Premier Smith, who as Wildrose leader was a renowned exponent of austerity, has left herself an escape hatch for accusations of hypocrisy. The province isn’t contributing to the cost of the arena per se — perish the thought — but is merely contributing to the cosmic-scale infrastructure upgrades that have made the building of the arena suddenly possible. Smith also says, having appeared in a Flames uniform at the press conference to take her share of credit for the deal, that she is hoping the bargain “doesn’t become an election issue.” That’s not hypocrisy, mind you — it’s a lie. It probably didn’t take more than an hour or two for Conservative political strategists to begin smugly briefing the Calgary Herald’s Don Braid on what a clever trap the UCP has created for the New Democrat opposition in Calgary.
Countdown to Success: 11 Ways to Invite New and Young Wine Lovers to the Table and Sundre Other News
Vine Pair – Williams – Can Hip Hop Help Solve Wine’s Millennial Problem?
NY Pizza X Etna Rosso from Sicily, Italy | Tasting Notes From The Streets EP 5
Bloodhorse – Fox Sports’ Taylor Ready for Derby With Jace’s Road
Phil’s Drink ‘n a Flick
A high class horse could not win a race with a feather on his back if he is not in condition.
Pittsburgh Phil
The New Yorker – Brody – In Praise of the Long Movie
The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder.
No Races this week on the Road to the 2023 Kentucky Derby 149
Brisnet – Get to know the 2023 Kentucky Derby contenders
Horse Racing Nation – Flatter – Meet the trainers who will compete in Kentucky Derby 2023
Kentucky Derby 150
Kentucky Derby 150 – Derby of A Lifetime Contest
Vote early and vote often.
Al Capone
2023 Preakness 148 Saturday May 20, 2023
DRF – Russo – Some Kentucky Derby hopefuls now setting their sights on Preakness
Bill Dory & Adam Ference’s Chase the Chaos the El Camino Real Derby winner with a guaranteed spot in the Preakness has been entered in the California Derby at Golden Gate Fields on Saturday April 29, 2023.
TDN – Preakness 148 Offers Limited Edition Ale
2023 Belmont Stakes Saturday June 10, 2023
Win the Ultimate Kentucky Derby Party!
Plan the Ultimate Kentucky Derby Party!
Kentucky Derby 149 Contest
Alberta horse trainer Rod Cone to receive Ken Cohoe Lifetime Achievement Award at the upcoming Night of Champions.
With 987 wins and over $9.8 million in earnings, Rod is a multiple graded stakes winning trainer, including three Canadian Derby wins.
Join us on Friday, May 5th, at Century Mile Racetrack and Casino.
Book your tickets before April 28th. Contact CTHS office at 403-229-3609 or visit www.cthsalta.com for tickets and more information.
Updated Kentucky Derby Leaderboard
One interesting pedigree note this year is a possible exacta box with Forte and Two Phil’s, and this may hit an emotional note more than a scientific one. Forte’s maternal grandsire Blame and Two Phil’s’ maternal great-grandsire Birdstone are both stamina-heavy stallions who probably caused more grief to racing fans than any horses in memory. To this day there still are tens of thousands of fans who refuse to watch Blame’s Breeders’ Cup Classic victory over their beloved Zenyatta, who was only inches from a 20-race undefeated career, and Birdstone’s Belmont Stakes victory over Smarty Jones, one of the most popular horses ever who was only yards away from being an undefeated Triple Crown winner, but was basically ganged up on by the jockeys of his main opponents. This is a totally believable exacta that would finally give these two horses (Birdstone is now actually pensioned) some well-deserved positive press.
Speaking of Two Phil’s, for those who feel his sire Hard Spun might be compromised at 10 furlongs, Hard Spun’s dam is by Turkoman, who ran one of the fastest Marlboro Cups ever and placed in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Jockey Club Gold Cup, and Travers, out of a half-sister to Belmont and Preakness winner Little Current, by English Derby winner Roberto.
Haskin’s Derby Rankings: How to Find a Derby Winner… With Your Eyes
Bloodhorse – Byron King – Forte Continues Reign Atop Derby Dozen
TDN – Thornton – TDN Derby Top 20: Cadence Quickens, Plot Thickens
XBTV – Jeff Siegel’s Kentucky Derby Deluxe Dozen (updated 4/14/23)
Paulick Report – Champagne – The Derby Bubble Presented By Kentucky-Breds: The Waiting Game Begins
Horse Racing Nation – Kentucky Derby 2023 Contenders
Horse Racing Nation – Shifman – Kentucky Derby 2023: Early full-field odds and analysis
Opening Day/Kentucky Derby Party Experience
What Needs To Be Done if Thoroughbred Racing wants to remain relevant
Phil’s adding the new and reprising the old articles:
Never insult anyone by accident.
Robert A. Heinlein
TDN – Letter To The Editor: Resnick – In Response to Computer Assisted Wagering
TDN – Liebman – Letter to the Editor: Computer Assisted Wagering
There is always room for losers in the football business. They are the mother’s milk of gambling, and why not? Somebody has to do it, or there won’t be any winners.
Hunter S. Thompson
Phil has a question:
What happens to horse racing when you run out of mother’s milk.
Horse Race Insider – Pricci – NON-SUPER TRAINERS FACE BLEAK FUTURE IN TODAY’S RACING INDUSTRY
Front Office Sports – Greenberg – Sports Betting Giant Selling Its U.S. Operations
Officials believe they must cater to whales to protect betting handle that’s been virtually flat for decades, never mind keeping pace with inflation. What they fail to grasp is that if rank and file players continue walking away, today’s precious purses will be unsustainable.
Michele Fischer, vice president of the United States division of SIS Content Services, which is the largest distributor of horse racing content to global wagering operators, said fixed-odds wagering on U.S. horse racing would be an attractive addition to sports betting platforms. She said there’s still time for the industry to make the move but the clock is ticking.
“We have to look at the industry five years from now, 10 years from now,” Fischer said. “We are getting left behind—and I’d say this for other equestrian sports—we’re becoming niche—very niche—very quickly,” Fischer said. She predicted that the day is soon coming when sports without a direct presence on sports betting sites will lose traction with the mainstream audience.
“There’s always going to be people that want to come to the racetrack and they’re going to want to bet on horse racing. That’s a small group,” Fischer said. “But (fixed-odds sports betting) is a huge opportunity for this entire industry to get out with all these other sports.”
Bloodhorse – Angst – Opportunity for Racing as Sports Betting Eyes Content
Phil has a question:
How can anyone in Alberta expect the fucking jokers over at Horse Racing Alberta to be able to meet the challenges alluded to by Fischer and Pricci when all they can do is cash their paycheques and gaze out the windows while the one real performance metric they publish – handle declines year after year.
TDN – Ross – When Do CAWs Help And Hurt California Racing?
Phil has a question:
If you asked any of the minions at Horse Racing Alberta what they understand about CAWs would their response involve crows.
In all of the articles about CAWS why is there no mention of the actual dollar amounts of the rebates and how those amounts impact what the tracks receive and what ends up dwindling down to the horsemen.
… the number of people betting on sports and the volume of wagering across the United States quickly surpassed horse racing’s totals and continues to grow.
Paulick Report – The Friday Show Presented By Icon Global: Merging Sports Betting With Horse Racing
How will horse racing attract new customers when a new customer looks at sports betting and sees a fairly level wagering field with fixed odds with a small vig (takeout) and then looks at horse racing where the tracks themselves provide better information and easier ways to bet for a preferred class of customers, the CAWs, the takeout is usurious and the CAWS get a rebate that’s pretty close to the vig in sports betting.
To quote Craig Bernick – Good luck.
There is always room for losers in the football business. They are the mother’s milk of gambling, and why not? Somebody has to do it, or there won’t be any winners.
Hunter S. Thompson
Phil has a question:
When will Alberta have sports betting terminals in every lounge that has VLTs.
When will the sports betting terminals in every lounge that has VLTs have horse racing available.
What does the Undertaker do besides gaze out his window.
Phil’s not archaic. Phil understands that most people in Alberta sports bars bet on their phone, tablet or laptop on a grey area site that pays nary a nickel of taxes to the province of Alberta.
According to Cummings’s research, in the past two decades, adjusting for inflation, total betting on US horseracing from the general public decreased 63 per cent. Betting from CAWs, meanwhile, increased 150 per cent. Cummings called Gulfstream Park, the track I went to with McKeever, “ground zero” for the computer groups. “Horseracing is not in a position to reject customers. Yet we have accepted and embraced these whales, with little to no consideration of the damage that they do if left unchecked,” Cummings told me. “It’s not a good thing to be losing Joe Q Horseplayer, and we’ve lost a lot of them.”
McKeever, for his part, sees himself on Joe Q Horseplayer’s side. His team of 13 full-time employees and contractors at EquinEdge wanted to do its own CAW wagering. But McKeever refused. “I am for the small guy, that’s what I’m pushing for,” he told me. “I give them every bit of information that I have, everything we develop, all of our technology. Everything I do is for the little guy. The big guy thinks he knows it already. It’s the little guy I want to take care of.”
Financial Times – Roeder – I used AI to bet on horse-racing. Here’s what happened
Phil has a question:
Are McKeever and the rest of the CAWs willing to give their rebates to the little guys.
How will horse racing attract new customers when a new customer looks at sports betting and sees a fairly level wagering field with fixed odds with a small vig (takeout) and then looks at horse racing where the tracks themselves provide better information and easier ways to bet for a preferred class of customers, the CAWs, the takeout is usurious and the CAWS get a rebate that’s pretty close to the vig in sports betting.
Paulick Report – The Friday Show Presented By Icon Global: Merging Sports Betting With Horse Racing
To quote Craig Bernick – Good luck.
There is always room for losers in the football business. They are the mother’s milk of gambling, and why not? Somebody has to do it, or there won’t be any winners.
Hunter S. Thompson
DRF – Grening – Kentucky Derby: Forte, Tapit Trice complete final drills
Bloodhorse – Byron King – Pletcher Trainees Sharp in Kentucky Derby Breezes
Bloodhorse – Rollins – Cox Brigade Records Final Derby Tuneups
DRF – Russo – Kentucky Derby: Angel of Empire, Jace’s Road work together
Bloodhorse – Angst – Mage, Confidence Game Impress in Final Derby Works
Bloodhorse – McCroskey – Defining Purpose, Mimi Kakushi Put in Final Oaks Works
Dillon Brooks, the Memphis agitator who dismissed James as “old” after Game 2 and then got ejected from Game 3 for striking James in the groin, finished a dismal series performance with 10 points in Game 6 while Lakers fans booed his every move.
Brooks left the Grizzlies’ locker room before reporters were allowed in.
SportsNet – Lakers, LeBron James decimate Grizzlies in Game 6, advance to second round
The young man knows the rules but the old man knows the exceptions.
The Ringer – O’Connor – It’s Time to Take the Lakers Seriously (Again)
Paulick Report – Kentucky Derby Update: Trio Of Workers Away From Muddy Churchill Downs On Friday
Paulick Report – Keeneland Hits $224 Million Wagering Record During 15-Day Spring Meet
Phil has a question:
When will a big broom sweep all the dead wood out of Horse Racing Alberta.
Bloodhorse – Record Purses, Wagering Highlight Keeneland Spring Meet
TDN – Keeneland Closes Out Record Spring
While you’re watching hockey over the weekend cast a sharp eye on the ads on the ice surface. While Phil was handicapping Saturday’s races at a local small chain watering hole he noticed that the ads just inside the blue lines at Maple Leaf Rink changed during the game.
Front Office Sports – Greenberg – Where Would The NFL Draft Be Without The Gurus?
Bloodhorse – Compton and Gash – OBS Spring Sale Concludes With $1.3M Into Mischief Colt
TDN – Martini and Bossinakis – Steady Results as $1.3-Million Into Mischief Colt Stars at OBS Finale
Bloodhorse – Racing Post – Barber – Gambling White Paper Released, Raises BHA Concerns
Phil has a question:
Did the grey area offshore betting shops come up with these super nanny ideas to drive the British gambling business offshore.
Will the same rules apply to stock market investing.
Will the same rules apply to crypto investing
Will the same rules apply to investing with a Nigerian Prince.
TDN – Letter to the Editor: Hugh Mitchell on Woodbine
DRF – Andersen – Yakteen pair of Practical Move, Reincarnate put in fast works for Kentucky Derby
DRF – Welsch – 2023 Kentucky Derby Clocker Report: Confidence Game makes an appearance
Bloodhorse – Byron King – Kentucky Derby Horses Take It Easy in Slop at Churchill
Bloodhorse – Byron King – Japanese Runners ‘Take Up the Challenge’ on Derby Day
Kingsbarns was to have his final workout for the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. Jose Ortiz was scheduled to work him and is the leading candidate to ride him in the race.
DRF – Grening – Kentucky Derby: Kingsbarns, Mage try to join exclusive company in their fourth start
TDN – McGrath – Mage Benefits From Feet Of Clay
Horse Racing Nation – Flatter: Who can sleep after the loss of Wild On Ice?
DRF – Welsch – Kentucky Derby Clocker Report: Oaks fillies dominate Thursday training session
TDN – Stronach Appoints Gilmore To Key Positions
National Post – Colby Cosh: Danielle Smith’s big-money arena bribe to Calgary voters
Phil has a question:
How bad does Danielle Smith have to be for Conrad Black’s right wing rag to call her a liar.
TDN – Pimlico’s Alibi Breakfast to Honor Jay Privman and Rob Carr
Bloodhorse – OBS Spring Sale Highlighted by $2.2M Gun Runner Colt
TDN – Big Guns Out at OBS for $2.2M Gun Runner Colt
Bloodhorse – Compton and Gash – Gun Runner Colt Sells for $2.2 Million at OBS Spring
The Ringer – Sherman – Winners and Losers of the First Round of the 2023 NFL Draft
ESPN – Kiper – 2023 NFL draft: Mel Kiper’s Round 1 winners, reaches, value picks
The Ringer – Kelly – First Round Draft Grades
Sports Illustrated – Verderane and Manzano – NFL Draft 2023: Grades For All 31 First-Round Picks
Paulick Report – Maryland Commission Approves Resumption Of Racing At Laurel Park
Gregory John Tracy Banned for Life subject to Appeal, James Anthony Tracy Indefinitely Suspended
DRF – Hersh – Kentucky Derby: Two Phil’s cruises through five-furlong drill at Hawthorne
Also completing his final work for the Derby away from Churchill Thursday was Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) winner Two Phil’s. The son of Hard Spun breezed five furlongs in :59 on a fast track at Hawthorne Race Course, earning the bullet from 16 horses who breezed at the distance there.
Bloodhorse – Angst – Raise Cain Smoothly Breezes Toward Kentucky Derby
DRF – Kentucky Derby: Raise Cain gets final work; jockey still to be determined
DRF – Andersen – Skinner gains Kentucky Derby berth; Juan Hernandez gets mount
The Guardian – Vargas and Pengelly – Jerry Springer, influential US talkshow host, dies aged 79
Phil has a question:
How long before Tucker Carlson jumps on this opportunity.
DRF – McGee – Kentucky Derby: Wild On Ice euthanized after training injury
Bloodhorse – Eric Mitchell – Report: Wild On Ice Euthanized Following Derby Work
Bloodhorse – Wild On Ice Injured After Breeze, Will Miss Derby
TDN – Wild On Ice Out Of Derby
Paulick Report – Wild On Ice Out Of Kentucky Derby After Injuring Hind Leg In Churchill Work
ESPN – Kiper – 2023 NFL mock draft: Mel Kiper’s final first-round predictions
The Ringer – Solak – The Five Biggest Questions Entering the 2023 NFL Draft
The Ringer – Nine Bold Predictions for the NFL Draft’s First Round
Front Office Sports – McCarthy – NFL Draft Is The Gift That Keeps Giving For Media
Sports Illustrated – ESPN Fires Marly Rivera for Obscene Confrontation With Competitor
Bloodhorse – Precious – NYRA, N.Y. State Reach Tentative Deal on Belmont Funds
Bloodhorse – Angst – Across-the-Board Strength for Churchill Downs Inc
Southern Living – Grandma’s Favorite Family Reunion Recipes
Bloodhorse – Japanese Duo, Sun Thunder Breeze at Churchill for Derby
How much should I factor jockeys into Derby bets?
Including their five to seven pounds of tack, the Derby three-year-olds can carry 126 pounds max, which means a jockey must weigh no more than 119. At that number or less, jockeys must be rock-hard athletes whose horse sense and racing acumen are honed to guide a 1,200-pound Thoroughbred blasting through the Derby’s mad scrum at forty miles an hour. In that fray, a jockey never “sits”; he or she crouches above without touching the saddle, knees and hips taking the brunt of the horse’s twenty-foot stride. As the Triple Crown kickoff, drawing huge fields of only lightly experienced runners, the Derby is a skilled pilot’s race like no other. John Velazquez is one of just ten jocks to have won the race at least three times. Mike Smith has $345 million–plus in winnings and has twice taken the Derby. Irad Ortiz Jr. has posted $268 million in his career, $37 million of which he hauled in just last year. Smith and Ortiz alone win between 16 and 20 percent of the races they enter. When sculpting your bets, take a hard look at who’s in the irons, because all Derby jockeys can ride. If you forget them, they’ll sting you.
TDN – Derma Sotogake Drills; Thursday Oaks Schedule Quickens
Paulick Report – Kentucky Derby Update: Derma Sotogake Stars On Wednesday Worktab At Churchill Downs
TDN – Martini and Bossinakis – Zedan Continues Buying Spree as OBS Spring Sale Marches On
Bloodhorse – Gash – Steady Trade Continues on Day 2 at OBS Spring Sale
TDN – Triple Crown Hero Justify Returns To Coolmore Australia For Shuttle Duty
Bloodhorse – Byron King – Balnikhov Invades Golden Gate for San Francisco Mile
Paulick Report – Laurel: Veteran Passero’s ‘Quick Fixes’ Could Have Racing Resume By Saturday
TDN – Campbell – Training Open As Laurel Cards Races For Saturday
Sports Business Journal – Fanatics to launch first gambling app in Tennessee, Ohio on Monday
Sports Business Journal – DraftKings plans to launch streaming service
Paulick Report – Pink Lloyd, Sikura Among Eight Inductees To Canadian Horse Racing Hall Of Fame
To Meghan, this style of teaching feels worth it because it allows her to bring what she loves about dance to so many more students, even if she doesn’t have the glory of winning more competitions or sending students on to Canada’s National Ballet School. “The percentage of kids I teach that are going to have a career in dance is so minuscule, I would much rather focus on helping them have a good time, be active, and make friends and memories,” she says.
That’s true of all kids, in all physical activities. No matter how much thinness matters or doesn’t at the Olympics, most of our kids aren’t going there. And yet the sports leagues and dance classes we sign them up for are structured around the possibility that one of them might. That helps to justify training regimens and messaging that perpetuate anti-fat bias.
LitHub – Sole-Smith – The 80-Pound Rule and How Youth Sports Hurt Kids’ Bodies
THE KEY OF “F DEMENTED” PLAYLIST
Some times Phil just has to give in to the Urge.
Fernando Toro, 82, a native of Santiago, Chile, won 3,555 races with purse earnings of $56,299,765 during his North American riding career of 1966 through 1990. Toro won his first race in his native country at the age of 15 in 1956 and topped the Chilean national jockeys standings twice. Before arriving in America, Toro won three editions of the prestigious Gran Premio, as well as the 1964 Clasico St. Leger, a race in the Chilean Triple Crown series. Based in Southern California, Toro won 80 graded stakes in North America. At the time of his retirement, he ranked in the top 10 in stakes wins at Del Mar (No. 6), Hollywood Park (No. 8), and Santa Anita (tied at No. 8).
Bloodhorse – California Chrome, Arrogate to Hall of Fame Together
Horse Racing Nation – Three Kentucky Derby Longshots
I only hope that we never lose sight of one thing—that it was all started by a mouse.
Walt Disney
Phil has a question:
Other than Topo is there a more powerful mouse than Mickey.
Not even close.
Arithmetic is being able to count up to 20 without taking off your shoes.
Plato or Mickey Mouse
BBC – Epsom Derby: Classic race moves to avoid clash with FA Cup final
Thoroughbred Charities of America Named Charitable Beneficiary of the Derby Dozen Handicapping Event
Yield to temptation. It may not pass your way again.
Robert A. Heinlein
Bloodhorse – Fox Sports’ Taylor Ready for Derby With Jace’s Road
That previous deal was “built around a 50-50 cost split between” Calgary Sports & Entertainment Corp. and the city, but the new agreement “sees the bulk of costs covered by the municipal and provincial governments.”
Sports Business Journal – Flames strike deal with city, province for new arena
Phil has a question:
Are the UCP going to change their party colours to red and white with Danielle Smith playing pre-election Santa Claus.
If Calgary is the big business free enterprise city it boasts about why the fuck does it come running to the province to pay for a new arena.
Front Office Sports – McCarthy – Nate Silver Leads List Of Execs Laid Off By Disney and ESPN
Canada’s National Observer – Fawcett-Atkinson – Meet the man turning mushrooms into meat
Bloodhorse – Eric Mitchell – Consultant Passero Retained to Evaluate Laurel Safety
Paulick Report – Freeman: Dettori’s Finale Is Going So Well – Is It Really The End?
Paulick Report – Kentucky Derby, Oaks Morning Workouts Open To Public Beginning April 27
Bloodhorse – Byron King – PA Official: ADMC Program Delayed Until May 22
Phil has a question:
Does anyone know what HISA’s role in racing is other than to collect money and pay salaries.
TDN – Martini and Bossinakis – $1.45-Million Arrogate Colt Leads The Way At OBS Spring Opener
Bloodhorse – Gash – OBS Spring Sale Off The Blocks for Day 1
TDN – Letter to the Editor: John Sikura
TDN – Anderson: Woodbine’s ‘Bully Tactics’ Could Result In ‘Mass Exodus’ Of Ontario-Breds
Bloodhorse – J. Keeler Johnson – 13 Trends to Know Before Betting on 2023 Kentucky Derby
Dirty Horse Club –THE 2023 Kentucky Derby ANALYSIS
Bloodhorse – Byron King – Castellano to Ride Mage in Kentucky Derby
The Ringer – Kelly – The Ringer’s 2023 NFL Draft Guide
Bloodhorse – California Chrome, Arrogate to Hall of Fame Together
DRF – Grening – Nakatani, Arrogate, California Chrome, Songbird top 2023 Hall of Fame class
TDN – Thornton – HISA’s Medication Control Program Reportedly Delayed Again
Phil has a question:
Do Century Mile or Century Downs ever have Loonie Dogs Night.
Bloodhorse – Kentucky Derby Post Positions by the Numbers
Phil M Stockmen
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