Jul 162017
 

Thoroughbred Racing Commentary – Sage –  The day Holy Bull gave everything he had to win the Travers

1994 Travers


Passport to Detroit


Thoroughbred Racing Commentary – Ehalt –  From floundering money-loser to America’s No.1 racetrack: the amazing transformation of Saratoga


National Post –  Colby Cosh: Get ready to be angry, Alberta, over a new equalization grab


The thoroughbred foal crop is declining because racing is almost a guaranteed losing proposition. A major contributor is per diem fees of $100 a day and up. A new system in which trainers would get more of a horse’s purse earnings but no per diem would help bring new blood into the game and almost certainly increase field sizes because horses standing in their stalls earn nothing.

 Horse Race Insider – Jicha – Continuing problems demand radical, outside-the-box solutions

Sal says that Jicha missed three key words on the end of his last sentence:

… because horses standing in their stalls earn nothing for their owners.


TDN –  NYRA Now Available on Apple TV and Amazon Fire

TDN – by Bill Finley – NYRA EYEING NIGHT RACING AT BELMONT

TDN Podcast – Kay


The final group spoke on the financial perspective and focused on the problems with complex betting, cost inefficiencies and lack of foreign capital being invested in racing. They highlighted that racing is not maximizing handle opportunities–suggesting a restructuring of simulcast contracts to increase money coming back to the racetracks that put on the product.

TDN – Band0roff –  Flying Starters Present Ideas to Bring Racing Into Top 10


Horse Race Insider – Pricci – Vox Populi on Racing Issues; Saturday’s Big Horses Run Big


Thoroughbred Racing Commentary – Gorajec –  What you need to know about the landmark Horse Racing Integrity Act


Sonic- 102.9 – Kelley –  FINAL RANKINGS: The Top 10 most Obnoxious Fans

Sal’s No. 1 with a bullet obnoxious horse player is the guy who’s constantly telling you what an easy pick the 35 – 1 shot was seconds after they cross the finish line but who never shows you his tickets with $20 on the nose or tells you before they leave the starting gate.


Bottle of Smoke


ESPN – And Away They Go


Image result for pictures ketchup on a hot dog


Nothing is as obnoxious as other people’s luck.
F. Scott Fitzgerald

The 50-50 jackpot at the Edmonton Eskimos game Friday night shattered the previous Canadian Football League record, climbing to more than $436,000.

The demand for tickets at the game was so high, the team stated the winner would not be announced until after the game on social media and on esks.com. The announcement drew boos from the crowd — which also set an attendance record for the CFL so far this year at 36,260.

Edmonton Journal – Griwowsky – 50-50 jackpot smashes CFL record at Edmonton Eskimos game


Thoroughbred Racing Commentary – Sage – Racing’s ‘Bad Boy’ Coronado’s Quest holds on by a nose in the 1998 Travers


Paulick Report –  Girvin Remains On Target For Haskell Invitational

Paulick Report –  McCraken ‘Doing Tremendous’ In Preparation For Haskell


National Post – Marsh – Why the ‘bridge-and-tunnel crowd’ seem incapable of manners

National Post – Parkes –  Why urban diners are so threatened by those from the suburbs


You’re So Vain


NY Times – Strom – A Baker’s Crusade: Rescuing the Famed French Boulangerie


If you’re a baker, making bread, you’re a baker. If you make the best bread in the world, you’re not an artist, but if you bake the bread in the gallery, you’re an artist. So the context makes the difference.

NY Times – Our Best Burgers, From Meaty to Meatless 


Edmonton Journal – Graney –  Jimmy Carter kicks off massive Habitat for Humanity project in Edmonton

Canada 150 – 150 Reasons to Build

Sal says that it’s invigorating  to see a retired political leader actually doing something for the people of the world unlike the Clintons and Harpers and Bushes and Obamas who stuff their pockets with their cushy directorships, consulting jobs and on the rubber chicken speaking circuit.


NY Times – Friedman – If You Fix This, You Fix a Big Piece of the Climate Puzzle

Sal says the answer was easy “C” plus one of these things is not like the others. Remember your High School and College multiple guess exams where when you didn’t know the answer you took an educated guess or always used “C” as you’d be correct 25% of the time. “A”, “B” and “D” all imply individuals and corporations changing their lifestyles to help green the planet. “C” looks out of place and it’s “C” so that’s Sal’s choice.


Circles


Don B. Danard and Curtis Landry’s Ruffenuff shook off any rust from her last lackluster performance and dominated the Northlands Oaks on Saturday leading from gate to wire repelling the late threat from Saveitforarainyday pulling away for a 2 3/4 length victory in 139.22 for the mile. Quincy Welsh was aboard for conditioner Greg Tracy as the Dialed In filly  improved her record to  6 wins in 8 starts including 4 stakes victories.

Saveitforarainyday held on for second with Anstrum getting up for show money.


Tougher than the Rest


Image may contain: ocean, water and text


TwinSpires Blog – Powell -Analysis of Belmont main track upgrades Songbird’s Phipps, explains Keen Ice’s Suburban


Robert Vargo and Norm Castiglione’s Riversedge Racing Stables Ltd.’s Trooper John emphatically established himself as the early home track favourite for the 2017 Canadian Derby as he dueled for the early lead with Double Bear and Free at Last put those 2 rivals away and then  cruised home in 144.28 for the 1 1/16 mile in the Count Lathum Handicap Black Type at Northlands Park on Saturday. Keishan Balgobin was in the irons for trainer Tim Rycroft for the front running stakes victory on the son of Colonel John. That’s 2 weekends in a row that Keishan won Stakes on the lead.

Double Bear was no match for the winner but held on for place money over Real Quality who Sal had figured would have been part of the early pace but changed tactics today.

Great to see Count Lathum’s part owner and trainer Bobby Marsh making the presentation to the winning connections at Northlands Park on Saturday and spending a good part of the day reminiscing, Sal’s looking forward to seeing Bobby present the trophy to the winners of the Count Lathum when it’s run at the Century Mile.


I’m On Fire


LA Times – Seely – Old Volvos are an object of affection in Seattle, where drivers tend to hate driving


Volvo Driving Soccer Mom

 


Speaking of the Century Mile Sal’s eye in the sky actually eye in a pickup driving done Highway II said there was equipment moving to the site behind Red Tail Landing and it looked like they were gearing up to be in the ground before K-Days opens its doors.

Speaking of K-Days Northlands Park will be racing July 19th and 20th before K-Days opens its doors with no live racing on Friday July 21 and Saturday July 22.


The Pemberton Music Festival finally sank into bankruptcy proceedings in May, leaving behind a welter of unsecured creditors and some bitterly learned lessons about how ‘the best weekend of your life’ can become a financial nightmare

The Globe and Mail – Woo – Anatomy of a music  festival’s death


NY Times – Kolata – Who Needs Hard Drives? Scientists Store Film Clip in DNA


TDN –  House Panel Vote Could Lead to Reopening of Horse Slaughter Plants


Paulick Report –  Hong Kong Jockey Club Closes Season With Record Turnover


Paulick Report –  Canterbury’s ‘Extreme Day’ Draws Local Crowd Of 13,315 For Exotic Races


Paulick Report –  Around The Track Podcast Presented By Taylor Made: Life And Times With ‘The Mig’


TDN – Equestricon Announces Hong Kong Jockey Club as Sponsor; “Lucky Draw” Sweepstakes Open


Bloodhorse – Balan –  Irap Dominant in Indiana Derby

Paulick Report – Indiana Derby Sets New Track Records For Handle, Attendance


Bloodhorse – Balan –  West Coast Gets Running Late in Los Alamitos Derby Win


 Northlands Park Jockey Standings

 .
Rank Jockey Name Sts 1st 2nd 3rd Total $
1 Rico W. Walcott 169 52 39 20 $500,884
2 Keishan Balgobin 148 23 25 35 $378,295
3 Dane Nelson 108 19 18 15 $237,708
4 Kyle Carter 136 16 19 24 $229,077
5 Rigo Sarmiento 79 19 11 13 $210,574
6 Quincy Welch 72 13 10 11 $202,473
7 Shamaree Muir 121 18 18 15 $202,218
8 Larry Munoz 87 15 15 11 $153,705
9 Rey Williams 82 11 19 13 $115,575
10 Shannon Beauregard 82 8 9 16 $114,855
11 Brandon A. Duchaine 57 8 7 10 $60,896
12 Damario Bynoe 79 4 6 12 $59,400
13 Andre Martin 62 6 11 10 $58,478
14 Ridge Balgobin 44 5 8 8 $52,176
15 Isabelle C. Wenc 63 6 2 7 $47,708
16 Kwame Joseph 40 3 4 3 $26,986
17 Mario Velazquez 14 0 1 2 $10,229
18 Lenny A. Seecharan 17 1 2 0 $9,573
19 Anastasios Chalaris 6 1 0 2 $8,227
20 Randy Whitter 13 1 0 0 $7,839
.
 Northlands Park Trainer Standings
.
Rank Trainer Name Sts 1st 2nd 3rd Total $
1 Tim Rycroft 75 25 13 14 $329,151
2 Greg Tracy 115 27 25 20 $328,741
3 Ron Grieves 56 14 11 8 $178,124
4 Dale L. Saunders 81 9 15 17 $169,946
5 Craig Robert Smith 77 14 10 18 $140,175
6 Joan Petrowski 139 10 12 16 $135,985
7 Tom Rycroft 55 14 7 10 $111,624
8 Rodney J. Cone 58 8 8 13 $97,898
9 Ron K. Smith 55 8 14 8 $97,843
10 Monica Russell 37 6 7 5 $93,519
11 Jerri R. Robertson 63 7 11 13 $88,605
12 Dale Greenwood 42 12 6 9 $87,777
13 Ernie J. Keller 33 6 4 3 $73,395
14 Rick Hedge 21 6 2 4 $65,470
15 Jennifer Hunt 30 4 9 1 $51,974
16 Michael Nault 28 4 3 4 $51,604
17 Robbin Martens 23 5 2 1 $50,639
18 George Ron Scott 37 3 7 4 $49,002
19 Robertino Diodoro 31 6 6 4 $48,100
20 Amanda Gregory 31 4 2 5 $42,393


Paulick Report – Jagow – ‘Show’ Us The Money? The Plight Of A Simple Wager


Garden and Gun – Hendrickson – Honoring a New Orleans Musical Legend


Fortune Teller


National Post –  John Ivison: Canada’s rocket woman personifies image to which Liberals aspire

National Post –  Former astronaut Julie Payette to be next governor general: CBC report


Mr. Spaceman


Bloodhorse – Novak –  Songbird Holds Fast in Delaware Handicap

ESPN – DRF – Dunleavy –  Songbird holds off Martini Glass in Delaware Handicap

US Racing – Ransom –  Songbird Sings Winning Tune in Delaware Handicap


Paulick Report – Bohl –  Brown, Jose Ortiz Close Belmont Meet With Second Consecutive Titles


Bloodhorse – Snierson –  Jockey Diane Nelson Dies


Bloodhorse – Hanging With Haskin –  Long, Hard Struggle For Female Jockeys


Thoroughbred Racing Commentary – Smith –  Who are the world’s highest-ranked female jockeys?


LA Times – Erskine –  Here are some of the ways our children helped their mother cope with cancer


Girl You’ll Be a Woman Soon


Paulick Report –  Classic Empire ‘Hasn’t Been As Aggressive,’ Will Skip Haskell Invitational

Paulick Report –  Classic Empire On Target For Haskell Despite ‘Unorthodox’ Breeze


Paulick Report –  Irish War Cry ‘Really Hasn’t Missed A Beat’ In Preparations For Haskell


TDN –  Louis Romanet Joins WHOA


NY Times – Rafferty –  I Know What You’ll Read This Summer


Baker Street


NY Times – Maslin – Michael Connelly’s New Detective Makes Harry Bosch Look Like a Slouch


All Day and All of the Night


National Post – O’Connor – How a young Cree sprinter made peace with his father’s violent death


THE CHICKENSHIT CLUB: Why the Justice Department Fails to Prosecute Executives, by Jesse Eisinger. (Simon & Schuster, $28.) Why was virtually no one prosecuted in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis? A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for the nonprofit ProPublica examines the cultural shifts in the legal and business worlds since the turn of the century that led to solicitous attitudes toward corporations. It’s basically an “elites” problem: the prosecutors and the defense attorneys on opposite sides of the table are increasingly the same people, just at different points in their careers. Prepare to be incensed.

NY Times –  10 New Books We Recommend This Week


Thoroughbred Racing Commentary –  Tony Morris’s 100 shapers of the breed: the legacy of an invincible American champion


TDN – Bill Finley –  How Good is Chad Brown? Very Good


TDN – DeBernardis –  Down the Shedrow with Ken McPeek


TDN – DiDonato – O’Brien Fined by NY Gaming Commission


ESPN – DRF – Hegarty –  Penn National permanently bans three trainers


TDN – Berry – The Rise of Reynier


 

The C Cup Classic

October 15, 2017

 

Formerly: The Powder Puff Derby

On Track to Beat Breast Cancer benefitting CRINA (Cancer Research Institute of Northern Alberta)
Submit your signed application to the C.T.H.S. office by Friday, July 28th, 2017.

Paulick Report – Hackbarth –  Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Organization Keeps Cox Stable ‘Moving Forward’


TDN – Hushion Prepares for Well-Deserved Retirement


Paulick Report –  Sherman, Hollendorfer To Be Honored At Gregson Foundation Charity Dinner


TDN – Caulfield –  Pedigree Insights: Ulysses


Well, I wish some of you would tell me the brand of whiskey that Grant drinks. I would like to send a barrel of it to my other generals.

Abraham Lincoln


Bloodhorse – Shea –  Western Riders Combat Stigma of Riding Thoroughbreds


The Bitter Southerner – Reece – We Ain’t Unicorns


Southern Nights


TDN –  Jockey Club Round Table Conference Featured Speakers Announced

Paulick Report –  Banke, Elliott, Vonmiller Among Those To Share Insights At 65th Annual Round Table Conference


Horse race Insider – Pricci – NYRA On a Roll as Saratoga Approaches


NY Times – Waldstein – The Exciting Life and Lonely Death of a Basketball Vagabond


The Globe and Mail – Gray and Katawazi – Freeze order on Omar Khadr payout needs proof of risk: experts

And on Thursday, Justice Edward Belobaba — in a quick ruling from the bench after a 90-minute hearing — concluded that the plaintiffs did not provide enough evidence to justify a freeze order, which he called a “draconian” measure.

“We don’t, thank goodness, in Canada have one law for Omar Khadr and one law for all other Canadians,” Justice Belobaba told the courtroom in announcing his decision.

The Globe and Mail – Gray –  Judge turns down request for freeze order on Khadr money

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he shares the concerns of Canadians who object to the settlement payment, but he said it was the responsible thing to do, both morally and economically.

“I can understand Canadians’ concerns about the settlement. In fact, I share those concerns about the money. That’s why we settled,” Trudeau said on Thursday in Ottawa. “If we had continued to fight this, not only would we have inevitably lost, but estimates range from $30- to $40-million that it would have ended up costing the government…. The measure of a society — a just society — is not whether we stand up for people’s rights when it’s easy or popular to do so. It’s whether we recognize rights when it’s difficult, when it’s unpopular.”

Widow’s effort to freeze Omar Khadr’s assets rejected: ‘You’re asking for execution before judgment’

Sal says that Justin’s starting to sound a lot like Pierre.


The Globe and Mail – Fife and Gray – Trudeau says Omar Khadr case could have cost $40-million

Sal says that there are a number of legal pieces and car sellers ticked that they won’t be the benefactors of the Khadr lawsuit.

Sal says that most conservatives are so set in their PC ways they won’t even notice that the Khadr settlement prevents the airing of miles of the Harper government’s dirty laundry in public.


The court, however, invoked the “political question” doctrine: some politically charged and technical matters are not “justiciable” because courts are inappropriate forums for answering them. They include the wisdom of military actions. What was sensible but not predictable was that Judge Janice Rogers Brown, in addition to writing the opinion for the court, added a blistering opinion in which she upbraided the other branches for dereliction of duties regarding unfettered presidential war-making, particularly with precision-strike weapons.

National Post –  George F. Will: Why Congress avoids making rules about who Washington kills

Sal says that Khadr may have a defence to the wrongful death lawsuit.


The Globe and Mail – Ha – Federal Court voids Canadian citizenship revocation for 312 people


No Love Lost


Paulick Report – Steffanus – Hot And Cold: Custom Shoeing Versus ‘Plating’ For Thoroughbreds


My Adidas


Bloodhorse –  Gunnevera Aims for Travers Stakes


Bloodhorse – Ron Mitchell –  Distinta Tops Strong Fasig-Tipton Racehorse Sale


TDN – Saving the ‘Best’ for Almost Last: Medaglia Filly Brings a Million at Fasig

Paulick Report –  Best Goes To Cool $1 Million For Medaglia d’Oro Filly at Fasig-Tipton July Sale


TDN – Riley –  Record-Priced Colt Tops Select Sale


Tonight, Tonight


Epstein called the White Sox a “surprising dance partner” because of their proximity. But the deal makes sense given each other’s needs.

Sportsnet –  AP – Cubs acquire left-hander Jose Quintana from White Sox

ESPN – Doolittle –  Jose Quintana deal a Windy City win for both Cubs and White Sox

Sal says that the problem with trading talent for prospects is that the prospects then trade the pro for a su.


Dancing in the Streets


Round up the usual suspects.

Captain Louis Renault


LA Times – Sahagun – Winter’s snow is disrupting this Sierra Nevada summer


NY Times – Draper –  The Two Men Who Make Money From the N.B.A. in Summer

Sal says that everyday NHL fans get more evidence that David Stern sent Gary Bettman over to the NHL to help the NBA become vastly prosperous while the NHL struggles.


The Globe and Mail – Torres – The Russians are leaving: Free agents choose KHL over NHL to play in Olympics

Sal says that maybe short pants Trump Jr. can talk to his Russian connections about this.

Sal says that everyday NHL fans get more evidence that David Stern sent Gary Bettman over to the NHL to help the NBA become vastly prosperous while the NHL struggles.


Back In the USSR


But the bad overwhelmingly outweighs the good, and the case has definitely been made that Gary Bettman could be the worst pro sports commissioner ever. MLB fans might argue, and New Orleans Saints fans definitely would contend to the contrary, but most any hockey fan will defer to Bettman as the worst…ever.

Fansided – Collins – Is Gary Bettman the worst pro sports commissioner ever?

Sal says that the only place you’d get an argument on that was in Montreal the night of the riot.


Bloodhorse – Balan – Frostmourne Coasts to Kent Stakes Victory


Bloodhorse – Balan –  Dortmund Back in Training at Los Alamitos


Garden and Gun – Portman – Kernels of Wisdom

Garden and Gun – Portman – Corn Meets Corn Liquor


US Racing – Cochran – Visiting Tara


TDN – Frary –  Dubawi’s Son Of Beauty Parlour Scores At HQ


Hairdresser on Fire


FiveThirtyEight –  The Ultimate Playlist Of Banned Wedding Songs


Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now


TDN – Frary –  Poetic License


TDN – Frary –  Galileo’s Gustav Klimt Gets Up For Superlative Win


TDN –  Galileo’s Elizabeth Browning Earns Her Stripes at The Curragh


NY Times – St. Fleur – Unlocking Mysteries in the Sun’s 11-Year Cycle


In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.
Yogi Berra

Hawthorne Sal

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