Another horseracing track in dire straits. From the Baltimore Sun-
CAMBRIDGE - The Maryland Racing Commission declared Rosecroft Raceway to be in an emergency situation yesterday and approved the track’s request to discontinue live racing for perhaps as long as two years while allowing it to simulcast races at the Prince George’s County facility.
Yesterday, at the commission’s monthly meeting, held at the off-track betting facility in Cambridge, the track’s new chief executive officer, Edward “Ted” Snell, and Kelley Rogers, president of Cloverleaf Enterprises Inc., presented the track’s business plan for the next two years and asked for the declaration of emergency status in order to continue being open for simulcasting.
“Economically, it’s not feasible to have the type of purses necessary to run,” Snell said after the meeting. “Simulcasting [revenue] will allow us to meet our debts and pay our bills.”
Said commission chairman John Franzone: “This is another sad day for Maryland racing. Without Rosecroft - we need that [slots] referendum. We have to realize how close we are to losing everything. Without the referendum, there is no Rosecroft and thoroughbred racing will be what Charles Town was 20 years ago - racing donkeys. Almost all of our proud history is almost out the windows. All it will be is memories.”.
That is what I think horseracing in the United States will be in 50 years, memories. Besides Rosecroft in the state of Maryland, Laurel and Pimlico are having financial difficulty. Pimlico is host to one of the sports biggest races, The Preakness.
CEI, which closed the Rosecroft doors to live racing June28, has a yearly $5.9million obligation to the thoroughbred industry as part of the 15-year Cross-Breed Agreement that was signed two years ago and a $7.2million mortgage on the racetrack. Rosecroft management has seen its yearly betting handle fall from $110million in 2005 to a projected $80million this year, according to Thomas Cooke, president of the Cloverleaf Standardbred Owners Association.
Rosecroft will save $500,000 through the end of the year by not paying purses for live racing and is saving an additional $1million through salary cuts and layoffs, Cooke said. By discontinuing live racing, he said, the track should be in the black by “a couple hundred thousand” this year.
I think Cooke is being extremely optimistic. Businesses that cut hours, or events to save money, give less incentive at the same time for people to return as customers. It’s a catch 22, and I’ll be surprised if Rosecroft has any live non-stakes racing at sometime in the future.
This news comes two weeks before the horse tries to become the first Triple Crown winner in 30 years.
NEW YORK — Triple Crown contender Big Brown has a slight crack to his left front hoof, although trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. expressed confidence Sunday the injury won’t keep his colt from running in the Belmont Stakes in less than two weeks.
But the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner has missed two days of training at Belmont Park, and will miss at least several more while being treated by hoof specialist Ian McKinlay for a five-eighths of an inch crack on the inside of his left heel.
“We’re all concerned because there’s a big race coming up,” Dutrow said at a Sunday news conference outside his barn. “But Ian has us pretty well relaxed.”
The trainer said he was 100 percent confident Big Brown would be in top form when he attempts to become the first Triple Crown champion since Affirmed in 1978. “I sure am,” he said.
The injury was detected by Dutrow on Friday, who wasn’t sure what the problem was so he summoned McKinlay, who treated Big Brown for more serious front foot issues — abscesses in the soles of each of his front feet that led to wall separations — last year and again in January.
McKinlay treated the cracked hoof with an iodine and alcohol solution Sunday, and said he will take a closer look Monday, perhaps patching it up and inserting a set of wires before stitching up the area.
This prediction could be wrong but I think Big Brown won’t race at the Belmont. A deal has already been made for this horse’s future as a stud. Racing him at Belmont risks this investment. That’s why I don’t think Big Brown will race.
RICHMOND, Va. - Richard Childress always tells his drivers that luck occurs when preparation meets opportunity. Clint Bowyer proved the boss right on Saturday night.
Bowyer was a surprise winner at Richmond International Raceway, stealing a win that first seemed destined for Denny Hamlin, then Dale Earnhardt Jr. Neither made it to Victory Lane, though, because of a wild ending that saw three drivers denied the trip Bowyer made to Victory Lane.
*****
Hamlin, the hometown favorite, ran away with the race and led a record 381 of the 400 laps in search of his first Cup victory at Richmond. Nobody came close to challenging him until a leaking right front tire allowed Earnhardt and Kyle Busch to catch him.
The two drivers split Hamlin as they moved past him, with Earnhardt emerging as the leader with 18 laps to go. Hamlin’s tire finally failed with eight to go, and NASCAR accused him of intentionally bringing out the caution that regrouped the field and gave Busch a chance to race Earnhardt for the win.
The two staged a strong battle for the lead when the race resumed, but contact between the two cars in turn three sent Earnhardt into the wall.
*****
Bowyer used the opportunity to slide past both Earnhardt and Busch and into the front for the first time all night. Bowyer then held off Busch on a final restart to score his first Cup victory of the season, second of his career.
Here’s the video of what happened between Earnhardt and Busch last night.
I watch next to no auto racing these day. Back in the 70’s before I went in the military, I followed NASCAR quite a bit. These days my auto racing is pretty much confined to the Indy 500.
Clint Bowyer won last night’s race, he didn’t steal it. Hamlin’s car quit on him, fine. Busch and Earnhardt tangled with each other putting the kibosh with both these driver’s chances. Bowyer crossed the finish line first, he’s the winner. Memo to AP- Drop the ’steal shit’
For did Al Unser steal his 4th Indy 500 in 1987, when Mario Andretti who was running away with the race for 180 laps, had his day end due to electrical failure?
Did Richard Petty steal the 1979 Daytona 500 after Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison collided on the final lap? That was the race with the famous fight afterwards that also involved Donnie’s brother Bobby.
I don’t remember anyone saying those races were stolen. The difference between A. Unser and Richard Petty versus Bowyer is that they were stars and Bowyer isn’t. So Bowyer gets slighted in his moment of triumph by it being said he stole the race. What a bunch of bull crap.
The only reason I’m writing this, is the ‘Morgan Pressel had the US Open stolen from her’ meme that is still floated by the golf media. Remember the 2005 US Open and Birdie Kim’s bunker shot that won the tournament? The way you here it today is that Morgan had it stolen from her. Let me point out a few salient facts.
1- Pressel finished 2 shots behind Kim.
2- Pressel finished tied for 2nd with fellow amateur Brittany Lang.
So even if Birdie hadn’t holed out, and made bogey or worse on 18 like almost the entire field did that day, Morgan still would have had to go 18 holes in a playoff with at least Lang, and possibly Kim also. In other words Morgan still hadn’t won the tournament by any stretch of the imagination.
Yesterday’s broadcast of the LPGA tournament in Oklahoma, mentioned Lang’s 2nd place finish in 2005. For a change it was nice to hear the media remember someone tied Morgan that day.
Note- The golf media has another meme going about the 2005 US Open also. That Lorena Ochoa lost it. Lorena hit 2 balls in the water at 18 on Sunday, finishing with a quadruple bogey 8 and 7 over par for the tournament. If Lorena scored what most of the field did on Sunday at 18, bogey she would have finished 4 over. Now if Kim had finished bogey too like the media wishes, how can they say both Ochoa lost the 05 Open and Pressel had it stolen from her? The two memes are contradictory.
Bowyer was opportunistic, Kim may have been lucky the hole got in the way of her ball. When it is all said and done, they are the champs. No member of the media can take that away from them.
The most exciting two minutes in all of sports was raced today.
Big Brown backed up his trainer’s boasts with an explosive finishing kick and won the Kentucky Derby on Saturday — a day marred by the fatal breakdown of the filly Eight Belles.
The unbeaten Big Brown took charge when the 20-horse field turned for home. Under the urging of jockey Kent Desormeaux, Big Brown cruised to a 4 3/4-length victory to become the seventh unbeaten Derby winner with his fourth consecutive win. The last one was Barbaro in 2006
Big Brown made it look easy today with a convincing victory. Now it has to be seen if the horse can win the Triple Crown. There hasn’t been a Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.
Here’s the video of the 2008 Kentucky Derby.
After the race was over, one horse had to be put down.
The cheers for the winner’s decisive victory were cut short when Eight Belles, the runner-up, was euthanized on the track minutes after the race when she collapsed with two broken front ankles.
What a terrible thing to happen on horse racing’s biggest day of the year. Eight Belles collapsed on the back stretch after the race was over. What happened today brings back memories of Ruffian and her tragic end.
Some may say Eight Belles was raced too hard, but these are fragile animals as Barbaro reminded us just recently.
I once heard life is all a matter of timing. Danica’s timing(or breaks) in Japan were excellent today.
MOTEGI, Japan - Danica Patrick became the first female winner in IndyCar history Sunday, taking the Indy Japan 300 after the top contenders were forced to pit for fuel in the final laps.
Patrick finished 5.8594 seconds ahead of pole-sitter Helio Castroneves on the 1.5-mile Twin Ring Motegi oval after leader Scott Dixon pitted with five laps left and Dan Wheldon and Tony Kanaan came in a lap later.
“It’s a long time coming. Finally,” Patrick said. “It was a fuel strategy race, but my team called it perfectly for me. I knew I was on the same strategy as Helio and when I passed him for the lead, I couldn’t believe it. This is fabulous.”
The 26-year-old Patrick won in her 50th career IndyCar start, taking the lead from Castroneves on the 198th lap in the 200-lap race.
*****
Patrick went from fourth to second place on lap 197 after Wheldon and Kanaan went into the pit on lap 196. She was as low as eighth place on the 189th lap.
I mainly remember Patrick for the 2005 Indy 500 where she led with just a few laps to go. Now that she has won a race, will the hype going into next month’s 500 be even louder than it was in the past? In any case, congratulations Danica.
Due to heavy rains in the Pompano Beach area during the late afternoon hours, and with the forecast calling for additional downpours in the vicinity, Pompano Park cancelled its live racing for Friday.
Florida gets heavy rains all the time. Horse racing takes place in bad weather(With the exception of lightning), on the surface this news makes little sense. Except that Pompano Park is cutting its racing dates. It looks like the addition of the Racino will only provide a slight reprieve before harness racing dies out in South Florida.
LONDON (Reuters) - A British man celebrated his 60th birthday in unexpected style at the weekend when a 50 pence ($1) bet on the horses turned him into an instant millionaire.
Fred Craggs, from Yorkshire in northern England, was not even aware of his win when he walked into a branch of the William Hill betting agency to see how he had done with his accumulator bet.
When he was informed of his good fortune he was said to have turned rather pale and muttered that he had better go home to tell his wife.
His coup was selecting eight winners running at various courses around the country — starting with one called “Isn’t That Lucky” and finishing with “A Dream Come True” — at odds of 2,000,000 to one.
“This is the most amazing bet ever placed since betting shops were made legal in 1961,” William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe said on Monday.
Between the British tax man and Mr. Craggs wife I wonder how much will be left for the lucky bettor.
Just more proof that horse racing in the United States can’t survive economically today.
Freehold Raceway has released a reduced purse structure and the Meadowlands is expected to follow with drastic purse cuts if the New Jersey legislature does not quickly fulfill promises to provide a purse supplement.
Freehold issued a statement to its horsemen on Tuesday which said:
“No deal has been reached as of yet for a new purse supplement. We have been overpaying purses by over $100,000 per week. With the current purse schedule, we would be in an overpayment situation in another week. This will be the new purse schedule until a new agreement is reached. Unfortunately, we will not be able to write an invitational pace, open mares or open trot until a new agreement is reached.”
The Meadowlands has also indicated that it could possibly be cutting its purse structure by as much as 45 percent by the end of the month if no agreement is forthcoming from Trenton. Additionally, the leading standardbred track in the country will be asking for payback of the overpayments it made in January.
Without a purse supplement, the Meadowlands’ nightly purse distribution would drop from the current average level of $220,000 per program down to $90,000 nightly.
That is a 60% dropoff. You would think with its close proximity to New York City, racing at The Meadowlands and even Freehold would be thriving. Apparently not, remember the New York Racing association even had to file for bankruptcy almost fifteen months ago. Few race tracks today can survive without support of other forms of gambling(casinos, poker), even then racing establishments often struggle to survive.
Sadly I think horse racing may be dead in this country about 50 years from now. It could happen alot sooner. I’ve been to the races no more than five times since leaving the Navy 18 years ago. If a racing fan like me don’t attend the races, then the sport has problems.
The Hall of Fame driver has won at least 200 races for 17 straight years. From Harnessracing.com-
Hall of Famer Wally Hennessey became the 22nd driver in harness racing history to reach the 7,000-win plateau on Wednesday when guiding Blessed Victory through the wire first in the 11th race at Pompano Park.
Starting from post nine in the non-winners trot, Blessed Victory led every step of the way en route to a seven-length triumph, covering the mile in 1:58.2 to give Hennessey his landmark victory.
“Any time you can reach a milestone like this, it’s an accomplishment,” Hennessey said from the Pompano winner’s circle following his winning drive. “I’ve had many opportunities from a lot of good people, and you don’t stand here with 7,000 races won having done it alone.”
A native of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, and born to a family rich in the tradition of Standardbred racing, Hennessey was a dominant driver in the Maritimes throughout the early stages of his career, becoming the youngest driver to win the Maritime driving championship when tallying 136 victories in 1981, returning to claim the title again in 1982 and 1983 before leaving the comforts of home to ply his trade south of the border.
“I used to take some trips down to Pompano Park in the early ’80s,” Hennessey recalled. “I would dream of driving down here, even if it was for just one race. Then, in 1986, I decided to make the jump and give it a try. I’ve been very fortunate to do as well as I have, and many of my wins have come at this track.”
Inducted to the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in Goshen, N.Y., in July 2007, Hennessey is also a member of the Prince Edward Island and Florida Sports Hall of Fame, and will forever be linked with the illustrious career of Moni Maker, who he drove to victory across North America, along with a triumph in the Elitlopp in Sweden.
After finishing 2007 with 274 wins to mark the 19th consecutive season that the 52-year-old horseman has won at least 200 races, Hennessey has no intentions of slowing down.
I saw Wally drive when at Pompano Park when I used to go to the races there with my father. 52 years of age is still quite young for a harness drive. Wally could be driving and or training for another 20-25 years easy.
It isn’t three months since Joe Hennessey, Wally’s father, passed away. I’m sure Joe is proud of what his son has accomplished.
The Meadows is working on an agreement to move its signature race, the Delvin Miller Adios, to Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs for one year, while the new casino building is being constructed on the track’s property. The new building is scheduled to open in early 2009, which would allow for the return of the Adios. Both The Meadows and Pocono are five-eighths mile racing ovals.
Meanwhile, The Meadows also plans to ask the Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission for permission to drop Saturday racing in 2008. Track general manager John Marshall told Harness Tracks of America that business has been tough in the afternoon market on Saturdays.
Both tracks are virtually the same, just in different parts of Pennsylvania. The move makes sense, though I am sure local businesses in Washington PA aren’t happy with the one year move.
On a personal note- The only time the Adios finished in a dead heat, was 1972 between Strike Out and Jay Time. Both those horses were rivals of Fast Clip, a horse then owned by my father. Clip didn’t race in the Adios that year. It may have had something to do with an accident that happened in July 72 where the horse’s leg wraps were applied too tightly causing a loss of circulation. A serious injury to a race horse, that caused Clip not to race for almost a month.
A month after the Adios, Strike Out and Jay Time were at it again in the first heat of The Little Brown Jug. I wonder if Keith Waples decision to park Jay Time as the two horses went the 1st quarter in 27 flat had something to do with what happened at The Adios. Jay Time finished last in the Jug’s first heat, and had to be scratched from the second race.
I was to a Adios race in either 1973 or 1974. My father didn’t have a horse in the event, but saw the race take place. Other than Pompano Park in Florida, Pocono Downs is the last harness track I been to. I went there with my father sometime in the mid-80’s.
The Meadows joins a long list of race tracks in financial difficulty. Hosting one of racing’s premier events doesn’t protect any horse venue these days.
REIMS, France - Formula One star Lewis Hamilton has been banned from driving in France for speeding, a French police spokesman confirmed on Tuesday.
The 22-year-old Briton, who finished runner-up in the world drivers’ championship in his debut season this year, has been banned for a month after being caught speeding at 122mph in a Mercedes by police on a motorway near the northern town of Laon.
The speed limit on French motorways is 85mph.
“He admitted the offence immediately and was really very polite,” the police spokesman said, adding that Hamilton had said in his defence that the motorway was “very clear” at the time.
“It’s a section of motorway which is used regularly by foreigners who have a tendancy to speed,” the spokesman added.
The McLaren driver, who was also ordered to pay a 600 euro fine, will appear before a court in Laon in January.
No word yet if Hamilton will be allowed to drive in next year’s French Grand Prix. That formula one race, which was facing an uncertain future past 2007, is on next year’s race schedule.
The Irish jockey was just cleared of race fixing charges also. From AFP-
Six-time British champion jockey Kieren Fallon has failed a drugs test, his lawyer said on Saturday, a day after he was cleared of race-fixing charges when a two-month trial collapsed.
The 42-year-old Irishman tested positive for a banned substance after a race in Deauville, France, in August, said Fallon’s solicitor Christopher Stewart-Moore, although a B-sample second test result is still awaited.
“I can confirm that the story is true but it is a matter we are dealing with together with (French racing authority) France Galop and it is something we are not able to comment on.
“I am not in receipt of the actual B-sample results,” he added, saying the positive test came after he rode “Myboycharlie” in the Prix Morny at Deauville on August 19.
French racing authorities imposed a six-month suspension on Fallon from December last year, after he tested positive for a prohibited substance in June 2006.
The news comes a day after Fallon voiced relief but also anger following the collapse of a high-profile race-fixing trial against him and five co-defendants at the Old Bailey in London.
The six were accused of conspiracy to defraud online betting customers by trying to cheat in 27 races to make horses lose, but the judge ruled there was no case to answer.
The drug test and the race fixing allegations are probably unrelated. Few people understand the measures jockeys have to take to keep riding. They eat and purge to keep their weight dozens of pounds below normal for their heights. It often causes both major physical ailments and sometimes mental health issues.
(Bill) Hartack, the Hall of Famer and five-time Kentucky Derby winner, was found dead in a cabin while on a hunting vacation in Freer, Texas. He was 74. He died Monday night from natural causes due to heart disease, said Dr. Corinne Stern, the chief medical examiner in south Texas’ Webb County.
Stern said Tuesday that Hartack’s family has been notified, and funeral arrangements were being made.
Hartack and fellow Hall of Fame rider Eddie Arcaro are the only jockeys to win the Kentucky Derby five times. Known for his burning desire to win every race, Hartack won his first Derby with Iron Liege in 1957. He then won with Venetian Way in 1960, Decidedly in 1962, Northern Dancer in 1964 and Majestic Prince in 1969.
Hartack, considered among the fiercest riders in the game, rode until 1974 and had 4,272 wins from 21,535 mounts, winning nearly 20 percent of his races. He won the Preakness aboard Fabius in 1956, Northern Dancer in 1964 and Majestic Prince in 1969. He won the Belmont Stakes once, with Celtic Ash in 1960.
He later rode in Hong Kong from 1978-80.
He remained in racing as a steward, working the past few years in that role at Louisiana Downs in Bossier City, La.
Born Dec. 9, 1932 in Ebensburg, Pa., William John Hartack Jr. was raised by his coal-mining father on a farm. He took a job as an exercise and stable boy at the age of 17 with trainer Junie Corbin at Charles Town Race Course in West Virginia. He began riding in at West Virginia’s Waterford Park in 1952. By the end of the following year, Hartack became a star.
Arcaro, Hartack and Shoemaker ruled the racing world in the 1950s. Hartack was the top rider by earnings in 1956 and 1957, and the leader in victories four times — 1955-57 and 1960. He was the second jockey to ride as many as 400 winners in a single year when he won 417 races in 1955.
In 1959, Hartack was elected to thoroughbred racing’s Hall of Fame at the age of 26, the youngest person ever elected to the hall.
In the ‘57 Derby, Gallant Man was gaining on Iron Liege as the two horses dueled in the stretch. But as they passed the sixteenth pole, Shoemaker inexplicably stood up in the irons, misjudging the finish.
The mistake happened so quickly it was hardly noticed. Shoemaker sat back down in the saddle, but Gallant Man couldn’t overtake Iron Liege.
“I was a little amazed he beat those horses,” Jimmy Jones once said. He helped his father, Ben, train Iron Liege. Hartack, Jones added, “just plain finished better than the other riders.”
The regular rider for famed Calumet Farms in the 1950s, Hartack was fired in 1958 because he argued with management and trainers over the horses’ handling. Hartack preferred to take his mounts right to the lead, while trainers wanted him to race off the lead and win with a stretch run.
“I do remember he wasn’t the easiest guy to get along with,” Cordero said.
Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who was just coming on the thoroughbred scene as Hartack was leaving, saluted Hartack’s need to win each and every time out.
“He had a strong, competitive spirit, and he took no prisoners,” Lukas said. “I admire any of those guys who can accomplish what he did.”
Equinox Bi, who won this year’s Breeders Crown and Maple Leaf Trotting Classic and is scheduled to begin a career as a sire at Blue Chip Farms in New York next February, has been kidnapped from the Gina Biasuzzi Farm near Padua, Italy. There has been no official information regarding the circumstances of the kidnapping, but news of it began spreading throughout Italy, Europe and the US early Friday morning.
Equinox Bi, who is 6 years old, is the fourth trotter of renown to be kidnapped in Italy in the past 10 years. About two years ago Lemon Dra was kidnapped and that horse has never been found.
Equinox Bi was bred by the Biasuzzi family and trained at their farm in northern Italy by Jan Nordin.
Equinox Bi came to the US this summer and competed at the Meadowlands and Mohawk. He finished second in the Nat Ray on Hambletonian Day, then won the Breeders Crown and Maple Leaf Trot at Mohawk in September. He earned $774,348 in purses in North America this year, giving him a career bankroll of $1.3 million.
Equinox Bi carries a royal American pedigree. His sire, Valley Boss Bi, is a full brother to Valley Victory. His dam, Personal Banner, raced for George Steinbrenner in the US and was sold to the Biasuzzis before she won the Breeders Crown as a 3 year old. Personal Banner hails from the family of the great Delmonica Hanover.
A top sire can make millions in stud fees for its owner. The only trouble I see is if the horse is stolen, how do you sell Equinox Bi’s progeny? They obviously would be worth quite a bit of money. If the breeding papers say the father was Equinox Bi, I’d think a buyer wouldn’t want to risk money(and his liberty) purchasing stolen property. If the papers don’t say Equinox Bi, then the colt or filly won’t raise as much money at sale time.
Anyone who knows more about the horsebreeding business, please pipe in. I’d love to hear some theories as to what the horsenappers plans could be with Equinox Bi.
Update- Just occurred to me. The kidnappers could ask ransom of Equinox Bi’s owners in return for their horse.
I can not recall ever seeing Joe race, but his son Walter drove many races I attended at Pompano Park here in Florida. Wally is in the Hall of Fame, and I’m sure his father Joe is a great part of why he made it. RIP.
Joe Hennessey, the father of Hall of Fame driver Wally Hennessey, died Monday in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island at the age of 82. Mr. Hennessey was the patriarch of one of the province’s most well-known harness racing families.
Mr. Hennessey drove his first winner in 1943 at Summerside Raceway, directing his father Wal’s horse Dale H to a 4-2-1 summary finish, with the 2:11 victory being the fastest on the race card that day. He went on to drive 923 winners over his career.
Included among Mr. Hennessey’s more well-known horses were Royal At Law, Cheeky Chief, Dominion Byrd, My Darling, John Willie Bob and Callie Hal. Along the way he also helped many young horsemen get their starts in the business, including Ralph (Bo) Shepherd, Jack Pound, Joe Arsenault, Bert McWade, Lorne Hennessey, Maurice Hennessey and Lloyd Duffy.
Mr. Hennnessey was also instrumental in the careers of his sons, which included Danny, Jody and Gordie, besides Wally.
Mr. Hennessey is survived by his wife, Shirley, and 10 children.
