Thursday Follies

Here we go.

Only in horse racing will you see a headline that involves someone going to a hearing about the venom of a South American tree frog. Ray the bacon man is live in New Orleans reporting about those Dermorphin positives. Ray's twitter feed is usually quite good and if you are interested in frogs, trees, venom, or what's going on in New Orleans, you should follow him.

Frank Stronach has juiced up on some energy drinks and he is live and in person in Austria, for his new political party.  The party platform says he wants to ditch the Euro and lower taxes. No word if he wants to install racing wizard machines in corner stores, stop exchange wagering, or what the over/under is on when his campaign manager is canned.

Speaking of tax, I don't have Bill Gates' bank account, not even close, but man do I hate capital gains taxes. You get taxed once when you earn the money, then if you invest a few bucks in Apple with your after tax money, they come after you again. What do I like to do to avoid them? I buy horses. Since there is no possible way I will make money owning racehorses, I will never get taxed. Bingo! Problem solved.

I've never been a huge Mark Verge fan, but at least he has a sense of humor. He lists a couple people in his Q and A in the NTRA notebook today that insiders may get a chuckle at.

Everyone needs a villain to move things their way. Flip on the tube and watch an ad: A guy who kept the Bush tax cuts is called a socialist and a moderate dude who got elected governor in a super-liberal state is called a right wing extremist. The villain in horse racing in New York is anyone not NYRA. It's similar in Ontario. Fascinating.

When an NFL ref makes a blown call the media, the players, the teams, talk radio and fans are upset like the dickens. When a steward or judge makes a bad call in racing, I rip up a ticket and turn the page to the next race with the sound of silence.

 I guess tracks in Ontario are good for something. The CTV series Flashpoint filmed at Georgian Downs recently and the episode airs tomorrow night. Georgian is one of the nicest little tracks around, bought and paid for by slot cash. If I were the Betfair folks I'd buy it and ask to get exchange wagering passed in Ontario. Without slots you'd get it for a song.

Slots are king. Pennsylvania horsemen announced a $1M bonus if you can win three trot races in the State. If you got the slots, flaunt em.

In other news, PA gets the Breeders Crown next year, at Pocono. There are really only few tracks with enough money to host these events, Pocono, Yonkers and WEG. Next year maybe it'll only be Pocono for the future, because I doubt anyone wants it to go to a half mile track and WEG might not be rolling in dough.

This week the Grand Circuit starts at the Red Mile, and thoroughbred racing has some excellent tilts as well. The Fall season is upon us.

Have a nice Thursday.