Value Tech Blog

I’ll Have Another Headed to Pimlico
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/69600/ill-have-another-headed-to-pimlico

Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner I’ll Have Another departed Churchill Downs at 1:19 p.m. May 7 and was taken to nearby Louisville International Airport for a flight to Baltimore, Md., where he will contest the May 19 Preakness Stakes (gr. I).

Upon arrival, the Flower Alley   colt trained by Doug O’Neill for owner Paul Reddam will be escorted from the airport to Barn D on the Pimlico Racecourse backstretch by the Baltimore City Police Department.

I’ll Have Another’s arrival at Pimlico for the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown will be the earliest by a Kentucky Derby winner in many years.

Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology

Good news from this year’s Derby!

Kentucky Derby sets attendance, betting records
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/horseracing/12404292-419/kentucky-derby-sets-attendance-betting-records.html

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Churchill Downs was a financial winner as Kentucky Derby week set more records for attendance and betting.

Derby week earnings before taxes and other accounting measures increased about $4.5 million to $5.5 million compared with last year, The Courier-Journal reported. The total amount made by the company from Derby week isn’t disclosed, but when combined with previous announcements, Derby week profits are up almost $15 million from 2008.

Churchill drew a record Derby crowd of 165,307 on Saturday and the second-largest crowd for the Kentucky Oaks at 112,552 the day before.

Churchill CEO Robert L. Evans said that handle on the Derby alone was up 19 percent from last year, to $133.1 million

Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology

Suffolk Downs, Horsemen Agree on Contract
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/69630/suffolk-downs-horsemen-agree-on-contract

After months of wrangling over minor details in the contract for the 2012 live meet that begins June 2, Suffolk Downs and the New England Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association have reached an agreement.

According to a source close to the negotiations, the deal calls for the Massachusetts racetrack to maintain a minimum of $8.25 million in purses over 80 days of live racing. The daily overnight purse distribution of $103,125 would be the same that was paid last year.

Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology

Delaware Park reaches agreement with horsemen
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/national-news/2012/05/08/delaware-park-reaches-agreement-with-horsemen.aspx

Delaware Park and the Delaware Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association (DTHA) signed a one-year agreement last week, in time for opening day of the 2012 season this Saturday. “Of course our horsemen are relieved to have a contract in place to eliminate the uncertainty of purse levels and race days,” Madeline Locke, president of the DTHA, said.

Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology

Preakness Notes: Large Field Expected
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/69625/preakness-notes-large-field-expected

I’ll Have Another is the first Kentucky Derby winner in more than a decade to ship into Pimlico within a week of the race in Louisville. Since O’Neill is based in California and he does not have a division stabled in Kentucky, he decided to send his Derby winner straight to Baltimore and give him plenty of time to adjust to a new track.

Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology

On to the Preakness for I’ll Have Another
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/05/06/2786714/on-to-the-preakness-for-ill-have.html

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Doug O’Neill spent all evening celebrating I’ll Have Another’s victory in the Kentucky Derby, finally returning to his hotel room about 2 a.m. Sunday.

The party began at the trainer’s barn at Churchill Downs, moved to a charity dinner and ended up at a downtown hotel where the colt’s owner, J. Paul Reddam, had reserved the 25th floor for about 100 people.

As O’Neill walked to his room, he saw dozens of morning newspapers lining the hallway. The bold black headline blared, “I’ll Have Another!” with a huge photo of the chestnut colt edging past Bodemeister to win the Derby by 1 1/2 lengths.

Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology

Police: Body found at Kentucky Derby track – Horse Racing – MiamiHerald.com
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/05/06/2786162/police-person-found-dead-at-ky.html

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Police say a body has been found in the backside area at Churchill Downs, a few barns away from where Kentucky Derby winner I’ll Have Another is kept.

Louisville police spokeswoman Alicia Smiley says authorities were called early Sunday morning to a barn on the backside of the track where the derby took place the night before.

Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology

Negativity surrounding horse racing must stop – DailyHerald.com
http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20120505/sports/705059782/

On this day, overcast skies above Arlington Park couldn’t cast a pall over the track specifically or the sport generally.

In the coming months around here there also will be the Arlington Million and around the country the other Triple Crown and the Breeders’ Cup races. The rest of the time the sport is dominated by gloom and doom regardless of the weather.

Ask the average person on the street about horse racing and he or she probably thinks it’s dying if not dead already. The staff at Arlington accentuates the positive, but sometimes they don’t have enough fingers to plug the holes.

There are enough crises, scandals and controversies annually to last a lifetime, which has to be depressing for such a great product conducted in such beautiful venues like Arlington.

Good things are happening in horse racing but too much of it is obscured by bickering, protesting and disputing.

Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology

Jockeys lament losing Kentucky Derby run | NOLA.com
http://www.nola.com/horseracing/index.ssf/2012/05/jockeys_lament_losing_kentucky.html

LOUISVILLE, KY. — As usual after a Derby, some jockeys who rode losing horses were lamenting their misfortune.

Union Rags, who was the second choice in the betting behind Bodemeister, fell far behind early before rallying to finish seventh.

“He broke a step slow, and he usually breaks well from the gate,” said Julien Leparoux, who rode Union Rags. “Then we got bumped, and we dropped far back. After the first turn and on the backside, I tried to find room inside, but I had nowhere to go where I can make a move.”

Dullahan rallied to finish third for Louisiana-born jockey Kent Desormeaux. “He was starting to get disgruntled because of all the sand he had eaten,” Desormeaux said. “I was encouraging him to go faster, but he was slowing down. When I made my move turning for home, two horses peeled out in front of me, and I ended up going nine wide.”

John Velazquez, who rode fourth-place finisher Went the Day Well, said he broke slowly. 

Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology

Kentucky Derby day sets records for handle, attendance – Thoroughbred Times
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/national-news/2012/05/05/derby-handle-attendance.aspx

It was a record-breaking 138th running of the $2-million Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) on Saturday as a crowd of 165,307, the largest in history, gathered on a beautiful day at Churchill Downs to watch Reddam Racing’s California-based I’ll Have Another rally to defeat favored Bodemeister and win the roses that go to the winner of America’s greatest race.   The on-track attendance erased the previous record of 164,858 that was established just last year. The record attendance prior to 2011 was the crowd of 163,628 who gathered for the 100th Kentucky Derby in 1974.

Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology