical Keystone Park Friday. Hey I\'ll give it my best shot and try to dope out a few winners together with you? Should we go through a couple of races? Or do you find it more fun to do it on the fly?

Anyway, keep up the good work. You are the new Voice of the NYRA Gambler.

When did the Inner track open for winter racing in NY?

NC Tony

[marcus]

richiebee , tough card - maybe if mrs richiebee could stay another day , thursday\'s aqi might produce more playable races ...

with no ml available yet for tomorrows ny races , it looks shakey - one horse somewhat interesting although slow right now but eligable to improve at a price and one i\'d hate to get beat by the most is in the 8th race - Paullinus can go foward and should get sufficiant pace to run at . there are sevaeral other horse\'s that are faster but all are of tops - of course they all won\'t bounce but Broadway Producer & I\'m Not Guilty have patterns strong enough to pair-up right now .

NCT is definately right about the racing journalism stuff , if the drf finds you out , alot of folks will be looking for work over there ...

my best play for tomorrow aqi would be the in the 8th race , it\'s a B-/C+ play at best ( but it won\'t make sense to sit on your hands if your in attendence )  , win bet on Paullinus + protect w/ ex pw if a big price , and a late double 3x1  : Broadway Producer , I\'m not Guilty , Paullinus  w/ Today\'s Charmer  ....

[marcus]

now after seeimg a morning line , Paullinus @ 5-1 would need to drift up to 8-1 or better  . Dancing Forever and Barcola are the other 2 fast one\'s i think will bounce and the same for tempting at 12-1 Tasterville who paired a top in return from lay off last time but that number knocked him out badly when he ran it before . if Paullinus isn\'t a price , the late DD 3x1 might be the way to go. i got a job interview  tomorrow otherwise i\'d head over there myself ...

[richiebee]

Marcus and NCT:

Appreciate the kind words. I am not big on New Years Resolutions, but 07 will be
a good year for me if I get an opportunity to get at least one on course
golf \"lesson\" from my Tar Heeled Jesuit friend and one chance to read some
patterns on that pier in Red Hook with my pal Marcus.

NCT, I think your good natured implication is that I am so wrapped up in
Racing\'s problems and politics that I do not spend any time handicapping or
actually following Racing. The truth is that due to my current work schedule I
only have the opportunity to play on Friday and Saturday. On these days I limit
myself to Fair Grounds and Aqueduct.

The problems/challenges facing Racing, especially in New York, are perplexing.
Racing in NY has been insulated from NY politics for quite a while due to NYRA\'s
long term franchise. I think one man who should have more input (he certainly has
a broad enough range of experience) is spending too much time trying to hit the
Pick 6.

NCT-- the voice of NY racing is the Post\'s Ed Fountaine. Unfortunately, the Post
is so concerned with covering the \"pop tarts\" (Britney Spears and Jessica
Simpson) and the \"celebutard\" (Paris Hilton) that much of what Fountaine writes
is never published. Part of racing\'s image problem in NY is that Racing is no
longer covered by the press day to day as if it were a Major League sport.

OK Marcus about that 8th tomorrow at AQ: Lets look at the trainer profile--
here are 4 animals who are listed as exceeding their previous top by at least 1
point in their last race: I\'m Not Guilty (Buddy Carlesimo) (73% of runners in
this category next race \"Off\" or \"X\"); KingoftheNight (R. Dutrow)(cant see from
the sheet how this stat applies to this particular animal...anyone?); Dancing
Forever (Shug)(about 50% of his runners in this category followed with \"Top\"
or \"Pair\") and Broadway Producer (John Terranova) (also about 50% followed
with \"Top\" or \"Pair\"). And the overall Thoro Patterns show that the 3 3YOs above
mentioned  all are approx 50/50 to \"Top\" or \"Pair\".

More traditional analysis: I\'m Not Guilty and Barcola cut out a hot pace, and
Dancing Forever (goes from low % J Espinoza to top rider Coa) could have the
most energy in the lane. No value there, however, because he will be
5/2 - 3/1 and his lone career win came on the grass.

9th Race: Awful NYB 35K MCl. The 2nd through 6th place finishers from a similar
race on November 17 all return. This race is so bad that even John Candlin,
statistically NYRA\'s most inept trainer, has a chance with his runner who faces
claimers for the first time.

My selection in race 9: Fatherless Lass. The fields only 4YO, she has 3 career
races (all turf sprints at Colonial) and shows 1 slow breeze in the last 15
weeks. Low percentage trainer DeStasio and a 7 pound bug I\'ve never heard of.
At odds well over 20/1, I\'ll try the first time v NY Bred angle and consider
myself a big winner if she is anywhere near the Home Depot when the rest of the
field is at the 1/8th pole.

Intrepid Update. She\'s out of the mud and in dockyard hands over in Bayonne. When
the old tub-- the Navy\'s equivalent to Forego and Kelso-- passed Ground Zero, a
huge American flag was unfurled. Gotta go now.

[marcus]

richiebee - the way i got it , \" so many races , so little time \" applies to most everybody on the tg board including yourself and of course nct .

life in ny is always at a torrid pace and there is bussiness of all sorts to be handled - we only can do what we can do as handicappers and bettors and no more . also , i\'ve noticed that \"ny scandle\'s \" do last quite a bit longer than they used too  + currently it appears that there are more people in nyc than ever who should probably never go below 14th street as opposed to the old days when there were alot of folks that should never go above it -  go figure ...

the horse\'s i like in todays 8th are strickly \" pattern plays \" and in the 9th the one that you mentioned at 20-1 sounds pretty decent ... Paullinus in the 8th is slow going in but looks healthy - though i was hoping for a much better price on that one ... in both races one could go a few different ways , so going with something in your relative comfort zone w/ regard to price , pace senario\'s , conditions etc is definately the way to go ...  

[Michael D.]

good news: ever shifting beat a horse.
bad news: the horse he beat did not finish.