It's full steam ahead
Racing's future in WA has taken a step forward with further approvals for Perth Racing's multi-million dollar plans to redevelop the Belmont Park racing complex near the Burswood Casino on the Swan River.
And Perth Racing is close to having its Ascot Vale development of 50 residential lots being available for sale.
Perth Racing chief executive Alasdair Robertson said yesterday it was an extra income source other than the traditional funding for TAB profits that would protect the racing industry in the future.
"Any proceeds from the proposed redevelopment are reinvested in our core business, thoroughbred racing, through the disposal of our surplus assets (land)," Robertson said. "What that figure will be remains to be seen. If all approvals are given, Perth Racing can then look at options of being the developer or taking in partners."
Robertson said the new plans scaled down the number of dwellings from 4000 in the original plans to 2500 with mixed use of residential and commercial property in order to comply with the requirements of public open space from the Swan River Trust.
He said the new plans had the approval of the Swan River Trust, the Town of Victoria Park and the WA Planning Commission.
"The public and private open space is more than 150 per cent (compared to the developed space) and we think there is no other development in the world with that figure," he said.
Under the plans, the Belmont racetrack would not move but would have a minor change in the position of the 1000m chute. The grandstand would be completely refurbished.
"If the EPA is happy, we can start the refurbishment of the grandstand in the off season," Robertson said.
Racing returns to Ascot in October.
"After fruitful meetings with the bodies concerned we feel we are getting closer to the go-ahead," he added. "We have had the endorsement of the scheme from various authorities and now we need the Environmental Planning Authority to determine if a formal assessment is needed.
"These are all requirements to get the land use changed to urban."
PR's announcement means that prize money can be further boosted from the current city minimum of $50,000 and keep pace with the increases announced yesterday by Racing Victoria Ltd.
RVL said Victorian racing would get an extra $23.6 million and minimum city stakes would rise from $60,000 to $70,000 over the next two seasons.
RVL said the first stage was to meet industry needs and boost prize money for country and midweek and city night meetings.
From the start of the new season, the country minimum would increase from $9000 to $10,500 and midweeks from $25,000 to $27,500.
From next February, country stakes would go to $12,000 with $15,000 for Thursday and premium Sunday meetings. The city midweeks would go to $30,000 and Saturday's to $70,000.
RVL acting chief executive Bernard Saundry said the efficiency savings announced in May by RVL would be directed to prize money. "We have paid special attention to bolstering funding for country racing, where nearly 60 per cent of the additional money is being allocated," Saundry said.
"The significant weighting of prize money increases in the country is in direct response to the representations made by Country Racing Victoria and industry stakeholders.
"While RVL is cognisant of the changing wagering landscape, this plan is to ensure the continued growth of Victorian country racing, both in the metropolitan and country areas."
(c) West Australian Newspapers Limited 2008
Hollywood Park makes the grade
The $750,000 American Oaks is not the only Grade I being offered Saturday at Hollywood Park.
The 11-race program also includes the $300,000 Vanity and the $300,000 Triple Bend.
Zenyatta, a 4-year-old Street Cry filly, will be heavily favored in the Vanity as she seeks to remain undefeated for owners Jerry and Ann Moss and trainer John Shirreffs.
A three-time winner in Inglewood, Zenyatta, whose last victory came in the Milady Handicap on May 31, will carry topweight of 124 pounds, three more than likely second betting choice Tough Tiz's Sis, in the 1 1/8 -mile race.
In the seven-furlong Triple Bend, Street Boss will be looking for his fourth consecutive victory and his most significant against six opponents.
Trained by Bruce Headley for a partnership that includes his wife Aase, Marsha Naify and Bluegate Corporation, Street Boss overcame a troubled beginning to win the Los Angeles Handicap in his graded stakes debut May 10.
David Flores will ride the 4-year-old son of Street Cry, who is a neck away from being perfect in five 2008 outings.
Elite Squadron, Desert Code, Tropic Storm, High Standards, Global Hunter and Medzendeekron complete the field.
Race of the day: Tale Of The West, who has won her first two races by a combined 11 3/4 lengths, will make her first appearance in a graded stakes in the $250,000 Prioress at Belmont Park. Eibar Coa will ride the 3-year-old daughter of Tale Of The Cat for owner Gulf Coast Farms and trainer Todd Pletcher in the Grade I at six furlongs. The field includes four other last-out winners -- Honest To Betsy, Indian Way, By The Light and Palanka City -- plus Indian Blessing, the 2-year-old filly champion of 2007.
One for the road: Theregoesjojo was impressive winning at first asking over the track and can repeat in the $150,000 Bashford Manor at Churchill Downs. Robby Albarado takes over on the 2-year-old Brahms colt for owners Samotowka Stables LLC and trainer Ken McPeek in the Grade III at six furlongs. The Bashford Manor is the 10th race on the program.
Exotically speaking: An early pick four using Matty's G Force in the first, Bettin And Sweatin, Stomp Dance, Waive Liability and Self Insured in the second, Azul Leon, Let'spickupthepace and Fassnacht in the third and Comoros, Mind The Minister and Tycoon Doby in the fourth.
Winners: (previous day/meet total): 1/132 Money (previous day/meet total): $4.60/$771.20. Total money bet: $918.
(c) 2008 Los Angeles Times
New York legislator Bruno will not seek re-election
Thoroughbred racing officials in New York praised Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno on Tuesday for his lifetime contributions to the sport but expressed concern about what his absence will mean to the industry.
Bruno, 79 (R-Brunswick), whose district includes Saratoga Race Course, announced late Monday that he will not seek re-election this fall. Senate Republicans on Tuesday chose a new majority leader, Senator Dean Skelos of Nassau County, Long Island.
Bruno was a major player in countless key racing decisions such as the February 13 approval of the New York Racing Association's new 25-year franchise agreement.
"He's racing's strongest advocate in state government without a doubt," said John Hendrickson, husband of philanthropist and Whitney Stables owner Marylou Whitney. "He'll still be the go-to man on racing issues whether he's senator or not. He'll still have a lot of influence on racing."
Bruno already has tabbed Hendrickson as one of his two picks for the new NYRA board, which has not organized yet. Albany businessman John Nigro is the other.
"Joe has a passion for racing," said Jack Knowlton, managing general partner of Sackatoga Stable, which owns 2003 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Funny Cide. "He was part of Funny Cide's retirement ceremonies last summer at Saratoga. He was always proud that a locally-owned, locally-bred horse was champion. That was something that really kind of brought us together.
More importantly, he understands the importance of racing and breeding to his district and all of upstate New York. It's going to be a huge gap to try to fill."
On Monday, for example, Bruno wanted funding for a Cornell University equine drug-testing program added to legislation approving technical amendments to NYRA's new franchise agreement. He also sought more funding for breeders and the creation of a community-based advisory board that would provide input on Belmont Park operations.
However, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, did not want those "add-ons" included.
"These are important issues," Bruno spokesman Scott Reif said. "We'll save that fight for another day."
The priority, he said, was getting NYRA's legislation approved, which is needed to help it emerge from bankruptcy.
"If we're going to clean up the sport, it's going to take money," Knowlton said. "Joe was a big supporter of that. I don't know if anyone else has the interest, capability or knowledge to bring racing issues to the forefront."
Horsemen and breeding program leaders praised Bruno for helping them get higher shares of projected Aqueduct gaming revenues.
"That will result in millions of extra dollars over the length of the contract," said Rick Violette, a prominent trainer and president of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association. "He stood fast and firm behind the horsemen. He leaves very big shoes to fill."
Martin Kinsella, head of the New York State Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund, said Bruno has been a good friend to the breeding industry.
"He's one of the few people in the legislature who understood the role of breeding and its importance as a cog in racing's wheel," Kinsella said. "He was an ally."
Bruno also fought to get video lottery terminals at Belmont Park in addition to Aqueduct. He argued that gaming is needed at both tracks in order to generate enough money to keep New York racing competitive.
"That would be a monumental win for the racing and breeding industry in New York if that were to happen," Knowlton said, adding that Belmont has vast acreage whose potential is widely underutilized.
Silver, however, blocked VLTs at Belmont, saying that the New York marketplace would be oversaturated with gaming.
"Joe took a strong stand," Knowlton said. "Unfortunately, he didn't win on that one. It's an opportunity lost. I doubt if anybody's going to be able to pick up the ball on that."
(c) 2008, Thoroughbred Times
Mauralakana tries to continue roll at Belmont Park
Mauralakana, who has won three of four for a new trainer in 2008, will look for her second win in four tries at Belmont Park on Saturday in the $250,000 New York.
Owned by Robert Scarborough, the 5-year-old Muhtathir mare has lost only once -- and she finished second on that occasion -- since joining the barn of Christophe Clement.
A French bred, Mauralakana has won three in a row, including the Sheepshead Bay, a Grade II, in her return to Belmont on May 24. She won by three lengths as the 17-10 favorite and did so without being asked for her best coming to the finish.
Kent Desormeaux, who rode the bay for the first time last month, retains the mount in the Grade II at 1 1/4 miles on turf.
The New York also features the U.S. debut of Dynaforce, a 5-year-old Dynaformer owned by breeder John Chandler and trained by Bill Mott. She won three of seven in France and will race on Lasix for the first time Saturday. Dynaforce, who was second in a Group II at Deauville in her last start on Aug. 19, 2007, will be ridden by John Velazquez.
Race of the day: Call Me Larry, who won in his first start for trainer Michael Hushion on May 17, will be aiming for his third victory in five career races in the sixth at Belmont. The optional claimer for New York breds at seven furlongs is significant because it is the first leg of the inaugural 60 Minute Six. The new $2 wager requires a player to pick the winners of six races at four different tracks -- Belmont, Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., Delaware Park and Philadelphia Park -- in a span of one hour. The wager has a guaranteed pool of $100,000.
One for the road: Dark Matter is better than shown and could improve off the claim in the fourth race at Golden Gate Fields. David Lopez will ride the 3-year-old Alphabet Soup gelding for owners Ed and Theresa DeNike and trainer Lloyd Mason in the $32,000 maiden claimer at one mile on the turf. Mason claimed Dark Matter for $20,000 out of a sixth-place finish in his first on the lawn on May 17.
Exotically speaking: An early pick four using Gregorian Bay and Pointing Star in the first, Sweepmeup in the second, all in the third and Lauren C, King City Kitty and Msty Aly in the fourth.
(c) 2008 Los Angeles Times
Horses closely monitored from birth to racetrack
When Mien, the mother of Triple Crown contender Big Brown, was brought recently to Hill 'n' Dale Farm in Lexington, Ky., to be bred, the staff had strewn the path to the mating shed with rose petals.
But for most thoroughbred racehorses, life is anything but romantic. Instead, from conception to the starting gate, their early years are controlled and calculated: Their first heartbeats as foals in utero are monitored; their every scoop of grain or flake of hay is measured; and their every second of exercise scheduled and recorded. Only then are they ready to race.
Breeding and birth
Unlike many other breeds that allow artificial insemination, thoroughbreds must be bred naturally, according to rules set by the Jockey Club, which keeps the registry of all thoroughbreds foaled in the United States. But if conception is natural, it is no less high-tech. Dan Rosenberg, who until this January was president of the renowned Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, Ky., and now runs a thoroughbred consulting company, said that at Three Chimneys, every broodmare's uterus and ovaries were regularly examined by ultrasound to calculate when she was 12 to 24 hours before ovulation - the best time for breeding. Stallions' daily sperm count also was tallied.
Gestation for horses is about 11 months, and most thoroughbreds are bred in the spring. So most foals are born in the spring. Rosenberg said that at Three Chimneys, pregnant mares had an ultrasound every month to track the growth of the foals. The birthing process is no less managed, with video cameras in the stalls so their owners can watch them off site and around-the-clock monitoring when the mare approaches labor. Once foals are born, their DNA is extracted, then sent to the Jockey Club to verify parentage.
First months
For the next five to six months, foals spend as much as 22 hours in the field with their mothers eating and cavorting.
Yet from Day 1, they are handled by people and taught to be groomed, wear a halter and be led, said Cot Campbell, president of Dogwood Stable in Aiken, S.C., which has about 65 racehorses. Then, usually in September, when they no longer need their mother's milk and can eat on their own, they are turned out in pastures and stabled without their mothers. Rick Schosberg of Muttontown, a trainer of about 30 horses at Belmont, likens this phase to nursery school. "They are learning to be without their mommies," he said.
'Finishing school'
Beginning the following spring, those yearlings bound for auctions such as Keeneland in July or Saratoga in August are prepared for sale, Rosenberg said. Sold based on their breeding and looks - not on their performance because they have not been ridden yet - they are kept inside during the day at Three Chimneys to keep their coats from being bleached by the sun and are "intensely groomed," he said. They are weighed once a month, their growth curve plotted and their grain and hay carefully adjusted. Auction-bound yearlings also get 20 to 30 minutes a day of forced exercise in a round pen, and grooms teach them how to walk "properly and briskly," Rosenberg said. "It's like a lesson in finishing school."
Beginning in July, many racehorses, then anywhere from 15 to 18 months old, are sent to training centers like Campbell's in South Carolina or Florida. Here, Campbell said, they are "gently" taught to be ridden and introduced to the starting gate. Initially, he said, riders walk them in groups around a field for about 30 minutes; gradually the time is extended and they are jogged, cantered and then galloped for short distance.
In the spring, those 2-year-olds deemed ready mentally and physically - X-rays usually are taken to see if growth plates in their knees are sufficiently fused - are sent to trainers to begin what Schosberg likened to high school: life on the track.
A racer's days
A racing thoroughbred's life is far from his bucolic beginnings.
Instead, they stay in a box stall most of the day except for their workouts. Their nutrition is scrupulously monitored: Horses in heavy training can eat 10 to 12 quarts or more of grain a day - usually a mixture of oats, molasses and beet pulp - plus a range of supplements. They are bathed regularly, their legs wrapped after a workout to prevent swelling and to support their ligaments and tendons. Many racehorses routinely are given acupuncture or massage therapy along with anti-inflammatory drugs and steroids. Their temperatures are taken once a day - normal is 99 to 101 degrees Fahrenheit - and more often if they have a cold. Sometimes a groom will hand graze them or they are walked in the shed rows. Otherwise, it's an intense, focused life in which everyone has one goal in mind: to win races.
"They're athletes," Schosberg said. "This is what they do for a living. We want to have them perform at their best - which is what they love."
Retirement
Regardless of whether he wins the Belmont Stakes on Saturday to become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978, Big Brown's retirement will be cushy. He likely will spend the rest of his life standing stud and grazing on bluegrass at Three Chimneys.
A tiny percentage live the life of a prized stallion: Rosenberg estimated about 25 out of about 17,500 colts born each year become "commercially viable" stallions and about half of fillies become broodmares. The vast majority of other racehorses - most of whom are retired by age 7 because of injuries or low winnings - face a far more uncertain future.
"What happens to them ranges from they go on to live the life of luxury, to being ridden as event horses, polo ponies or kids' horses," Rosenberg said. Some, he said - like 1986 Kentucky Derby winner Ferdinand, who died in a Japanese slaughterhouse in 2002 - are "neglected and abandoned."
(c) 2008, Newsday Inc
Belmont Park gate starters keep horses in line
It's like a waltz, what Roy Williamson does with horses.
Sean Avery (the colt, not the Ranger) is terrified of the starting gate, and his hide, a rich burnt sienna, is covered with a pasty film of sweat. He is stubborn and stronger than the three men trying to guide him in and, when he rears back, Williamson takes it as a cue: It's time to dance.
He slips what looks like a chain link around the horse's mouthpiece and pulls lightly. It's two steps back, then two steps forward, pressure and release, and Sean Avery follows. Soon, Williamson leads the subdued horse into the gate with little to-do. This was a practice run, but the hope is that when it's time to race, the colt will be ready.
"Any time we have to push a horse into a gate during a race, it's a failure for us," Williamson said.
Williamson is the Belmont Park starter - a sort of horse whisperer, though he isn't fond of the term - and his crew, more than a dozen assistants that man the gate at the start of a race and a number of trainers, have no stake in how any horse finishes. They get the horses in the gate and keep them calm and facing ahead in the key moments before the doors open.
"The horses are like time bombs ticking in there," said Robby Albarado, an 18-year racing veteran and rider of Curlin, the 2007 horse of the year. "It's very tense. It's a lot of energy and the horses are nervous, the jockeys are nervous."
And when a horse rears back and flips over, as happened a few times to Channing Hill, a 20-year-old jockey who has been riding professionally for two years, it could be chaos. Earlier in his career, Hill fractured his second vertebrae when an overexcited horse flipped and tossed him into the back door.
"The gate crew are a little like the rodeo clowns of the race," he said. "Their priority is safety.
"It really is the most important time in a race - how the horse is standing, if it's perfectly straight. If you get a good break, that could be the race."
After getting the horse in, the assistants, all wearing vests that protect their vital organs, clamber to the top of the gate and try to keep the horses' heads straight. Other gate assistants hold the horse's tail for distraction or place a firm hand on his rear to keep him from anticipating the door opening.
If the horse is waiting for the door, he's liable to act up and cause a dangerous situation for himself, the riders or gate crew.
"They're creatures of habit," Albarado said. "They're trained to run and when one starts acting up, the others will, too."
And every horse is different. Though he hasn't worked with Big Brown, Williamson said the horse bidding for the Triple Crown is known for being as even-keeled as they come. He accelerates quickly, almost like a car, and keeps it up. Young colts, he said, are like 16-year-old boys - rebellious and more than a little haughty. Young fillies, especially 2 year olds, are sweet and even-tempered, but won't even go near the gate their first time around.
The different horses mean different strategies. Williamson finds himself training the horses to think of him and his crew as the alpha horse - the leader to follow. Others require more nurturing, hugging and petting meant to remind the horse of his mother.
"You can walk up to horses and just know what they're thinking just by their eyes, their ears, the position of their mouth and the way they walk," he said. "You really have to take on the role of the leader of the herd. They don't trust the gate, but they trust the leader."
The gate crew puts most of its knowledge to work on one Saturday afternoon, patiently feeding horses into the gate. A few are agitated, including one, a gelding named Willsboro Point, who will have no part in the whole thing. He skillfully evades gate seven before three assistants cajole him into the stall and quickly close the doors behind him.
There's the clang of the door and in a flash all the horses leave the gate without incident. The job is over and the crew doesn't bother paying attention to the result: Willsboro Point, by a length.
(c) 2008, Newsday Inc.
There will be no schoolchildren sending cards for Eight Belles
5 hours ago
There won't be a dramatic fight for life this time around. No national day of mourning for a brave horse who wouldn't give up.
Schoolchildren won't be sending cards.
The people who cried for Eight Belles got it out of the way at the track. They had no choice, because the business of racing goes on.
She ran with the big boys in the race of her life. She ended up paying for it with her life.
One moment she was flying down the stretch at Churchill Downs racing against all odds to become the first filly to win the Kentucky Derby in 20 years. The next she was thrashing in the dirt, trying desperately to get up before the decision was made to spare both her and us any further misery.
Two years ago we were transfixed by the fight to save Barbaro, who became a national icon as he struggled to recover from injuries that eventually cost him his life. Two weeks from now they'll run the Preakness, and Eight Belles will barely get a mention.
Racing is a brutal business because it has to be. If we mourned every horse that lost its life early on the track or in the barn, we'd have no time left to cheer on those who can still run.
Barbaro was the exception, a horse and a story that allowed us to get all warm and fuzzy and forget for a time that these 450 kilogram beasts are bred and raised for maximum speed, not maximum life spans.
The cool efficiency that marked the end of Eight Belles was more the norm, a cruel reminder on the biggest of all stages that racing can be a deadly sport.
Say what you will about the sport of kings, but don't say they aren't prepared. They've done it enough to know the drill, and they performed it quickly enough so that the untimely demise of Eight Belles didn't interfere with Big Brown's victory ceremony or the hawking of tacos and fried chicken on television.
The equine ambulance came out, and screens were thrown up to spare the crowd from watching. The track veterinarian reached for the needle that is always nearby.
After all, they don't shoot horses anymore, do they?
The animal activists, of course, will raise an outcry over it all. They will call for a ban on the sport, and compare the fate of Eight Belles with that of the dogs Michael Vick and his cohorts euthanized in their own special ways.
Those in the industry, meanwhile, will debate what it all means, a process that had already begun Sunday morning in the stables at the famed track. Trainers talked how horses are bred too fragile these days for the stress that running around a track at more than 70 kilometres an hour with someone clinging to your back causes, and how synthetic tracks might or might not help save some of them.
Most came to the same conclusion: Breakdowns and deaths have always been and will always be a part of the sport.
"No matter what happens, you're always going to see horses break down on the track. That is part of this game. It's a very sad part of the game, but you have to go through it," said Big Brown trainer Rick Dutrow Jr., who should have been spending the day celebrating his horse's big win. "For people coming out to the track and seeing that, it's got to make them think, 'Man, why would I want to go out there and see that happen to a horse?'
"It's got to be very disappointing to anyone who loves horses."
Fellow trainer Nick Zito was just as philosophical.
"It was a very unfortunate thing yesterday, but again, in sports it happens a lot at high levels," Zito said. "People get hurt, people lose their careers."
People do, and sometimes they die, too. They are killed crashing cars into each other on the racetrack, or trading punches in the ring.
I've been at fights and watched it happen, and it's a horror show. But I've never seen anyone euthanized or put to sleep or laid down, or whatever euphemism you want to use to describe what the vet was forced to do to Eight Belles.
It may happen all the time in racing - indeed, three horses were killed in one day at the Breeders' Cup in 1990 - but when it happens on such a public stage for the second time in two years it becomes increasingly hard to watch a race just for the thrill of it all. The popularity of horse racing has been in a long decline to begin with, and having horses die in the dirt isn't exactly a recipe for bringing fans back to the track.
For now, though, the sport goes on. Eight Belles was a casualty, but unlike Barbaro she was disposed of quickly and now the focus of the sport will turn to the chances of Big Brown doing what hasn't been done in 30 years.
A lot of people in racing who watched Big Brown come from all the way outside to win the Derby think he could become the first horse since Affirmed in 1978 to win the Triple Crown.
Many just hope that he finishes the Preakness and the Belmont still standing on all four legs.
Copyright (c) 2008 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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