In North American life it appears only 2 things really matter: Who’s got the money and who you sleep with. And it’s becoming apparent that the latter is highly dependent on the former: whether it’s an uber-model who’s got your back when your receivers drop the ball or the fishes.
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Don’t tell fish stories where the people know you; but particularly, don’t tell them where they know the fish.
Mark Twain
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The Inquisitr – [Rumor] Johnny Depp and Ashley Olsen Had a One Night Stand
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NY Times – The Most Dangerous Track
NY Times – The Comeback and the Fall
NY Times – For Horse and Jockey, Risks Vary by State
NY Times – Breakdown: Part One
NY Times – Breakdown: Part Two
LA Times – Zarembo – Santa Anita leads California tracks in horse racing deaths
DRF – Hovdey: Even $800,000 can’t always buy the best
DRF – Watchmaker – Weekend Warrior for March 24: Local hero has big shot in Sunland Derby
DRF – Klein – Klein: Shrewd group of trainers shooting for Sunland Derby
Horse Race – Insider – Throw Money at New Mexico and They Will Come to Kentucky
DRF – Rampellini – Sunland Park: Castaway, Daddy Nose Best square off in Sunland Derby
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DRF – Rampellini – Sunland Park: Princess Arabella faces Glinda the Good in Oaks
Bloodhorse – Shinar – All’s ‘Well’ in Spiral for Team Valor, Motion
Thoroughbred Times – Curry -Went the Day Well delivers second straight Spiral for Team Valor
Thoroughbred Times- Parker – Flashy Dresser, Hogy shine in Turfway three-year-old stakes
DRF – Turfway Park: Motion, Team Valor repeat in Vinery Spiral with Went the Day Well
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Bloodhorse – Union Rags, Others Work for Florida Derby
Thoroughbred Times- Curry – Union Rags drills ‘the right way’ for Florida Derby
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Bloodhorse – Shandler – Newsdad Gets Revenge in Pan American
Thoroughbred Times – Lewyn – Newsdad turns tables on Simmard in Pan American victory
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Thoroughbred Times – Curry – In Lingerie streaks to Bourbonette Oaks romp
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DRF – Andersen – Santa Anita: Dynamic Host takes Tokyo City Cup for first stakes win
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That’s when Kuric, a former walk-on and one of the quietest players on the team, spoke out in a huddle for the first time since high school in Evansville, Ind.
“When Coach got the technical, everybody was screaming and complaining like ‘What’s going on?’ ” he said. “We huddled everybody up and I said, ‘Everything is going against us, things aren’t going are way, so how are we going to handle it? Are we going to roll over or are we going to come back?’ ”
Louisville Courier – Eric Crawford | Pitino’s adjustments make difference in trapping Gators
Now it’s up to the Wildcats to make the Final Four and Final 50% Kentucky.
Louisville will take an eight-game winning streak on its trip to New Orleans. Awaiting is a possible matchup with Pitino’s old school, Kentucky, which will have to get by Baylor on Sunday to set up a grudge match to end them all.
ESPN – Louisville ends game on 23-8 run to stun Florida, reach Final Four
Louisville Courier – NCAA Elight Eight | Kentucky Wildcats and Baylor Bears appear to share DNA
Wagering Up
The BC Horse Racing Management Committee advises wagering is up for the first two months of 2012.
Lets hope we can keep that trend advancing all year as it only means more funding for all sectors of horse racing in British Columbia.
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And in related news from Horse Racing Alberta.
Just think. The HPHR gets $250k plus per annum for that
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British Columbia
Horse Racing Industry Management Committee
Industry Notes
Committee Meeting of March 22, 2012
Meeting Summary
Financial Update
Some good news this month, as net income (Total Money In) was 4.2% or $121K better than budget for the month. February’s performance brought year-to-date Total Money In to a positive position of $49K or 0.5% ahead of budget. Total handle for the month of February at $12.5 million from all sources was 4.1% or $488K ahead of budget. For the year-to-date through two months, Total Handle is now ahead of budget by 0.8% or $195K.
Of note, on its combined operations, TBC is the lead contributor for both the month and the year to date. TBC’s combined handle of just under $8.1 million was $561K or 7.8% ahead of budget for the month. For the year-to-date, combined handle for TBC is running at $782K or 5% ahead of budget.
Marketing Fund
The Committee reviewed the marketing plan’s tactics to drive TBC handle, bring racing to consumers through HPI account wagering, re-engage lapsed HPI players, maintain regular players’ wagers in all channels, and build attendance and drive wagering at Friday Night Live and Marquee Events.
This multi-faceted plan has many different elements including improved signage, contesting, a Hastingsmobile site, on-track promotion of HPI, registration incentives and online contesting to name just a few.
The Committee feels the marketing plan will work well for the industry as it devotes the greatest amount of resources to driving TBC and HPI wagering, which have had the most positive revenue trends.
Decision:
The Committee will not use a portion of the marketing fund to support Sport of Kings television programming. While the Committee recognizes the value of programming such as Sport of Kings to those already highly engaged with the sport, it was felt that funding could be more strategically used to develop new and innovative ways to promote racing and attract new bettors. Reserving additional funds for product development is also especially important at this time as the strategic planning process will identify new opportunities for BC racing.
Strategic Planning Process
The Committee decided on the best process for conducting industry consultations and building a predictable and sustainable model for BC horse racing. Starting in May the Committee will conduct extensive consultations with all aspects of the industry including owners, breeders, trainers, bettors, track employees, the track operator and other interested stakeholders. The details of the consultation plan will be communicated to industry in the next few weeks and posted on the horse racing revitalization website.
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And in related news from Horse Racing Alberta.
Just think. The HPHR gets $250k plus per annum for that
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Nostalgia is like a grammar lesson: you find the present tense, but the past perfect!
Owens Lee Pomeroy
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Bloodhorse – Biles – Browning: ‘All Signs Positive’
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Northern Life – Horse racing industry thanks city council
Trot Magazine – Buses Set For Queen’s Park Rally
CBC – McGuinty says up to municipalities to hold casino referendums
The Globe And Mail – Radwanski – Ontario Liberals go all in on casinos
Toronto Star – Benzie – Ontarians oppose OLG plan for more casinos, poll finds
Toronto Star – A casino in Toronto is a terrible idea that smacks of desperation
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He’s suffering from Politicians’ Logic. Something must be done, this is something, therefore we must do it.
Antony Jay
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As the minority Liberal government battles a $16 billion deficit, figures released Friday show that 78,901 public-sector employees have now crossed the benchmark set in 1996.
Toronto Star – Talaga and Ferguson Sunshine list: Ontario’s $100,000 club grows
78,901 public-sector employees earning more than $100k per year, but the Ontario provincial government’s going to balance their budget by putting 60,000 horse racing industry participants out of work. Of the 60,000 in the horse racing industry how many do you think make more that $100k per year.
Phil would say that the Ontario Cabinet should give its collective head a shake, but the cacophony created by the rattling would be deafening.
Somebody needs to stand up and tell the good people of Ontario and their government that if you’ve got 78,901 public-sector employees earning more than $100k per year and you’re in the mess you’re in, then those 78,901 public-sector employees earning more than $100k per year aren’t doing their jobs. Take the broom to the top and start sweeping.
Shouldn’t the people of Ontario, Alberta and all of Canada be saying to their politicians:
You told us you were smart enough, why can’t you make jobs.
Albertans better not get smug. We’re paying Shirley McClellan $250k plus per annum as CEO of Horse Racing Alberta and what does she produce.
Thehorses.com – Media Releases
Phil knows where to start to improve the horse racing industry in Alberta. If Shirley McClellan wants to know Phil’s e-mail is rumours@holybull.ca
Buzzy’s odds on Phil getting an inquiry from Shirley: 
– 1.
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We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Albert Einstein
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Montreal Gazette – deLean – Montreal’s Hippodrome site to be developed
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A group of politicians deciding to dump a President because his morals are bad is like the Mafia getting together to bump off the Godfather for not going to church on Sunday.
Russell Baker
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Her plan was simply to take a break from her travels, but she returned to an island that had fallen into desuetude. Her first response was to set up a few scholarships, but one night she was buttonholed by a local mother. (Fogo Island women are nothing if not direct.) “Oh, it’s all really fine what you’re doing,” the woman said. “But you do realize that you’re just paying our children to leave, don’t you? You look smart enough. Can’t you do something to make jobs?”
It’s a simple question that people are grappling with in small towns everywhere, from the Gulf Coast to Nebraska. “Rural renewal” is a far less common term than its urban counterpart, but the problem is just as pressing, and in many ways similar: a community with vivid traditions and a struggling population gets hit by a disaster — economic, natural, political or all three — and has to decide how to recreate itself without becoming soulless and bland. Fogo Island has a curious advantage. It’s historically and geographically isolated; its population is small, homogeneous and for the most part fixed; its economy is simple; and Cobb had the resources to make an open-ended financial commitment. There are few variables to control for, no wild cards to keep at bay. All she had to do was invert the old maxim: Teach them not to fish, and she’d feed them for a lifetime.
NY Times – Lewis – The Possibility of an Island
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NY Times – McNeil Jr. – A Cheap Drug Is Found to Save Bleeding Victims
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Next time you’re at Northlands Park, Hastings Park, Woodbine, Fort Erie, Santa Anita Park, Belmont or one of the OTBs check out the bank of simulcast screens and ask yourself just how appealing these screens are to a newbie and how easy they are for a newbie to understand. Or an 83 year old senior with trifocals.
5 MTP race 6
Race 6 MTP 5
How about a standard 2 line masthead – written in a font that an 83 year old with trifocals can read
Race Track Race Number Minutes To Post – surface – surface condition
Race Type and Conditions Age Distance
Then go to town on rest of screen.
The tracks will squak because they’re attempting to differentiate their own brand. But, who cares about differentiating when you’re not attracting any new fans.
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A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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From The Insider
LOCAL HORSE OWNER EYES QUEEN’S PLATE:
Veteran ASD horseplayer and owner, Oslen “Ozzie” Belle, is dreaming of being handed the Queen’s Plate in the winners’ circle at Woodbine in June–and I can’t blame him. He bred a 3-year-old colt, Prince Raphael, who won impressively at Woodbine as a 2-year-old last year. He said he’s been offered $300,000 for the colt but turned it down. No amount of money could take the place of the satisfaction that would accompany a Queen’s Plate victory, he said. And most of us would concur. We’re all pulling for you, Ozzie!
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Top filly Dixie Strike named Queen’s Plate Winterbook choice
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A little bit of one story joins onto an idea from another, and hey presto, . . . not old tales but new ones. Nothing comes from nothing.
Salman Rusdie
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Kentucky.com – Patton – Fields of Dreams: A paddock of lanky foals is a sure sign of spring
Were your ears ringing this morning? They might have been if you are a racehorse owner or breeder in Canada, or if you are any other type of farmer who earns income from farming and some other source of income and are thus subject to section 31 of the Income Tax Act (the “Act”).
NY Times – Reynolds – Phys Ed: Do Cortisone Shots Actually Make Things Worse?
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NY Times – Longman and Pilon – Saudi Arabia May Include Women on Its Olympic Team
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With Windsor Raceway possibly closing Phil heard that their announcer was practicing:
Still time to wager at Fraser.
Still time to wager at Northlands
Still time to wager at Alberta Downs, but nobody, not even the Caribbeans give a hoot.
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Everything is changing. People are taking their comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke.
Will Rogers
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LA Times – Plaschke – Sadly, Tim Tebow’s class act may not play in NFL
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THE HORSEMEN’S BENEVOLENT &
PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION
OF ALBERTA
GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2012 – 5:30 P.M.
SKY PADDOCK
NORTHLANDS PARK
EDMONTON, ALBERTA
AGENDA
1. President’s Report – Review of 2012 Dates, Purses, & Stakes. Jim McFadyen
2. Northlands Report: Northlands Venue Director. Chris Roberts
3. Question Period & New Business.
Mat Monaco
Executive Director
MEMBERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND
Sandwiches & non alcoholic beverages will be served
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Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o’clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap.
Barbara Jordan
HBPA BC Election News
Please see below for the report of the Nominating Committee for the 2012 HBPA elections. They have produced a list of candidates who expressed interest and had in the Committee’s collective judgment, a strong background in the industry.
The Report of the Nominating Committee is not the end of the HBPA nominating process. Section 6.5 of the Constitution And By-laws of The HBPA of BC states that a Nominating Meeting can serve as the way for members to nominate other candidates they wish to see run for office. Candidates nominated in this way must have both a nominator and a seconder.
The Nominating Meeting will take place in the backstretch cafeteria (cookshack) on April 10, 2012 at 6:30 pm.
At the conclusion of the Nominating Meeting, the Spring Informational Meeting will be held.
When both meetings have finished, food will be served.
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Grantland – Greenwald – The Return of Mad Men and the End of TV’s Golden Age
LA Times – The right ending to HBO’s ‘Luck’
ESPN – Moran – Seeking understanding and tolerance
Luck
Luck:
Ep. 109 -
Mar. 25 – 9:01PM ET / MT
Mar. 26 – 2:16AM ET / MT
Mar. 26 – 9:00PM ET / MT
Mar. 27 – 12:25AM ET / MT
Mar. 27 – 3:01PM ET / MT
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All of humanity now has the option to “make it” successfully and sustainably, by virtue of our having minds, discovering principles and being able to employ these principles to do more with less.
R. Buckminster Fuller
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LA Times – Zarembo – Santa Anita leads California tracks in horse racing deaths
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Northlands Park will be open early
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Dubai Cup races
First Dubai Post time – 9:45 AM
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Assiniboia Down will be open early
HUGE DAY SATURDAY, MARCH 31:
First Dubai Post time – 8:10 AM
$10 million Dubai World Cup featuring Game On Dude who finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic
$1 million Florida Derby
Player’s Choice handicapping contest
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LA Times – Dwyre – Roger Goodell did what he had to, but there are no winners in Saints’ story
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NY Times – Shanoff – The Tebow Party Moves Its Big Tent East
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Yahoo Sports Chris Chase – Pat Robertson believes Peyton Manning should get hurt this year
Too bad Goodell doesn’t have jurisdiction over Pat Robertson. What a tremendous Christian leader. Sticking his nose into the NFL and musing about retribution for the Broncos through an injury to Peyton Manning. When this hypocrite finally ends up in Hell, he’ll make all the lawyers look like Saints.
Like God’s got nothing better to do than sit on his couch on Sunday’s and manipulate NFL scores for the benefit of point spread gamblers.
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National Post – Graphic: A demographic breakdown of the world of religion
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People don’t like the true and simple; they like fairy tales and humbug.
Edmonr de Goncourt
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LA Times – Farmer – Peyton Manning keeps defenses — and suitors — guessing
LA Times – Farmer – Courtship of Peyton Manning by NFL teams has other quarterbacks scrambling
National Post – Arthur – Sorry Tim Tebow, there’s a new saviour in Denver
NY Times – Battista – Broncos Go for Greatness Again
NY Times – Mason – Broncos Fans Rejoice Before the Ink Is Dry
NY Times – Tanier – From Colts to … Broncos? The Wild Ride of Peyton Manning
NY Times – Benoit – The Mystery of Why Manning Chose Denver
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“I tell kids that if that’s your dream, dream,” he said. “If you don’t dream, it doesn’t come to fruition.
…
“I also tell them that they’ve got to have Plan B.”
NY Times – Rhoden – Even a Player Who Made It Knows the Value of a Backup Plan
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The Globe And Mail – Gray – Canadian Tire pleads guilty in gas price-fixing scheme
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NY Times – Belson – Mets and Madoff Victims’ Trustee Now Unlikely Allies
NY Time – Nocera – The Mets Switch Teams
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Toronto Star – Parucha – Miss Universe Canada yanks transgendered contestant from pageant
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The Globe And Mail – Heer – Is this Canada’s Smartest Person?
Wonder if any politicians or government bureaucrats qualified?
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And Albertans wonder why the rest of Canada thinks they’re nothing but redneck boobs.
National Post – Wildrose party to rethink the wheels on Danielle Smith’s campaign bus
What was their Plan B?
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Writing in English is the most ingenious torture ever devised for sins committed in previous lives. The English reading public explains the reason why.
James Joyce
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National Post – CBC must decide what to do with Don Cherry
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Money and corruption are ruining the land, crooked politicians betray the working man, pocketing the profits and treating us like sheep, and we’re tired of hearing promises that we know they’ll never keep.
Ray Davies
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Winning apparently clears the slate and cleanses the soul. Wilpon could spend the next few years climbing trees, saving cats and parking fans’ cars. They won’t stick with him if his team can’t play. Fans in the 21st century, often feeling like victims of another kind of Ponzi scheme, are just willfully blind that way.
NY Times – Araton – Want Loyal Customers? Giving Them Hope Helps
National Post – Arthur – Leafs’ ugly season all too familiar for long-suffering fans
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LA Times – Williams – Sugar seeks sweet revenge against competition from corn
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National Post – Conrad Black: What the Pope must say in Cuba
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The Globe And Mail – Wheeler – Steel industry feels pinch in China
Gives new meaning to the phrase pig iron.
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The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
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National Post – Bidini – Record of the Month Club: Hell in a Handbasket, by Meatloaf
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National Post – Morons 101: Were Fanshawe rioters even dumber than Vancouver rioters?
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Phil M Stockmen