Monday Round-Up Harness Style

Good morning peeps!

Saturday's Breeders Crown is a hot topic. I got a few emails of interest, and there were a few letters and tweets flying the last couple of days. I've been called smart, a doofus, a lover of great horses and a hater of some, too. How one can be all four with an opinion that doesn't move much is what it is, but it's been pretty fun.

Someone wondered why I didn't list the Captain's Breeders Cup win as an "impressive performance" this weekend, like I did with Bee a Magician or Iluvthenitelife or Foiled Again. The simple answer is because when a 1-5 shot gets an easy half and wins by a head I do not find that the least bit newsworthy. In fact, when that happens in any race as a bettor, often times I wonder what's wrong with the 1-5 shot and look to bet against him or her next weekend (especially if the horse that almost beats him is parked first over the mile, going his trip via Tioga). It's not hard to understand why I glossed over it.

Someone asked why I would flip my thought to Bee a Magician as Horse of the Year for this season after Saturday from the Captain. (I wrote a post yesterday).

That's fairly simple, too. This is a replay of 2005 for me. That year Rainbow Blue was against Windsong's Legacy. The old guard wanted Windsong's Legacy to win because he was a colt (a very good one who won the trotting triple crown), just like they always do (fillies win only one of four horse of the year awards in harness racing, not because they weren't great fillies, because of politics and stud books). I was lobbying for Rainbow Blue of course because she was, well, Rainbow freaking Blue. This year we again have the glamor boy against a filly and both have good won-loss records. I can't tell where the glamor boy fits in the hierarchy of three year old colts - is he No Pan Intended or Rock n' Roll Heaven - I have no idea. I can easily tell where Bee a Magician fits though and it is not difficult. She's easily one of the best trotting fillies I have ever seen. Saturday confirmed that, and there's the flip.

Someone emailed asking me what I thought about Steve Ross's, one of the dudes on Pennsylvania Harness Week -  letter to Harness Racing Update. Steve wrote that negativity regarding the booting stuff in racing should not be talked about in the media or by fans (I guess I am incurring the wrath of Steve right now). He says we must "accentuate the positive".

I hate to mince words but: What a load of hooey.

Think about that for a second. The thing Walter Case got kicked out of racing for years ago is going on each week at a harness track near you. Instead of stopping the booting (the rule is in the rulebooks) by calling it where the story will end tomorrow, Steve wants some 1.5 billion people using Facebook, twitter, google, smartphones and computers and telephones and a pen and paper, to shut up.

I am sorry to break the news - hold it I am not breaking it - but guess what? Tetrick booted the Captain again in the Breeders Crown final. Pacing Guy talked about it here. I guess he didn't get the memo from the Harness Racing Politburo.

Have a great day everyone.