Let Them Eat Hambo Cake, Wednesday Notes

Both the handle and the buzz for the $1.5 million Hambletonian seems on the upswing. Like the Derby, this staple of the standardbred game seems to have legs. However, brands can and do falter if they are not cultivated. During the past several years the storied trot has made some changes, and the branding and work done by the Hambletonian Society should not go unnoticed.

An example of it comes in the form of a press release yesterday. The popular TLC show "Cake Boss" is baking and building a Hambletonian cake. The star's right hand man will be on-hand at the Hambo Draw to discuss the venture, and the cake will be sampled by lucky fans (cake lovers?) on Hambo day.

That's really well done. We wrote a blog post on a strategy like this last year via reality TV, and I think it makes sense. No, it won't grow handles leaps and bounds, but it is a neat way (and is cost effective) to gain some traction in the crowded media space.

Notes:

Wanna help the horses? There is an Ebay auction going on now with some neat stuff.

Sometimes I wish I was just a fan, and not a bettor. Saratoga opens soon, and Del Mar does today. I am interested in playing neither; not because I don't want to, but because I have a betting bankroll that I take very seriously. Saratoga is not playable at my main ADW, and I would rather chew on broken glass than play 26% take with no juice-break. Del Mar is available for me, but the take is up, the signal fee is high, and I have not played a dollar into California since last fall, anyway. I'll watch the big races, of course, but betting? No mas. You guys have broke me.

The Jockey Club has approached the Horseplayers Association of North America, looking for support of their race day ban. It's a thorny issue, but the Jockey Club has some good people looking into it. I worry about several items with a lasix ban, mainly: Will the crooks with brown bottle illegal bleeders simply have more of an edge over honest people who honor the ban? Does it not take resources and the thinking needed to finally catch the cheaters who use harmful things like blood builders and synthetic pain killers?

Stan Bergstien looks at funding the blood builder testing. This is not only good for bettors, but good for the horses. I have spoken to more than one horsemen and groom who said "it's heartbreaking to care for a horse who has crashed on Epogen."This stuff is evil.

Sports teams twitter demos here. H/t to O_crunk.

Hello Race Fans top summer tracks for the runners. Mine for standardbreds would have to be Mohawk, and Mohawk, with a dash of Gold Cup and Saucer day in PEI for good measure.

There is a fantastic race card on Saturday at Mohawk for fans. Almost all the races are stakes finals, opens, or preferred's.

Have a great day folks.