Thursday Notes

Some interesting things out there this Thursday. As always, I found them interesting. You be the judge!

Can Dave get more Drives?

Below we looked at Meadows' regular driving king Dave Palone's November and said if he could only get more drives with a track nearby (maybe that new one opening soon near Pittsburgh) he might be able to turn the sports' driving records on its ear.

In scanning this young year's driving leaders this is pretty apparent. For January, Dave has compiled this so far, with one driving day to go in the month:

David M Palone 210 71 44 22 $ 465,187 0.489

210 drives and he is the second leading driver in wins in North America - and he is ranked 17th in drives. That is only 2420 drives extrapolated for the year - about half what Tetrick drove last year. Imagine what he could do with a few more drives? Stunning!

Ontario Owner Rules Reach an Audience

On Paceadvantage.com here, an (large) owner speaks about the new rules. What is interesting is, he is not an Ontario owner. This is what policies like this can do by changing the way owners do business. Rules should be made that not only punish, but change behaviour. If this is what happens because of it, all I can say is well done.

I have spoken to my trainer(s) yesterday and I emailed the three vets we use in NJ, Fla and Louisiana that they need to email me any medications that are being administered to my horses. Thus far everyone has agreed to do this and maybe it is a wake-up call for me to be more involved in this end of the industry. I appreciate the responses by the majority of the people who I respect on this forum. As a horse lover as well as an owner I never want to see any of these animals abused so that the trainer can pad his win percentage which in turn gets more owners to gravitate to him. Thanks everyone for opening my eyes on this issue!

Breeders Crown 2010 = Dubai World Cup

In my post below Breeders Crown 2010, I spoke about with slots being introduced potentially in Lexington, we have an opportunity to have a year-end championship in harness racing at that venue. Most believe that is pie in the sky in this industry, mainly because of fractured interests. Of course, with the Breeders Crown not owned by the Red Mile, red tape is assured.

But, to look at what I propose as being doable all we have to do is look at the Dubai races this month. A government and a horse owner in Dubai have created what many argue is the true "World Thoroughbred Championships" - blowing away the Breeders Cup. In Horseplayer magazine this month, Bud Pettingill says:

.... In 2007, a one day six race event with an average payout of $3.5M played host to horses from 17 different nations, including 31 of the top 50 ranked thoroughbreds....

.... by contrast, the 2007 Breeders Cup gave away slightly more than $2M per race, a whopping 60% less than the DWC. More telling, the 2007 Breeders Cup [managed to] attract only 12 European entrants out of 117 starters and only 13 of the top 50 ranked thoroughbreds.

With slots money and a vision, something can be done in harness racing. In Ontario alone the business realizes from slots around $300M/year. Worldwide, the subsidy must be in the billions. Don't tell me we can not have a $10M purse day at some track. When a track with a few dollars for purses a half a world away without slots can do it, we damn well can.

WEGZ Visit

Well as you know I have not been betting the Meadowlands. But I will admit, I tried to at least get a program. Last night I headed out to WEGZ Sports Bar for a beer and wings and racing. Great place if you have not been there: golf simulators, video games, racing, sports, decent food. But when asking for a Meadowlands program, they were out. When I asked if I could get a photocopy, they could not. I can golf on a simulator and watch a 200 foot screen, but I can't get a program?

Someone up there must want me to not bet the Meadowlands, that's for sure. Maybe they saved me some money.

If you want to visit the website for WEGZ it is right here. A warning though, it's a splash page. Ugh.

Happy racing everyone. Go make some cash today.