Horse Racing archive

I'm on my way to Louisville for Breeders’ Cup Week and will be especially tuned in with my clocker Bruno DeJulio — into the way at least seven intriguing horses actually are training. The seven are:

1. SIDNEY’S CANDY, the Breeders' Cup Mile contender who has not raced since Aug. 14.

2. ZENYATTA who arrives at Churchill only for gallops and jogs after doing all her training at Hollywood Park.

3. SWITCH, the 3-year-old filly who was a very sharp second to Zenyatta in the Lady Secret Stakes and will be turning back in distance for the 7 furlong Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. So far she has been training very well at Churchill since that race.

4. PLUMANIA, a 4-year-old European based filly trained by the great Andre Fabre who ran poorly in the Arc de Triomphe, but was a strong second to the probable Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf favorite MIDDAY, who won this race last year.

5. TELL A KELLY, the 2-year-old filly who made a strong impression on me at Del Mar.

6. TIZWAY, who returned to competition so strongly in the one mile Kelso and may be the right one in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.

7. JAYCITO, who looked so promising winning the Norfolk at Santa Anita on Oct. 2 and will be meeting a tough pair of Eastern based 2-year-olds in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, UNCLE MO and BOYS AT TOSCONOVA.

As promised, here are the remaining two Breeders' Cup race profiles — the two longest races on the two day Breeders' Cup schedule — to go along with the 12 covered in the previous three Bodog Beat blog posts on Oct 19, Oct. 22 and Oct. 25.

While all previous profiles were written before pre-entries were published this week and some horses did not make it into their respective target races, the important date is next Wednesday, Nov. 3, when final Breeders' Cup fields with their post position assignments will be known.

In the meantime to complete the package, here are some prominent contenders for the two longest Breeders' Cup races that will be run on Friday, Nov. 5 and Saturday Nov. 6 at Churchill Downs.

$500,000 Breeders' Cup MARATHON, 1-3/4 miles on dirt, Friday, Nov. 5:

Not many horses in America ever get to run this far, so the two Europeans that have been sent here for this event deserve a close look — considering their performances at this and longer distances. BRIGHT HORIZON, for instance won a 2 mile turf race by five lengths in his last start in Ireland and is trained by to notch Aidan O’Brien. PRECISION BREAK may have been badly outrun in his 2-1/4 mile turf finale in England on Oct. 10, but he won a 1-11/16 miles turf race in his prior outing at Doncaster and also ran well in long races on Polytrack at Lingfield and Kempton.

Of the American based runners, GIANT OAK’s good second to REDDING COLLIERY in the Hawthorne Gold Cup this year and AWESOME GEM’s win in that race last year among other good performances suggest they may enjoy a slight edge in overall class. All others have to be given a close look, or perhaps you might have a good Ouija board to bring to the task.

$3 million Breeders' Cup Turf at 1-1/2 miles:

The race should be dominated by Europeans. WORKFORCE, winner of both the Epsom Darby and Arc De Triomphe is the likely favorite, but no winner of the Arc has come here to also win the Breeders' Cup Turf. BEHKABAD, another talented 3-year-old from Europe also has a G-1 win to his credit and was a troubled fourth in the Arc. DEBUSSY closed strongly to win the Arlington Million this year and was forced out of his preferred style when pushed to the front when finishing third in the Champion stakes at Newmarket on Oct. 16. DANGEROUS MINDS, winner of the Arc Trial with a fine Time Form Rating of 121 (equal to Debussy’s latest), cannot be safely eliminated.

After this quartet, it might be hard to support an American based horse, but the Japanese 4-year-old filly RED DESIRE ran well enough in the Flower Bowl at Belmont on Oct. 2 to be given a look and the same goes for WINCHESTER, winner of two G-1’s this year.

Bet on the 2010 Breeders' Cup World Championships at Bodog Racebook

REMINDER: DAVE TULY and I will be providing our annual "Breeders' Cup Face Off" for all 14 Breeders' Cup races on Friday, Nov 5 and Saturday, Nov. 6. And if you’re looking for more information to help you play these great races on Bodog-com, check out my website's workout reports.

Over two days — six races on Friday, Nov. 5 and eight races on Saturday, Nov. 6 — an impressive count of 172 horses in total are scheduled to race in the 2010 Breeders' Cup World Championships, which will also feature an impressive $25.5 million in purses.

In the Breeders' Cup Classic, all eyes will be on Zenyatta as the 6-year-old will be gunning for a perfect 20-0 to end her career as one of America's best-ever thoroughbreds. Will the defending BC Classic champion win it again this year at Churchill Downs? Trainer John Shirreffs and jockey Mike Smith are confident that Zenyatta is saving her best race for last.

Here are the post positions for the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic:

Post | Horse | Jockey
1 | Quality Road | J. Velazquez
2 | Paddy O'Prado | K. Desormeaux
3 | Haynesfield | R. Dominguez
4 | First Dude | R. Albarado
5 | Blame | G. Gomez
6 | Fly Down | J. Leparoux
7 | Musket Man | R. Maragh
8 | Zenyatta | M. Smith
9 | Pleasant Prince | J. Rosario
10 | Etched | A. Garcia
11 | Espoir City (JPN) | T. Sato
12 | Lookin At Lucky | M. Garcia

Gio Ponti will not be racing in the Breeders' Cup Classic and is instead starting from post 3 in the Breeders' Cup Mile, where he will go up against Goldikova. And in Friday's Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic, Blind Luck will start from post 10 in a field of 11 fillies and mares.

Bodog Racebook has all your Breeders' Cup odds!

Here are the post times and network times for all 14 races…

FRIDAY'S BREEDERS' CUP RACES | NETWORK | POST (ET)
Breeder' Cup Marathon | ESPN2 | 4:10 PM
Juvenile Fillies Turf | ESPN2 | 4:50 PM
Sentient Jet F&M Sprint | ESPN2 | 5:30 PM
Grey Goose Juv. Fillies | ESPN2 | 6:10 PM
Emirates Airline F&M Turf | ESPN2 | 6:50 PM
Ladies' Classic | ESPN2 | 7:30 PM

SATURDAY'S | BREEDERS' CUP | RACES
Breeders' Cup Juv. Turf | ABC | 1:50 PM
Sentient Jet Sprint | ABC | 2:30 PM
Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint | ABC | 3:15 PM
Grey Goose Juvenile | ESPN | 3:55 PM
TVG Breeders' Cup Mile | ESPN | 4:40 PM
Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile | ESPN | 5:20 PM
Emirates Airline Turf | ESPN | 6:00 PM
Breeders' Cup Classic | ESPN | 6:45 PM

Coming hard and fast from the back of the pack, jockey Mike Smith did what he could to fight through traffic down the final stetch in Saturday's $5 Million Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs. For her part, Zenyatta gave it her all and dug down deep to come within inches of winning — and instead fell short.

Kentucky-bred Blame, winner of the Whitney Handicap and U.S. Horse of the Year contender, edged Zenyatta to take first place away from the favorite and effectively ending the six-year-old's bid for a perfect 20-0 career record. With jockey Garrett Gomez in the saddle, Blame covered the mile-and-a-quarter distance in 2:02.28. Fly Down finished third and Preakness Stakes winner Lookin At Lucky finished fourth out of a field of 12 champion thoroughbreds.

"It was a little struggle for me early as she surprised me in that she didn't get a hold of the ground," said Smith of Zenyatta's run today. "If we'd got a better position it would have been a different outcome because I was on the best horse in the race, trust me."

Ironically, Smith blames himself for Zenyatta's loss.

"It was my fault," he said. "She should've won."

At 5/1 odds, a wager placed on Blame to win the Breeders' Cup Classic paid $12.40.

The action returns to Hollywood Park next weekend with the Grade 1 $250K Hollywood Turf Cup Stakes.

Bodog Racebook's got all your online horse racing odds

The mighty mare ZENYATTA lost for the first time in her 20th career race — the $5 Million Breeders’ Cup Classic that was run here at Churchill Downs on Saturday, Nov. 6. Yet, the narrow defeat she suffered to the top class 4-year-old colt, BLAME, did not diminish the stature she gained from large numbers of Eastern based racing fans and self appointed experts who knocked her 19 race winning streak as a product of her affinity for synthetic surfaces.

For nearly three years, so many refused to believe that Zenyatta really ranked among the best female racehorses of modern times. They needed to see her against the top flight field that was assembled against her in the richest race on the American racing calendar — the Classic.

It didn’t matter to the skeptics that she had overpowered a solid group in the 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita.

So to be there, to be among the 70,000 wildly cheering fans at Churchill Downs, to feel the roar of the crowd as much as to hear it, to watch the great race mare come from way, way downtown to just miss catching BLAME by less than a foot on the latter’s home track, was an inspiring testament to why those of us who play the horses — are absolutely in love with the sport.

The performances that we saw at Churchill Downs Saturday — from PLUCK’S electrifying last to first run in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, to UNCLE MO’S freakishly impressive win in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, to the great European mare GOLDIKOVA’S exceptional display of class and acceleration to win her third straight Breeders’ Cup Mile — all that served as mere preludes to the sustained, dramatic rally Zenyatta put on while narrowly losing a Breeders’ Cup Classic that lived up to its name.

The last of the 14 Breeders' Cup races run Friday and Saturday, even inspired one Eastern based disbeliever standing close by to say: “Forget Horse of the Year, I just saw the Horse of the Decade. That was one of the greatest races of my life and absolutely the best performance by a horse that didn’t win.”

BLAME certainly made his contribution to the memories we will take with us, surging strongly to take the lead in the upper stretch while LOOKIN AT LUCKY also was making a strong but short lived bid.

Zenyatta was off very slowly, perhaps because she resented the clod of dirt that hit her in the face as soon as she left the starting gate, perhaps because she was not instantly comfortable running on a Churchill Downs racing surface that lacked its usual moisture.

Going under the finish line for the first time in crimson twilight, Zenyatta was so far behind the pack it seemed she was re-enacting the first half mile that we saw Friday night when a disinterested LIFE AT TEN trailed the Ladies Classic field by more than 15 lengths. Life At Ten never did get into the race as jockey John Velazquez galloped her at a slow pace around the track in fear for her health.

Similar thoughts fell into the minds of those who were shocked to see Zenyatta so far out of it on the backstretch. We all have seen her rally from last before but this was something different.

“When is (jockey) Mike Smith going to ask her to move?” said a woman behind me with doubts creeping into her thoughts. “Soon,” I said, “Or she won’t even hit the board.”

I had not finished my sentence when Zenyatta — still 15 lengths behind — started to gather her stride, gaining ground and some momentum through the turn to join the pack. Entering the stretch, she still was about six lengths behind Blame who was surging forward from mid pack with great strength.

Buried in traffic, behind the retreating QUALITY ROAD, Smith relied on the big mare’s unusual athleticism to angle her out a few paths — just as he did in last year's Classic. Then he quickly moved her out a few more paths until Zenyatta finally was in the clear approaching the eighth pole, barely 220 yards to go and so much left to do.

Suddenly 70,000 of my closest friends and millions more in simulcast centers, racetracks and living rooms throughout the world tried to push the great race mare to the wire with their loudest collective voice. For a few left handed strokes, Zenyatta continued to gain good ground. But, it was not until Smith switched to his right hand approaching the final 100 yards — with only Blame in sight — that Zenyatta leveled off with one final powerful surge, a surge that very few horses in my lifetime have been able to reach, an extra ounce of horsepower she had used so often to snatch unlikely victories from surefire defeats.

This time, however, Zenyatta could not get the final few inches. The long hard drive from so far back for more than a full half mile in her final race left her completely spent, without any last gasp answer to end her career undefeated. After the wire, Blame still held the same advantage, a sure sign that Zenyatta had done all she could.

So ended the truly great career for the most talented older race mare I have ever seen. So went Zenyatta's probable claim on the 2010 Horse of the Year Award, although many who saw her perform may feel compelled to vote otherwise.

At the very least, we should all realize from our raft of torn up pari mutual tickets and from the nose defeats we all personally have suffered from time to time, that horse racing is a sport in which great endings are sparingly written. Yet, it is not just the ending we need to appreciate; sometimes we need to take time out to cheer for the great story itself.

Cheers go to BLAME for his winning performance which may elevate him to the championship podium. Cheers go to ZENYATTA for her extraordinary career filled with so many indelible memories. Cheers, too, for one of the great races in Breeders' Cup history.

I was lucky to be there, reporting this for you.

There's more great horse racing action this weekend at Hollywood Park, and other tracks across the country.

Get all your online horse racing odds at [url="www-ixgames

Definitely a exciting race, a horse with serious heart

I call it: "The Scandal That Was Obscured By a Scuffle."

I call it that because the saturated media exposure that jockeys Calvin Borel and JJ Castellano received after they tangled briefly in the winner’s circle on the Friday Breeders' Cup card, blew away any chance that there would be an immediate uproar about something else that happened on that Friday night, Nov. 5 Breeders’ Cup racing card.

The failure by Kentucky authorities to scratch Life AT Ten from the Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic (Distaff), Friday night, Nov. 5 would have, should have created an avalanche of bad press for the Breeders’ Cup and everyone connected to the event.

Frankly, there was so much evidence that Life At Ten was not herself, not really capable of competing in the Ladies Classic, that there was no real excuse for her to be allowed to start.

At the heart of this experience, I think Life At Ten’s owner Candy DeBartolo spelled out all the key issues that occurred in a statement she publicly released on Thursday, Nov. 10.

Keep in mind that several millions of dollars in wagers went down the tubes because Life At Ten was left in the race despite not feeling any pain.

Keep in mind also that jockey John Velazquez acted in the best interest of the horse and the other jockeys in the race when he didn’t push Life At Ten into any kind of serious stride.

Fact is, Life At Ten broke from the starting gate in the usual manner, but showed no spark at all and Velazquez then galloped at a very slow pace every step of the way, many lengths behind the field.

"She didn’t feel right to me from the moment she left the paddock, all the way to the starting gate," Velazquez stated and added that the filly "never got any better."

Said Mrs. DeBartolo: "Life At Ten — without equivocation — should have been scratched from the race."

Citing comments made by Kentucky chief steward John Veitch that the horse did not display any obvious signs of lameness prior to the race, DeBartolo's statement specifically accused Veitch of being "in total denial" and “attempting to justify the stewards’ failure to adjudicate the case properly."

While such accusations are not in keeping with Veitch's reputation for fairness as a steward and before that as a Hall of Fame trainer for Calumet Farm, his defense of his fellow stewards' actions flies in the face of the facts pointed out in DeBartolo's statement:

"Specifically, Veitch erroneously maintained that 'neither the filly's trainer, (Todd Pletcher), nor her jockey (John Velazquez), actually informed the attending state veterinarians and starting officials that Life At Ten was in distress."

Fact is, Velazquez and Pletcher both told television commentators that Life At Ten was not warming up well during the post parade.

Of greater importance, Velazquez reportedly asked the attending vet at the starting gate to look at the horse.

While nothing was found that made them take any further action, the horse never felt comfortable to Velazquez, there were many seasoned observers who thought she should be scratched. One of them was Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Baiely, who was doing commentary for ESPN.

Bailey flat out said on the air that the horse should be scratched.

During a review of the incident conducted by the Chruchill stewards and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC), Pletcher reportedly said that Life At Ten "spiked a fever the day after the race and had an extremely high white blood-cell count," an indication of infection. The DeBartolo statement also cited the Saturday fever and high white blood cell count as the principle net cause for Life At Ten's sluggish performance. She specifically maintained that the stewards and the track vets were not paying attention.

DeBatrolo had other things on her mind when she issued her public statement, but a vet scratch from the Ladies Classic would have rebated the $60,000 in Breeders' Cup entry fees.

At the bottom line however, the group of people who were left out of the discussion before or since — are the usual suspects: The bettors.

It is a simple fact that many thousands of people who wagered on Life At Ten did not get a fraction of their money’s worth.

Frankly, no matter what happens in the KHRC investigation, not a dime will be returned to the people who were cheated by the events.

And that is reason enough to call all this a scandal.

Unlike every other sport, horse racing has no down time.

Consider: After the World Series of Baseball, we don’t see Major League teams in action until the following spring. When the Super Bowl is played out in early February, we kiss that sport goodbye for seven months. The same is true for the winter sports — pro basketball and hockey — which operate from early fall to early summer. Even professional golf and tennis have a few months in which they do not offer a major championship while regrouping for the next year.

Fact is, every major sport in North America has a set season that people can tell time by; every major sport except horse racing.

The Triple Crown of Horse Racing season may only be on center stage during five weeks in the spring and the Breeders’ Cup may only be a two day affair in the fall, but racing also has significant race meets at Saratoga and Del Mar during the summer, a ‘championship meet’ at Belmont Park in the fall, and Hollywood Park runs straight on through late December when Santa Anita begins its high profile winter meet.

Likewise, Calder Park in South Florida will continue unabated until Gulfstream Park opens in early January while the Fair Grounds in New Orleans restarts the Louisiana racing season on Thanksgiving weekend after a brief period of low profile action elsewhere in the state.

Kentucky? We have year-round racing as it rotates through a continuous 12 month cycle at Turfway Park, Keeneland, Churchill Downs, Ellis Park and back to Turfway, Keeneland, Churchill and Turfway again. Except for a few states — such as Minnesota and Illinois — which endure extremely harsh winters, racing rarely takes an extended vacation in America.

Frankly, I am not sure we would not be better served by shorter race meets and clean, clear breaks in the schedule. But lacking that, trainers adjust by giving their top horses a two three month break sometime during the year and horseplayers pick and choose where and when to keep their attention focused.

I, for one, used to keep at least one eye shut following the post Breeders’ Cup period until the call to the posts could be heard at Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park just as we turned into a brand new year. That is not possible anymore.

Like it or not, there is too much going on — too many good races being run in November — to head to a beach or rediscover family and friends, or take a break from the Racing Form and even, dare I say it, read a good book.

Consider: Today at Delta Downs, a lil ’ole track in Louisiana, we will see the $1 Million Delta Jackpot, a race for 2-year-olds that will have implications for the 2011 Kentucky Derby.

Because starting berths for the Derby are awarded to horses with the most Graded stakes earnings, the winner of the Grade-3 Jackpot will not have to win another dime to be assured of a starting spot at Churchill Downs next May.

Consider also that the news cycle in this sport always continues without break after the Breeders’ Cup, as illustrated by just the following few items that are the stories of the day.

Preakness-Haskell Stakes winner LOOKIN AT LUCKY, a Champion at 2 in 2009 and the probable 3-year-old Champion in 2010, has been sold for many millions of dollars to the Irish owned Coolmore Stables and will stand in stud service at Coolmore’s farm in Lexington, Kentucky.

The great mare ZENYATTA will make a special farewell, non racing appearance at Hollywood Park on Dec. 5, a day that may seem to be a video replay of a similar ceremony held last year. If you recall, Zenyatta ostensibly was retired last fall only to be sent out for another campaign that led to more wins and a memorable near-miss to BLAME in the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs on Nov. 6.

JAYCITO, winner of the Norfolk Stakes at Hollywood Park in October, has moved from Mike Mitchell’s barn to Bob Baffert's, whose Hall of Fame resume includes nine wins in Triple Crown races — three in the Kentucky Derby, five in the Preakness Stakes and a lone Belmont Stakes victory with POINT GIVEN, the 2001 Horse of the Year.

Not only will the Fair Grounds open later this week, but Hollywood Park will also have its annual Turf Festival, a traditional set of stakes races for the Thanksgiving weekend that ranks among the most entertaining and most playable during the entire, never ending southern California racing season.

Here is the Turf Festival schedule. All but the sprint stakes on Thanksgiving Day will be run on the turf.

Thursday, November 25, Thanksgiving Day:
$100,000 Vernon O. Underwood Stakes, a Grade-3 for 3-year-olds at 6 furlongs.

Friday, November 26:
The $250,000 Matriarch, a Grade-1 for fillies & mares at one mile.

Saturday, November 27:
$100,000 Generous Stakes, a Grade-3 for 2-year-olds at one mile.
$250,000 Citation Handicap, a Grade-2 for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/16 miles.

Sunday, November 28:
$100,000 Miesque Stakes, a Grade-3 for 2-year-old fillies at one mile.
$250,000 Hollywood Derby, a Grade-1 for 3-year-olds at 1-1/4 miles.

Get the picture? Obviously, a 'Horseplayer's Holiday' after the Breeders’ Cup is not time off; it is a series of great races to play at one of America's best racetracks.

Bodog Racebook's got all your online horse racing odds.

It is only a matter of time until slot machines are in operation at Ohio racetracks. State officials are virtually desperate to find new revenue to balance the budget, after all. Estimates are that racetrack slots could bring in about $450 million a year.

Still, Governor-elect John Kasich is correct in his refusal to simply inherit a slots plan from outgoing Gov. Ted Strickland. A plan that protects all involved - including the state, communities around slots centers and Ohioans who may be victimized by gambling - needs to be put in place.

Legalized gambling is on the threshold of a boom in Ohio. Voters authorized four full-scale casinos in Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo and Cincinnati. The state Lottery Commission proposes slots at racetracks, but that plan is being challenged in court.

Not long after winning the Nov. 2 election, Kasich made it clear he wanted to take a closer look at plans to expand legalized gambling in Ohio. That prompted the Lottery Commission to put plans for racetrack slots on hold, until more is known about how Kasich wants to proceed.

Again, we doubt seriously that any expansion of legalized gambling in the state will be canceled. As his spokesman, Rob Nichols, made clear to a reporter, Kasich "thinks gambling comes with costs to society that must be addressed and minimized, but the revenue can be valuable."

Kasich should not give the green light to racetrack slots until he is satisfied his concerns have been satisfied. Rest assured, it will not take long once he reaches that determination for the gambling industry to be up and running at the tracks.

While many horseplayers are eating turkey, watching football games and hanging out with family, just as many will be playing the ponies on one of the most action packed weekends of high class stakes racing on the American racing calendar.

Consider the six Turf Festival Stakes races at Hollywood Park this weekend (cited in Monday’s Bodog Beat post) that are worth more than $1 million. Among them are the Grade 1 Matriarch on Friday and the Hollywood Derby on Sunday, both of which will include competitive fields and intriguing foreign based contenders.

Consider also, Aqueduct’s schedule of seven Graded stakes Thursday through Sunday, starting with The Fall Highweight Handicap on Thursday and concluding with a stakes rich Saturday card of five Graded events.

The Fall Highweight is an unusual race in which horses are assigned higher weights than normal. For many years, it was one of my favorite races in America. Fact is, it was one of the most important sprint stakes in the country before the Breeders’ Cup came into existence and before the NYRA downgraded emphasis on the race.

Too bad, I think, because the Fall Highweight was designed specifically to test quality sprinters for all they can be tested: Speed and weight carrying ability.

The top weights in this year’s race are WALL STREET WONDER, GO GO SHOOT, and ENDLESS CIRCLE, all modestly accomplished sprinters who have been assigned 129 pounds apiece compared to the 140 the great filly TA WEE carried to win this race for the second time in 1970.

Consider Churchill Downs excellent weekend grouping of stakes that revolve around Friday’s $500,000 $500,000 Clark Handicap, a G-1 race that launched BLAME to stardom last year and will include his talented 3-year-old stable mate APART against a hard knocking field of older horses this year. In addition to the Clark, Churchill will offers trio of G-2 stakes at $150,000 each, the Falls City Handicap for fillies and mares, plus two at 1-1/16 miles for promising 2-year-olds — the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes and the Golden Rod.

In addition to Apart in the Clark, the field includes the awkwardly named male horse, DUBIOUS MISS, multiple Churchill winner, SUCCESSFUL DAN; the veteran BRASS HAT; consistent REDDING COLLIERY; plus WIN WILLY, REGAL RANSOM DEMARCATION and DUKE OF MISCHIEF and another stakes winning 3-year-old STATELY VICTOR,

Back in New York, the most important race of the weekend is the $500,000 Cigar Mile and the horse to beat is the veteran BRIBON who has won Graded stakes in each of the past three years including the 2009 Met Mile at Belmont Park.

Bribon, in fact, will be making his third try in the Cigar Mile after finishing third in 2008 and second to Kodiak Kowboy last year. But victory will not come easy as the field includes several who made good bids in various Breeders’ Cup races earlier this month. Specifically, the Arabian based Godolphin stable has two in the race — GIROLAMO and VINEYARD HAVEN. Meanwhile front running HAYNESFIELD and the stretch running MUSKET MAN are also coming back from Breeders' Cup races, along with FRIEND OR FOE, HALF METAL JACKET and SOARING EMPIRE to complete an excellent cast.

The other Graded races on the Aqueduct schedule include the Gr-2, $100,000 Top Flight for fillies and mares at one mile on Friday in which SARAH LOUISE will be attempting to repeat her victory from 2009.

Then on Saturday, accompanying the Cigar Mile, players looking to spot future stars will get their chance in the $200,000 Remsen and $200,00 Demoiselle, both G-2 races at nine furlongs. While the fields for these two stakes were not known at press time, the Remsen and Demoiselle are the first American stakes races for 2-year-olds on dirt at nine furlongs. Historically, that fact alone has helped both races become excellent starting points for promising Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks prospects.

Get all your online horse racing odds at Bodog Racebook.

As the great racemare ZENYATTA holds court at Hollywood Park for the last time on Sunday, Dec. 5 to say farewell in her own way, there is increasing momentum to see her voted 2010 Horse of the Year.

This despite the fact that BLAME probably won the right to be voted that honor over ZENYATTA when he held off her determined late rally in the electrifying Breeders' Cup Classic, last month.

Consider the following key points offered by many who feel she deserves to get the votes of the media, the Racing Officials and Daily Racing Form correspondents who participate in the annual Horse of the Year balloting.

* Zenyatta only lost the Breeders' Cup Classic by a diminishing head on Blame's home track after she was left far behind the field through the first 1/4 mile.

Once she got rolling on the final turn she had to alter course slightly to get into her best gear, which prompts many to conclude that Zenyatta was the best horse that day. (I certainly would bet on her in a rematch, same distance, even the same track!)

* Given that Blame also lost a race this year, Zenyatta probably deserves extra points for being the “biggest story of the year.”

Shouldn’t that count for something?

* Isn't there more dimension to the Horse of the Year Award than a narrow winning result? Haven't other horses, including Cigar and Curlin been voted Horse of the Year after losing the Breeders' Cup Classic?

While, those arguments do carry weight, I would, as stated, vote for Blame. Yet, upon considerable reflection, I think this is a perfect time to open the Horse of the Year voting to horseplayers.

Realistically, most would probably be voting for Zenyatta as much or more for her career than her 2010 season, as good as it was.

But some registered Eclipse Award voters remain convinced that the Eclipse Committee blew it last year when they could not sanction a move to create a tie for the 2009 Horse of the Year, to honor both RACHEL ALEXANDRA and ZENYATTA.

My own sentiment was split in 2009. On one hand, I agreed with RACHEL ALEXANDRA'S supporters that she had a bona fide Horse of the Year campaign. But, on an equal plane, I believed that ZENYATTA was the best horse I saw in action. Her extraordinary Breeders' Cup Classic victory ranked close to an equalizing credential.

Last year, I realized that something was missing in the controversy; something, I had recognized a few times over the years, in different forums. It is something I believe worth doing every year until the Eclipse Award Committee realizes the need to open the vote to the race-going public.

What would be the harm of creating an online ballot at the NTRA website for racing fans that would count for a reasonable slice (10 percent?) of the overall vote😟

Forget the harm, the gain would be enormous for a sport that says every five minutes how much it needs positive stories, positive PR.

Last year, my Horse of the Year vote was cast by the combined vote of a large volume of readers who passionately expressed their differing opinions. The final tally went to Zenyatta by a two vote margin. Moreover, many of their well reasoned comments were worth repeating in a subsequent column.

Who is your pick for Horse of the Year? Send me your vote!

This year, I will tally all votes received from readers of my columns here at beat-bodoglife-com and other forums where I write columns.

All votes should be sent to me via E-mail by opening day of Santa Anita, Dec. 26, 2010: [email]Steve@GradeOneRacing-com[/email] .

Please include your full name and your reason(s).

In January, I will post the tally and include the best reasons right here on the Bodog Beat blog.

While I would welcome some move by the Eclipse Award Committee to create a new Award—perhaps called the ‘Career Achievement Award’, I can at least affirm my strong belief that the fans of this game deserve their say in the Horse of the Year process.

Please note: the person who provides the best reasons along with their vote will get a free seasonal subscription to my website GradeOneRacing-com packed with useful handicapping information you can use with your plays in Bodog's Racebook.

Should you already have a subscription, you will get a free $100 bet on the horse of your choice in the Bodog racebook for the 2011 Kentucky Derby, courtesy of GradeOneRacing-com

In the meantime, let’s give the great Zenyatta her due at Hollywood on Sunday and at Keeneland where she also will be paraded on Monday before she formally is retired to the broodmare ranks at Lane’s End Farm, in the heart of the bluegrass country.

Zenyatta simply was the best older race mare I have ever seen.

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ZENYATTA had her farewell party at the Hollywood Park on Sunday, as more than 11,000 fans at the track sounded more like 30,000 as they strained to let the great 6-year-old race mare know how much they appreciated her career, her fanciful antics in the post parade and her amazing ability to interact with her fans.

The beautifully proportioned, exceedingly athletic daughter of Street Cry, who finished her racing career with 19 wins and one very close second in her 20 lifetime starts, was on the track for more than 20 minutes as she paraded in front of the grandstand and the clubhouse area accompanied by jockey Mike Smith and groom Carmen Zmona.

Then, dozens of photographers crowded the Hollywood Park winner’s circle to take hundreds of pictures along with eager fans who rushed to the rails to get their personal mementos.

Zenyatta may have been defeated — narrowly — by BLAME in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs on Nov. 6, but she leaves active racing with more people appreciating her greatness and still more who will be looking to see what kind of horses she foals when bred at Lane’s End Farm in Lexington, Kentucky.

That’s where Zenyatta will take up residence for the next phase of her career while her connections and fans wait out the vote for 2010 Horse of the Year.

As stated in my blog on Saturday, Zenyatta and Blame are in a political competition for Horse of the Year votes and I can only encourage readers of this blog to send their personal choices along with their reasons to me at [email]Steve@GradeOneRacing-com[/email]. It has always bothered me that racing fans have no place in the Horse of the Year process and all I’m trying to do is give fans the right to control at least one vote — mine — in the annual poll for racing’s highest honor.

On the same Sunday Hollywood Park card, the improving 3- year- old filly WASHINGTON BRIDGE won the $150,000 Bayakoa Handicap, while Zenyatta’s stablemate ZARDANA, finished third in that race behind SISTER DAWN.

Zardana had won this race last year, but this time, she was unable to get untracked until too late after being caught in a traffic pocket through much of the homestretch. Also, about an hour before Zenyatta took her last tour of the Hollywood Park racetrack, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert won his 2,000 career victory with the promising 2-year-old FREE POURIN while another Baffert trainee TOKUBETSU, finished second.

According to stats supplied by Hollywood Park, Baffert, 57, has started 9,354 horses in a 22- year Thoroughbred training career. Baffert ranks sixth among trainers with stable earnings of $155,109,369 through Saturday, Dec. 4. He’s won nine Triple Crown races, seven Breeders’ Cup events and has 29 victories worth $1 million or more. He’s also been one of the very best horsemen in American Thoroughbred racing since he first showed up from the Quarterhorse world in 1998. Congratulations to both Baffert and Zenyatta for different, but outstanding career accomplishments.

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Movie trivia: What do Seabiscuit, Secretariat and Bob Dylan have in common? Answer at end of column.

The two horse racing movies were filmed at plush, verdant farms and vibrant, exciting tracks, evoking nostalgia for when horses and jockeys were among our most popular athletes. But for all we learned about the business of running a stable and the handicapping of horses, there was almost no mention of the fact that people bet on races. If there was one scene of a patron at a window, I don’t remember it.

Yet it’s betting that keeps the sport afloat, and as Americans have found easier, quicker ways to lose their money, thoroughbred and harness racing have declined. One way to keep the industry going is to allow tracks to offer their customers an easier way to lose money right on the premises, with mini-casinos. Vernon Downs does this: Horses and fans alike are subsidized during the season by the gamblers using the video slot machines next door all year long. The track announces an attendance each night, which is specious because there are no turnstiles and people go back and forth.

Tracks also get money from Off-Track Betting, though there is a question whether the revenue makes up for the loss of patrons who no longer have to show up in person. Whatever the answer, you’d think an OTB parlor would be a can’t-miss moneymaker. Just rent a storefront, maybe tie in with a restaurant and bar, put in chairs and TV monitors and watch people flock in with their money.

But, no! The bankrupt New York City OTB voted Wednesday to close down and lay off its remaining 800 employees. The move was postponed until the State Senate comes back into session Tuesday to discuss a rescue-and-reorganization plan already approved by the Assembly.

While I hate to see anyone out of work, I have to wonder if, of all the businesses in the state, OTB is the one to bail out. Gambling always seems to go with corruption and mismanagement, with only the bookies running efficient operations — until they get caught. The New York Racing Association is a disgrace. The OTB that serves our area, Capital District OTB, saw its founder and president, David Etkin of Schenectady, sentenced to two years in jail in 2000 for misusing public funds and attempted bribery. (I have a soft spot for Mr. Etkin; one of his uses of the public funds was to sponsor a free pro tennis tournament right before the U.S. Open.)

Today Capital District OTB serves 16 counties, and in 2009 delivered $424,376 in revenue to Oneida County. I visited one of the dingy “parlors” last week. About 15 geezers gazed silently at nine flat TV screens, most of which were showing numbers streaming, not horses galloping. At least the patrons were putting out an effort, though I bet if an iconic horse like Zenyatta (or Secretariat or Seabiscuit from years past) showed up in the parking lot under a policeman, they’d have no idea who it was.

Which brings me to the trivia answer. The two horses and Dylan were each played by multiple actors in the movies about their lives. Didja notice?

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DATE | TRACK | HORSE RACE
Dec 11 | Hollywood Park | Hollywood Starlet S.
Dec 18 | Hollywood Park | CashCall Futurity
Dec 26 |Santa Anita | Malibu S.
Jan 1 | Santa Anita | Robert J. Frankel
Jan 8 | Gulfstream | Hal's Hope
Jan 15 | Santa Anita | San Fernando Stakes (G2)
Jan 22 | Santa Anita | Palos Verdes Stakes (G2)

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When I was a kid growing up in the NY area, I was an avid reader of the late, great sports columnist Jimmy Cannon, so once a year around the December date of his death in 1973, I write something that is testament to the inspiration he gave me to do this for a living. I write a column built from Cannon’s favorite intro line: “NOBODY ASKED ME. . . BUT.”

So, here it goes.

Nobody asked me. . . but, I think racetracks that seek slot machines are admitting they can’t make the game go without resorting to other forms of gambling.

I also think the hunger for slots exposes this fact: Racetrack owners and managers have no clue how to promote the greatest gambling game man has ever invented.

For more than 40 years, tracks have buried the notion that there is gambling involved with racing. They seemed embarrassed by that fact, ashamed of it. Why? The answer is simple: Track managers fear having gambling exposed as the primary reason why people follow horse racing, not the pageantry and glory of the sport. Yet, here we are now, where virtually every track under the sun wants hundreds of one-arm-bandits to fuel their purse structure. Nobody asked me, but isn’t this hypocrisy of the highest magnitude?

Nobody asked me. . . but, the last time I looked there were 70,000 fans out to see the Breeders’ Cup; more than 120,000 to see the Kentucky Derby; more than 20,000 per day at Saratoga and Del Mar. And, in different corners of the world—including Japan and Hong Kong—they average huge attendance figures and handles in excess of $100 million per day. Yes, $100 million per day! That hardly speaks to a “dying sport.”

Nobody asked me. . .but, I have a common sense plan to bring fans back to the track where the numbers are sagging. The solution is obvious:

Just cut down the number of racing dates in every jurisdiction and especially eliminate winter racing in cold weather climates such as New York, Kentucky and Illinois. Likewise, we would lose nothing by limiting sweltering summer racing dates in ultra hot and humid climates such as Louisiana, Texas and South Florida.

Even tracks in moderate climates, such as California cannot sustain year ‘round racing five days a week and should chop off two months minimum from the state’s schedule. I would rotate dates between the Northern and Southern Cal tracks, as they did in the `1950’s. This would not only reintroduce the novelty of racing to an oversaturated market, it would help build larger fields and preserve the bankrolls of players who are exhausted and depleted of betting capital by this time of year—every year.

Nobody asked me. . . but, last week’s closing of the New York City Off Track Betting joints (can’t really label those dumps as “Betting Parlors”) is long overdue, due to the poor impressions they regularly make on newcomers and the poor service they have supplied regular players. Moreover, the OTB’s have reneged on paying the NYRA $25 million in 2009 fees for using the racing signals from Aqueduct, Belmont Park and Saratoga. The fact is that the closing of the OTB’s is not a negative at all. It is a golden opportunity to reorganize NY’s OTB’s so they actually work to support the racing industry in NY, not bring it down.

Nobody asked me. . . but, until extremely corrupt politics are taken out of the NY political landscape, there is no way the NY State Legislature will be capable of doing the right thing for racing, much less for the OTB’s.
Nobody asked me. . . but, why are baseball and basketball players paid as if they are winning the lottery every year? And why is it that football players contracts can be voided with minimal compensation if they get injured in a sport in which few escape serious injury?

Nobody asked me. . .but, jockeys are in a worse situation, getting almost nothing when they do not win and having inadequate health insurance to cover crippling injuries.

Nobody asked me. . .but undefeated Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner UNCLE MO and Remsen stakes winner TO HONOR AND SERVE are better at this stage of their careers than any 2-year-old I’ve seen in the past 20 years.

Nobody asked me. . . but , I also think ESKENDEREYA was the year’s best 3-year-old even though he was knocked out of action and sent to stud after winning the Wood Memorial in April. Still, LOOKIN AT LUCKY did enough by winning the Preakness, Haskell and Indiana Derby to earn an Eclipse Award.

Nobody asked me. . .but, betting horses and writing about the game for a living may not be as lucrative or as much fun as pitching for the Yankees, but it beats just about anything else I might have done.

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A package of bills to help revive New Jersey's struggling horse racing industry won final approval from the state Assembly Monday, as did legislation to boost gambling revenues by allowing sports betting at the state's casinos and racetracks.

Passage of the Democratic-driven bills sets the stage for Gov. Christie's proposed overhaul of Atlantic City gambling and horse racing. The Republican governor announced a sweeping plan on July 21 to turn both industries' flagging fortunes around. Last month, Atlantic City's 11 casinos reported a 12.5 percent revenue drop compared with a year ago.

Among the seven bills that sailed through the Assembly was expanding offtrack betting to make the state's four horse tracks more competitive with other states, including Pennsylvania and Delaware, which have added slot-machine gambling.

The new revenue from slots has resulted in higher purses in those states and horse breeders migrating to them, crippling New Jersey's horse racing industry.

"This is a vital step forward for our casino and horse racing industries that are key to the future of New Jersey," said Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D., Gloucester), chair of the Assembly Regulatory Oversight and Gaming Committee and sponsor of several of the bills. "These industries create jobs and economic growth in many ways, and they must remain strong and competitive economic engines.

"These bills help ensure we can accomplish that goal on many fronts."

A similar package passed the New Jersey Senate last month, after three Gaming Summit hearings hosted by Democrats took place statewide to review Christie's recommendations. Three of the seven gambling bills were sent to the Senate.

Winning final legislative approval Monday were four of the bills, which would:

Propose several changes to New Jersey's offtrack wagering statute, most notably allowing entities other than the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority to run the facilities;

Make New Jersey the first state in the country to allow exchange wagering - a form of betting in which two or more people place directly opposing wagers on the outcome of a horse race - for both instate and out-of-state races.

Allow racetrack permit holders to provide for a single pari-mutuel pool for each running or harness horse race. By creating larger pari-mutuel pools, the tracks could handle a wider variety of wagers and reduce the adverse effect of large payouts, according to the bill.

The Assembly approved, 54-17-4, a highly watched proposal to add a constitutional amendment on the November 2011 ballot to allow wagering on sports events at Atlantic City casinos and the state's four current and former racetracks, including the old Garden State Park in Cherry Hill.

Sen. Ray Lesniak (D., Union), sponsor of the Senate version of the sports betting bill, said its passage comes down to "over $1 billion in gross revenues for our casinos, $120 million for our state treasury, and a revival of tourism for Atlantic City and other areas of the state, like Monmouth County, the Meadowlands and the Cherry Hill area."

"It doesn't get any better than that," Lesniak said after the Assembly vote.

Lesniak filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Justice Department in March 2009 to overturn the federal ban on sports betting outside of four states: Nevada, Delaware, Oregon, and Montana. That lawsuit is pending in federal district court and a decision is likely to be rendered sometime in the new year.

While Lesniak said he still must win his lawsuit to overturn the 1992 federal ban, the constitutional amendment would "send a message to the court and Congress that the people of New Jersey want the same right to bet on sports enjoyed by Las Vegas."

As a proposed amendment, the sports betting bill does not need to go to the governor's desk but instead goes before voters.

"With the growth of out-of-state competition, we should try to correct the mistake New Jersey made 17 years ago when it failed to legalize sports gaming," said Assemblyman Ralph Caputo (D., Essex), referring to New Jersey's missing the deadline to grandfather in sports betting within one year of the 1992 federal law's passage. "If we're to remain the East Coast's premier gaming destination, we need to make sure our racetracks and casinos are offering the best attractions, and that means adding sports gaming."

Gaming analyst Dennis M. Farrell Jr., of Wells Fargo Securities L.L.C., said, "If a full range of sports betting options were legalized in New Jersey, Atlantic City would benefit more from higher visitation" because the option is not available in surrounding states.

A vote on a bill to authorize Internet wagering by New Jersey residents on poker and other casino-type games was referred to the Assembly Budget Committee because it contains a tax provision. It goes before the full Assembly on Jan. 6.

Meanwhile, two related Assembly bills, which mirror Christie's proposals, were amended Monday. One would create a state-run casino tourism district in Atlantic City. The second would shift regulatory authority from the New Jersey Casino Control Commission to the state Division of Gaming Enforcement.

The Senate is expected to vote the bills out during its final session on Monday. The Assembly is not likely to return until the first week in January to take them up.

The final weekend at Hollywood Park for 2010 closed with at least one horse assured of a starting slot in the 2011 Kentucky Derby and a few other noteworthy happenings. The fact is, the next big racing news will come from Santa Anita Park, about 25 miles away from Hollywood, on the north east rim of greater Los Angeles.

The big story there of course will be the re-introduction of dirt racing to a track that has suffered through four seasons of failed synthetic surfaces that never lived up to their manufacturers’ hype or the expectations of California racing officials.

Meanwhile, Hollywood, which has a synthetic ‘Cushion Track,’ seemed to play relatively well for most horses, jockeys, horsemen and horseplayers, given that it was primed with added dirt through the past two years to earn the reputation as “the one Southern California track that has played closest to a dirt surface.”

While there may be some lingering debate about that, especially after Hollywood was forced to cancel its final day Sunday after just two races due to rain, the track was the playground for the great ZENYATTA.

Zenyatta may or may not win Horse of the Year votes from the participating writers and racing officials who have the final say, but she is leading by an overwhelming margin in my private poll over BLAME, who defeated Zenyatta narrowly in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs, Nov. 6.

My poll is being conducted to determine exactly for whom I will cast my Horse of the Year vote. I simply believe the race going public deserves a voice in the process. (Please see my Bodog Beat Blog of Dec. 4 for more details.)

Zenyatta had her farewell prance and dance when she was saluted by the Hollywood crowd on Dec. 5. She now is resting comfortably in a stall at Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, Kentucky, where word is she may be first bred to A.P. Indy.

While my website’s resident pedigree expert Lauren Stich would prefer to see Zenyatta bred to a horse with more natural speed, A.P. Indy certainly is a royally bred, high profile sire for her owners to consider. But back to the last Grade-1 race of the year, run on Saturday at HollyPark.

First of all COMMA TO THE TOP may have made long work of getting out on the track after throwing a shoe and delaying the official start of the $750,00 Cash Call Futurity more than 30 minutes, but he made short work of his nine opponents in that 1-1/16 mile contest.

Breaking from the extreme outside post as the 5-2 betting favorite, Comma to the Top engaged HIGH LEVEL JEFF through the first half mile before taking over on the far turn under Corey Nakatani. The eventual winner took a commanding lead in mid stretch and scored by 1-3/4 lengths over J P’S GUSTO, the only G-1 stakes winner in the field. This was in fact Comma at the Top’s fifth straight victory after having lost his first five starts for trainer Peter Miller.

CLUBHOUSE RIDE and GOURMET DINNER, who had performed well in the $1 million Delta Jackpot last month, finished third and fourth without making a serious bid. Given that the final clocking for this race was a moderate 1:44.72, which included a very slow last 1/16 miles in 7.20 seconds. It is highly unlikely that any of these horses will prove to be Kentucky Derby threats. Yet, by virtue of $350,000 earned, Comma at the Top is assured of a starting berth in the 2011 Derby at Churchill Downs, May 7. Good luck to him if he makes it through the round of prep races during the winter and early spring. Good luck and good tidings to everyone who reads these Bodog Beat blogs. See you back here on the night before Christmas. Might have a gift wrapped winner or two for you.

Added Notes: Doug O’Neill, with 16 victories, won his fifth Hollywood fall meet training title. Jockey Joel Rosario, with 47 wins, won his fourth straight Southern Cal meet title, while Rafael Bejarano, finished second with 35.
Corey Nakatani, who rode Comma to the Top to three stakes wins at the meet, finished as top stakes rider with five overall, one more than Rosario and Joe Talamo.

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Opening Day at Santa Anita—a Southern California tradition on the day after Christmas—promises to be one of the most interesting racing days of 2010.

The entry box was filled with good horses for the three stakes on a strong, diverse nine race card (that will begin at 12 Noon, PST). Moreover, there is nationwide interest in how the new dirt racing surface will perform.

The $250,000 Malibu, a G-1, stakes for 3-year-olds at 7 furlongs is the headline event and there are two horses who can trace their strongest credentials from having finished second to LOOKIN AT LUCKY in separate stakes earlier this year. If you have been following racing in 2010, then you know that ‘Lucky’, now retired, probably will win a 2010 Eclipse Award as America’s top 3-year-old.

Lookin At Lucky was also the 2009 Juvenile champion and had an adventurous 2010 season, winning the Rebel Stakes in March, the Preakness in May, the Haskell in July and the Indiana Derby in October. He also finished third in the Santa Anita Derby and sixth in the Kentucky Derby after enduring a pair of wild and woolly trips.

Two of the probable favorites in the Malibu Stakes and many others on the Sunday SA card, can trace their best racing credentials to having competed against ‘Lucky’.

NOBLE’S PROMISE was a close second to Lucky in the Rebel stakes at Oaklawn, while THESKYHASNOLIMIT finished second to Lucky in the Indiana Derby at Hoosier Park. Of some relevance, both the Rebel and Indiana Derby were contested on dirt tracks just as the Malibu will be. Among other high-class horses entered in the Malibu are TWIRLING CANDY and ALCINDOR.

The lightly-raced Alcindor is undefeated in two starts and will be tested for class in the Malibu. His Hall of Fame trainer, Bob Baffert, has high hopes that Alcindor will serve as a suitable replacement for Lookin At Lucky in 2011.

Twirling Candy also could be a key factor in the Malibu and in the series of stakes for 4-year-olds that lead to the Strub Stakes in February and the Santa Anita Handicap for older horses in March. While Twirling Candy disappointed as the 7-5 favorite in the Goodwood stakes during the Oak Tree meet, this horse did flash considerable promise during the summer. Yet, he was a controversial winner of the Del Mar Derby in early September after causing serious interference on the backstretch. The decision to leave his number up was one of the worst stewards’ decisions of the year.

In another stakes on Sunday, Twirling Candy’s stablemate—the ultra fast SIDNEY’S CANDY, who defeated LOOKIN AT LUCKY in the Santa Anita Derby in April—comes back from his failed pacesetting effort in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile to be the likely betting favorite in the $150,000 Sir Beaufort Stakes, a G-3 stakes for 3-year-olds at one mile on the SA turf course. In his only other race on grass, Sidney’s Candy was a revelation, winning the La Jolla stakes at Del Mar wire to wire in course record time.

The third stakes on the opening day card—the $250,000 La Brea stakes, a G-1 event for 3-year-old fillies at 7 furlongs, G-1 winner CHAMPAGNE D’ORO ships in from the east to meet Hollywood Oaks winner SWITCH, who gave the great ZENYATTA a big scare in the Lady’s Secret stakes at Oak Tree in October. In her most recent start, Switch rallied well for second to DUBAI MAJESTY in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint last month at Churchill Downs. Both of these fine fillies have proven their ability to handle a dirt track. MALIBU PEAR and ALWAYS A PRINCESS are two more classy fillies in this race.

Always a Princess won the G-2 Indiana Oaks at Hoosier, while Malibu Pear has won both her career starts including an ultra impressive score over allowance rivals at one mile on the turf at Del Mar.

All that class on display at Santa Anita on Sunday should help all of us evaluate the way the new dirt surface performs. At the same time, the horse I like the most to win a race on the dirt track is ARRESTING OFFICER, #9 in the fifth race.

Arresting Officer, graduated smoothly in her debut at Oak Tree on Oct. 30 and subsequently has worked strongly for this move into allowance company for trainer Mike Mitchell.

Not only is this daughter of Officer bred to handle dirt, but she drew a favorable outside post in this 7 furlong race and will be ridden by aggressive Joe Talamo who should improve all his recent stats on a racing surface that probably will be very kind to speed types and horses capable of assuming a safe, outside stalking position.

MERRY CHRISTMAS.

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The opening two days of Santa Anita racing can be summarized in two words.

Lightning Fast.

Frankly, there may never have been a faster racing surface anywhere in America at any time in the past 50 years than we saw in play on Santa Anita’s first day of the new meeting, a day in which the newly minted dirt racing surface improbably broke two track records:

*Six furlongs in 1:06.98, amazingly set by THE FACTOR, a 2-year- old first time starter in a maiden race!

*Seven furlongs in 1:19.70 which wiped the 30-year-old track record of 1:20 flat by the great SPECTACULAR BID!

Although, TWIRLING CANDY had previously established himself as a good 3-year-old who just might be capable of winning at the highest levels, let there be no mistake: Twirling Candy is nowhere near as fast as Spectacular Bid and this record was set with a big boost from an extremely fast racing surface.

Winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness as a 3-year-old in 1979 and the undefeated '1980 Horse of the Year' as a 4-year- old, Spectacular Bid simply was one of the top half dozen American horses of the post World War II era. He could sprint or route at the pleasure of his Hall of Fame trainer Buddy Delp.

The late great Hall of fame jockey Bill Shoemaker, who rode many champions including FOREGO, JOHN HENRY and DAMASCUS to name just a few, convincingly labeled ‘The Bid’ as the best horse he ever rode.

As for the 2-year-old who broke the six furlong mark of 1:07.20 set Dec. 30, 1989 by stakes filly SUNNY BLOSSOM, no one can say for sure if this son of War Front will become one of trainer Bob Baffert’s best 3-year-olds in 2011. But, the raw clocking for this popular distance was among the top 10 fastest ever registered by any horse of any age at any track in America. This by a 2-year-old first time starter!

More than 33,000 fans came out to Santa Anita to see the Southern California track’s opening day on the day after Christmas. The card was loaded with good races and good horses, but the best fact of the day was that no horse went lame for having to negotiate a surface packed down to resemble Ventura Highway. Admittedly, some of the track maintenance was merely done to protect the new surface from the affects of recent rains.

On the second racing card on Monday, clockings were still fast, but slightly slower than they had been on opening day. We also saw the continued accent towards early speed in all but one of the dirt races and clockings that were at least two seconds faster than the norm at the recently concluded meetings at Hollywood Park.

Santa Anita track officials may have done a great job getting this new dirt surface ready for actual competition. Certainly, they can point to the lack of injuries during the first two days as a positive, but if the first two days are any indication, they will not have an easy job bringing this surface back to earth.

Added Notes: In addition to Twirling Candy’s nose victory over SMILING TIGER in the Malibu; SWITCH convincingly won the 7 furlong La Brea stakes while the most liked horse on the card, ARRESTING OFFICER, was narrowly beaten by THIRTYFIRSTSTREET after the former ran a superior race four wide and repelling multiple speed bids. Thirtyfirststreet benefitted from the intense speed duel and did launch her winning rally along the inside rail, which also was a good place to be on Sunday.

In Monday’s $150,000 San Gabriel Stakes at 1-1/8 miles on the turf, underrated JERANIMO rallied from fifth to win over PROUDINSKY, with 7-10 betting favorite THE USUAL Q T, checking in a harmless third. The 1:47 flat clocking on the grass was fast in its own right. Racing resumes at Santa Anita on Wednesday.

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Churchill Downs may be one of the most storied racetracks in the US, but that does not mean the facility is a cash cow. Like many other tracks in the country, the economy has hurt business, and Kentucky tracks were seeking some relief from lawmakers.

That relief, in the form of slot gambling, will not come in the upcoming session, according to House Speaker Greg Stumbo. The numbers in the House have not changed much after the mid-term elections, and that means any gambling debate would likely turn out much like the past few lawmakers in the state have had.

Legislators have been discussing the possibility of giving tracks the right to operate video lottery terminals. Each time it has come up for a vote, however, the idea has been rejected. Stumbo believes that until the majority changes, or until the numbers swing more in favor of gambling proponent lawmakers, the chances of expansion are slim.

In other states, tracks have been saved by expanded gambling. Pari-mutuels in Florida have been able to survive thanks to the concession of poker rooms and slot machines. In the Sunshine State, the tax rate was just lowered on the pari-mutuel casino gambling when the state reached a compact agreement with the Seminole Indians.

Lawmakers looking to increase tax revenue for the state budget will now have to look elsewhere to try and fill the budget gaps. Senate Republicans have already unveiled a detailed agenda for the new session that starts after the new year. Gambling is not a part of that agenda, and if the House does not push the issue, it would likely be dead until at least the later part of 2011.

No major elections will take place again until 2012, at which time the gambling issue could be key for lawmakers looking to steal seats from incumbents. In many states, the gambling expansion issue has been the difference between winning and losing elections in the past four years.

Anti-gambling groups are planning to appeal Wednesday’s ruling in Franklin Circuit Court upholding the legality of Instant Racing at Kentucky horse tracks. The groups say the practice of wagering on races that have already been run is similar to playing slot machines.

Thoroughbred Times news editor Ed DeRosa says Instant Racing is not the same as slot machine gambling, but it is similar. The results are not completely random, but there’s not enough information available for experienced handicappers to use traditional horse race wagering strategies.

Despite those differences, DeRosa says if Instant Racing passes final legal muster, slot machines will likely be next.

“I can’t speak for the tracks, they haven’t said this, but my personal feeling is that this is the gateway drug. That they’re hoping legislators and constituents in Kentucky see that expanding gaming can work at race tracks.”

DeRosa says tracks that benefit from Instant Racing will likely use their success to lobby for slot machines and other casino-style gambling to be legalized in Kentucky

“They’d be able to say, ‘Well, look, we’re contributing x percent more to the state than we did. Look at what more we could contribute with actual casino-style slot machines,’” he says.

DeRosa says tracks will likely wait until the case is settled before investing in Instant Racing technology. Churchill Downs may wait even longer, he says, due to its success with traditional racing and its proximity to casinos in Indiana.