NYRA's Self Inflicted Clown Show & Other Notes

Everyone saw "the ride", everyone commented on "the ride", everyone waited to see what was up with "the ride". 

Then everyone got the shaft. 

In a completely curious release, NYRA said - pretty much - nothing to see here, move along, case closed. 

Wut? 

It's flabbergasting. This is not the Warren Commission, or some CIA operation, or an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19. This is a ride by a rider, who most likely completely screwed up (apparently he said so when he spoke with trainer Linda Rice after the race). 

Why not just say that to us, you know the paying customer?

In the NHL, Tom Wilson skates by someone and gives them a shove. Twitter goes nuts. The video is shared and reshared like its the Zapruder film. People have opinions and some want him sat down for 40 games. Some want his first born. It's a part of sports. 

Then the NHL officials review the film and give us a detailed explanation why or why not Tom will have to come in or not come in for a hearing. If he has a hearing it's usually the next day, then we move on. 

NYRA, in its infinite wisdom, just kind of says, well, nothing really. Shut up and bet. 

A lot of us don't understand this business. Sometimes I think it's us. Maybe we all just complain too much, or we're not educated enough to understand; maybe we didn't get a diploma from the Racetrack Industry Program. 

But then I see things like this and realize, no, it ain't us, it's them. And they seem to do this over and over again. Please make it stop. 

Notes:

Lots of praise on the twitter for Beem's call in the Tampa Bay Derby; his accuracy, how he didn't want to be the show, etc. Beem's a good caller so no surprise there. But I happen to love listening to calls from all stripes. I enjoy Jason, and a guy like Vic at Oaklawn. Am I allowed to like both? 

A whole whack of trades were cancelled on nickel futures, where $3.9B changed hands. Some sharps who took advantage of the market are upset. But, it was not really a market, per se, it was messed up. Next time your sportsbook cancels a wager it can be the same thing. It happens. 

Change doesn't always happen by committee. 

There was an interesting pick 4 at the Big M last night, well for some of us, anyway. Bucky hit it as he had the 5. I had the 469 who were 2nd, 3rd and 4th for a big score. And a friend *thought* he had it for a score of over 10 large, but he mispunched his ticket in leg one. What a game. 

We wrote about this horse's qualifier awhile ago. The 5th by ten stiffaroni. The horse has now won 6 in a row and is the hottest horse in the country. At PTP Downs the driver and trainer get a really big fine and if they do it again I quadruple it and send them to Century Downs. But sadly, it ain't PTP Downs. 

Have a nice week everyone. 

Horse Racing & the Ten Years Problem

Back in the 80's, Ronald Reagan was good with a story or quip, and I remember one vividly. 

Only about 1 in 7 Russians owned cars, and with no imports and only a government run car company, there was a waiting list. 

One day a man walked in and put a deposit down with the bureaucrat at the car department. 

"How long will it take me to get my car?" asks the customer. 

"Ten years," says the bureaucrat. 

"Would that be in the morning or afternoon?" asks the man. 

Incredulous, the government man asks, "it's ten years and you have to know what time of day? Why would that matter?"

The man responds, "because the plumber is coming in the morning."

With our sport we see so much similar to this. Positives that take years to adjudicate, meeting after meeting for seemingly the smallest of things. 

I saw Pat Cummings on twitter talking about Category One rules coming to Oklahoma, which is fine, but how long will it take for the rest of the country? My over/under is ten years. 

I sat on a panel working to implement uniform racing rules in Canada. It was professional, there was little squabbiling, virtually everyone was on the same page, and it was chaired by one of the most respected people in the sport in John Campbell. Three years later I am thinking this will take another seven. 

Across the board takeout reductions, a national system for drug positives? If I said ten years would you go over or under?

This sport needs a complete reset; a system refresh. It can't take ten years to make a decision or to implement one. We understand history, and we understand how a government run carmaker in a communist country would fail, but what's our excuse? 

Have a nice Wednesday everyone.