Racing v. the Rest of the World & Notes

After about nine years New York state still can't get slots approved for NYC tracks. There is yet another round of bidding. In other news, after six years - three years less than the NY Slots debacle - a solar powered plane was developed and flown for over 24 hours straight.



My prediction: Slots at Aqueduct will have their opening day on a Tuesday, sometime within the next ten years. However, on Monday of the same week, the federal government will sign a law that outlaws slot machines.

Boy oh boy the press is really on the connections of Rachel Alexandra regarding her schedule. NTRA's Bob Ehalt: "By choosing to run next in the ungraded Lady's Secret at Monmouth, a race that was moved up a week to fit Rachel Alexandra's training schedule, our 2009 champ now shares the dubious distinction of racing through the least ambitious schedule ever by a reigning Horse of the Year."

I find it a little odd to be so critical. Just two starts back the trainer was wondering if she would ever regain her form. More than one handicapper and race watcher wondered if she would retire. Now, after one decent race (against really one challenger who was totally rank and could not put up a fight) she is supposed to jump her game up? I guess so, but it is a long season and there will be several opportunities to race some good horses.

Sad news: Tough as nails Zooka has been euthanized. This horse was the ultimate grinder. He would look beat constantly, but kick in late. He knew what he was out there for.

M Pace: Pierce gives some thoughts on All Speed's bad showing in the NA Cup. I tend to not listen much to this - choosing instead to handicap the race - however there is no way that All Speed was close to right in the Final.

Who is the chalk for the M Pace? Ask five people you might get four or five different answers. Another great betting race.

Yep, he gets it: Rich Eng says we better start lowering takeout and increasing churn.

"For a bet taker, high churn creates the large amounts of handle needed for profitability. A key part of maintaining high churn is keeping the takeout or hold low enough so that bettors can win money to stay in action. Two types of gaming that follow this ideal are sports betting and video poker. The sports vig is 10 percent, and the payback in video poker is in the 95 to 98 percent range. But in horse racing, it is popular to market high takeout wagers, like the Pick 6 and the Super High 5. Both bets are counterproductive to churn. These wagers take money from the wallets of many and put it into the hands of very few."