Category Archives: Uncategorized

Oaklawn Park

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We are headed for racing at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs Arkansas as well as leaving a few back to race at Turfway. So far the winter has been a little tough. Hope the weather will improve to make things a little easier to operate! We have a number of Two year olds open for partnerships. If you have any interest or know someone who does, please contact us. We are looking to sell a share or two.

Eclipse Award Finalists

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Below is the list of this years Eclipse Awards finalists. Let us know who you are voting for. We will post our picks next Thursday.

The Eclipse Awards finalists (in alphabetical order) are:

• Horse of the Year: Rachel Alexandra, Zenyatta
• Two-Year-Old Male: Lookin At Lucky, Noble’s Promise, Vale of York (IRE)
• Two-Year-Old Filly: Blind Luck, Hot Dixie Chick, She Be Wild
• Three-Year-Old Male: Mine That Bird, Quality Road, Summer Bird
• Three-Year-Old Filly: Careless Jewel, Flashing, Rachel Alexandra
• Older Male: Einstein (BRZ), Gio Ponti, Kodiak Kowboy
• Older Female: Life Is Sweet, Music Note, Zenyatta
• Male Sprinter: Dancing in Silks, Kodiak Kowboy, Zensational
• Female Sprinter: Informed Decision, Music Note, Ventura
• Male Turf Horse: Conduit (IRE), Gio Ponti, Presious Passion
• Female Turf Horse: Goldikova (IRE), Midday (GB), Ventura
• Steeplechase Horse: Mixed Up, Red Letter Day, Spy in the Sky
• Owner: Godolphin Racing, Juddmonte Farms, Mr. and Mrs. Jerome S. Moss
• Breeder: Adena Springs, Juddmonte Farms, Dolphus C. Morrison
• Trainer: Steve Asmussen, Bob Baffert, John Shirreffs
• Jockey: Ramon Dominguez, Garrett Gomez, Julien Leparoux
• Apprentice Jockey: Luis Batista, Christian Santiago Reyes, Luis Saez

Bucks beat the Ducks!

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Bucks beat the ducks and there were a lot of sad quackers out here.  They waddled their way back to Oregon today.  The stadium was 3/5ths full of red, despite the long travel. The weather was perfect and we were surrounded by great folks who were entertaining, but not idiotic.  The sunset was a gorgeous red on the mountains behind the stadium and we were able to get a peek at the floats the day before.  The score was 26-17, Buckeyes and we had a great time.  

Enjoy these pictures from Liz's phone….we'll get more up when we get home.  Thanks!

Ducksnbucks1
 

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H.B.P.A.

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Thanks to the horseman of Indiana, Penny and I got elected to the I.H.B.P.A board this year. Because of that, we attended the National H.B.P.A. Convention in Tucson, Arizona the weekend of December 5th. We sat through a number of meetings, some interesting, some boring and some had speakers that were clueless about racing.
 
I found it interesting that they would have the national convention in a town/resort that did not have HRTV or TVG so the horseman were not able to follow racing across the country. The track there is a small track that looked like to be 3/4 of a mile, and has a mixed quarter horse and thoroughbred meet that starts in Mid January and ending in March sometime. I think they run three days a week and it is a very small meet. They also have no simulcasting at the track. They do have a couple of simulcast facilities that are located in a sports bar type venue tucked away in a back corner. Two betting machines and one teller. Of course while we were there we had a horse that won and paid $23+ and couldn't get a bet down on it, nor could we see it on simulcast. (The filly Nautical Nonsense is owned by Fred Hall and was a first time starter.) The simulcast racing is mostly west coast tracks and they have limited hours of operation. I found it interesting that at the convention they talk about increasing fan base and betters, yet in a town of half to three quarters of a million in a state that has racing, it was almost impossible to find a place to watch and bet on a race. They could have started right there to improve fan base!
 
The National HBPA convention preceded the annual Race Track Symposium that was held at the same resort. It was a three or four day convention where the higher ups in the industry come; race track executives, racing commissioners, stewards, and all the "feel good" groups of racing (NTRA, RCI, Drug and Medication Consortium). The symposium is sponsored by the University of Arizona Race Track Program which is one of only a couple of schools to offer a major in race track management, business etc.. The symposium seemed to me more like a University of Arizona Race Track Program Alumni and golf outing.
 
The RCI did decide to go along with the Jockeys Guild and recommend  that there be a raise in the jock mounts for losing mounts. Of course, none of them own any horses. They also agreed to another increase in three years, for cost of living.
 
These "feel good" organizations are like running the industry and I don't have a good feeling about it for the average person in the game. They don't have much invested in it, but feed themselves quite well off of it. I am sure some things got done there, but it looked like a lot of money being spent. Especially when you see tracks making cuts in racing dates and purses across the country.
 
The next HBPA Convention is in Minnesota in July to coincide with the Claiming Crown.