Robert Heinlein
Aug 262018
Don’t Cry Because It’s Over; Smile Because It Happened
Ludwig Jacobowski should be credited with coining this saying in German
Phil’s reprising:
ODE TO A BULLRING
Willow and waley and woe and sorrow, the thoroughbreds are leaving Northlands tomorrow.
Chestnut and bay and black and gray, will no longer cavort and snort and neigh.
The t-breds are leaving, exit the horses, exit the “hot tips” from all kinds of sources.
Exit the jockeys, the grooms and the trainers, exit the longshots and the sure thing “no-brainers”.
Exit the valets, the servers and tellers, exit the bartenders and program sellers.
The sport and its fans are being told “take a hike”, no more ask the question “who do you like?”
Exit the sprinters and those that go longer, exit the plodders and those that run stronger.
Exit the theories, the hunches, the reasons, Exit racing and all of its seasons.
Exit the stakes horses or those you can claim, to the casual fan they all look the same.
A variety of wagers allows for a choice, if that choice be astute it be cause to rejoice.
Win, place or show, exactor, pick four. Pick the right numbers, get a nice score.
Each punter an expert with their own base of knowledge, from the school of hard knocks to equestrian college.
One likes a chestnut with four flashy socks, one likes the colours that adorn all the jocks.
One likes the horse name, one likes the post, if the pick is successful they all like the boast.
Whatever the formula the object is winnin, on a good fortune day you’re pickin and grinnin.
Good-bye to the characters and all of the stories, good-bye to the bad days or the good day glories.
Good-bye to the intrigue of backstretch and barns, good-bye to the hours of whiskey fueled yarns.
Why is it ending and who is to blame? Surely you all have some culprits to name.
Here’s to the thoroughbreds and time well spent, Even those days when you’re chasing the rent.
So have one last toast to memories and friends, this is the way a great era ends.
Good-bye to the races and all of the steeds, good-bye to all of their noble deeds.
Good-bye to all the familiar faces, so end the Northlands thoroughbred races.
Words and music by Noah Furlong with inspiration from Ogden Nash
To keep your marriage brimming, With love in the loving cup, Whenever you’re wrong, admit it; Whenever you’re right, shut up.
Ogden Nash
Phil was wandering if Noah Furlong is related to that useless football receiver Noah Vail.
Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance.
The difference between a violin and a viola is that a viola burns longer.
Victor Borge
I demolish my bridges behind me – then there is no choice but forward.
Fridtjof Nansen
When Phil got up on Saturday morning and looked out his front window what to his wondrous eyes did appear but frost on the neighbours’ roofs. Thanks to Picasso’s yellow spot it did warm up for the final day of thoroughbred racing at Northlands Park and drizzle held off until the last of the barn parties was slowly winding down.
Edmonton Journal – JONES: Thoroughbred racing officially comes to end at Northlands Park
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TDN – Thornton – Week in Review: Travers and Undercard Yield Early Breeders’ Cup Clues
Paulick Report – Catholic Boy Headed To Classic, Final Prep Likely On Turf
Paulick Report – Abel Tasman Eyes Distaff; Elate May Be Headed To Breeders’ Cup Classic
Paulick Report – Bring The Dramamine? Resort Company Proposes Racetrack With Moving Grandstand
NY Times – Glanville – The Magic of the Baseball Nickname
The bigger the game, the better I liked it. Not that I was about to let anybody know I was excited. I approached every game the same way. One pitch, one hitter at a time.
Catfish Hunter
You can observe a lot by watching.
Yogi Berra
A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy?
Albert Einstein
Bloodhorse – Racing Post – Carr – Stradivarius Lands Million-Pound Jackpot at York
Yehudi Menuhin; Mozart Violin Concerto n°3 in G Major
Never Attribute to Malice That Which Is Adequately Explained by Stupidity
TDN – Bill Finley – The Week in Review: Breeders’ Cup Passes on N.Y. Again. Why?
Never Attribute to Malice That Which Is Adequately Explained by Stupidity
Robert Heinlein
TDN – Bill Finley – Gulfstream Suspends Jockey, Rules Off Trainer After Race
If that race had been run on Broadway they could have given Tony a Tony for his performance.
Horse Race Insider – Jicha – Isn’t Learning and Mastering the Game Hard Enough?
TDn – Frary – Kitten’s Joy’s Roaring Lion Pounces In the Juddmonte
Phil has a question:
Could Kitten’s Joy end up being one of the top sires of sires of all time.
The Ennead will let Phil slide on that one.
All gamblers lose regularly, but they rarely discuss it in public. Losing is bad for the image, dude. Nobody buys Hot Tips from Losers. Remember that.
Hunter S. Thompson
NY Times – Phelan – 15 Gifts to Make Your Host Smile
Phil has a question:
Is it OK to regift the gift when you’re invited to the giver’s house.
The Ennead knows what’s Number 1 with a bullet.
The Ennead knows what will never get regifted.
The Ennead knows what’s Number 1A with a bullet.
The Ennead knows what will never get regifted.
Get off your horse and drink your milk.
John Wayne
Garden and Gun – Horn – Dark ’n Stormy: Classic Cocktails with a Southern Twist
The characters I’ve played, especially Bret Maverick and Jim Rockford, almost never use a gun, and they always try to use their wits instead of their fists.
James Garner
Bloodhorse – Hangin with Haskin – With Catholic Boy, Always Keep the Faith
Bloodhorse – Wincze Hughes -All Good in Catholic Boy’s World After Travers Win
TDN – Catholic Boy Fine After Travers Win
Yet, in Catholic Boy, Kumin, who owns the ridgling under the banner of Madaket Stables, and his partners, majority owner Robert LaPenta, Siena Farm and Twin Creeks Racing Stables, have a 3-year-old so exceptionally talented and versatile that he already holds the relatively unique honor of being a G1 winner on dual surfaces at a classic distance.
Bloodhorse – Ehalt – Versatile Catholic Boy Soars Clear in Travers
TDN – Catholic Boy Rewards Connections’ Faith in Travers
The Saratoga Special – Sean Clancy – Prayers Answered
ESPN – AP – Javier Castellano extends record in Travers, rides Catholic Boy to win
I have just one fiddle. It works, and that’s it. It has been an old friend.
National Post – Brehaut – Eating with your eyes never tasted so good
Horse Race Insider – Pricci – TV Diary: Travers Day 149
Bloodhorse – Travers Card Generates Record All-Sources Handle
Bloodhorse – Balan – Axelrod Dominant in Smarty Jones Stakes
Bloodhorse – Wincze Hughes – Promises Fulfilled Reigns in H. Allen Jerkens Stakes
Garden and Gun – A Day at the Varsity
The Bitter Southerner – Willis – When Tom Wolfe Wrote Atlanta
All things on earth point home in old October; sailors to sea, travellers to walls and fences, hunters to field and hollow and the long voice of the hounds, the lover to the love he has forsaken.
Thomas Wolfe
Bloodhorse – Angst – Experts: Horse Racing Left at Gate in Digital Marketing
Bloodhorse – Study: Betting Could Help Sports Attract Younger Fans
Phil has a question:
How quickly can horse racing shift from rocking chair marketing to the rocking horse marketing.
Progress might have been alright once, but it has gone on too long.
Ogden Nash
Bloodhorse – Racing Slam Dunk for Cincinnati Basketball Coach Cronin
TDN – Bauer-Herzog – Racing Clubs Gathering Steam
Bloodhorse – Trainer Diordoro Secures Win No. 2,000
All-Time Thoroughbred Leaders – Top 50 Trainers by Wins
Sportsnet – Rutherford – JUST GETTING STARTED
Phil’s phly on the wall at Wednesday’s Alberta HBPA meeting advises that when it was announced that Shirley McClellan was gone from Horse Racing Alberta effective July 31, 2018 one of the members shouted: “Thank Christ, she’s gone” and a spontaneous ovation to her leaving broke out.
Paulick Report – Gryder Rides Five Winners In A Row Friday At Hastings
Phil’s phly on the wall at Wednesday’s Alberta HBPA meeting advises that Norm Castiglione of Riversedge has been elected President of HPBA Alberta.
Thoroughbred Racing Commentary – Roberts and Taylor – Saratoga: entering an ambitious new era
Bloodhorse – Balan – Accelerate, ‘Cruiser’ Taking Different Paths to BC
Phil’s phly on the wall at Wednesday’s Alberta HBPA meeting advises that Gill Hermanns, the newly minted Chair of Horse Racing Alberta, has suffered a heart attack and may not be able to continue in that role. Phil will keep you posted.
Work like you don’t need the money. Love like you’ve never been hurt. Dance like nobody’s watching.
Satchel Paige
Phil’s phly on the wall at Wednesday’s Alberta HBPA meeting advises that Kent Verlik, the freshly minted CEO of Horse Racing Alberta, is approaching the job from a business perspective and not from a personal political agenda of throttling the thoroughbreds to keep Freddie The Fee and the jiggies happy.
Phil’s sentiment are “Thank Christ, she’s gone”. You can stand and applaud now.
With a new CEO taking a business perspective at HRA and a new track with an operator whose slot track record is home and cooled out compared to Northlands Park the thoroughbred racing industry in Alberta should be on the way back to better days.
Phil’s Drink and A Flick
TDN – Lope de Vega Filly Caps Big Day for Sire With Rising Star-Worthy Debut at the Spa
Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has.
Rene Descartes
NY Times – Deb – Sacha Baron Cohen Pranked Me, Can I Sue? Yes. Win? Not So Much
Phil has a question:
Why bother reading the fine print when your ego’s that big.
In madness, I thought I was the most important person in the world.
John Forbes Nash, Jr.
Speaking of coming and goings Phil heard a rumour that Mr. and Mrs. Preacher have both parted ways with ATOBA.
TDN – Breeders’ Cup Reveals 2018 Culinary Lineup
TDN – Breeders’ Cup Introducing Future Wagers
Paulick Report – Report: Future Wagers Might Be Available For 2018 Breeders’ Cup
TDN – McGrath – Bellamy Helping All Roads Lead to New York
Bloodhorse – Getting Intimate – By Evan Hammonds
NY Times – Rauch – Why Prosperity Has Increased but Happiness Has Not
Tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday.
John Wayne
The Bitter Southerner – Blankenship – Giving Up the Mayo of My Youth
Duke is an ugly word in Kentucky. Nothing in the world compares to the joy of beating those hateful swine from Duke.
Hunter S. Thompson
TDN – Bill Finley – Saratoga Flashback: When King Angel Was a Pauper
Bloodhorse – Crosby – Marley’s Freedom Much the Best in Ballerina
My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four. Unless there are three other people.
Orson Welles
Garden and Gun – 25 Ways to Add Southern Soul to Your Home
Just be sure that cellaret and bathtub are stocked with some
My old pappy always used to say:
Never cry over spilled milk … it could’ve been whiskey.
Bret Maverick
NY Times – Filipovic – Stormy Daniels, Feminist Hero
TDN – DeBernardis – Saratoga: Graveyard of Champions or Birthplace?
NY Times – Cauley – Football Players Are Protesting Police Violence, Not the Anthem
Phil has a question:
Does Cauley think that Trump is doing anything other than pandering to his rabble.
Does Cauley think that Trump’s rabble understands what she wrote.
Would Trump invite any of his rabble to the White House for dinner.
Bloodhorse – Ehalt – Whitmore Earns First Grade 1 Score in Forego
Bloodhorse – Wincze Hughes – Abel Tasman Holds off Elate in Personal Ensign
Bloodhorse – Balan – Catalina Cruiser Unstoppable in Pat O’Brien
TDN – Catalina Cruiser Stays Perfect in Pat O’Brien
Bloodhorse – Balan – Tatters to Riches Scores First Stakes in Shared Belief
TDN – Union Rags’s $1M Breezer Tatters to Riches Wins Shared Belief
Bloodhorse – Daugherty – Glorious Empire Cuts Down Competition in Sword Dancer
Paulick Report – Quidura Never Headed In Ballston Spa
Farm Film Report — Meryl Streep
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Paulick Report – Mr Havercamp Splits Rivals For Play The King Score
Paulick Report – Juvenile My Gal Betty Proves Best In Inaugural Catch A Glimpse Stakes
Phil M Stockmen
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NORTHLANDS PARK FINAL RACE MEET SUCCESS AS BACKSTRETCH LIQUIDATION SALE DELAYED
Freedom of live wagering information from CPMA has NORTHLANDS PARK 2018 race meet averaging $249.7k live from 39 dates a slight 1.69% drop from the 2017 average of 254k(54). NORTHLANDS live on track handle was UP 13.05% , with the HPI betting down 15.83% because of the funneling of long time accounts from red deer south to Century coffers to discredit NP marketing efforts.
RYNEVELD states that CENTURY MILE will be racetrack first and slot parlour second. Why for the second year in a row did they not provide concrete live wagering numbers for the recent harness meet whilee the harness horses are fleeing the province to BC/CAL like a swarm of killer bees.
LAS VEGAS RACETRACK partners are rumoured to be offering 2 US cents on the Canadian dollar for the NP backstretch assets. However the barn wood removal has hit a snag due to the rumoured presence of wood bearing beetles. The citrus (anoplophora chinenis)/asian (anoplophara glabipennis) beetle detected means they cannot be transferred to a foreign country and all this time we thought it was bored racehorses chewing on the stall wood?
RED MCKENZIE’S (91 yr old) recent fine ruling #36 for entering a ineligible horse resulting in a late scratch, is the tip of the iceberg for the stewards / race secretary who 3 days earlier didn’t catch the problem and allowed the entry and should have been fined appropriately.
FUGEGATE is typical of HRA mismanagement where CFO? approved invoices of $111k for17 and $55k for 2016 with no accountability and is a continuation of CAPTAINGATE in 2014 where chairman submitted expenses $4700 for tourism conference in MUNICH and vienna sausage while tourism minister STARKE/PC expensed ONLY $1700. Same pork belly buffet but different tablecloth!