The Train Service to Monmouth Park

From reading comments of racegoers who attended the Breeders' Cup at Monmouth, it sounded like taking the train back into New York City was not the way to go. A typical quote from the Louisville Courier-Journal's article were the following:

"But our worst experience was leaving the track on Saturday. Trying to get on the train (to New York City) after the Classic was a nightmare - and a very dangerous situation. There must have been 5,000 or more people waiting for the train. There was no organized queue, just NJ Transit employees urging everyone to spread out all the way down the track. ...Only the doors on the first two train cars opened....everyone rushed to the two doors that were open, creating a very dangerous crowd of people pushing and shoving to make it onto the train."

Similar quotes from racing patrons came be found from 1880s-1890s experience in travelling to Monmouth Park on the train from New York. One hundred plus years later and the same disorder exists on a big race day at Long Branch.

Betting without Borders

Payoffs from Japan Cup and Japan Cup Dirt last weekend - comparing results in Japan vs. North America:

Per $1 bet

Japan Cup

Japan results North American results

Admire Moon $10.90 $2.40 $11.90 $2.60 (Win-Show)
Pop Rock $1.80 $2.20 (Show)
Meiso Samson $1.10 $1.10 (Show)

Ex $81 $62.20
Tri $159.80 $255.60


Japan Cup Dirt

Vermilion $2.30 $1.30 $3.50 $1.90 (Win-Show)
Field Rouge $2.50 $3.20 (Show)
Sunrise Bacchus $4.20 $7.50 (Show)

Ex $18.00 $28.20
Tri $163.10 $490.10

TVG Coverage of Japan Cup Races

It's nice to have TVG showing the top races from Tokyo this weekend. But perhaps they should mention just once that the Japan Racing Association is paying the bill for their trip - just for integrity sake.

Transparency is good for everyone.

Thorn Song wins the River City at Churchill

The Zayat Stable's Thorn Song won the 30th running of the River City Handicap on the turf on Saturday at Churchill Downs. The win was worth $133,940 for Zayat - pushing Thorn Song's winnings to over 300k at $312,110. The horse was purchased for 200k at the May 2005 Fasig-Tipton Midatlantic sale.

The horse has thrived since his placement on the grass at the Churchill spring meet taking three victories and three seconds in his last six starts - all on the turf.

Zayat's proprietor is Admed Zayat - an Egyptian who owns Al Ahram Beverages. Mr. Zayat led a team of international investors who bought the company from the Egyptian government upon privatization. The company has been very successful under Zayat's leadership.

The general belief is that Mr. Zayat has lost tens of millions of dollars buying thoroughbred horses. I'm not sure what the training costs of Thorn Song have been for the past two years but they probably just about wipe out the 100k that Mr. Zayat has made on purse money above the purchase price of the horse.

I know this is a wildly optimistic idea but wouldn't it be interesting to see the top stables in the country compete not just on the racetrack but also on a net earnings basis? Which stable is truly the most successful and efficient organization in North America? I'm not talking about the specifics of the cost of running a stable per se but more along the lines of Zayat Stable has won $5 + million in earnings in 2007 - what did it cost to acquire these horses? Is this stable more successful and efficient than Stronach Stables who have earned $6.6 million? How about West Point Stables at $2.1 million.

Transparency - that's what I am looking for here and what the sport needs so badly in so many areas. Tranparency as far as making information available, reporting medication violations, communicating horses' physical conditions and ailments, and my favorite, wagering totals. Shining a huge spotlight on the industry - all of it - would flush out so many issues and help to provide for a sustained future that may not need to dependent upon alternate gaming revenue. This is our sport, these are our people, this is our history, this is our connection with the past.

Of course, maybe Churchill Downs' new Over/Under wager will catch on like wildfire and all of this will be unneeded.

Horse Racing as Sport

As the biggest races of the year take place in Asia and Australia, one is reminded that these countries view horse racing more of a sport than North America does. The coverage and presentation of the Melbourne Cup, Japan Cup, and Hong Kong International races is more colorful and non-wagering orientated than all of our races bar the Triple Crown races. North American racetracks - so long accustomed to simply opening gates and letting the degenerates in - no longer have the ability to host and present big races as the showcase events that they deserve to be. Most every other day, crowds at these facilities dwindle to fraction of big race days. Some places are better than other because of the configuration and skill of the track management (Belmont and Santa Anita for example).

North American racing will never be as tightly controlled as JRA (Japan Racing Association) or HKJC (Hong Kong Jockey Club) racing is which allows for a better presentation of the sport. But North American racing must come up with a more inviting and interesting way to show and explain the sport than the current emphasis on wagering, payoffs, and carnival approach to bet the next race.

Veterans' Day - 1957 v. 2007

Thirty years ago today - Monday, November 11, 1957 - was Veterans' Day. A crowd of 31,742 attended the races at Jamaica in Queens and bet $2,696,205 on an eight race card. Today - Sunday, November 11, 1957 - a crowd of 3,653 bet $849,582 ontrack on the nine race card at Aqueduct in Queens.

I know that 90%+ of the money bet these days is offtrack. Back in 1957 there was still a significant amount of off-track money bet illegally across the country. What the exact split was between ontrack/off-track no one will ever know but it was at least 50-50 if not higher off-track.

There were thirty thousand in attendance for the 6th running of the Washington D.C. International at Laurel and I'm sure large crowds in Chicago and Los Angeles also.

None of the major tracks is open tomorrow, November 12, 2007, when we celebrate the Veterans' Day holiday once again.

Frank's Sugar Girls Triumph

Frank Stronach has the soon-to-be Eclipse award winner for best older mare in Ginger Punch. But his stable also has a couple of fast four year old fillies names Sugar Shake and Sugar Swirl who both won stakes today at Aqueduct (The Turnback The Alarm) and Churchill (The Very Subtle). Their records are very similar:

Sugar Shake - (Awesome Again - Skipping Around) - 15-6-3-3
Sugar Swirl - (Touch Gold - Astrapi) - 16-6-3-4

Both fillies have now won approximately 500k in their career while trained by Bobby Frankel. Sugar Shake won the Gr. I Santa Maria over a mile and a sixteenth at Santa Anita last winter while Sugar Swirl's top win was today's victory in the Very Subtle at six furlongs.