EquiSpace

Derby 139: Post Parade

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner - EquiSpace) — Sat, 11 May 2013 16:52:00 +0000

It's been a week since Derby Day and I'm just getting around to posting some Derby pictures from my spot in the winner's circle. With all the hullabaloo about where the media was going to watch the race, my spot on the rail was as good as anywhere else. I was able to see all of the horses parade by (see below) after coming out from the paddock and it was a great spot to be in to see Orb make his move and fly by us.

My post-Derby pre-Preakness thoughts are up at the Sports, Ink blog and am gearing up to head to Baltimore next weekend for a fun weekend in racing. My favorite race day of the year, believe it or not, is Black-Eyed Susan Day at Pimlico. Hanging out at the sixteenth (or is it the eighth?) pole and having a cigar and a cocktail or two while enjoying top flight racing -- can't beat it, and am really looking forward to it.

So here are some pictures from the rail during the post parade of all 19 horses and some post-race photos after the big win.

The Post Parade

Oxbow-Gary Stevens

Revolutionary-Calvin Borel

Golden Soul - Robbie Albarado

Normandy Invasion - Javier Castellano

Mylute - Rosie Napravnik

Giant Finish - Jose Espinoza

Goldencents - Kevin Krigger

Overanalyze - Rafael Bejarano

Palace Malice - Mike Smith
(Even fast in post parade - got past me)

Lines of Battle - Ryan Moore

Itsmyluckyday - Elvis Trujillo

Falling Sky - Luis Saez

Verrazano - Johnny V

Charming Kitten - Edgar Prado

Orb - Joel Rosario

Will Take Charge - Jon Court

Frac Daddy - Victor Lebron

Java's War - Julien Leparoux

Vyjack - Garrett Gomez

Parading towards the starting gate

They're Off - on the big screen

Coming past us the first time

Orbbbbbbbb!!

The Champ

Orb and Joel

Shug meets his champ

Time for a certain photo

Can he win the Preakness?

Cleaned up

Time to head home

That's a wrap from Louisville. Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Derby Doings

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner - EquiSpace) — Sat, 04 May 2013 16:02:00 +0000

The Twin Spires

Happy Derby Day! The picture above is that of the iconic Twin Spires, appropriately dressed in pink for Oaks Day yesterday. The view was from the Finish Line Suites one of the swanky areas of Churchill Downs where I at least found I could grab a 16 oz. frosty glass of Amstel while watching the Grade 2 Alysheba for 5 beans (not bad).

Speaking of that race, Take Charge Indy showed up 364 days too late for me, winning for the first time since last year's Florida Derby. The Oaks was a shocker but a closer look at the PP's shows Princess of Sylmar with some back form and with the amount of speed in the race it wasn't out of the realm of possibility. Here's my Oaks recap on the Sports, Ink blog from yesterday.

It's starting to rain pretty hard at Churchill right now (11:35 a.m.) and the possibility of an off track is looking more and more a reality. I did some wet track analysis for TBN on Thursday, check out some of the analysis here.

I went with Revolutionary in the big race, due to post, Calvin, pedigree and looks since my arrival. Unfortunately his odds will be pretty depressed by post time (already down to 5-1 from the 10-1 morning line). My advance for The Buffalo News can be found here. Orb and Itsmyluckyday are also part of the equation and may toss in Palace Malice (Pletcher/Smith karma pretty high) if we have a wet track.

I'll be live blogging at the TBN Sports, Ink site this afternoon, so be sure to stop by and see what's going on here in Louisville.

Here are a couple photos from Oaks Day.

Johnny V is back! TAP ready to congratulate

A happy Toddster after the La Troienne

The break in the Alysheba

Alysheba winner Take Charge Indy

Mike Smith on Kentucky Oaks winner Princess of Sylmar

Good luck everyone!

Landed in Louisville

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner - EquiSpace) — Thu, 02 May 2013 20:54:00 +0000

DWL, Will Take Charge and Oxbow

I arrived on the Churchill backside this morning after driving through the night from the B-lo to start my assignment for The Buffalo News this weekend. We're going on fumes at the moment after a busy morning and afternoon at the track.

I thought Revolutionary, Verrazano and Black Onyx all looked spectacular on the track this morning. I spent some time at the Baffert barn checking in on Govenor Charlie. Baffert said he is considering the Preakness for him and is also looking forward to Code West's race on Saturday (the 6th), since he declared from the Derby.

To catch you up on some posts over at the Sports, Ink blog at TBN, here are some links from the last few days:

- The post draw on Wednesday.

- My Kentucky Oaks preview this morning.

- A post on wet track considerations should the rain currently forecast at 70 percent hit Louisville on Saturday.

In addition to my print and online duties I participated on a radio interview with The Fan 1270 AM in Buffalo with Rich "The Bull" Gaenzler. This is the new Buffalo sports station that is rivaling WGR 550 for the Buffalo sports scene. It was fun talking Derby with Rich and the segment can be found here (and starts at the 1:25 mark).

Here are a few more pictures from this morning:

Black Onyx

Palace Malice

Overanalyze

Midnight Lucky

Goldencents

Verrazano

Revolutionary

Orb

Good luck with the Oaks tomorrow!

Derby SpaceSheet 6.0

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner - EquiSpace) — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 15:48:00 +0000

It's that time of year, where we unveil the Kentucky Derby spreadsheet that I have been putting together (geek alert) for the past six years tracking key statistics, pedigree and other relevant data pertaining to the probable runners for Derby 139. It will be a document I will be updating through the remainder of the qualifying Derby prep races. I've used it when comparing to the 2013 Kentucky Derby Odds and trying to find that elusive handicapping clue that could lead to the eventual Derby champion. The spreadsheet is also located on the right sidebar labeled "2013 Derby Spreadsheet."

Speaking of prep races, the Wood Memorial and Santa Anita Derby are on tap this weekend and I have a print article in today's TBN previewing both races. Not only is it a big Derby prep weekend, two major Oaks preps will kick off both the Wood and Santa Anita stakes races, the Gazelle at Aqueduct and the Santa Anita Oaks at the Great Race Place.

Taking a shot with my pal GG today at the Rainbow Six with a $72 ticket. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. The carryover is over $1.9 million, and should swell to a fairly sizable pot with the mandatory payout. I missed the memo (email ended up in my spam) from TwinSpires regarding a Players' Pool, so you know they'll have a few healthy tickets chasing the prize. Although putting $100K into it seems a bit much and could result in taking a bath should a chalky sequence result in Hallandale. Not that I wouldn't have contributed if I was more in tune.

Some interesting news this morning regarding a trainer switch by Team Valor to go exclusively with Rick Mettee to train all of its North American-based horses. Mettee was Goldophin's U.S. trainer and assistant to Saeed bin Suroor, and the Dubai royal family. This means trainer Graham Motion is out (except regarding Animal Kingdom who he will continue to train). It appears that Team Valor wanted an exclusive trainer, and Motion didn't want to lose the other business he currently has with other owners.

Barry Irwin stated in the release: "However, due to the unique type of operation we run with partnership-owned horses, we feel at this time it would serve our needs better to have one trainer that was exclusive to our stable. Graham agrees. He has offered to continue to train our horses through the month of April until our new trainer has set up his operation." So, it seems to be a mutual parting of the ways, but it's likely that it ultimately came down to a negotiation between Motion and Team Valor that couldn't reach a number Motion would accept for exclusivity.

Oh yeah, one more thing.....GO CUSE!!!!!

The Animal Conquers the World

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner - EquiSpace) — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 19:15:00 +0000

The Animal

If you've ever seen the SpongeBob movie, you may remember my favorite scene when SpongeBob runs into the evil amoeba Plankton and he blurts out at SpongeBob "I will rule the world" and SpongeBob pauses before replying, "Good luck with that" and keeps on walking. Early this afternoon, Animal Kingdom took some of the world's best to task at Meydan Racecourse in winning the $10 Dubai World Cup. You could say at the moment he rules the racing world. What an awesome next week of racing we have in store around the world. Next week, the Grand National kicks off so be sure to check out the Aintree Grand National betting site to take advantage of wagering on this tremendous racing event that opens on April 4 at Aintree Racecourse in the UK .

Speaking of the UK, the Animal's next stop is scheduled to be Royal Ascot. How cool would it be if he retires with victories at Churchill Downs (Kentucky Derby), Meydan (Dubai World Cup) and finishes it off in a big turf race at Ascot. I wonder if any horse has ever won at all three tracks? As reported in December, a majority share of his breeding rights were acquired by John Messara's Australia-based Arrowfield Stud.

What a terrific training job by Graham Motion who had the faith to stay with rider Joel Rosario after a controversial ride in the Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap last month and to have him fit and ready to roll after the long trek to Dubai. I was feeling pretty good for him as he sat off the pace and then made his move just as they rounded the final turn. He looked super impressive and adds a win on the Tapeta to wins on the Polytrack (Turfway), dirt (Churchill) and turf (Gulfstream). Too bad we won't see him again in the States.

The rest of the day wasn't so great for the other American horses, as many just didn't fire. It's the second straight disappointment in the DWC for Royal Delta, who I'm sure we haven't heard the last of.

This afternoon the racing continues to get better with great cards at the Fair Grounds and Gulfstream Park highlighted by the Louisiana Derby and Florida Derby, respectively. NBC Sports Network (6 p.m. EDT) will telecast both races and will continue to cover the key prep races for the next three weeks. My TBN article in this morning's paper on the two American races.

You couldn't ask for a better day of racing.

Code West, Young Man

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner - EquiSpace) — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 21:35:00 +0000

It's not quite April Fool's Day, but I think I found my Derby horse.

Code West, a Lemon Drop Kid colt out of a Saint Ballado mare could be my guy. My apologies to the connections. I'm not a huge Baffert fan, all right so I'm not a fan at all, but this horse looks like he has the goods. I'm hoping his 2013 Kentucky Derby Odds will stay north of double digits, but a big performance this weekend in the Louisiana Derby could end that for good.

So what do I like about him? I think the more he stretches out the better he will get. His sire, Lemon Drop Kid won the Belmont in 1999, foiling Charismatic's Triple Crown chances, so we know he can go long. His dam's sire, Saint Ballado sired 2005 Horse of the Year Saint Liam, who won the Breeders' Cup Classic at Belmont Park that year. The fact that he is trained by Baffert certainly doesn't hurt and I've heard nothing but good things about owners Gary and Mary West in my travels.

He'll have to make some noise this weekend, however, as he currently sits with 20 Kentucky Derby points on the Road to Louisville and will require a top three finish to have a legitimate shot at a Derby gate. Even then, a third place finish and the 20 points might not be enough to qualify him without another race. If that's the case, he'll be my Preakness horse!

Code West

His second place finish in the Risen Star behind long shot Ive Struck a Nerve provided him with his current point total, but he'll face the talented and likely favorite Revolutionary from Team Pletcher; and a few other intriguing entries. Palace Malice, another Pletcher-trainee, who finished a nose behind Code West in the Risen Star, also returns to add to his 10 point total. Two other colts who could be Code West spoilers include Mylute, a Midnight Lute colt who finished less than three lengths behind Code West and Palace Malice in the Risen Star. West Point sends Ground Transport into graded company for the first time. He's a Big Brown colt that has two consecutive wins on the Fair Grounds track.

So, we'll see if I can push through my so-called Derby horse to the next level with a big effort this weekend. The Baffert/Garcia connections are solid and he comes in third off the layoff, always a good angle to use.

Stepping Up the Derby Pressure

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner - EquiSpace) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 03:15:00 +0000

We're through the first leg of the Kentucky Derby Championship Series and the final and the most valuable prep races under the new points system will take place over the next three weeks. The next seven races in the Series will award the top four finishers on a 100-40-20-10 basis. For further information about this year's Derby check out this 2013 Kentucky Derby site for all things Derby.

When Churchill Downs unveiled the new points system it appeared that it had several criteria and goals for the races that would present the top four finishers with qualifying points to the Derby: 1) No races under one mile in distance; 2) No turf races; 3) More emphasis on the major prep races later in the prep season and 4) Larger, competitive fields setting up an "almost playoff-like atmosphere" in leading up to the Derby (my words). Stepping up the game in the final weeks leading up to the First Saturday in May.

Well the first three goals/criteria all made perfect sense to me and the fourth seems to make sense as well. While critics of the system have focused more on the individual races and point assignments as weak spots within the system (the Juvenile, Illinois Derby and Derby Trial come to mind), all in all the system will likely get the best horses in the gate on the First Saturday in May.

So has the system produced larger fields so far? Let's take a look at the First Leg of the Series, the last eight races that produced points of 50-20-10-5 to the top four finishers in comparison to the same races last year, when graded earnings was the benchmark for gaining a Derby gate.

When looking at the First Leg of the Series, consisting of eight races from Feb. 23 through March 24 (Sunland Derby), those races produced 81 starters versus 86 in 2012. The average dipped slightly from 10.75 to 10.125.

The results were not altogether surprising as these races have been long-time preps with valuable graded earnings. What we may see is that the next round of races will produce full fields (already the Louisiana Derby is expecting 14 starters) that will exceed prior year numbers.

While the result in both cases for the winner earning a spot by winning a $1M race or a 100 point race, coming in second and garnering 40 points could get a horse into the Derby, if a horse had scraped some points together during the Prep Season portion of the Series.

What did I think of this weekend's activities?

- Sunland's typical suped-up track produced track records in the Sunland Oaks/Derby for the Baffert/Pegram connection. Not sure the Derby winner was in that race, although the Govenor (Charlie) seems to be a nice horse.

- Midnight Lucky, on the other hand, hardly broke a sweat in romping to victory in the Sunland Oaks, and could be an exciting filly to watch in the Kentucky Oaks.

- The Spiral saw a horse coming out of a Gulfstream turf allowance (Black Onyx) win the race impressively, but not sure he'll be the answer come Derby day. His only win on dirt prior to the Spiral was on a fast off track at Aqueduct. The Rock Hard Ten colt held off second choice Uncaptured to send the Kelly Breen/Joe Bravo combination to Louisville.

- Pletcher could only muster a third with Abraham in New Mexico over the weekend, and his once mighty stable, could struggle to get more than Verrazano into the gate on Derby Day. He'll need second place finishes by Revolutionary(Louisiana Derby), Palace Malice(Louisiana Derby) and Shanghai Bobby(Florida Derby) next weekend to secure another spot behind Verrazano. I'm guessing it may be getting a little warm under the collar at the TAP barn.

- Next weekend's races kick off the racing portion of the television schedule on NBCSN (channel 220 on DirecTV). I checked in on this weekend's inaugural show which included this year's top stories, Rosie Napravnik, Gary Stevens and Pletcher, of course. Not sure why they couldn't have shown the Spiral, which had a nice crowd and had an exciting race. It went off at 5:50pm, delay it 10 minutes show the race and get on with the fluff.

A Dozen Reasons Hope Springs Eternal

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner - EquiSpace) — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 00:25:00 +0000

A Dozen - Buffalo Style

You know what movie scared the crap out of me as a kid? Poltergeist. That was one scary film. In honor of Poltergeist III, this blog is proclaiming "We're Baaaack!" I also wouldn't let my feet dangle in the movie theatre while watching "Jaws" for the first time. Please don't tell anyone -- I was just a 10-year old kid and that shark was huge and nasty. I still abhor scary flicks, but there's always hope. Speaking of hope, today is the first day of Spring and signals the return of the Space blog.

After a minor hiatus [what's four months between friends?] and pondering whether or not to shut it down completely, we decided to post through the Triple Crown and see where the wind takes us. We've been busy with our weekly Friday morning column at The Buffalo News which you can bookmark here and contributing to the Wireplayers.com Derby Dozen panel.

Speaking of the Derby Dozen, the latest Volume was released today and Itsmyluckyday (my top selection) sits atop of the panel's latest edition. When you bet on the Kentucky Derby a quick peak at the latest Dozen is an A-1 source for all things Derby. My final poll last year included Bodemeister in the top spot and I'll Have Another in the second spot so take heed as my fellow pollsters project Derby 139's best. For a listing of all of the panelists' individual selections, please click here.

The latest poll with full-on snark commentary as released this afternoon can be found below:

If you missed my annual "Derby Wings" article, it was in last weekend's Saturday edition, that you can find online here. It's good to be back in the Space Capsule and I'm looking forward to carrying through the Triple Crown season with some of our usual features, including the Derby Spreadsheet, the Degrees of Separation post and of course, the annual Black-Eyed Susan Dey post.

BC Saturday: Fortitude

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner - EquiSpace) — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 19:42:00 +0000

Space Man meets Zenyatta

SOMEWHERE OVER THE MIDWEST - It was a whirlwind trip to beautiful Santa Anita Park and two days of championship racing with big wins by rising racing stars such as Groupie Doll, Shanghai Bobby and Wise Dan, not to mention the big Classic win by Fort Larned.

While the track was speed favoring all weekend (some pundits I was with were calling it a conveyor belt on Saturday evening), I’m in concurrence with PTP’s comments that you just have to adjust your handicapping to the bias of the day. Was it unfair for horses to make their Eclipse statements on such a speed favoring track? Great horses win races no matter the circumstances, trainers who win the big races know how to adjust running styles based on the current track or turf conditions.

One of the downsides of prime time television was the tight time frame between filing deadlines and the end of the race, which was sometime around 8:45 p.m. ET. It was a new experience putting something together in a short time frame. Here’s my post race/Breeders Cup recap for The Buffalo News.

I live blogged the day over at the Sports, Ink blog, which is always fun, and spent the day running back and forth to the paddock. I did get a chance to visit with a number of folks throughout the two days and met some folks who I only knew virtually in the twitterverse/blogosphere. It’s funny when you introduce yourself these days at the track by your twitter handle.

One interesting twist to the weekend, was one of my pals back home in Buffalo gave me $100 to bet over the weekend. The catch was it had to be $2 across the board on the 4 horse in all of the Breeders’ Cup races. The 4 horse had better luck on Friday where he won $69 on $36 worth of bets. Saturday only wins by Shanghai Bobby and Fort Larned returned $49 on $60 of bets. So he came out ahead by $18 on the weekend, not too shabby. Scientific handicapping at it’s best.

I struggled to put three races together in the multi-race wagering, but managed a few good win bets on George Vancouver and Tapizar and the Wise Dan/Animal Kingdom exacta which had a fair return.

My thoughts on the two days of racing…

Most impressive performance – Groupie Doll

Gutsiest performance – Shanghai Bobby

Worst performance – Game on Dude

Most impressive female – Royal Delta

Statement race – Wise Dan

Most famous winner – Jim Rome (Mizdirection)

Best ride – Christophe Lemaire on Flotilla

Best second place finishes – Animal Kingdom, Mucho Macho Man (tie)

Worst second place finishes – Merit Man, Executiveprivilege (tie)

Wildest victory celebration – The Argentineans (hands down) with Calidoscopio

Most surprising win – Hightail

Well, another Breeders’ Cup in the books, time to start looking forward to the Cigar Mile on Thanksgiving weekend. Here is BC Saturday in Pictures….hope you enjoy them.

Santa Anita decked out in purple and gold

Groupie Doll

Shackleford fractious in the paddock
before the Dirt Mile

Tapizar - BC Dirt Mile Champ

Christina Oliveras interviewing
Jim Rome in the paddock

Jungle Racing's Mizdirection - BC Turf Sprint Champ

Rosie Napravnik aboard Shanghai Bobby

Rough day for Bob Baffert

Shanghai Bobby heads to
the winners' circle

Little Mike takes the BC Turf
in a mild upset

Trinninberg - BC Sprint Champ

Trinniberg wins the BC Sprint

Wise Dan

Animal Kingdom

Wise Dan holds off late
charging Animal Kingdom

Wise Dan heads to the Winners' Circle

Tony Bennett

Jerry Bailey

Mark Casse

Fort Larned

Mucho Macho Man

Capacity Crowd at Santa Anita

Around clubhouse turn in the Classic

Stretch duel between Fort Larned and MMM

BC 12 Champ Fort Larned

BC Friday - Big Balloons and One Fine Filly

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner - EquiSpace) — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 06:24:00 +0000

2012 Ladies' Classic Champion
Royal Delta

That's your repeat Ladies' Classic champion, Royal Delta, getting ready to head to the track with Mike Smith aboard. She rocked the race after setting some solid fractions of 22.69. 45.81 and 1:09.80 to bring home Bill Mott's third straight Ladies' Classic and record fifth victory in the race.

My recap of the day's events for The Buffalo News is here. It was a picture-perfect weather day at Santa Anita in which speed was holding on the main track all day long. I moved mostly between my seat past the finish line and the paddock most of the day. I was able to watch the third race won by 7-1 Basmati ($17.80), a Doug O'Neill trainee that lined the ADW account before the day's fleecing occurred.

Two races crushed me pretty much, Executiveprivilege's drift out in the late stretch versus Beholder in the Juvenile Fillies and the upset win of Hightail over Merit Man in the Juvenile Sprint pretty much cooked my plays. In the Wireplayers contest I went 1-3-2 for the six races, hitting the board in all six races. But seconds and thirds don't put money into your bankroll (at least not mine).

One highlight of the day was Bona Venture Stables' Summer of Fun taking third in the Juvenile Turf Sprint, paying a whopping $19.40 for a $2 show bet.

But tomorrow is a different day, you can check the Wireplayers spreadsheet for my top plays, but a couple horses I have a good feel for tomorrow are Jimmy Creed in the Sprint and Dundonnell in the Juvenile Turf. My Classic Advance in The Buffalo News can be found here.

Here are some pictures from BC Friday...

World Famous Clocker's Corner

Just past the top of the stretch - the San Gabriel
Mountains in the background

BC Juvenile Sprint winner Hightail ($32.80)
with Rajiv Maragh up

Argentinean Calidoscopio ($36.40)
upsets the BC Marathon field

Ramon Dominguez and George Weaver
talk strategy before the Juvy Fillies Turf

Donna Barton-Brothers gives the Space Man
a nod in the paddock.

Third Place finisher Summer of Fun ($19.40)
heads to the track

It was a quiet day for the Toddster

Flotilla ($26.40) cruises to a Juvy Fillies Turf victory

Beholder ($9.80) wires 'em in the Juvenile Fillies

Zagora ($20.40) wins impressively in the
Filly & Mare Turf

Steve Asmussen holds court while
TVG's Christina Oliveras looks on

Picture of gold an purple flowers, Questing or
NTRA prez Alex Waldrop?

Questing trainer Kiaran McLaughlin
(Oliveras photo-bombing me again)

Asmussen and Nakatani discuss strategy
on My Miss Aurelia or dinner plans?

Royal Delta wins back-to-back Ladies' Classics

Returning to the Scene of the Crime

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner - EquiSpace) — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 02:47:00 +0000

Seabiscuit statue in the
Santa Anita paddock

It doesn't seem like three years ago when I last walked the paddock at beautiful Santa Anita Race Track for the 2009 Breeders' Cup (BC), but man time flies. I covered the Dirt Mile for the NTRA that year and was afforded some sweet seats in the grandstand, which I shared with a good friend and client. Seeing Goldikova and Zenyatta win that afternoon created some memories that will last with me forever. Thursday afternoon, I return to the scene of the crime, covering the BC Classic for The Buffalo News.

I've spent some time with the PP's and have a game plan for Friday's card, and will have my thoughts on the last four BC races in my Friday online column at the TBN Sports, Ink blog. I'll try and get a post or two up here at the Space blog, time willing over the weekend, in case I come across anything worthy of sharing. You can follow me on Twitter (@EquiSpace) as I'll be posting pics and random "stay classy LA" captions for my sojourns into Tinsel Town after the races.

It has been a while since I posted so here are some thoughts on what's happening since I last invaded Canada...

Summer of Fun. I was fortunate enough to do a feature piece in Sunday's paper on the Bona Venture Stables' filly who drew the 2 hole in the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf race to be held on Friday. The filly is 30-1 on the morning line, but has drawn the interest of one, Ramon Dominguez in the irons, so she could be an interesting long shot play. I enjoyed chatting with trainer George Weaver, who seems to be a really good guy looking to get a break and win a big race. The race is uber-competitive with Irish filly Sky Lantern, Woodbine invader Spring Venture and several other decent fillies looking to don the purple and yellow.

The Marathon. Looked at those PP's for over 45 minutes and still have no clue. I think we're just going to sit this one out (we being me, myself and I). If I had to like someone, I guess it would be Atigun, but I dunno.

The Juvenile Sprint. This race kicks off the BC and drew a whopping seven horses. I'm guessing Baffert will set the table early and win the first BC race since we're in his territory. I favor Super Ninety Nine to edge Merit Man and Ceiling Kitty in the 6-furlong opener.

Sandy. For once, we were pretty fortunate in Western New York when we dodged the deadly storm that wreaked havoc with the New York/New Jersey area. We're all set for Christmas here at the Space Station, as we have plenty of D batteries. I sure hope our friends in the metro NY area are recovering and getting back to normal as best they can.

Horse I like the most on Friday's card. In the F&M Turf I'm really digging The Fugue.

ThoroFan. Check out the Handicappers' Corner this weekend, as 10 TBA bloggers will be posting their selections on many of the BC races. There will also be a ThoroFan meet up in the Grandstand at Santa Anita on Friday, details are here. If you're interested in a ticket for the races Friday, we have still have some remaining in the Grandstand that will only cost you a $25 membership (seats are around the sixteenth pole). Send me an email if you are interested while we still have some inventory.

The Turk. Make sure you check out the Turk's thoughts on the Classic, as he has the assignment at the Handicappers' Corner and always is willing to share his bet strategy and handicapping agility. We shared a cigar last Saturday at the Tinder Box, a local Western New York establishment, it was good to see the 'ole Turk and talk racing, among other WNY stuff.

Off to LaLa land....

Space Invasion: International Day at Woodbine

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner - EquiSpace) — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 21:03:00 +0000

Joshua Tree

That's Joshua Tree (IRE) winner of the 2012 Pattison Canadian International, with jockey Frankie Dettori aboard in the Woodbine winner's circle after winning the International for the second time in the last three years.

It was an extremely balmy 70 degrees at Woodbine on Sunday afternoon for the 75th running of the Canadian International, sponsored by advertising giant Pattison, and the winds were whipping pretty well all day long to boot. The day featured a number of talented jockeys from around the world including Olivier Peslier, Dettori and contingents from the west coast (Garret Gomez and Mike Smith) and from New York (Ramon Dominguez and Johnny V) going for some big prize money on the E.P. Taylor turf course at Toronto's track.

Three Breeders' Cup (BC) "Win and You're In" races on the weeds were won by Next Question (Nearctic - BC Turf Sprint), Siyouma (E.P. Taylor - BC F&M Turf) and the aforementioned Joshua Tree (International - BC Turf). However, it looks like only Next Question will play the free pass and head to Santa Anita in early November. My recap for The Buffalo News from Sunday up at Woodbine can be found here.

It was another rough day at the windows although when I'm working I don't usually spend as much time playing the ponies, especially on the polytrack of Woodbine, which has gotten the best of me over the years. Our pooled Pick-4's with Woodbine media maven Keith McCalmont and Daily-Gazette racing writer Mike MacAdam went up in flames. A) Because we inadvertently left off Next Question, Keith's pick to win the race in the early P4 and B) Because a horse named Sorry About That won the nightcap clearly destroying any thoughts of P4 glory.

It was good to see Jessica Chapel, Ernie Munick, Garnet Barnsdale and Nick Costa, all passionate horse folks up at Woodbine to take in Canada's richest race on the calendar. Kudos again to the Woodbine press corps, who find new ways to make me feel comfortable and make me want to get back to the Canadian track as soon as I can.

Here are some pictures from the Canadian International Day.

Mike MacAdam and I were greeted
by a seranade upon our arrival from the U.S.A.

Matt Carothers was in the house
(I got the stink eye when taking this photo)

Garret Gomez in the Great White North
to ride Hammers Terror in the Nearctic

Johnny V about to board Nearctic third place finisher
Night Carnation for George Strawbridge

Ramon Dominguez piloted Nearctic
winner Next Question

Next Question holds off
Night Carnation in the Nearctic

Chad Brown gives last minute instructions to
Ramon who rode Dream Peace in the E.P. Taylor.
Videographer Munick looks on.

Mike Smith made a rare Woodbine
appearance to ride Vamo a Galupiar

Arc winning rider Olivier Peslier flew in
to ride second place finisher Pagera in the E.P. Taylor

E.P. Taylor winner Siyouma

3-Siyouma takes the E.P. Taylor over 2-Pagera
and 5-Dream Peace

Ramon to Chad: I kept turning the wheel this way, but......

International second place finisher Dandino
heads to the track

Show horse Forte Dei Marmi in
the walking ring

Air Support and Javier Castellano
head down the path to the main track

The lush E.P. Taylor turf course
(or a mistaken picture..what do you think?)

Joshua Tree heads to the winner's circle

Dettori's Flying Dismount

Hug it Out: Dettori and assistant trainer Lucie Botti

The Champ: Joshua Tree

Woodbine Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner - EquiSpace) — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 12:23:00 +0000

That's Reliable Man (photo courtesy Woodbine Media), my selection for the $1.5 million Pattison Canadian International on Sunday, a Breeders' Cup Challenge Race for the BC Turf. The Woodbine media office posted some expert selections (including yours truly) on their web page.

I'll be heading up north on Sunday morning to spend the day with our friends to the north and watch the three big BC "Win and You're In" qualifying Challenge races, all on the turf. I previewed the Grade 1 $500,000 Nearctic (BC Turf Sprint) and the Grade 1 $1 million E.P. Taylor Stakes (BC F&M Turf) in my weekly column at The Buffalo News Sports, Ink blog. Interestingly, the three challenge races will not be run consecutively on the card, but spread out as races 5, 8 and 10. As a horizontal player, I would prefer them to be sequenced together along with the only non-graded stake (the $150K Durham Cup) in a late Pick-4.

Last year, a mare Sarah Lynx stole the show upsetting a highly regarded International field on yielding turf, this year eight European invaders will tackle the famous E.P. Taylor turf course and look to take down Canada's richest race. I love the Woodbine turf course which unlike most North American venues is outside of the two inside tracks (standardbred and polytrack) and closest to the stands. The stretch drive is forever and has set up some wild across the turf finishes over the years. Dan Loiselle will once again have the call in this year's 75th anniversary of the International.

I will have a preview of the race up tomorrow morning on the Sports, Ink and will make my way up the Queen Elizabeth Way to enjoy a day of racing in the Toronto suburbs. Val, of the Foolish Pleasure and Fillies First blogs, has a preview of the International up at ThoroFan's Handicappers' Corner and is worth the visit to check out what the Professor of Pedigree thinks about the big race.

We'll have some pictures up early next week and will post recaps on the BC Challenge races at the Sports, Ink on Sunday evening.

Kershner runs today at Belmont

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner - EquiSpace) — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 19:26:00 +0000

I was alerted via Twitter earlier today by Buffalo Raceway's Sam Pendolino, that I have a namesake and he is running at Belmont Park this afternoon in Race 9 for Dale Romans. One other fun fact is that he is recently gelded. Kershner is a 2-year-old by Trippi out of a Great Above mare. Joel Rosario is in the irons.

Interesting name within the dam bloodlines is the dam's great-grandfather Minnesota Mac...as my mother was born in St. Paul and her mom (my grandmother)'s maiden name was McGovern. Hence, the Minnesota Mac name seems to fit the bill. Of course, within the sire's bloodlines is Forty Niner (sire's grandfather) and we all know what the Bills are going to do to them this weekend.

He drew number 13, which is pretty much par for the course and the race is off the dirt and his morning line odds are a juicy 6-1. For years I've been following a horse named Geno who just hasn't cut the mustard down South (mainly the Louisiana circuit), so I'm hoping my surname-sake will bring home the bacon and not be a money-burner like good ole Geno.

For more name fun, recently my friends Frank and Connie, owners of Bella Cavello Stables in Buffalo, purchased a Curlin chestnut colt (Hip #310) at the Saratoga sale in August (out of Re Re Be Be) who has a Space Gal in her lineage!

Space Gal, born in 1967 won three of 24 starts, finishing in the money 10 times and had career earnings of $29,100. Her best progeny was a colt named Spacecapiat who was by a Buckpasser colt name Gallapiat who earned over $277,000 in his career.

So let's see how much of my money this namesake of mine will burn....

P.S. My latest TBN Sports, Ink blog is up on tomorrow's Grade 1 Champagne Stakes.

Shuttling Around

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner - EquiSpace) — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 02:00:00 +0000

Life does get in the way of a good story sometimes. Let's head around the horn and we'll catch you up with what's new in these parts...

- Space Invasion: Batavia Downs. I hadn't knocked off a new track all year long, but my visit last week 30 minutes down the Thruway to Batavia Downs to get my sulky fix. Actually it was a buffet/cocktails/fundraiser for one of my clients, Mercy Flight-Buffalo who held their golf tournament in the afternoon and a night at the races afterwards. My firm sponsored a race on the card on behalf of Mercy Flight, so we even ended up in the winners' circle with Joey Chestnut (not the eating guy) who waxed the field.

I brought a newbie with me and even though he didn't cash a ticket, he had a good time learning the different types of exotic bets. He is one of my managers who loves to gamble on sports and had only previously made a win bet on the Kentucky Derby as the extent of his experience. One of the cool things about Batavia Downs was the bar overlooking the track in the Clubhouse section (picture below) and the comfortable seating on the clubhouse turn that we enjoyed with a few Blue Lights.

- Latest TBN Blogs. I have had a couple posts up over at the Sports, Ink blog since my last posting here. Today's post featured the two big $1M races at Parx on Saturday. Last week's featured an interview I had with Bona Ventures Stables' managing partner Dan Collins before sending Summer of Fun off to Woodbine for the Natalma, where she finished in the back of the pack. I will have a print article up next Saturday on the Jockey Club Gold Cup and Super Saturday at Belmont.

- Da Bills. While I'm ready to pull the trigger on Fitz already (he's just not the answer), they did have a pretty good rebound performance against the Chiefs, but who knows how bad they really are. The Browns in Cleveland will be a good test as former coach Dick Jauron will look to exact some revenge with his Dawg Defense against our hometown heroes. This is a huge game for the Bills, in conference and one they can't afford to lose if they are looking to return to the playoffs for the first time since 1999 (gasp). If you're looking for a humorous Bills blog, check out my friend TKIG's creative blog.

- Traffic East. My good friend, Mark Dellas, is the publisher of a local hip magazine called Traffic East and is a professional photographer by trade. He asked me to write a vignette on Saratoga after he visited morning workouts last summer. The piece presents some fabulous pictures of the horses in their natural beauty both on the backside and on the track. The cover photo is shown below:

Traffic East Cover - Latest Edition

- Space Invasion: Presque Isle Downs. In mid-August I made a surgical strike to Presque Isle Downs to have dinner with a client from Erie and take in a night at the races. Buffalo-based Bella Cavello Stables' Wotan was also running this night, so it was a nice evening to take in the races. I reserved a table at a window in the Clubhouse and although the food wasn't the greatest, the view and company made for a good night. Wotan didn't fire, unfortunately, as his jockey took him way back and he had too much to make up to late, finishing fourth. Here's a picture of him in the post parade.

Wotan

- Parx card. I'm not sure I'll play the card tomorrow, as it would break my cardinal rule about playing tracks you don't normally play and I'm saving up the account for Super Saturday, Keeneland and Santa Anita. Questing looks much the best in a small field in the Cotillion and I can't really find a horse that is fast enough to beat Alpha in the PA Derby. I think I might just sit back and watch as a fan this weekend.

- My Fantasy Squad. Call me the Old Guys Team. Peyton Manning. Reggie Wayne. Anquan Boldin. We're 2-0, but have a tough game this week and already down 17-0 as my opponent had the Giants Defense. Trying to break my mantra as the "loser of office pools" and build on the good luck I've had as of late (won a 50/50 last week!).

- The O's. I'm a long-time Orioles fan who hasn't had much to cheer about since 1993, but 2012 has been quite the magical season and I'm checking box scores for the first time in a long time. It's not Brooks/Frank Robinson, Boog Powell and Mark Belanger, but they are playing a fun brand of baseball.

Have a great weekend everyone....here's a few more pics from Batavia Downs:

Parking Lot View of old school plant

Very cool view from Clubhouse bar
overlooking the Batavia track

Comfy seats and television
at our seats just off the finish line

Win and You're In, eh?

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner - EquiSpace) — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 00:04:00 +0000

We took a little break from the racing world after Saratoga wrapped up its 144th campaign for a little football and family time. It's good to refresh and reload after a couple weeks away. Of course, we had an eye on what was going on, but just one of them.

This weekend, the racing scene shifts to the Great White North and Toronto (technically Rexdale) for three (3) Win and You're In turf races to be held at Woodbine Racetrack that will qualify the winners for the 2012 Breeders' Cup to be held at Santa Anita Park outside of Los Angeles on Nov. 2-3.

Let's take a peek at the three WaYI races at Woodbine, starting with the 2-year-old races on Saturday that will vault the winners of the Natalma Stakes to the Juvenile Fillies Turf race and the winner of the Summer Stakes presented by TVG to the Juvenile Turf race.

The $250,000 Grade 2 Natalma Stakes will pit 13 two year old fillies running a mile on the Woodbine turf course. The morning line favorite is Tiz Ro (3-1) to be ridden by Luis Contreras and will be his first ever turf race after breaking her maiden on the Woodbine polytrack. The Hard Spun filly won impressively by 5 1/2-lengths at the end of July earning a 77 Beyer Speed Figure (BSF). Todd Pletcher ships in Coconut Shrimp (4-1) who earned a 72 BSF at Saratoga in August and top turf rider Javier Castellano flies in to ride the Giant's Causeway filly. She appears to be the one to beat.

Bona Venture Stables ships in Summer of Fun (10-1) to run in the Natalma, who broke her maiden her first on turf at the Spa going 8 1/2-furlongs on the Travers undercard. I wrote about her today in the Sports, Ink blog in my Friday column after talking to the connections last night. I give her a good chance to compete in here based on her 76 BSF and the fact that she's won at the longer distance and was over two lengths ahead at the mile mark.

The second WaYI stakes on Saturday is the $250,000 Grade 2 Summer Stakes presented by TVG that will also be run over a mile distance on the weeds with a field of eight colts and geldings. The morning line favorite is Archer Hill (5-2) who won at Saratoga for trainer Lisa Lewis. The Big Brown colt out of a Grand Slam mare was pulling away after taking the lead down the stretch going 8 1/2-furlongs in the beginning of August. Lewis is 26 percent after winning her last start with an ROI of $4.33 (impressive).

I think The Be's and E's (6-1) will part of the early speed based on her maiden win at Belmont and if he doesn't get hooked in a speed duel, he could steal it on the front end. Garret Gomez, who is a talented turf jockey flies in from California to ride for trainer Wesley Ward. I also give Indiano Jones (4-1) a shot after an impressive maiden win on the Woodbine turf.

Sunday's Woodbine card features four graded stakes races, but for some reason they aren't together on the card and will be run as races 5, 7, 9 and 10. This makes no sense to me why they wouldn't put the four races consecutively and have an all-graded stakes guaranteed Pick-4. This happened closing weekend at Saratoga when the Baruch was placed outside the Late Pick-4 on Woodward day. I guess they want to make it tougher and spread the stakes races out. The late Pick-4 doesn't even start with Race 7, that would include at least three of the graded stakes, as it starts with Race 8 and includes two allowance races (8 and 11).

The big one is the Ricoh Woodbine Mile, and it has attracted one of North America's best runners in Wise Dan, who comes off a 5-length victory in the one mile G2 Fourstardave at Saratoga on national television in August. He should be a very short-priced favorite by the time the Mile rolls around at 5:42 p.m. ET on Sunday afternoon. The winner gets an automatic berth in the Breeders' Cup Mile.

On paper it doesn't appear that any horse in the field can challenge Wise Dan, but if I had to select another horse that has a chance to pull the upset it would be Cityscape (GB), a 6-year-old Euro invader that has faced some top notch competition (including Goldikova) and has won over $4.2 million in his career (over $1.1M at the mile distance). Hunters Bay has been working lights out, but is trying the turf for the first time for Reade Baker. He's fast enough to have a chance and should love the mile distance.

Unfortunately we won't be making the trek up this weekend, but we'll be watching the big stakes races to see who qualifies to head to California in November.

Toga Party V: The Beer Man Cometh

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner - EquiSpace) — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 01:23:00 +0000

In one of the most exciting finishes in contest history, Beer Man (aka @chad_roth) took down Toga Party V with a late flourish of victories.

After guessing the Woodward $2 exacta within 20 cents (!!) on Saturday afternoon, he parlayed a Hopeful double point victory with Shanghai Bobby and Todd Pletcher's 36th training win of the meet to all but clinch this year's contest.

All that stood between he and Schenectady Daily-Gazette sports columnist Mike MacAdam was a horse named Never On Time, Pletcher's last horse entered in the meet in Race 10. A win by the Any Given Saturday gelding in an $87K NX1 would also geld the Beer Man and proclaim MacAdam the champ via tiebreaker. After a few anxious moments for the Beer Man when Never On Time was in the lead after first call, it was soon over for him in a race won by Burn The Mortgage. He finished with a record eight points (including two double-pointers).

On Travers weekend, the Beer Man approached me and was sheepish about potentially being blanked in his maiden voyage in the contest. Prophetically, I told him, "Anything can happen at a Toga Party!" So the Beer Man's chart line reads like this, "Stumbled at break, bumped repeatedly into first turn, steadied on backstretch, swept four wide around the far turn and closed like a freight train to capture Toga V."

Kudos to Mac for finishing a game second in his first Toga Party, completing the virgin exacta with Chad. He was the only contestant to pick four of the five contest stakes races.

Completing the trifecta was the ever present Green But Game who shot out of the gate early with the opening attendance victory, but heartbreaking defeats in several categories cost her winning her first title. She nailed the trainer wins (36) for double points and had the jockey wins also (58, closest to Dominguez' record 68 wins).

Robert (Toga II champ) was in the final group on Monday, the contest leader going into the final day, but Bern Identity didn't fire and left him to cursing Rosie over the interwebs and a fourth place finish. Buffalo represented in the Super High Five as Boz nailed the trainer wins and picked Alpha twice to finish in fifth. Positions 3 through 5 were determined via tiebreaker.

As for yours truly, I was sniffing it with a chance to win it all if Fortify won the Hopeful. Pletcher would have been stuck on 35 and I would have come away with four points and stole the Party with a total of seven points. Oh well, there's always next year.

When approached about his win, the Beer Man was looking to collect his winnings..."I will take free tax preparation for 10 years, week at Del Mar with the SpacePop, Sabres/Bills season tickets, $100K in cash and a key to the city of Buffalo." After I explained the fine print rules clearly outlined here, he selected "Betting on Thoroughbreds for the 21st Century" by Steve Davidowitz as the grand prize.

Congrats to Chad and breaking his maiden with the late closing move on Shanghai Bobby!

Any suggestions for next year's contest will go before the Board. I think this year's additions of the double points for the Hopeful and the exact call of any item added some drama and strategery to this year's contest.

Thanks to all for playing!

Tie Goes to the Runner(s)

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner - EquiSpace) — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 03:27:00 +0000

Alpha and Golden Ticket surge together to make history

In baseball, tie goes to the runner and extra innings decide the final verdict. In soccer, it comes down to PK's. In hockey, penalty shots, unless we're talking Stanley Cup playoffs, then its sudden death. Football is too complicated to explain and basketball has oooovertime. In horse racing, we decide things civilly (at least in the last two centuries) and we just call it a draw.

Saratoga Springs was the place to be, specifically Saratoga Race Course, around 5:48 p.m. on Saturday afternoon when two horses finished one and a quarter miles at exactly the same time. Odds of this happening would break even this CPA's calculator. I had the above view of the finish and it was grand. I could have swore that jockey David Cohen punched his Golden Ticket right to the winners' circle with the final bob, but the hard charging Bernardini colt and meet leading jock Ramon Dominguez got Alpha to the line just in time.

I glanced up at the board when they posted the official results and saw the 3 on top and thought my vision was verified, only to see the red flashing DEAD HEAT sign blink in the next split second. That's when it hit me...hey, I just saw my first dead heat, and it was in a Grade 1, $1 million race. Hot damn. Juicy stuff and history. I love seeing history. Especially something that we may never see again, at least in our lifetimes (or at least mine).

It brought a great two day weekend with my father to a fascinating conclusion and man, it sure validated how exciting this game can be. Hell, I didn't even care that my bet was just blown to smithereens. It was a fun and light moment and it all just happened so fast. I never saw so many smiles in the winners' circle and I was happy for jockey David Cohen and trainer Kenny McPeek, who seems to be just a good 'ole boy. McLaughlin is already one of the good guys of the sport, and you could surely see the relief on his face that he captured his first Travers on his way to a historic 3-year old Toga Slam (CCAO/Dandy/Alabama/Travers).

If you missed my post race commentary in The Buffalo News, it can be found here. It was certainly fun to write and I enjoyed being involved with such a feel-good event. This 3-year-old crop has been taking its licks in the past two weeks, but Dullahan defeated older horses this evening in the Pacific Classic and hopefully Paynter will be a go next month.

A bonus on Saturday was the victory in the 6th race by Bona Venture Stables' Summer of Fun at odds of 11-1 on the turf going 1 1/16 miles. We wrote a quick recap of the race for the Sports, Ink blog. I caught up with managing partner Dan Collins who was ecstatic with the victory which could lead to a second straight trip to the Breeders' Cup if she keeps moving forward in the fall.

Here are some photos from the weekend...

Javier Castellano on Repole Stables'
Isn'tlovegrand on Friday

Pletcher and assistant waiting on
Turbulent Descent before the Ballerina

Johnny V and Turbulent Descent
head to the track

David Cohen aboard Ballerina second place
finisher Derwin's Star

Turbulent Descent wins the Ballerina
in front of Derwin's Star and All Due Respect

Ballerina Winners' Circle Photo

Promising 2-year-old Honorable Dillon
won the 2nd on Travers Day

Delhomme (named after former NFL QB)
came in second for Pletcher/Velazquez

Ramon on 5th race winner Rigby

Summer of Fun won the 6th for
Bona Venture Stables, Eddie Castro up

Elvis wasn't in the building, but Larry Bird
and stocky jockey were

Philadelphia - represent!

Your Ballston Spa winner -- Zagora with
Ramon Dominguez up

Your Test winner -- Contested with
Rafael Bejarano in the irons

Trainer Steve Asmussen
before the King's Bishop

Willie Beamin steals the King's Bishop
on a three day wheel back by Tricky Dick

Alan Garcia is all smiles
aboard the King's Bishop champ

Kenny McPeek with Travers fourth
place finisher Atigun

Whistle while you work....
Nick Zito with Junior Alvarado

Travers third place finisher Fast Falcon

David Cohen with Travers co-champ
Golden Ticket ($24.60)

Ramon on Travers co-champ Alpha

Golden Ticket Winners' Circle Photo

Alpha Winners' Circle Photo

The winning trainers hoist the goods

That's a wrap from the Spa...

Happy Travers Day 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner - EquiSpace) — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 14:52:00 +0000

Logo Courtesy NYRA

Happy Travers Day, everyone. It's a beautiful day here at the Spa and a big 13-race card highlighted by a late guaranteed $1 million all-graded stakes Pick-4 should make for a great day in racing.

It's been a light on the posting side this month due to family and work commitments, but we've still been plugging away at our Buffalo News gig, so I'll share a few links to my latest over there.

I took a run at the late Pick-4 in Friday's Sports, Ink weekly column, where I decided to go fairly deep in the King's Bishop and the Ballston Spa (first leg).

I went with Alpha in the Travers and my advance on Kiaran McLaughlin's attempt at the self-coined "Toga Slam" in this morning's paper. I am also favoring Nonios who ran a superb race in the Haskell late last month after a less than superb ride (in my humble opinion) by Corey Nakatani. Hall-of-Famer Johnny V gets the ride today, so he is a win threat. Neck 'n Neck is getting a little buzz in the press box this morning, but I'm not entirely sold on him. There seems to be a lack of pace in the race and I think Alpha appears to be the best of the bunch. But, as you know, they don't run the race on paper.

Had a fun day yesterday hanging with my dad, we've somehow made this an annual event (our third straight Travers together). We sat on the Porch (a great place to watch the races at the Spa) and enjoyed Friday's card, which included the $500K Grade 1 Ballerina. We made a big comeback late in the day around Turbulent Descent in some late Pick-3's to avoid disaster.

This morning's highlight was driving up the Northway listening to HRRN who had the Times-Union and friend Tim Wilkin on. He was explaining how he was encouraged to join twitter to Jude Feld, the host, and that his first tweet was "Tweeting is for morons" and went on to explain that he didn't realize his tweets were simultaneously posted on the T-U home sports page. He went on to say his editors weren't exactly pleased. If you get a chance, check out the podcast of this morning's Equine Forum at the HRRN site. We laughed all the way to the track.

It's a big Toga Party contest day with three available points. Last week, Mike Mac, They're in the Gate and yours truly hit Alabama glory with Questing. The selections are up for today's Travers Stakes and the earlier selections for the $2 trifecta and today's attendance.

We should have a picture essay up early next week, have a great day at the races. Good luck at the windows!

Dog Days of Racing

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner - EquiSpace) — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 01:52:00 +0000

We've reached the Dog Days of summer racing, where we're nearing the midpoint of both the Saratoga and Del Mar meetings, so it's time for a random rambling post....

- We're back from a week with the family on the Jersey Shore, diverted north to Oceanport on Haskell Day with my pop for the big day at Monmouth.

- Doesn't it seem that you need a vacation from the vacation these days? I thought I'd have some time to watch some racing or post some thoughts while in Wildwood. That's a negative, ghost rider.

- The Toga Party contest is heating up, or should I say stagnating? For the first time in the five-year history of the Spa-based contest, no one picked the Whitney winner (and it was only the third choice on the morning line) and no one had the Crazy Eights (8/8) day winners, when two longer priced #8 horses took the late double ($140 for $2) and resulting in three #8 horses winning on the day. The final race cost a few contestants that valuable point. Still plenty of time to make a big move, and everyone is still alive.

- My oldest daughter's 21st birthday (man, I'm old) was yesterday on 8/8. The winner in the first at the Spa for Pletcher yesterday? My Emma. My daughter's name - Emily. Did I bet it? What do you think?

- Had a rough day back in Buffalo playing the Sunday Spa card in the slop. I should know better and when to quit while ahead. I'm a horrible wet track player and this needs to be my resolution for next year (or next week) to lay off wet track wagering.

- The Bills opened the preseason tonight. I did not attend. It would have been nice to see RGIII, but I figure I'll see him when it counts sometime in the next few years. I'm not going to get excited too early this year. Here's a prognostication: Vince Young will be the starter by October 15.

- Two Spa trips remain on my calendar. Travers weekend with my pop, and will be covering the big race for TBN. Will make a surgical strike on August 29-30, with a little golf at National with some clients mixed in. What dog days? By the way, I've decided to retire any further attempts at the 3:59. In speaking (actually texting) with the artist formerly known as The Wind Gatherer, we decided I should go straight to stud.

- Had the Space Kid making sand racetracks at the Shore instead of sand castles. Space Gal just shook her head as I had different chutes for the inner and outer tracks going. Yep.

- Our Friday post on the Sports, Ink blog will feature Friday's Hall of Fame inductions and a quick pick on Friday's Grade 2 Hall of Fame turf race.

- Currently sitting in 8th place in Ernie Munick's Din Din Derby contest, mainly because of big opening day picks of Pacific Ocean and So Many Ways. Long way out of first, after the leader nailed Poseidon's Warrior in the Vanderbilt, but still nice to be on the leaderboard.

- Snuck over the border on Monday to have lunch with my pal Brian Zipse who was road-tripping a Toga-Fort Erie double. He wrote a nice post on the border oval over at HRN and even included a pic of yours truly. We were joined by local horseman/blogger Nick Costa, (aka Trackman) for an enjoyable day at the Fort, where the weather was an absolutely picture perfect Western New York/Southern Ontario kind of day.

- Love the 20 cent Pick-3's and Pick-4's at the Fort, but man, if you don't catch a price horse the payouts are skimpy. The opening P3 for three straight quarter horse races paid a whopping $4.74, wherein the same trainer won all three races (Jeff Burgess).

- Can't say I'm surprised at the selection of Santa Anita for the 2013 Breeders' Cup...called it in December. At year end we'll have a full recap of my Kreskin picks, when each guess is in the books. Let's just say I'm not doing too shabby.

- Does anyone really eat organic peanut butter?

I'll leave you chewing on that note...have a great weekend.

Space Invasion: Monmouth Park -- Haskell Day

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner - EquiSpace) — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 13:49:00 +0000

2012 Haskell champ Paynter

There's your 2012 Haskell Invitational champion, Paynter, who looked like a million bucks in the paddock. I'm not a big parade pick guy, but I loved the way this horse looked like it was rarin' to go in the paddock. On the contrary, Gemologist looked very calm (almost too calm) late Sunday afternoon at Monmouth Park.

It was my third trip to the Longest Stretch on the Shore, the first being in 2006 for the Haskell on a long Whitney-Haskell weekend with the boys, by the time we showed up to Monmouth it was for the late stakes Pick-4 and the weekend was pretty much a blur. Bluegrass Cat won that edition in a romp and my first Haskell was in the books.

My second trip was for the 2007 Breeders' Cup Saturday and we all know what the weather was like that day, although seeing Curlin roll around the top of the stretch in the Classic is still my favorite live racetrack moment I've ever witnessed.

This year's trip was fueled by a family vacation in South Jersey (undisclosed location) and I treated my dad to his first trip to Monmouth on its biggest day. Over 35,000 patrons were on hand to see Bob Baffert win his third consecutive Haskell and his record sixth title. This was the first time I took some time to explore Monmouth and it is quite the maze.

We had seats on the third floor reserved section (this was a non-working trip) just past the finish line and the sight lines were very good. The only thing lacking was more people from the track helping those who might have looked lost. It took us a while to figure out where we were sitting and I think my dad got lost a few times trying to find our seats. I did figure out a nice route to the paddock down the escalators, and enjoyed spending some time along the fences at the paddock. It's an old school track that looks like it's been updated a few times. I like how the picnic area is actually on and just off the apron of the track, different from Saratoga, which is in the backyard.

Betting wise, it was the normal Haskell day bloodbath, equated only to my annual Belmont Stakes day wagering action. But, it wasn't about the wagering on Sunday, I was enjoying the sunshine, adding another major sporting event attended with my father and seeing a great performance by a rising and maturing horse. Even my Kreskin selection of a yellow Haskell hat bit the dust (it was blue)...oh well.

Here are some photos from my day....

Welcome to Monmouth Park

Our view from Reserved Clubhouse (3rd Floor)

Another view from our seats

Lunch - $8 Sausage Sandwich smothered
with peppers and onions (Level of Difficulty - High)

View of the plant from the paddock area

Yes, Elvis was in the building
(making a wager, of course)

You could even get your Saratoga fix
on the big screen in the backyard

Pletcher and Castellano
confer in the paddock

Dale Romans and Rafael Bejarano
with Afleeting Lady before the Molly Pitcher

Molly Pitcher upset winner
Brushed by a Star

Derby/Preakness winning jockey
Mario Gutierrez signing autographs

Brushed by a Star
surges to the wire

Handsome Mike's owner
Paul Reddam in paddock before the Haskell

Second place finisher Nonios
Corey Nakatani up

Dullahan with Kent Desormeaux

Gemologist, Castellano and Pletcher
leading him around walking ring

Show horse Stealcase with
Shaun Bridgmohan

Paynter wins the 2012 Haskell

Well that's a wrap from Oceanport and back to the beach for the rest of the week, we'll be back at it early next week.

Spa Opening Weekend is just grand

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner - EquiSpace) — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 02:57:00 +0000

Irad Ortiz, Jr. on Questing

That's 18 year-old Irad Ortiz, Jr. giving the Big Guy a fist pump for his first graded stakes win in the Coaching Club American Oaks late Saturday afternoon in the first Grade 1 of the Saratoga 2012 meet aboard 3-year-old filly Questing. The kid was quite excited in the winner's circle after the win, showing the biggest smile around in capping off the first two days at the Spa. A recap of the race can be found on the Sports, Ink blog, my only assignment for the weekend.

The usual suspects were around for the opener, my pals the Saratoga Resident and G-Money have made this an annual event. We sat in the Club Terrace (for the first time) on Friday and on The Porch (my preferred location, if I'm not in the Paddock Bar) on Saturday, taking in the two days of racing, catching up with old friends, having a few lagers and meeting new friends. I was fortunate to meet SoCal blogger Rob (aka Amateurcapper) and his fine family taking in the Spa for the first time ever. Rob's been a contributing member at ThoroFan's Handicappers' Corner and is on the Derby Dozen panel with me over at the Wireplayers.com blog.

As for the wagering, Friday trumped Saturday, which goes to show you that speed capping can be a very dangerous thing (I didn't cap the Saturday card ahead of time). For the first time in my brief handicapping career I hit back-to-back Pick-4's on the same card, thanks to Pacific Ocean and So Many Ways on Friday. Those two wins also put me atop the leaderboard for 24 hours in Ernie Munick's annual Din Din Derby. That lead was short-lived after my selections in the CCAO and Sanford bit the dust.

Saturday was spent mostly in the backyard enjoying the shade, cold brews and watching the big screens. We stayed at the Grand Union Hotel (a last minute move that proved to work out quite well) and I'd go back just for the awesomeness of the shower. Sorry, if that's too much information.

The Toga Party contest is off and running with Green But Game taking the early lead, nailing the attendance within 200 patrons. Nice work...could this be her year?

We're taking next week off heading to the South Jersey Shore for a little family R&R, but am excited about going to next Sunday's Haskell with my pop as we detour north for an afternoon of racing.

Here's some pictures from the weekend....

Funny sign at the Grand Union

Trainer legends Lukas and Pletcher
in the Spa Paddock before the 3rd on Friday

Dale Romans saddles Sustained

Joel Rosario captured his first win of the meet
aboard slick filly Lignite

My single in the early Pick-4 Book Review
wins easily for trainer Chad Brown

Julien Leparoux and Ramon Dominguez
in the paddock with the Stay Thirsty statue
in the background

TVG's Donna Barton-Brothers
kids with Christophe Clement and Leparoux before the 7th

A view from the Spa rooftop

Gate Break for the 7th

Cosmic Energy crosses the wire
in front of Lily the Pink in the 7th

Pacific Ocean wins the James Marvin
for Babe Dutrow

Winning connex for the Marvin

CCAO Champ Questing
Irad Ortiz up

CCAO runner-up Zo Impressive
Rajiv Maragh up

Third place finisher
In Lingerie w/Javier Castellano in the irons

They're off in the Coaching Club
American Oaks

Questing wins the CCAO
for Godolphin Racing

A happy Kiaran McLaughlin
in the Winner's Circle

The champ

That's a wrap on the Spa's opening weekend...

Spa Opening Day: One for the Road

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner - EquiSpace) — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 14:45:00 +0000

We made it on site this morning...and yes, we finally eclipsed the 3:59 mark, although the Saratoga Resident is already claiming foul and requesting an asterisk. I pulled into the Saratoga Race Course at 8:56 a.m. in an all-time record 3:57 time frame. We had clear sailing on the NYS Thruway, making it to Amsterdam in a scorching 3:13, but that's when it gets interesting. A truck in downtown Amsterdam slowed things down and Geyser Road was no picnic, but we still had 3 minutes to spare, so he can put whatever asterisk he wants on it. Put a fork in it.

Our advance in this morning's Buffalo News on the Saratoga meeting is up and we also handicapped the Coaching Club American Oaks where we're drinking the Pletcher kool-aid. Hey, it's Saratoga...

Speaking of handicapping, Toga Party V selections are all in and we have 18 contestants trying to take down the annual Toga title. Thanks to everyone for participating. The Space Gal resisted at first, saying she wanted to "go out on top" but I enticed her to try and go for the first ever repeat crown. You'll notice her picks did not change from last year's, though she basically won it with Stay Thirsty.

As for today's card, some horses that look interesting to me today include the filly, 5-Liberty Girl in the 3rd, a 2-year-old firster for Eoin Harty with Ramon up. She sports a couple of nice workouts and her dam has 9 winners from 11 starters (including 2 stakes winners). I'll take a shot with her over the favored Ward filly 2-Lignite (2-1). We'll be watching that one closely as she finished second to Pletcher colt Rose Junction who is running in the Sanford on Sunday.

Other than the wide post, I also like 10-Living My Dream (10-1) in the 7th, who puts the blinkers on for Mike Maker and has Javier Castellano on the turf. Maker is 27% first time blinkers and the other stats (Jockey on Turf - 26% and Jock with Trainer - 25%) make her interesting at those odds. [UPDATE 12:25pm: Living My Dream scratched -- back to the drawing board]

As for the Marvin, I favor 5-Pacific Ocean (although you can't throw out JB at the Spa) and 7-So Many Ways (first time lasix and some killer workouts) in the Schuylerville.

Good luck!

Striking a Pose at the Fort

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner - EquiSpace) — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 02:11:00 +0000

Dixie Strike wins the Prince of Wales

It was a beautiful day at the border oval as the filly Dixie Strike ($7.90), with Patrick Husbands aboard, won the 77th running of the Prince of Wales at Fort Erie Race Track covering the 1 3/16-miles in a modest 1:57.54. After some light morning rain, the day turned out to be just spectacular with the sun shining over Southern Ontario for the entire 11-race card and on John Oxley's filly who redeemed herself after a poor outing in the Woodbine Oaks and a third place finish in the Queen's Plate. I was a happy guy as I picked him on top in this Friday's TBN blog, so that works (and I cashed a few bets too!). She became the first filly to win Canada's second leg of its Triple Crown since Gandria in 1999.

She made a late move to duel for a moment with Roger Attfield's Colleen's Sailor who faded to third in deep stretch. Ultimate Destiny completed an $84.50 exacta by passing Attfield's horse on the rail. The Hall of Fame trainer was looking for his sixth Prince of Wales victory.

I spent the day roaming the grounds at the old race track which seemed to come alive with the biggest crowd I've ever seen there in the past five years. The reserved seating grandstands above the old slots parlor were open for the first time since I've been coming to the track. The place had a great vibe, it's a shame that it could be the last Prince of Wales to run at the border oval.

Some interesting tidbits from the post race press conference, were that trainer Mark Casse really likes the way this filly runs on dirt and he didn't rule out the possibility to bring her to Saratoga for the Grade 1 Alabama. He praised the filly's dam, Noble Strike, a Smart Strike mare, who also was last year's Plate champion Inglorious' mother. I hope he gives her a shot at Saratoga.

He also mentioned that his colt, Prospective, who ran in the Kentucky Derby, will run next in two weeks, either in the Jim Dandy at Saratoga or at Monmouth in the Haskell.

Here are a few photos from my fun-filled day at the Fort:

A view of the Tiki Bar (and beautiful infield)
from the Reserved Seat section

Tiki Central

Zingy Zesty won the 4th

Grandstand Seating with
Prince of Wales Dining Room above

Plenty of brewskis to go around

You could get a nice Pork Sammy for $5

Melanie Pinto heads over to her mount
Mountain Echo in the Princess Cup

Princess Cup champ Mountain Echo
trying to show me her better side

Mountain Echo wins by daylight and avenges
last year's second place finish to My Natalie

Second place POW finisher
Ultimate Destiny

Fifth place POW finisher
Dead On

2012 POW Champ Dixie Strike

Casse giving Husbands last
minute instructions

Third place POW finisher
Colleen's Sailor

Casse gives Husbands a leg up
on Dixie Strike

Fourth place POW finisher
Quaesitor

Woodbine Oaks champ Irish Mission

The blanket awaits Dixie Strike
in the Winner's Circle

Passing us for the first time

Nakatani and Attfield post-race
Photo courtesy: Josh W (@BLOJW)

Casse and Husbands at the
post race presser

For the victors:
"Let Them Eat Cake!"

Dixie Strike - 2012 Prince of Wales Champion
Photo Courtesy: Ft. Erie Media Office

Toga Party V: Let's Get Ready to Rumble

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner - EquiSpace) — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 01:46:00 +0000

Mr. Blutarsky, 0.0

If you've been around this blog (or you just stumbled upon it by googling "toga party") you know there are several constants: (1) the annual Derby spreadsheet; (2) the annual Saratoga meeting Toga Party contest, (3) the Derby Degrees of Separation post and lastly (4) the annual Kreskin post around year end.

We had 19 entrants in last year's contest won by none other than The Space Gal, who penned a guest post for her winning prize. She took Toga IV with six wins, which also was the lucky number for Toga Parties II and III. Last year's final standings and correct answers can be found here. Please, everyone, don't let her win again, for my sake.

So here are the Space rules:

Rules: I've broken it down to 5 meet questions, 5 race or raceday specific questions and 5 winners of major stake races for this year's Saratoga meeting. 1 point per correct answer. Stakes race winner selections are not due until midnight on the Friday before the race. I will have the spreadsheet up and running on the right side bar before opening day. Remember there's no Price is Right rules in effect (you can go over - it's closest to the correct number), except for item 8, which has to be right on the number. Either email me: budmanbflo [at] hotmail.com your selections for question 1-10 items only and the tiebreaker or leave them in the comment section by next Thursday at midnight (opening day eve) with your email address (if I don't already have it). I will email the group on Thursday before the stakes races to remind you of the race selections (items 11-15).

New Rules: If you nail any of the items on the number (other than item 8) you get Double Points (items 2,4, 5,6,7,9,10). And for the last graded race (the Hopeful) we'll give you 2 points for the winner, which can keep some folks in the game going into the final weekend (h/t to Green But Game for that suggestion).

So here goes (open to all, we don't discriminate here in the Space Lab):

Meet questions

1) Leading Trainer (this one's a gimme)
2) # of Wins - Leading Trainer
3) Leading Jockey (wins)
4) # of Wins - Leading Jockey
5) Total turf races for entire meet

Race/Raceday questions

6) Opening day attendance
7) Travers day attendance
8) Wins by #8 horse on 8/8/2011 (It's a Wednesday)
9) $2 Trifecta payout on the Travers
10) $2 Exacta payout on the Woodward

Stakes Race Winners - Do not send these to me now (due via email the Friday midnight B4 the race)

11) Jim Dandy winner
12) Whitney winner
13) Alabama winner
14) Travers winner
15) Hopeful winner (double points)

Tie-breaker (changed this up a little this year)

XX) Top Jockey's earnings total at end of meet (i.e. $3,500,000)?

Grand Prize: 2 Tickets to Bills game in December or in Toronto (just kidding)
Real Grand Prize: Choice of Handicapping or Racing Book currently in print (not kidding) or Guest Post on the EquiSpace blog.

Defending Champs:
Toga I: Foolish Pleasure (2008) Runnerup: Green But Game
Toga II: EquiSpace (2009); Runnerup: Saratoga Spa (*)
Toga III: Tony Bada Bing (2010); Runnerup(s): SpaceBro, Floppydog
Toga IV: Space Gal (2011); Runnerup: EquiSpace, Saratoga Spa

(*) Your host deferred victory to runnerup SS who won tie-breaker over Triple Dead Heat and Green But Game.