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Christie says he wants to save N.J. horse racing industry, but not with state subsidies

Posted on October 19, 2010 in Uncategorized by Michael Pizzolla Comments are off

 

At least both ‘sides’ are in support of thoroughbred racing. Whether it takes public or private investment is a debate that will not end with New Jersey. Here’s an excerpt from the article on nj.com:

Christie says he wants to save N.J. horse racing industry, but not with state subsidies

PHILADELPHIA — Gov. Chris Christie today said he appreciates a new plan advanced by Democrats to revamp casinos and horse racing in New Jersey, and said he’d like to save horse racing as long as the state doesn’t subsidize it.
 “I want horse racing to continue in New Jersey,” Christie said at a campaign appearance for Pennsylvania Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett. “If there’s a model that doesn’t require government money, I’m sure we’ll be able to work it out. I appreciate the proposal the Democrats made. I think there’s a lot of similarities between the two and we’ll be able to work it out.”

 

 

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Equibase reports a decline in betting handle and purses in September 2010

Posted on October 8, 2010 in Uncategorized by Michael Pizzolla Comments are off

Equibase reported on Wednesday, October 7, 2010 that handle and purses declined 12.5 percent in September.

The number of racing days fell from 545 last year to 477 in 2010. 

The combination of the reduction in the foal crop and the urge to cut expenses by track management may be an ongoing challenge for the industry.

Betting dollars declined 6.4 percent, from 883.5 million last year to 826.7 million this year. On the bright side, Equibase reported that the average bet per race rose from 1.62 million to $1.73 million. 

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Hollywood Unnecessarily Embellishes the Real Tale of Secretariat

Posted on October 8, 2010 in Uncategorized by Michael Pizzolla Comments are off

From Fanhouse.com, a review of the new Secretariat movie. I saw Secretariat run in several of his races, and I was there sitting near the finish line when he won the 1973 Belmont. My concern was that Disney would take liberties with the Secretariat story for the sake of Hollywood script considerations. That concern was well founded. The more things change, the more they remain the same…    

Secretariat was not Pegasus.

On the day he died in 1989 at 19 years old at Claiborne Farm in Kentucky, a necropsy performed by University of Kentucky veterinary scientist Dr. Thomas Swerczek revealed that Secretariat's heart was roughly twice the size of a normal horse's heart. It was little wonder then how Secretariat 16 years earlier pulled off a feat that hadn't been witnessed in nearly half a century, and did so with a domination that theretofore could only be imagined: he won the 1973 Triple Crown while setting course records in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont that still stand.

The truth, however, wasn't good enough for the director of Secretariat, the movie about the horse's spectacular run scheduled to debut Friday. For Randall Wallace, who grew up steeped in Baptist churches in the South and majored in religion at Duke, Secretariat was bathed in divine intervention. Indeed, one of the turning points in the film — as if the greatest racehorse, with literally the biggest heart, needed one — is when Secretariat's owner Penny Chenery (played by Diane Lane, photo below) and groom Eddie Sweat (played by Nelsan Ellis) wash him down after a rare loss to the tune of the Edwin Hawkins Singers' hit soul gospel Oh Happy Day. It's the one with the refrain, "When Jesus washed, he washed my sins away."

I don't know what the sin was, or who the sinners were, in Secretariat's biography. 

For the rest of the article, go to http://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/2010/10/07/hollywood-unnecessarily-embellishes-the-real-tale-of-secretariat/

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Santa Anita New Dirt Surface Due December 6th

Posted on October 1, 2010 in Uncategorized by Michael Pizzolla Comments are off

Santa Anita to Begin Pro-Ride Removal Oct. 11

While track officials and horsemen make their final decisions on the composition of Santa Anita's new dirt racing surface, crews are to begin removal of the existing Pro-Ride synthetic material Oct. 11.

It is estimated the new main track will be ready for training by Dec. 6, according to a statement released by Santa Anita Sept. 30. The traditional winter/spring meeting is to begin on Dec. 26.

“Our Chairman, Frank Stronach, has made it abundantly clear that Santa Anita will install a state of the art, all natural dirt surface, that our best customers feel most comfortable with and that a majority of our owners, jockeys and horsemen feel more comfortable competing on,” said George Haines, Santa Anita president. For the rest of the story: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/59141/santa-anita-to-begin-pro-ride-removal-oct-11

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Don’t Go To Santa Anita on September 30, 2010: And A Serious Issue For Computer Handicapping

Posted on September 19, 2010 in Uncategorized by Michael Pizzolla 1 Comment

Along with the humorous story about the needless drive, this is a real issue for the developers of online past performances (see posttimedaily.com) and handicapping software (for example http://www.blackmagichandicapping.com). How is this to be designated in the past performances? When the Oak Tree meet ran, there was a change in the designation of the track in the past performances to OSA. Even though it was the same track, same surface. Yet, it required creating a new track abbreviation, and updates to all software using the old SA abbreviation.

Now what? SAH: Santa Anita at Hollywood? OSAH? Oak Tree Meet, Santa Anita, At Hollywood? 

Whatever it is, it will be another new abbreviation, adding further confusion, especially to the newer fan and handicapper. Which is what the sport must attract to keep viable, right? And all software must be changed. Again and again. 

How about just leaving it alone and using the abbreviation of the track at which the horses are running? If they're running at Hollywood, designate it as Hollywood. HOL. Full stop. If they're running on the Santa Anita track, it's SA. Period. The racing fan and bettor couldn't care less what meet is running. 

Here's the article:

A number of years ago, a good friend of mine, who can take or leave Fairmount Park, drove the 250 miles from St. Louis to Keeneland for a day of racing. Trouble was, it was Good Friday, and in those days that was a dark day at the Lexington track. My friend may have lingered in town for lunch, but I believe he just turned around and drove back. When I told the story to Jim Williams, then the PR man at Keeneland, he said: "He wasn't the only one." Yeah, but he might have been the only one who needed to fill up his gas tank on the way home.

Come September 30, the Oak Tree Racing Assn. will run its 42nd consecutive meet, and in a perfect world it would have been at Santa Anita, which has been its landlord since time began. But California racing is so far from a perfect world, it's in the ionosphere. As the gunsel Eddie Dane put it in the Coen brothers' "Miller's Crossing," "Up is down, black is white."

Meet No. 42 for the good folks at Oak Tree will instead be staged across town, at Hollywood Park, and already the numbers crunchers are formulating the over/under on how many cars, perforce of habit, will pull into parking lots at Santa Anita on the final day of September. Hey, Frank Stronach at Santa Anita has been telling everybody that he's got pocket paralysis. Maybe he should just charge them, anyway. 

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Jockey Club projects smallest foal crop since late ’70s

Posted on September 18, 2010 in Uncategorized by Michael Pizzolla Comments are off

From The Thoroughbred Times, a report from the Jockey Club about the smallest foal crop since 1977. It will be a continuing challenge for tracks to field full fields that attract good betting action, funding the sport, leading to bigger foal crops, etc.

With breeders adjusting to dwindling demand, the Jockey Club is projecting this year’s foal crop to be the smallest since the 1970s with numbers similar to 1977.

In figures released Thursday, the Jockey Club said 27,233 live foals had been reported through September 8. That figure is down 14.2% compared with last year at this time when 31,727 reports had been received.

As in past years, the Jockey Club’s Live Foal Reports typically include about 90% of reports when it is released in September. The Jockey Club estimates the final number of live foals for 2010 will be about 30,000, a number similar to the 30,036 reported in 1977.

For the rest of the story from Thoroughbred Times: http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/breeding-news/2010/September/16/Live-foal-reports-for-2010-down-142-from-09.aspx

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Declaring a winner for Saratoga season

Posted on September 12, 2010 in Uncategorized by Michael Pizzolla Comments are off

Here's an interesting article about the Saratoga 2010 Season. Despite the rosy picture painted, there's also cause for concern. From the Albany Times Union:

Saratoga Springs

By most accounts, this summer's Saratoga Race Course meet was a terrific success — both for fans of local racing and the businesses they frequented.

Yet the post-meet glow may be hiding a few dark clouds.

Daily average attendance at Saratoga Race Course dipped this year for the third straight year, continuing a slide that has seen the track's average audience fall by nearly a quarter since the record-breaking meet in 2003.

This year's daily average was down by 7.4 percent — a drop that at first glance seems alarming.

But officials from the New York Racing Association, which operates the Saratoga track, say they expected this year's daily average to fall, largely because they extended the length of the meet from 36 days to 40 days.

For the full article: http://www.timesunion.com/business/article/Declaring-a-winner-for-Saratoga-season-654818.php

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Del Mar Attendance Up; Handle And Field Size Down

Posted on September 10, 2010 in Uncategorized by Michael Pizzolla Comments are off

Bloodhorse announced today that the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club reported an increase in attendance and a decrease in handle.

Perhaps the most significant statistic, though, is the decrease in field size. Large fields attract more betting, and let's face it: If what is arguably the country's premier thoroughbred meet cannot attract runners, it does not bode well.

A big thumbs up to Del Mar to getting people through the gates, now let's hope they can work their magic with the horsemen

From the Bloodhorse article:

Del Mar Thoroughbred Club ended its 37-day meet Sept. 8 with a 4.2% increase in average daily attendance and a 6.8% decline in average daily wagering.

The seaside California racetrack reported total attendance of 662,521 for a daily average 17,906, compared with a daily average of 17,181 from a total turnstile count of 635,679 in 2009.

With a decrease of 19 races—5.5%—from last year, all-sources average daily handle of $12,154,359 represented a decline of 6.8% from last year’s daily average of $13,039,998. Del Mar reported total handle of $449,711,296, compared with $482,479,925 in 2009.

Del Mar averaged 8.2 runners per race, down from last year’s 8.5 per-race average.

For the rest of the article: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/58804/del-mar-attendance-increases-handle-declines

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A Horse. In An Apple Store.

Posted on September 5, 2010 in Uncategorized by Michael Pizzolla Comments are off

Excuse me, Mr. Apple Genius, could you show me how to run Black Magic: The Ultimate Handicapper Software™ on a Mac? Quickly…

posttimedaily.com

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Indicators: Handle Off $100 Million in August BUT…

Posted on September 5, 2010 in Uncategorized by Michael Pizzolla Comments are off

Bloodhorse reporting on the drop in handle for August 2010.

But the fewer racing days in 2010 seems to be a large part of this.

From Bloodhorse:

Pari-mutuel handle was off by about $100 million in August compared with the same month in 2009, yet another indication any rebound will take longer than some in the industry imagined.

August is a key month with premier meets at Del Mar in California and Saratoga in New York, and this year, an enhanced meet at Monmouth Park in New Jersey. The major meets are holding their own, so other tracks and wagering outlets must be taking the brunt of the decline.

There was, however, a sizeable 13.23% drop in race days—individual programs at each track—from 650 last August to 564 this August.

For the rest of the story: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/58712/indicators-handle-off-100-million-in-august

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