Racing in North America - Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Statistical observations on a day of racing:
Track Name Entries Races Avg
Blue Ribbon Downs 24 2 12.00
Delaware Park 66 8 8.25
Fairmount Park 58 9 6.44
Finger Lakes 72 9 8.00
Fort Erie 88 10 8.80
Great Lakes Downs 80 9 8.89
Kentucky Downs 121 13 9.31
Mountaineer 89 10 8.90
Penn National 79 9 8.78
Philadelphia Park 94 10 9.40
Remington Park 95 9 10.56
Suffolk Downs 76 9 8.44
Woodlands 63 7 9.00
Zia Park 65 7 9.29
Totals 1070 121 8.84
Kentucky Downs is offering the most significant races on the day - races 1 through 4 are stakes events - The Yaqthan, the Kentucky Cup Turf Dash, Kentucky Cup Ladies Turf, and the Kentucky Cup Turf (Grade III event).
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Saturday, September 23, 2006
A horse named Longstreet - the best horse of the 1891 racing season - ran 6th in the 2nd race at Turfway Park last year. Will there be a Bernardini be running at Springfield Slots and Poker Downs 100 years from now?
How about racing in North America determining the 200-500 best horses of all time and giving them "name protection" - I know the Jockey Club already does something of this sort but it seems rather errant if a Longstreet can still run today.
How about racing in North America determining the 200-500 best horses of all time and giving them "name protection" - I know the Jockey Club already does something of this sort but it seems rather errant if a Longstreet can still run today.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
A letter to the editor I wrote to the Daily Racing Form was published in Sunday's edition:
Historical record has gaps to be filled
In the Racing Form's account of of Premium Tap's victory at 31-1 in the Woodward ("Premium Tap scored $64 upset," Sept. 4), the payoff was described to be "believed to be the largest win payoff in the 53-year history of the Woodward."
Can you imagine any other major sport where there is such a dearth of historical information or perspective on major events? Baseball, for example, generates publicity and media coverage with all kinds of events associated with arcane statistics. Horse racing has a storied past, and it's sad that when significant or unusual events occur the industry does not have the historical knowledge to share with the public.
There is a definite need in the racing industry for organizations similar to ones baseball has - such as the Society for American Baseball Research or Retrosheet - to retrieve lost history.
Tim Peterson
Edina, Minn.
Historical record has gaps to be filled
In the Racing Form's account of of Premium Tap's victory at 31-1 in the Woodward ("Premium Tap scored $64 upset," Sept. 4), the payoff was described to be "believed to be the largest win payoff in the 53-year history of the Woodward."
Can you imagine any other major sport where there is such a dearth of historical information or perspective on major events? Baseball, for example, generates publicity and media coverage with all kinds of events associated with arcane statistics. Horse racing has a storied past, and it's sad that when significant or unusual events occur the industry does not have the historical knowledge to share with the public.
There is a definite need in the racing industry for organizations similar to ones baseball has - such as the Society for American Baseball Research or Retrosheet - to retrieve lost history.
Tim Peterson
Edina, Minn.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Another example of how racing has no clue on its history:
On Premium Tap's Woodward victory in the DRF, "Sent off at odds of 31-1, Premium Tap returned $64 to win, believed to be the largest win payoff in the 53 year history of the Woodward."
"Believed" - come on, we can do better than this. Look the charts up - it isn't that hard.
On Premium Tap's Woodward victory in the DRF, "Sent off at odds of 31-1, Premium Tap returned $64 to win, believed to be the largest win payoff in the 53 year history of the Woodward."
"Believed" - come on, we can do better than this. Look the charts up - it isn't that hard.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Comparable to Maktoum Weekend:
August 22, 1931 - Mrs. Payne Whitney’s (Greentree Stable) Twenty Grand won the 63rd running of the Travers Stakes at Saratoga – rebounding from his defeat by Mate in the Arlington Classic. Whitney stablemate St. Brideaux runs 2nd. On same card, C.V. Whitney’s Top Flight wins the Spinaway Stakes.
August 22, 1931 - Mrs. Payne Whitney’s (Greentree Stable) Twenty Grand won the 63rd running of the Travers Stakes at Saratoga – rebounding from his defeat by Mate in the Arlington Classic. Whitney stablemate St. Brideaux runs 2nd. On same card, C.V. Whitney’s Top Flight wins the Spinaway Stakes.
SABR for Horse Racing
As a follow-up to the call to create an organization similar to SABR for North American horse racing, the NTRA newsletter in September had an example of exactly the type of research (by a Racing Museum historian) that I believe would fit nicely into this realm:
http://www.racingmuseum.org/news/nrm-news-view-story-detail.asp?varID=126
As a follow-up to the call to create an organization similar to SABR for North American horse racing, the NTRA newsletter in September had an example of exactly the type of research (by a Racing Museum historian) that I believe would fit nicely into this realm:
http://www.racingmuseum.org/news/nrm-news-view-story-detail.asp?varID=126
Maktoum Weekend
There has been quite a bit written over the past week about the Maktoum family's dominance of the stakes events last weekend at Saratoga.
The astute Alan Shuback had the best observations in Sunday's DRF: http://www.drf.com/news/article/78183.html
John Pricci starts his weekly TheyAreAtThePost column with this observation:
Saratoga Springs--Never in Saratoga’s history has a racing dynasty dominated more prestigious events over the course of three days than did the ruling family of Dubai last weekend.
http://www.theyareatthepost.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=17
Without question, the Maktoum family enjoyed a very nice weekend of racing at the Spa. But was it the best ever in the history of the Spa dating back to when John Morrissey et al opened for racing in 1863? Could it have possibly been the best ever weekend of racing for a stable in North America?
One of the problems with horse racing in America these days is the absolute lack of any historical perspective in which to compare current results against. There are many reasons for this but certainly one of them must be a complete for the great history of the sport. There's always the next race to look at, the next card, the next road to the Derby. A sport with such a great tradition should take better care of its history so that when spectacular events take place, they can be given a context which to place them in. So as it was last weekend, the Maktoums wins garnered virtually no publicity outside of the industry.
Equibase was created to give the industry control over racing data and information. That has been accomplished. But without a more complete analysis and association of the data, Equibase will never be able to grow into an organization the extent that an Elias Sports Bureau plays in the baseball arena. What is desparately needed by horse racing is an organization like the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) - one that would provide a historical framework for racing data and past results.
There have been many powerful stables over the years in horse racing - August Belmont, the Lorillards, the Dwyer Brothers, James Keene, the Whitneys, Calumet, the Phipps. It's a shame that the Maktoums winning weekend can't be compared to similar past results in a meaningful way.
There has been quite a bit written over the past week about the Maktoum family's dominance of the stakes events last weekend at Saratoga.
The astute Alan Shuback had the best observations in Sunday's DRF: http://www.drf.com/news/article/78183.html
John Pricci starts his weekly TheyAreAtThePost column with this observation:
Saratoga Springs--Never in Saratoga’s history has a racing dynasty dominated more prestigious events over the course of three days than did the ruling family of Dubai last weekend.
http://www.theyareatthepost.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=17
Without question, the Maktoum family enjoyed a very nice weekend of racing at the Spa. But was it the best ever in the history of the Spa dating back to when John Morrissey et al opened for racing in 1863? Could it have possibly been the best ever weekend of racing for a stable in North America?
One of the problems with horse racing in America these days is the absolute lack of any historical perspective in which to compare current results against. There are many reasons for this but certainly one of them must be a complete for the great history of the sport. There's always the next race to look at, the next card, the next road to the Derby. A sport with such a great tradition should take better care of its history so that when spectacular events take place, they can be given a context which to place them in. So as it was last weekend, the Maktoums wins garnered virtually no publicity outside of the industry.
Equibase was created to give the industry control over racing data and information. That has been accomplished. But without a more complete analysis and association of the data, Equibase will never be able to grow into an organization the extent that an Elias Sports Bureau plays in the baseball arena. What is desparately needed by horse racing is an organization like the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) - one that would provide a historical framework for racing data and past results.
There have been many powerful stables over the years in horse racing - August Belmont, the Lorillards, the Dwyer Brothers, James Keene, the Whitneys, Calumet, the Phipps. It's a shame that the Maktoums winning weekend can't be compared to similar past results in a meaningful way.
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