Mattress Mack Gets Taken to the Woodshed

There's quite the brouhaha going on, as you all know, I suppose. And right now, ol Mattress Mack is taking the worst of it.

This is the same Mattress Mack, who was described by ESPN in 2004 like this:

As the failures, injuries and losses mounted, McIngvale went through four trainers -- two-time Derby winner Nick Zito; Steve Moyer, a former Zito assistant; Leonard Duncan, a former night watchman at the racetrack, and Laura Wohlers, McIngvale's sister-in-law and a former employee at Gallery Furniture. From Houston, McIngvale would call Wohlers in Lexington, Ky., and tell her which horses should work, and how far. Mattress Mac looked like a buffoon, and racing insiders were amused.

"I think if I had it to do over, what I would do differently, I probably wouldn't buy so many horses so fast," McIngvale said. "I think I overbought horses, and I bought a lot of bad ones. And I was tampering with the trainers, saying I want to do this, I want to do that. So, my reputation was probably pretty well deserved, because I tampered a lot and got involved with something I knew nothing about.

"I wasn't as smart as I thought I was. My horsemanship ideas are zero."

The natives are restless.

I don't know a heck of a lot, but I do know a few things.

Training a sprinter isn't rocket science, so I guess a lot of people think they can do it and in the grand scheme it's probably not even noticeable. "He should work in :49 instead of :50, 1:00 instead of 1:01." I mean, that's not going to do much either way.

Keeping a horse sound and happy and caring for both their mental and physical needs is the goal of any horse trainer, because sound and happy horses race well.

From what I saw, this horse was sound and happy, and well-cared for.

What I do half the night. Watch #runhappy on camera! #breederscup #bc15 @breederscup pic.twitter.com/vLEyGCXl9j

— Maria Borell (@IMariaValentine) October 24, 2015

Other than that. I don't know Mattress Mack from a hole in the ground. But he most certainly is feeling some heat today. Whether that's fair or not is anyone's guess (social media string ups rarely are), but from reading back to 2004, I would think the criticism is not entirely out to lunch.

Enjoy your Monday folks!

Breeders' Cup Again Proves Its Worth

Years ago the "end of year" championship was a novel concept that most got behind for a few reasons.

i) Most sports' have a season with a championship of some sort. Championship races for big money were logical.

ii) Thoroughbred racing season - in the public eye - consists of three races, the Triple Crown, and little else. People like to wax poetic about televised Saturday races from Belmont or elsewhere, but they were built for another time and don't work today. The BC provided a fall outlet for the sport to promote itself to the masses.

iii) To try and bring the worlds' owners together to find out who has the best horse, and promote racing globally. As I'm watching the Lions play the Chiefs in London, this in many ways was a forward-thinking concept.

In today's world, with bloodstock sales and foal crops lagging and with politicians as the new audience for the sport, there are other reasons why this series is important.

I think, again, it delivered.

Runhappy was the story of the Cup, for me. You've got a messed up horse in blinkers who was given time to become a seasoned, happy racehorse. He wasn't sent to a factory stable, he was not rushed for some ego-driven try for a Derby, he was not a commodity. That those folks took home the hardware with a horse who sat off the speed like the calm, tractable, easy to ride horse he now is, is exactly what patience and horsewomanship is about. It was awesome to watch. I wish them all the success in the world.

#runhappy says goodnight! Thank you so much everyone!! There are no words! Best day of my life! #bc15 pic.twitter.com/lqFGuvz9hz

— Maria Borell (@IMariaValentine) November 1, 2015

The Classic was (after scratches) on paper, perhaps one of the most boring affairs we've seen of late. It was the ultimate trap race, that bettors abhor - is American Pharoah the Haskell American Pharoah or the Travers American Pharoah? If the former, 3-5 is fine, if the latter 3-5 is horrible. Thankfully, moments after the race we all forgot about the trap race.

American Pharoah delivered, arguably, the best final year race we've seen from a Triple Crown participant in a long, long time. Chewed from a TC season? Chewed from 17 or 70 (not sure of the number) flights across the country? Chewed from staggering home in the Travers? Not even close.

If all horses had this colts' constitution, Joe Drape would never write a 24 horse story. This guy is pure magic. And he's fast, too. I am glad he proved it in the Classic, because as I noted before, without the always wanting and overasked "big Beyer" there's a hole in the horses' PP's for some (this is a sport where Zenyatta was only pronounced good by some when she lost). Game, set, match American Pharoah.

I like that this years Cup delivered sportsmanship, which is what the sport of horse racing is built on. At times, the Euro-love in the press (they do everything right, we suck) borders on the absurd. Frankel going more than a mile was considered heresy for a year or two, Sea the Stars and others who win the Arc pack it in. This year we had a horse who won the Arc make the trip overseas. He was running on ground he did not like and was beaten by a nice horse who raced three times in the last month. I don't know Golden Horn from a french horn, Found from lost, but I do know some nice horses, along with trainers and owners sending them on a plane half way around the world to take a shot.

I get some of the criticisms of this set of races - it waters down other stakes, etc. I get that the "big day" thing is becoming ridiculous in this sport where if something is done and kind of works it's worth overdoing. But the fact is, American Pharoah closing out his career in a Jockey Club Gold Cup does not reach an audience. Runhappy winning at Santa Anita late in the year is ho-hum. When it's done at the Breeders' Cup, those in charge of "coupling" of slots, the masses who through the ballot box control revenues for the sport, and the general fan who tunes in to watch only the Triple Crown sees it. That's not unimportant, and that's why this series - through hard work and planning each year - delivers exactly what it's supposed to.

Have a great day everyone.

Oh No Ontario

Here's where we juxtapose.

"The one point that I want to discuss is your future and what it depends on," Buchanan said. "It is more than about the money, it is about the customer. And today we had some serious horseplayers in the audience… they are your customers, they are your future… your future depends on how many people are coming to the track and how many people are coming to the track and betting… The government is going to support you based on how many customers you have and how much money they [wager], so that's your future… Everyone, collectively, has to think about how you attract bettors and customers to the track and regain interest in the industry."

Buchanan went on, adding, "I said this yesterday: two years ago if we had one of these (industry consultation sessions) I don't think we would have heard 'customer' or 'horseplayer' mentioned. It would have just been about how much money there was and how we were going to divide it up.

Horse racing Ontario commission chair in 2013.

Yesterday......

HANA presser here. 

Enjoy your Friday Breeders' Cup day everyone. Well, except in Canada where, of course, the "focus is on the customer".