Wednesday, August 18, 2010

TUESDAYS IN SARATOGA SPRINGS

COOPERSTOWN, NY--As the Saratoga racing meet has morphed from "The August Place To Be" into a six-week horsefest lasting from July into September, even the most wizened racing fan needs a break in order to stay focused, fresh and flush with cash for the Travers and beyond.

An upstate mecca that is a 90-minute leisurely drive west from Saratoga should be at the top of one's Tuesday dark racing date itinerary when visiting upstate New York. The most revered and awe-inspiring of all sporting museums dominates Main Street in tiny Cooperstown. The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a state-of-the-art shrine that brings beaming smiles to the faces of children, parents, grandparents and all fans.

Drive south on the Thruway (I-87) into Albany, then take I-88 West for ~50 miles until you reach Route 28 North to find the road that leads to the HOF (~23 miles). Parking is scarce in town early in the morning--there are a limited number of lots with all-day spaces available from $10 to $15--so you might consider parking in one of the outer lots that provide trolley transport into the center of town for $3 per person. The trolleys are an appropriate way to get into the proper mindset to view baseball-related history dating back to the 1860's.

Of all the halls of fame, the baseball version might be the most respected. There are license plates from all over America in the parking lots as familes make a solemn pilgrimage to learn about their favorite players and teams. Baseball lends itself to statistical analysis, so there is a treasure trove of raw data that can be pored over in order to compare stars from different eras. In addition, the close proximity of those who cover the long baseball season to the players helps foster an intimacy that comes alive in the HOF. Col. Matt Wynn cultivated strong ties to the media of his day (mainly newspaper and radio reporters) in order to gain national attention for the Kentucky Derby. The Derby is one race on one Saturday each May, so imagine how strong the ties must be between writers and baseball since they report games 162 times or more each season!

The Hall is divided intelligently into three floors, with an unusual suggested flow pattern. Visitors are encouraged to begin their tour on the second floor at "The Baseball Experience" watching a 13-minute, multi-media presentation that provides a rich overview of baseball through the ages. Also on the second floor are rooms designated "Taking the Field: The 19th Century"; "The Game: 1900-1930"; the "Babe Ruth Room"; "Pride and Passion" devoted to the Negro Leagues; "The Game: 1930-1960" and 1960-1980 and 1980-2000 and finally "Today's Game" and one area devoted to Hispanic baseball stars, "¡Viva Baseball!"

The third floor has one of the more imaginative features in the Hall, "Sacred Ground." Long-ago ballparks are profiled here with a special emphasis on Ebbets Field in Booklyn. Three storied former facilities come to life again through an interactive kiosk that allows visitors to hear a history of each park and then take a computer-aided, virtual tour of the structures, complete with background noise with sounds from the past. Also on the third floor are "Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream"; "Records Room" comparing all-time greats vis-a-vis modern players who are still active; "No-Hit Games"; "Autumn Glory: A Postseason Celebration"; "Pinstripe Pictures: Yankee Photographs from the Associated Press"; an impressive display of vintage baseball cards and finally a looping video of the famous Abbott and Costello comedy routine, "Who's On First?"

Walking down to the first floor, a visitor quickly understands the wisdom of visiting there last. One descends onto Inductee Row showing displays with that year's newly enshrined HOF members. This year's group was comprised of the durable and multi-talented player Andre Dawson, manager Whitey Herzog and umpire Doug Harvey, who reverently was nicknamed "God." A stop there is merely a warmup for the mecca around the corner--the Hall of Fame Plaque Gallery. A visitor is greeted by a high-ceilinged room with orderly plaques along both walls, funneling into a windowed rotunda in the back with the first class of inductees and statues of two of baseballs most hallowed stars: Babe Ruth and Ted Williams. One could easily spend hours reviewing the plagues, which are categorized by year of induction. A synposis of each player's career and reason for entering the Hall accompanies their likeness.

The first floor also houses rooms called, "Baseball at the Movies"; "Scribes and Mikesmen"; the "Bullpen Theater"; "Sandlot Kids' Clubhouse" and the A. Bartlett Giamatti Research Center.

Should you decide to visit Cooperstown, here are a few tips that will make the trip easier and more memorable. First, purchase tickets online prior to your visit in order to avoid the very long line out front. Once inside the museum, be sure to get a stamp that will allow you to leave and wander along the town's idlyllic streets and then visit the museum again later in the day. Lastly, in order to savor the past luxury of America's Guilded Age, take a ten-minute walk from the HOF and have an alfresco lunch on the patio at the Otesaga Resort Hotel's Hawkeye Bar & Grill with a spectacular view of Otsego Lake. Boats laze across the lake's surface and serve up an unhurried backdrop to the meal.

The panoramaic landscape overlooking the lake is only enhanced by the fine sterling silver cutlery, exquisite  china and locally provisioned vegetables, dairy products and meats. A less generous diner might call one dish on the menu a grilled cheese sandwich. In point of fact, it is locally raised bacon, heirloom tomatoes and Super Sharp New York Cheddar cheese on soughdough bread.

The sandwich was phenomenal. The view easily exceeded the food.

 

Top

---

Friday, July 23, 2010

WELCOME TO THE SPA!

SARATOGA SPRINGS--Hope and bankrolls spring eternal when they throw open the gates on Union Avenue to celebrate New York racing's gift to itself: today marks the 142nd consecutive year that horses have competed at Saratoga.

With one of the deepest jockey colonies in memory, an über-competitive training title up for grabs and full fields racing up to 11 times on each for the next 40 days, Saratoga is a welcome reprieve from some of the storm clouds that threaten the thoroughbred horizon here and across the country. None of those problems matter, though, as America's oldest racetrack welcomes the world.

This afternoon's traditional feature, the 92nd running of the Grade 3, $100,000 Schuylerville for two-year-old filles, has drawn a quality field of seven (including an entry, although Final Mesa is expected to be scratched in favor of stablemate Spa Sunrise). The delight in meetings like Saratoga, however, is the fact the the two races carded immeidately prior to the Schulyerville would qualify as the feature race at most any other racetrack.

The Seventh race is a 5-1/2-furlong, $50,000 dash for two-year-old filles. The trainers (Lukas, Kimmel, Asmussen, Mott, Pletcher, etc.), jockeys (Borel, Garcia, Prado, Dominguez, Maragh, Albarado, Desormeaux, Valazquez), and sires (Distorted Humor, With Distinction, Forestry, Halo's Image, Cozzene, Mr. Greeley, Leestown) comprise a list that wouldn't look out of place hanging of a wall across Union Avenue at the Racing Hall of Fame. Most of these fillies are first-time starters that could turn out to be any kind of runner or broodmare. Watching them in the paddock is one of life's great gifts.

This afternoon's Eighth race is the $75,000 James Marvin Stakes for older horses going seven furlongs. The lightly raced, highly regarded Vineyard Haven should be the favorite. It's not often on an undercard that horses like Cool Coal Man, Fresian Fire and Half Metal Jacket go to the post against an odds-on contender.

So, for the next 40 days racing fans can relax, scan the SAR entries for promising two-year-olds and dirt-to-turf runners and remember all the reasons that make horseracing such a rewarding and intriguing passion for us all.

If you happen to leave the track with a few extra dollars in your pocket, simply smile knowing that Siro's is a short walk from the clubhouse.

 

Top

---

Wednesday, June 09, 2010

THE MTG "FAMILY" HAS HANDICAPPING TALENT....!!!!

 

Top

---

Saturday, May 22, 2010

WANT TO MAKE $1,500 AT THE TRACK?

OCEANPORT, NJ--As racing fans and MTG owners know, trying to make money at the racetrack can be a tough row to hoe. Current economic pressures transcend the business world and cast a long shadow from the backstretch to the finish line. Those who profit at the track, whether as owners or bettors, usually do so due to a combination of tenacity, foresight and perhaps a little touch of luck. Syndicates like MTG offer a way for the average fan to participate in racing by sharing the cost of horse ownership among several like-minded people.

Monmouth Park has thrown down the gauntlet by reducing the number of races that will be run at the venerable track (they've been racing at the New Jersey location since 1870) while dramatically increasing the purse structure. Beginning today, Monmouth will offer $1 Million each day that they race.

The track faces more pressure than most because it of its proximity to Atlantic City. Monmouth is a beautiful, seaside racetrack located "down the shore" so it must compete with casinos and beaches for entertainment dollars. In the most densely populated state in the nation, the track faces the same obstacles as places like Churchill Downs, Santa Anita and Belmont--fewer people attending live racing and a dip in overall handle.

Monmouth devised an ingenious strategy that reflects both a battered economy and also the European approach to racing. Instead of running a steady stream of mundane races, they've decided to mirror how meets are conducted overseas by running three-day schedules throughout the summer. They'll run 50 dates while offering $50 Million in purses. That is an astounding figure. In this case, less might be more.

Today's 13-race opening card has two $100,000 races, two $80,000 events (one each on dirt and turf) and two $75,000 maiden races. The lowest purse offered will be in the second race, a $30,000 claiming event.

Every horse that competes at Monmouth this summer will be guaranteed $1,500 for the simple act of breaking from the starting gate. Such a rich purse structure has attracted top talent--Garrett Gomez moves his tack from Elmont, NY, down the Jersey Turnpike on those days when they race. The smallest field today lists 7 horses, but most races are full fields. Running $75,000 maiden races has that effect on horsemen and horsewomen.

"Business as usual" no longer exists in horseracing. Owners, trainers and fans from the Bluegrass to Oak Tree are struggling to keep the sport solvent and current. Monmouth Park is to be commended for boldly embracing a concept that is equally ambitious and creative.

Horseracing fans throughout America will watch this summer's Monmouth Park meet with rapt attention. The Keenelands, Del Mars and Saratogas of the world may have been eclipsed for now by a picturesque oval in a place that had been better known for images of The Sopranos, big hair, salt water taffy and casinos.

Monmouth just might prove to be the salvation of East Coast racing.

Top

---

Saturday, May 08, 2010

TRIPLE CALVIN

NEW YORK--Calvin Borel's masterful recent rides in the Derby are astonishing on many levels. His domination of the first leg of the Triple Crown since getting a leg up on Street Sense in 2007 is unprecedented. No rider in the history of America's favorite horserace has enjoyed a four-year span in which he has found himself atop the winner three times.

Borel uses his knowledge of the Churchill surface to his advantage, finding the rail as early in the race as possible and scooting around the track ahead of the field. It's a clever, effective strategy in Louisville.

However, as Ray Kerrison points out in the New York Post, Borel hasn't enjoyed nearly as much success in the last two Triple Crown races or at tracks other than Churchill. He did manage to win last year's Preakness Stakes on Rachel Alexandra, but has not had success in Triple Crown races with either of his two previous Derby winners, Street Sense (Preakness) or Mine That Bird (Belmont).

Last year's Belmont loss on Mine That Bird was a particularly stark example of the jockey's inability to replicate the Churchill magic when riding away from the Twin Spires. After having guaranteed victory, he didn't seek out any mounts earlier in the week and rode the colt to an uncharacteristically dull performance over Belmont's deep, sandy track.

When Borel rode upstate at Saratoga last summer, he posted a 2-for-45 record. East on I-64 from Churchill this spring, he achieved a 1-for-13 record at Keeneland.

But there is no disputing the fact that he seems to have figured out a formula for winning the Derby. If he can manage to devise a way to win in Baltimore and New York on Super Saver, then Calvin would catapult his reputation into the stratosphere. His accomplishments would be mindboggling--winner of three Kentucky Derbies, six Triple Crown races and one Triple Crown in a four-year period.

Should Super Saver win in Baltimore, then Borel travels north to Belmont with a chance to enter the conversation as among the greatest Triple Crown jockeys ever. For a jockey to win a Triple Crown and three  Classics with four different horses during such a short period of time would be uncharted success.

New York looms large even if Borel is successful in the Preakness, though. Midway, Kentucky's favorite son, Woodford C. Stephens, cackled it best: "The buildings get awfully tall once you cross the Hudson."

Top

---

Monday, May 03, 2010

EUROSTEEL BREAKS MAIDEN WITH A WIN BY 5 1/2

Top

---

Thursday, April 22, 2010

DERBY TALK ON THE SIDEWALKS OF NEW YORK

NEW YORK--There is only one race that could possibly elicit this scene.

Three guys stop on the sidewalk near the Diamond District on a beautiful Thursday afternoon to talk horses. One guy is a white-collar executive from Long Island who likes the favorite, another guy is a solid blue-collar horse player from New Jersey who is sure that Pletcher will surely win his first Derby this year and the last dude is a consultant from Kentucky who knows that Derby horses traditionally run the race like they train at Churchill.

Sure, fans talk excitedly about the Super Bowl or World Series prior to those events. Only horseracing encourages even casual fans to watch the prep races, look at the owner/trainer/jocky combinations and study the DRF before they declare with extreme prejudice..."Here's who I like!"

There is no other horse race in the world that brings together three guys on a street corner to spend 20 minutes talking about a race 10 days in advance as the world rushes by.

Other than the Derby, who would care?

 

Top

---

Friday, April 09, 2010

LET'S GO MAMBO ROMPS TO 5 3/4 LENGTH MSW VICTORY!

Lucky number nine.  Nine lives?  No, nine races. Let's Go Mambo made his ninth career start the "charm" on...April 9th, 2010 in a nine horse field.  He had five previous second place finishes, one third and one fourth prior to his 5 3/4 length victory.  He won under a handride and galloped out impressively to crush a nine horse maiden special field.   

The son of Black Mambo, who died of EPM complications last year, stalked the frontrunner, took over, and never looked back.  Jockey Jareth Loveberry said he could have won by ten or twelve lengths.

Congrats, beautiful horse!  We adore your class, your heart and your style!!

Top

---

Saturday, April 03, 2010

WOOD ANYONE CARE?

NEW YORK--Today's $750,000 Wood Memorial headlines a stellar racing card at Aqueduct and will help determine the Derby aspirations of two talented colts. It just might also offer the last opportunity for New Yorkers to stroll into a neighborhood OTB parlor and place a wager on a meaningful race for quite some time.

Eskendereya deservedly enjoys top billing over Awesome Act in the Wood, with a juicy undercard comprised of the BayShore (Eightyfiveinafifty poised snugly on the rail), Excelsior and Carter Handicap. The weather is spectacular after storms deluged the northeast earlier in the week so today's track should be clear and fast.

Rather than bore with details about the latest ill wind that blows the mental tumbleweed that is New York City OTB, those interested should read today's "DRF Weekend" piece by Matt Hegarty. The troubled betting operation is slated to close next Sunday for myriad reasons. With the legislature in Albany scheduled to adjourn on April 7th, it's a real possibility that nothing will be resolved before next weekend.

Today, however, Aqueduct hosts New York's last prep race for the Derby. The small field is talented--besides Eskendereya and Awesome Act, Jackson Bend picks up last year's Derby-winning jockey and could thrust himself into prominence with a strong performance. Any horse that is trained by Nick Zito and ridden by Calvin Borel must be respected.

The favorite's performance in the Fountain of Youth set the standard for this year's hopeful Derby runners. Eskendereya bounded to the front and drew off impressively at Gulfstream to post a Beyer of 106. Still, he needs a first- or second-place performance in the Wood to ensure himself a berth in the Derby. With Lookin At Lucky racing today in the Santa Anita Derby but already assured a spot in Louisville, a strong performance here could make Eskendereya the favorite on May 1.

In the 7th race at Aqueduct, Eightyfiveinafifty will try to rebound from his equipment malfunction in the Whirlaway and conquer five foes in the BayShore. Attempting seven furlongs from the rail, Eightyfiveinafifty boasts four bullet works for trainer Gary Contessa. Hurricane Ike has drawn quite of bit of interest shipping in from California and might close in the stretch if he takes to dirt in his first attempt on that surface.

Since this could be the last chance to enjoy the sights and smells of an OTB for some time, I'll make it a New York morning by going to the 36-story roof deck in the Murray Hill neighborhood in Manhattan, spend some time finalizing my wagers while I enjoy lox and a bagel with a schmear, then schlep to the OTB parlor on 45th Street & Third Avenue to invest my money.

One month 'til the Derby. Nothing--not even the sorry states of OTB and New York racing--can diminish the anticipation and glee that comes from a competitive Derby prep at the track, $2 in your pocket and a charmless OTB on the corner.

 

Top

---

Sunday, March 14, 2010

MTG HITS THE BOARD IN FOUR OF FIVE RACES THIS WEEK

Top

Next »

Last »»

Records 1 to 10 of 41